1ralL vlewpolnL of personallLy

8y
Ms Alsha 8ano
What |s 1ra|t?
W 1ralLs are baslc quallLles of person LhaL help
Lhem Lo classlfy eg frlendly honesL
aggresslve
W lurLher LralLs are dlmenslons (LxLroverL
lnLroverL) of personallLy LhaL lnfluence ln a
parLlcular way Lhe LhoughLs feellngs
behavlors of Lhe lndlvldual aL a parLlcular
Llme
W r examp|e for !ung exLroverslon refers Lo
an orlenLaLlon Lowards Lhlngs ouLslde oneself
whereas lnLroverslon ls a Lendency Lo Lurn
lnward and explore one's feellngs and
experlences 1hus for !ung a person could
have Lendencles Loward boLh lnLroverslon and
exLroverslon buL one would be domlnanL
W 1he LralL Lheory suggesLs LhaL lndlvldual
personallLles are composed broad dlsposlLlons
Conslder how you would descrlbe Lhe personallLy
of a close frlend Chances are LhaL you would llsL
a number of LralLs such as ootqoloq kloJ and
eveotempeteJ A LralL can be LhoughL of as a
relaLlvely sLable characLerlsLlc LhaL causes
lndlvlduals Lo behave ln cerLaln ways
as|c Assumpt|
W lollowlng are Lhe assumpLlons of LralL
approach Lo personallLy
1 eople dlffer ln Lhe LralLs Lhey possess
(lunder 1993)
2 ersonallLy of a person ls assumed Lo reflecL
Lhe degree of LralLs possessed
3 1hus LralLs deflne Lhe naLure of an
lndlvldual's personallLy
9r|c|p|e ||c
W 1he prlnclple loglc of Lhe LralL vlewpolnL ls LhaL
behavlor ls lnfluenced ln a manner conslsLenL
wlLh Lhe LralLs possessed by Lhe lndlvldual
(lunder 1993)
W lor example a person who slLs ln parks ln ouL of
reach zone and smokes a clgareLLe ln a
nonsmoklng secLlon of sLudenL acLlvlLles we
would probably assume LhaL Lhls person ls very
W lnconslderaLe lrom Lhe LralL vlewpolnL Lhe
explanaLlon of Lhls Lendency Lo behave ln such
an lnconslderaLe manner ls LhaL Lhe
lndlvldual's personallLy conLalns Lhe LralLs of
self cenLeredness Lo a hlgh degree
W 1hus an lndlvldual's personallLy ls deflned by
Lhe naLure of Lhe LralLs lL conslsLs
(lnconslderaLe) Lhese LralLs Lhen deLermlne
Lhe lndlvldual's behavlor (eg behavlng
selflshly and lnconslderaLely)
W Dnllke many oLher Lheorles of personallLy
such as psychoanalyLlc or humanlsLlc Lheorles
Lhe LralL approach Lo personallLy ls focused on
dlfferences beLween lndlvlduals
W 1ralL Lheory ls focused on ldenLlfylng and
measurlng Lhese lndlvldual personallLy
characLerlsLlcs
rd A||prt's 1ra|t 1hery
W n 1936 psychologlsL Cordon AllporL found
LhaL one Lngllshlanguage dlcLlonary alone
conLalned more Lhan 4000 words descrlblng
dlfferenL personallLy LralLs
A||prt's thery persa||ty
W AllporL's emphasls was on Lrylng Lo
undersLand and explaln Lhe complexlLy and
unlqueness of Lhe LoLal lndlvldual
W Pls prlnclple concern was Lo develop a Lheory
of personallLy LhaL would help Lo explaln whaL
males us each unlque
A||prt' s de||t| persa||ty
W Accordlng Lo AllporL ersonallLy ls dynamlc
organlzaLlon wlLhln Lhe lndlvldual of Lhose
psychophyslcal sysLems LhaL deLermlne hls
characLerlsLlc behavlor and LhoughL (AllporL
1961 p 28)
W 1o clarlfy Lhe deflnlLlon we wlll dlscuss lLs polnLs
#9ersa||ty |s dyam|c ra|zat|#
W 1he personallLy of an lndlvldual conslsLs of an
orderly sysLem (le componenLs) Lhls sysLem
ls ln consLanL change lor example honesLy ln
a law abldlng sLudenL ls sLrengLhened when
Lhey read abouL dlshonesL sLudenL should be
punlshed for cheaLlng
#9sychphys|ca| | ature#
W sychphyslcal" sLresses Lhe polnL LhaL personallLy ls
an lnLegraLlon of Lhe capaclLles of mlnd (feellngs
LhoughLs ldeas) and body (hormones genes)
W lor example Lhe crlmlnal Lendency of Lhe person ls
llnked Lo blologlcal characLerlsLlc (Murphry 1980)
#9ersa||ty |s a determ|at
behav|r#
W AllporL uses Lhe word Lo emphaslze
LhaL personallLy serves an acLlvaLlng and
dlrecLlve funcLlon ln Lhe lndlvldual's
expresslon of behavlor and LhoughL
W n slmple words personallLy ls someLhlng LhaL
does"
,re assumpt|s A||prt's tra|t
thery
W lor AllporL Lhe LralL ls Lhe baslc unlL of sLudy
for personallLy (AllporL 1938)
W Pe has deflned a LralL as a sLrucLure wlLhln
person havlng Lhe capaclLy Lo lnlLlaLe and
gulde meanlngfully conslsLenL forms of
adapLlve and expresslve behavlor"(p 346)
W 1hus AllporL assume LhaL LralLs are real wlLhln
lndlvlduals and Lhey conslsLenLly gulde behavlor
across varleLy of slLuaLlons
W lor example !ack a newspaper reporLer possess
a LralL of aggresslveness L wlll deLermlne hls
behavlor whlle playlng Lennls drlvlng a car when
Lrylng Lo geL Lo Lhe fronL of crowd Lo reporL a
news
A examp|e ack's
tra|t resu|t| |
cs|stet behav|r
patters
!ack
1ralL of
aggresslveness
CeLLlng harsh when
Lrylng Lo reporL
CuLLlng wlLh
pressure when
Lrylng Lo cook
hlmself food
urlvlng carelessly when
drlvlng a car
CeLLlng aggresslve
when charglng a
ball Lo play Lennls
1he |veactr 1hery 9ersa||ty
W 1hls flve facLor model of personallLy represenLs flve core LralLs LhaL
lnLeracL Lo form human personallLy 1he followlng are descrlbed
mosL commonly
1 LxLraverslon
2 Agreeableness
3 ConsclenLlousness
4 neuroLlclsm
3 Cpenness
eereces
1
AllporL CW CdberL PS (1936) 1ralL
names A psycholexlcal sLudy sychologlcal
Monographs 47(211)
2
8oeree CC (2006) Cordon AllporL
ersonallLy 1heorles lound onllne aL
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