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Traits and Factors (A new approach (moving away from rationally-derived…
Traits and Factors
A new approach
moving away from rationally-derived personality theory (such as psychodynamic theories)
- theory derived from clinical experience
moving away from theories of 'personality gone wrong' and 'best of the best'
- healthy- unhealthy dichotomy
- identifying personality problems and their causes
moving towards empirically derived theories of 'normal' personality
- “our belief is finally irrelevant. What matters- all that matters- is fact”
a good personality theory should allow us to make pretty good predications about what a person will do in a given situation
- rather than explain behaviour after the fact
this new approach is not about changing personality but understanding personality
- applying our understanding of personality
- in relationships
- in the workforce
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FACTOR ANALYSIS
a statistical method for reducing a large amount of data to fewer, basic units
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Personality traits
relatively permanent reaction tendencies
- building blocks of personality
- derived via factor analysis
common traits
- we all have them to one degree or another
eg: extraversion
unique traits
- those traits that only few of us have
- eg: fascination with clocks
Surface vs Source Traits
Surface traits
observable personality characteristics that emerge from, and may be indicative of,a more basic traits
thoughtfulness, wisdom, perseverance may be indicative of the surface traits of gentlemanliness
Source traits
deeper level, relatively stable elements of the personality
the surface trait of gentlemanliness may arise from the source traits of private-ness and emotional stability