PSY 305 Chapter Notes - Chapter 7: Thematic Apperception Test, Extraversion And Introversion, Internal Validity
Document Summary
Trait continuum diagram looks at important characteristics. Trait: a dimension of personality used to categorize people to the degree to which they manifest a particular characteristic. Trait approach built off 2 assumptions: personality characteristics are relatively stable over time, personality characteristics are relatively stable over situations. Rather than looking for how one person acts based on a given situation, trait researchers want to predict how people who score within a certain segment of the trait continuum. Rather than explaining why people behave the way they do (ie. bob is aggressive bc he hit joe), trait researchers focus on describing personality and predicting behavior. Major advg of trait approach: we can easily make comparisons across people. Trait approach has relatively little to say about personality change trait psychologists are more likely to be academic researchers than practicing therapists. Taught first college course on personality in 1925.
