trait theory- allport Flashcards
What approaches did allport not agree with?
What did he believe in instead of psychoanalysis?
Why did he not agree with behaviorism?
what did he establish?
psychoanalytic approach to personality looked to much into the past as being the cause f behaviour (allport believed in functional autonomy - infantile drives influence adult drives but become independent of them)
Behabiourism - not analytical enough - disagreed with behaviours being caused b classical conditioning (learning by associating neural stimulus with stimulus
Created his own approach to personality- trait theory approach
Definition of trait: What did he theorise about traits?
What makes up behaviour? what is behaviour seen as?
traits are biologically determined at birth and are influenced by environmental experiences.
Internal and external influences on thoughts and feelings (behaviour a motive for action)
They are predisposition = stability
What did allport categorise the internal and external influences as?
genotypes = internal influences on thoughts and feelings- help draw conclusions about the world and retain information - shaped by what is represented as normal in the home environment
To change thoughts and feelings (behaviour) there has to be another force
Phenotype = societal/external influences - learning norms and values of society = influence thoughts and feelings causing a change in behavior
How did Allport begin to investigate the stucture of personality? what did he do with these traits?
What are cardinal traits seen as in relation to behaviour?
Central traits, present in everyone? how do central traits create a unique personality? what are they seen as?
went through dictionaries noting down words describing different personality traits
established 4500
categorized into 3 tiered hierarchy of personality - 3types of traits that govern personality they are unique
cardinal traits - dominant of personality deterministic of behavior similar to source traits of Cattell
Central traits- lay foundations of personality. similar to source traits, usually 5 to 10 traits to describe a person- exist in varying degrees - basic characteristics found in people in varying degrees makes unique personality ie friendliy
Seconday - preferences
Traits
Assumptions?
scored?
building blocks of personality
stable/hereditary
scored on a continuum
What is the important concept in personality theories
When do children develop a sense of self-identity?
when do they develop self esteem?
The concept of the self is important as is creaes individuality
Children are not born with a concept of the self
Awareness of the separation of them and others in the environment = sense of self identity
Experiences wilst being integrated into the family and wider society = development of self esteem
Contributions to trait theory
what did he argue about traits?
what did he distinguish between?
contributed to what model?
What did he not develop? -who was this left to
4500?
limitations - traits can not accurately predict behaviour even if there is constancy there is variability in how people behave in a different situations (emphasised the importance of situational factors
the distinction between nomothetic and ideographic approach
influence of personality and situation in determining behavior
Contribution to five-factor model
He did not develop standardized measure of personality - left to other theorists
4500 impractical
definition of personality
Personality is a dynamic organization in a psychophysical system that creates characteristic patterns in behavior, emotions and feelings
Key aspect of personality
Key = change
Change helps adapt and cope with new situations link to genotype and phenotype
Occupation?
why did Allport create trait theory? (to understand)
american psychologist
produced trait theory to understand human personality
