TRAIT DEBATES
Do we all possess all traits?
Gordon Allport (1937) was the first trait theorist to raise an issue that began a long debate within personality theory. It concerns whether personality is nomothetic or idiographic. A nomothetic approach allows us to make comparisons between people. Its basic premise is that we are all governed by the same behavioural principles – so we all have the same traits and differ only in the extent to which each trait is present. The idiographic approach proposes that each individual is unique and there are some traits that may be possessed by only one person. So, according to the idiographic approach, comparing one person with another becomes meaningless. More recently Baumeister and Tice (1988) have suggested that certain trait dimensions apply to some people more than others, and that some traits may not be important at all in any one person’s personality. The person–situation debate since the development of trait theories in the 1950s and 1960s, personality researchers have been concerned about the relationship etween traits and behaviour. Mischel (1968) used the phrase ‘personality coefficient’ to highlight the rather modest correlations between traits (as measured by self-report questionnaires) and behaviour. A major debate ensued, focusing on whether an individual’s actions are better predicted by the situation or by his/her personal characteristics. The debate was resolved by the concept of interactionism, proposed by Magnusson and Endler (1977) – the idea that personality and the environment interact with each other to produce behaviour. Another important notion is that some situations may have more influence over behaviour than others. Buss (1989) argued that behaviour is determined more by the situation when it is novel, formal and/or public, and more by personality when the situation is informal, familiar and/or private. So in a strong situation like a lecture, for instance, it might be quite hard to draw conclusions about a fellow student’s personality when most people simply sit quietly and take notes. Bu in a pub or party, people’s behaviour is variable enough for personality differences to become apparent.
Do we all possess all traits?
Gordon Allport (1937) was the first trait theorist to raise an issue that began a long debate within personality theory. It concerns whether personality is nomothetic or idiographic. A nomothetic approach allows us to make comparisons between people. Its basic premise is that we are all governed by the same behavioural principles – so we all have the same traits and differ only in the extent to which each trait is present. The idiographic approach proposes that each individual is unique and there are some traits that may be possessed by only one person. So, according to the idiographic approach, comparing one person with another becomes meaningless. More recently Baumeister and Tice (1988) have suggested that certain trait dimensions apply to some people more than others, and that some traits may not be important at all in any one person’s personality. The person–situation debate since the development of trait theories in the 1950s and 1960s, personality researchers have been concerned about the relationship etween traits and behaviour. Mischel (1968) used the phrase ‘personality coefficient’ to highlight the rather modest correlations between traits (as measured by self-report questionnaires) and behaviour. A major debate ensued, focusing on whether an individual’s actions are better predicted by the situation or by his/her personal characteristics. The debate was resolved by the concept of interactionism, proposed by Magnusson and Endler (1977) – the idea that personality and the environment interact with each other to produce behaviour. Another important notion is that some situations may have more influence over behaviour than others. Buss (1989) argued that behaviour is determined more by the situation when it is novel, formal and/or public, and more by personality when the situation is informal, familiar and/or private. So in a strong situation like a lecture, for instance, it might be quite hard to draw conclusions about a fellow student’s personality when most people simply sit quietly and take notes. Bu in a pub or party, people’s behaviour is variable enough for personality differences to become apparent.
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