PSC 162 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Situationist International, Trait Theory
Document Summary
The trait approach to personality begins by assuming that individuals differ in their characteristic patterns of thought, feeling, & behavior. Research relies on correlational designs & focus on individual differences. Classifying people according to traits raises an important problem, however: Indeed, some psychologists have suggested that people are so inconsistent in their behavior from 1 situation to the next that it is not worthwhile to characterize them in terms of personality traits. The controversy over this issue is called the person - situation debate . According to a review of the personality literature, the ability of traits to predict behavior is extremely limited. Rebuttal - a fair review of literature reveals that the predictability of behavior from tratis is better than sometimes acknowledged. Situations are more important that personality traits for determining what people do. Rebuttal - important effects of situations on behavior are no bigger statistically than size of effects of personality traits on behavior.
