Embodied Cognition and the Structure of Personality: An Exploratory Study of Longitudinal Pathways From Early Psychomotor Function

Abstract

Objective

To explore the developmental pathways linking infant psychomotor function with personality in late adolescence through cognitive, social, and self-regulation skills. The broader research question, seen through the lens of embodied cognition, is whether cognition and personality in youth develop from basic sensorimotor and communicative systems in infancy.

Method

The sample included 9202 participants from a representative UK birth cohort. A structural equation model examined the prospective associations between motor and communicative functions at age 9 months, cognition, self-regulation, and prosociality at 5 years, and the five-factor model of personality at 17 years. The associations between psychomotor function and the meta-traits of stability and plasticity were also explored.

Results

Even after controlling for confounders and correcting for multiple paths, there was robust evidence that psychomotor development significantly predicts personality structure, with indirect pathways mediated by self-regulation skills and general or social cognitive skills in middle childhood. While infant communicative function was significantly associated with both meta-traits, gross motor function was significantly associated with plasticity but not stability.

Conclusions

Early psychomotor function may have long-term effects on personality, mediated by cognitive, social, and self-regulation skills. This finding can inform the development of socio-educational interventions and tailored curricula in early childhood education.