Trait theory

A personality trait (English trait ), also known as personality trait is a relatively enduring (time- stable ) ready ( MRP ), is to describe certain aspects of the behavior of a person in a certain class of situations and predict. For example, is the personality trait extraversion the description and prediction of the behavior aspect " extrovert - introvert " in social situations. Among the most famous personality characteristics include the "Big Five". Particularly positive features of a personality characteristic is referred to as their strengths.

From the concept of " personality trait " delineate the term of the current state (german state) a person of varied situations over time. Also not counted among the properties behavioral habits (English habit ), ie the learned responses to specific stimuli.

The view that the behavior and experience of a man is determined by his personality characteristics, ie Personismus.

Definitions

Delineate the concept of relatively stable personality trait is the term of the current state (german state) a person who has changed significantly over time, such as being and attention throughout the day. People differ in the extent and in the course of such state changes, such as how much can change their mood. Because of this, personality characteristics and changes of state differ only in degree in their constancy over time. The skills and qualities of temperament can change, not only in childhood and adolescence, but also in middle and older age.

Not all psychologists share the introductory definition, but use the term personality trait with a different connotation for:

• The relatively enduring characteristics or the characteristic changes,
• The respected as fundamental properties or all psychologically interesting individual differences,
• The properties of the observable and tangible psychological testing behavior or all mental properties of a person, ie including the subjective phenomena of consciousness processes and experience reality,
• The characteristics of behavior and experience, or just the characteristics of the biological individuality, ie the genetic and physical basis of the psychical characteristics.

Personality characteristics in a broad sense include all tangible psychological individual differences in behavior and being as well as their biological foundations in the psycho-physical individuality (constitution) of man. A personality theory is the general reference system for these properties to be derived and the practical psychological applications; the biography provides a vivid interpretation of a particular life story.

Many personality theorists emphasize the task of providing science-based predictions of individual behavior. These predictions are always statistically specify methodological reservations and only as relative probabilities because of the numerous factors that influence human behavior and being. As in medicine, the professional practice is dependent on such conditional forecasts.

The older, more certain of the character of customer property theories were geared mainly descriptive. Increasingly, however, were tests, behavioral observations, questionnaires, and measurement values, including Results from psychophysiology and neuropsychology, used, and statistical methods (see Differential Psychology, psychological tests). The terms trait, character types, and type of constitution are now uncommon in the scientific personality psychology.

Personality trait as a disposition ( theoretical construct )

In personality research is with property today is not a directly observable behavior or a fixed trait meant, but a disposition in the sense of a willingness behavior. Thus, an extrovert person can behave sociable, impulsive and lively in different situations, in other situations, this disposition is not. Whether the disposition effect depends on the respective external and internal conditions. Disposition as a theoretical construct thus describes the more or less strong likelihood that the person is in a similar situation again behave ( are ) is. How pronounced is the individual disposition, can be developed in a valid and reliable manner only when multiple interrelated ( consistent ) indicators such as test items and questionnaire items and different situations are considered. The psychological concept of a personality trait is thus methodologically and empirically constructed by similar behaviors are associated with statistical methods and then predicted for similar situations.

Basically, a biological basis in the brain of man is for all personality characteristics claimed, but there are only a few reliable neuroscientific findings on this topic. That can be personality characteristics reduce to neurophysiological differences completely, however, is doubtful. Personality trait is in contrast to the property of a thing or a substance, a special psychological- theoretical concept ( theoretical construct ) and requires about scientific concepts also other categories (see the mind-body problem, reductionism ).

These structures are commonly known as hypothetical construct. This serves the purpose of being able to explain observable behavior. Personality traits are, for example: intelligence, temperament and creativity. In contrast, anger, fatigue or physical strength would be only situational conditions which do not persist over a longer period and also also are directly observable.

An example: To illustrate the feature is intelligence. An indicator in the plane of empiricism would be, for example, the performance in problem -solving tasks or tests (for example, performed according to the criteria of the primary factors of Thurstone ). This would shed light on the up are going through level of theory hypothetical construct here intelligence. These two ( hypothetical construct and indicator) are mutually interrelated. So it can be concluded on the indicator also of an already known feature of a person. In the example, this would be the completion of the tests in a specific time.

Personality Psychology, Differential Psychology, Biography

In personality psychology special explanations are elaborated: How is a personality trait? How do they relate to others and how they affect? How is it psychologically to capture the best? On this basis, personality theories are constructed and a total designed a concept of personality. This reference to the system personality personality psychology differs from the differential psychology, which deals with the detailed description of the numerous individual features. In contrast is the focus of personality theories to the structural and dynamic relationships of personality traits, ie by pattern of traits and general developmental trajectories. However, both areas are closely related, so that there is a technical term differential and personality psychology in the study. To this also belongs the important perspective on how a personality develops across the lifespan, the biography.

Classification of personality characteristics

The psychology textbooks differ as to which feature areas or personality characteristics are discussed. In general, the basic properties are described, which were formerly often referred to as characteristics of temperament and character, such as irritability or self-consciousness, the prevailing mood, the conciliation or hostility. Important characteristic terms are, inter alia, introversion - extraversion or emotionality (see Hans Jürgen Eysenck ). Then there are the attitudes, interests, value orientations, and self- concepts, ie, the assessment of their own person from different angles. After -spread understanding are religious, philosophical, political, inter alia, Beliefs, although it is often the enduring nature of a human being are not considered as personality traits. Consequently, they are - as well as the individual differences in social behavior and communication style - treated more as a branch of social psychology.

Amelang et al. (2007) differ in general the performance area and the personality area. Asendorpf (2007) is divided with regard to temperament, skills, action characteristics, assessment dispositions, self-centered dispositions (cf. Differential psychology). The textbooks usually treat the area of ​​intelligence with the different intelligence factors, individual differences in attention, memory, cognitive styles and also involve creativity. In contrast, other abilities ( talents) or personal attitudes and beliefs are hardly taken into account. Such conventional demarcations are technically justified not, because after the initial definition of the area would be taken much further. The individual character of special motives, needs, moods and emotions as well as all recurring processes (flow figures ) and patterns of behavior can be used to predict future behavior and being. Methodically must lie between the predictions for all people (or for a particular part of the population) are distinguished and the individualized prediction for individuals.

Accordingly, the major personality theories are fundamentally different in their scope and their empirical data base. Very few researchers have personality, as Raymond B. Cattell to endeavor a broad inventory of the different feature spaces (property factors, condition factors, motivation and adjustment factors ). Attempts by his universal index of the fundamental properties could not lead to success, given the variety of features and methods. Also for the personality characteristics, just as are the more numerous psychological individual characteristics: a common classification system (nomenclature ) is missing and can not be foreseen (see Differential Psychology ).

Methods

Personality traits can be detected by the various methods of psychological assessment and behavioral analysis and the methods of neuropsychology and psychophysiology. Here, when the strategic approach and the practical benefits of a particular decision to be emphasized is the assessment (see Assessment Center ) spoke. As typical methods, each with many - up to hundreds - various procedures are: psychological tests (eg, intelligence tests ), standardized questionnaire for self-description ( self-evaluation ) and external assessment (eg depression scale ), free or structured interview methods, biographical analyzes, behavioral observations (eg childish game activity) or behavioral measures (registration of physical activity ), experimental detection of objective behavioral measures ( eg reaction times ), physiological and biochemical parameters (eg, blood pressure, hormones ) neurophysiological measurements (eg EEG). Other methods such as projective tests (eg Rorschach test) or graphology be applied now little more, since their validity is very doubtful.

The scientific quality of the diagnostic methods must be assessed in several aspects and control. This test quality criteria relating to the validity ( validity), reliability (reliability ), the objectivity of the implementation and evaluation, the scope of standardization with respect to the total population as well as other aspects (see Differential psychology, aptitude testing, test methods). The professional associations of psychology have decided guidelines and are committed to quality assurance ( testing of Trustees 2007).

Criticism

Given the number of available psychological methods, it is natural to capture a personality trait possible in complementary and absichernder way with several methods - as well as the scientific thinking corresponds ( "multiple operationalization "). This strategy, if different types of psychological data are used as multi-modal referred (see multitrait - multimethod matrix). If the self-assessments in a standardized questionnaire, (2) the assessments by trained observers, and, if possible, (3) the measurement ( registration) of the behavior are compared with respect to a specific personality trait ( 1), should be a broad agreement ( convergence ) result.

In fact, very often show inconsistencies ( divergence ). Individual indicators of a personality trait depend not as regularly and as closely together as expected. For example, a person may be very carefully in a field in other areas of life, however, extremely messy. Thus, the behavior at work and in leisure time sometimes seems to refer to completely different people. Similarly fail fundamentally different social behavior depending on the partner and situation in life.

The results of systematic investigations are very sobering and place it close to renounce to global and therefore also ambiguous property terms, and smaller, more precisely defined units to be preferred ( Fiske, 1978; Baumann and Stieglitz 2008). A well-known and important because of the practical consequences example is the psychological diagnosis of acute anxiety or via permanent anxiety: depending on whether the examiner is based on the reports of the patients on behavioral observations or on physical measurements, it could lead to divergent assessments. Anxiety, anxiety-related behavior and physiological fear arousal in many cases significantly differ ( mountain driving and Wilhelm 2008). This fact seems to be still too little known, but must be considered in a responsible diagnosis.

The psychological assessment of intelligence is one of the few areas where - regardless of the individual character of the intelligence profile - generally an at least moderate statistical correlation of specific intelligence factors is secured: Who can solve specific intelligence tasks well, will probably get along well with other types of tasks. Whether this disposition can be successfully used in everyday life and even at social functions or even creative achievements are accomplished is psychologically hard to predict from the intelligence test. Despite a high formal intelligence people can act unreasonable and can completely miss an independent and critical judgment.