PSYB30H3 Lecture : LECTURE 02 Trait Approach Part 1 Lecture Outline (1).docx
Document Summary
Trait = a consistent pattern of behavior, emotion, and thought. Each trait can be thought of as a pattern. traits have stability over time and situations. they help us distinguish distinctiveness between people. Trait theories provide descriptions that must be explained by other theories they don"t explain/incorporate developmental aspects (i. e. how you came to be the way you are) Theorists try to establish: framework: within which all people can be explained through different forms > taxonomy: of traits (classification scheme). Approaches to discovering (identifying) traits: (what theorists do: lexical: takes words that describe personality traits determining which are best to capture variability between people. E. g. going through the dictionary and building a list of similar trait descriptors and choosing the best ones. Language gordon allport: statistical (empirical): working from data collected on people. Contrasts lexical which is based on words and language, in statistical you determine differences between people through data analysis.
