PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSONALITY TRAIT / DISPOSITIONAL PERSPECTIVES · Describe the major versions (theorists) of Dispositions . Describe trait research and identifying traits Describe the development of the Big Five Explain Costa and mccrae's NEO-and clones of it Define Situationism and Interactionism Explain measurement issues around the trait approach-factor analysis Explain limitations and advantages of the trait approach. Trait Research · The trait approach begins with the assumption that personality consists of stable inner qualities, which are reflected in behaviour. Types (no longer prominent in personality psychology) are discontinuous categories of personalities, with individuals falling into one category or another. Traits are continuous dimensions of variability, along which any person can be placed. Most trait approaches are nomothetic, emphasising how people differ but assuming that the trait dimensions are the same for everyone. An idiographic approach emphasises uniqueness and treats some dimensions as unique to specific persons. o Factor analysis (telling us what items or ratings go together) is a tool used by many trait psychologists. Further, the more variability in ratings a factor accounts for, the more important the factor. Factor analysis also lets you tell which observations do and do not reflect a factor well, helping to refine scales. · An important question in trait psychology is what traits are basic and important. Some believe we must let reality tell us the structure of personality. Others believe we must start with a theory. Several theoretical views have been developed, including one that emphasises traits that have a long history in ideas about personality (extroversion and neuroticism) and one that emphasises traits that are relevant to social interaction (the interpersonal circle). Development of the Big Five · Many psychologists now favour the idea that there are five major factors in personality. Evidence for that view is strong, and the five factors have a reasonable fit to aspects of pre-existing models of personality structure. There is disagreement about the precise nature of the five factors, but commonly used labels for them are as follows: 1. Extroversion. Agreeableness. 2.
PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSONALITY 3. Conscientiousness. 4. Emotionality. 5. Openness. · Recent research has examined how these traits relate to behaviours and experiences in people's lives. The usefulness of the trait concept was questioned by the finding that people's behaviour often wasn't well predicted from trait self-reports. This led some to doubt about whether traits actually influenced behaviour. Situationism & Interactionism · Situationism, the idea that behaviour is controlled primarily by situational influences, was proved wrong. · Interactionism holds that personality and situations interact in several ways to determine behaviour. For example, some situations permit or even elicit individual differences, whereas other situations do not. People also choose which situations to enter, and then they influence the nature of situations through their own actions. Indeed, people also vary in how consistent their behaviour is, and they often know whether they are consistent or not. The idea that the influence of traits on behaviour is dependent on situations has expanded into a broader view of