I really enjoy using personality assessments in my coaching work, as they enable clients to gain insights quickly and make the process of addressing their concerns very effective. As part of my collaboration with the LUXXprofile Institute in Hamburg, where I am a partner, I interviewed Prof. Dr. Christoph Kemper, who, as the scientific project leader at the University of Luxembourg, played a leading role in overseeing the development of the LUXXprofile.
Sabine Happe: Prof . Dr. Kemper, would you like to briefly introduce yourself at the beginning of the interview?
Prof. Dr. Christoph Kemper: I’d be happy to . For more than 15 years, I have been engaged in research, teaching, coaching, and consulting on the human personality—how it can be measured and what role it plays in everyday behavior. Since early 2018, I’ve been conducting research and teaching at HSD University of Applied Sciences in Cologne. We offer both a bachelor’s and a master’s program in psychology there. In my freelance work, I help companies and individuals translate their human potential into performance, satisfaction, and business value. This involves, for example, recruiting, team building, leadership training, and test development. Most of your readers probably know me through the LUXXprofile, which I developed.
Sabine Happe: For those who aren’t yet very familiar with the LUXXprofile—_what do you think sets this personality assessment apart most from other personality tests on the market?
Prof. Dr. Christoph Kemper: With the LUXXprofile, we can examine the dynamic aspects of personality—such as people’s motives, goals, and life preferences—in greater detail. To my knowledge, there are no alternatives on the market that measure motives so broadly and comprehensively, especially none that are as scientifically sound. The LUXXprofile was developed and quality-assured in accordance with the state-of-the-art in psychometric research. It is also worth noting the representative sample of the German population on which the standardization is based, which is important for a valid interpretation of the test results. The LUXXprofile is a scientifically validated assessment tool that can be effectively used in many areas of human resources and organizational development, such as team building or talent management.
Sabine Happe: We live in a rapidly changing world; those involved in agile work, in particular, are familiar with the acronym VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity). Why can it be particularly interesting in a VUCA world to understand one’s motivations—and thus one’s more constant character traits?
Prof. Dr. Christoph Kemper: In order to meet the immense challenges of today’s working world, I believe it is essential to have a clear sense of where you stand. What is important to me in life? What are my preferences? How do I feel about certain situations, and how can I best deal with them? No one would ever think of steering a ship in rough seas without a compass on the bridge. Yet there are many people who give surprisingly little thought to this compass. The better you know yourself, the easier it is to navigate even in rough waters like today’s workplace. Of course, this also applies to life outside the office.
Sabine Happe: The LUXXprofile assessment has high-quality characteristics; among other things, the results are consistent over time. But doesn’t that contradict the fact that we constantly have to adapt to changes in our environment?
Prof. Dr. Christoph Kemper: The personality traits measured by the LUXXprofile are relatively stable over time. This means that someone who, based on the LUXXprofile, is found today to have a level of curiosity well above average will certainly not show an average score if retested in five years. However, this does not mean that motivational dispositions are immutable. Research in personality psychology over the past two decades—for example, by Brent Roberts—shows that personality traits can change under certain circumstances. As a rule, this happens slowly, over the course of a person’s entire life. These are what are known as maturation processes. For example, as people go through life, they tend to become more emotionally stable and conscientious. However, personality changes can also be triggered by certain life events, such as unemployment, separation, bereavement, burnout, or even through psychotherapy or coaching.
Sabine Happe: As a practitioner, I’d like to return once more to the issue of the long-term stability of the results. In coaching practice, one sometimes encounters the phenomenon of “shifting motives.” Clients will say, “But I’m actually different from what’s written here”—so motives do seem to be subject to a certain degree of changeability. How do you explain this from a scientific perspective?
Prof. Dr. Christoph Kemper: “Dancing Motifs”—that sounds funny. It also happens occasionally in my coaching work that a client isn’t satisfied with their classification and has a different perspective. Either I haven’t explained the motif well enough, or the client simply doesn’t want to deal with this aspect of their personality at the moment—a kind of resistance. In that case, it’s pointless to continue. I usually move on to the next motif and may revisit the point later during the summary of the reflective discussion. In any case, this has nothing to do with the stability or changeability of motifs over time.
Sabine Happe: In your opinion, in which more extreme life situations should a coach or counselor be particularly sensitive when dealing with the results profile? Burnout, pregnancy, a death?
Prof. Dr. Christoph Kemper: Caution is advised in situations in life that trigger strong emotions. In order to answer the self-report questions in personality questionnaires, the test subject must retrieve information from memory, such as past experiences. We know from cognitive psychology that this retrieval depends on one’s mood. So if a client is currently in a strongly positive or negative mood—such as during a breakup, burnout, or depression—the test results are less reliable.
Sabine Happe: In my coaching practice, I’ve noticed that for clients, the path from motivation to action can sometimes be very long—_when we think of New Year’s resolutions, I suppose this is true for all of us. Where or how can the energy to take action be lost along the way?
Prof. Dr. Christoph Kemper: Yes , those beloved New Year’s resolutions. I’ve been going to the gym for many years, but I avoid the first week of January. It’s just too crowded then. Motivation can be lost at many points along the way—or perhaps it was simply insufficient from the start. It’s important to anchor the client’s desired goals not only cognitively but also emotionally. There are various techniques you can share with the client to ensure they’re still working out by Week 5.
Sabine Happe: Last question: Would you mind telling us what you’re currently working on? Then, on behalf of my colleagues at the LUXXprofile Institute in Hamburg, I wish you every success and good luck with it. Thank you very much for this fascinating interview!
Prof. Dr. Christoph Kemper: I’d be happy to share a few insights. My current research focuses on motivation. For example, I’m investigating the role that motives play in stress management. My most important research project this year will be a study on the stability and malleability of motives. There are now numerous
Studies on this topic have examined personality traits from the Big Five model, but not motives. I am frequently asked about the malleability of motives and cannot say much of substance on the matter, except that, in principle, they are relatively stable. It is time to examine this question empirically.
Link to the LUXXprofile Institute in Hamburg: https://www.luxx-profile-ausbildung.de/
