Trait Theories Flashcards
bodily self
In Allport’s theory, a propriate function that entails coming to know one’s body and its limits.
cardinal disposition
In Allport’s theory, a personal disposition so pervasive that almost every behavior of an individual appears to be influenced by it.
central disposition
In Allport’s theory, a highly characteristic tendency of an individual.
closed system
A concept of personality that admits little or nothing new from outside the organism to influence or change it in any significant way.
common traits
In Allport’s theory, hypothetical construct that permits the comparison of individuals on shared dimensions within a given culture.
continuity theory
A theory that suggests that the development of personality is essentially an accumulation of skills, habits, and discriminations without anything really new appearing in the makeup of the person.
discontinuity theory
A theory of personality that suggests that in the course of development an organism experiences genuine transformations or changes so that it reaches successively higher levels of organization.
expressive behavior
In Allport’s theory, an individual’s manner of performing.
functional autonomy
In Allport’s theory, a concept that present motives are not necessarily tied to the past but may be free of earlier motivations.
idiographic
In Allport’s theory, an approach to studying personality employing techniques and variables that centers on understanding the uniqueness of the individual.
need
In Murray’s theory, a force in the brain that organizes perception, understanding, and behavior in such a way as to change an unsatisfying situation and increase satisfaction.
nomothetic
In Allport’s theory, an approach to studying personality that considers large groups of individuals in order to infer general variables or universal principles.
perseverative functional autonomy
In Allport’s theory, acts or behaviors that are repeated even though they may have lost their original function.
personal dispositions
In Allport’s theory, traits that are unique to an individual.
personology
Murray’s term for his study of individual persons.
press
In Murray’s theory, a force coming from the environment that helps or hinders an individual in reaching goals.
proceeding
In Murray’s theory, a short, significant behavior pattern that has a clear beginning and ending.
propriate functional autonomy
In Allport’s theory, acquired interests, values, attitudes, intentions, and life-style that are directed from the proprium and are genuinely free of earlier motivations.
propriate functions
In Allport’s theory, functions of the proprium that develop gradually as an individual grows from infancy to adulthood and constitute an evolving sense of self as known and felt.
propriate striving
In Allport’s theory, a propriate function that entails projection of long-term purposes and goals and development of a plan to attain them.
proprium
In Allport’s theory, the central experiences of selfawareness that people have as they grow and move forward.
secondary dispositions
In Allport’s theory, specific, focused tendencies that are often situational in character and less crucial to the personality structure.
self-as-rational coper
In Allport’s theory, a propriate function that entails the perception of oneself as an active problem-solving agent.
self-esteem
In Allport’s theory, a propriate function that entails feelings of pride as one develops the ability to do things.
self-extension
In Allport’s theory, a propriate function that entails a sense of possession and valuing of others.
self-identity
In Allport’s theory, a propriate function that entails an awareness of inner sameness and continuity.
self-image
In Allport’s theory, a propriate function that entails a sense of the expectations of others and its comparison with one’s own behavior.
trait
Continuous dimension that an individual can be seen to possess to a certain degree. In Allport’s theory, a determining tendency to respond that represents the ultimate reality of psychological organization. In Cattell’s theory, an imaginary construct or inference from overt behavior that helps to explain it.
behavioral genetics
Study of heritable causes of individual differences.
Big Five
The five factors that typically surface from personality questionnaires and inventories: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.
eugenics
Improving the human race through genetic control.
evolutionary psychology
The branch of psychology that considers the impact of evolution on psychological mechanisms.
factor analysis
Employed by Cattell, a correlational procedure that describes large amounts of data in smaller, more manageable units by interrelating many correlations at one time.
Five-Factor Model (FFM)
A hypothesis for understanding personality structure based on five factors.
genotype
The genetic makeup of an individual.
heritability
An estimate of the degree to which a trait or characteristic is caused by the genotype rather than the environment.
phenotype
An individual’s observable appearance and behavior that arise out of the interaction of his or her genotype with the environment.
positive psychology
A branch of psychology that seeks to study and understand the complex positive behavior of people in order to emphasize the systematic building and amplifying of human strengths and virtues.
