Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Personality Psychology
- Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology
- The Cambridge Handbook of Personality Psychology
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- General Introduction
- Part I Foundational Issues: History and Approaches to Personality
- 1 Conceptual and Historical Perspectives
- 2 The Trait Approach
- 3 Accuracy in Person Perception
- 4 States and Situations, Traits and Environments
- 5 Personality and the Unconscious
- 6 Personality and Emotion
- Part II Description and Measurement: How Personality Is Studied
- Part III Development, Health and Change: Life Span and Health Outcomes
- Part IV Biological Perspectives: Evolution, Genetics and Neuroscience of Personality
- Part V Cognitive and Motivational Perspectives: Dynamic Processes of Personality
- Part VI Social and Cultural Processes: Personality at the Intersection of Society
- Part VII Applications of Personality Psychology: Personality Traits and Processes in Action
- Addendum: Statistical Analyses and Computer Programming in Personality
- Index
- References
2 - The Trait Approach
from Part I - Foundational Issues: History and Approaches to Personality
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 September 2020
Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Personality Psychology
- Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology
- The Cambridge Handbook of Personality Psychology
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- General Introduction
- Part I Foundational Issues: History and Approaches to Personality
- 1 Conceptual and Historical Perspectives
- 2 The Trait Approach
- 3 Accuracy in Person Perception
- 4 States and Situations, Traits and Environments
- 5 Personality and the Unconscious
- 6 Personality and Emotion
- Part II Description and Measurement: How Personality Is Studied
- Part III Development, Health and Change: Life Span and Health Outcomes
- Part IV Biological Perspectives: Evolution, Genetics and Neuroscience of Personality
- Part V Cognitive and Motivational Perspectives: Dynamic Processes of Personality
- Part VI Social and Cultural Processes: Personality at the Intersection of Society
- Part VII Applications of Personality Psychology: Personality Traits and Processes in Action
- Addendum: Statistical Analyses and Computer Programming in Personality
- Index
- References
Summary
Nothwithstanding the successes of the trait approach to personality in the last century-plus – one of psychology’s major achievements – problems persist. Although we are closer to solving these problems, issues remain about how psychologists know whether traits – and any given model of traits – are the right way to construe human personality, and their nature is still largely mysterious. These questions concern whether we have summary or causal views of traits (Allport, 1937), and whether we have identified surface or source traits (Cattell, 1945).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Handbook of Personality Psychology , pp. 31 - 43Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020
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