PSY BEH 170S Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Trait Theory, We Can Do Better, Extraversion And Introversion
14 Nov 2016
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Chapter 4 - personality traits, situations, and behavior. Almost all research within the trait approach requires correlational designs. Instead, the trait approach seeks to measure the degree to which a person might be more or less dominant, sociable, or nervous than someone else. Dimensions of individual differences (building blocks from which personality is constructed) All people have biologically-based needs (food, water, sex, etc. Other properties of people differ but in ways that allow individuals to be grouped. Each individual is unique and cannot be meaningfully compared with anyone else. (different experiences, genes, view of the world, etc. ) Casual observation is enough to confirm that personality traits aren"t the only factors that control an individual"s behavior; situations matter as well. Perhaps individual"s behavior is so inconsistent and apt to change according to the given situation that there is no use characterizing them in terms of broad personality traits. The stability of differences between people increases with age.
