Personality psychology as the integrative study of traits and worldviews
Author
Summary, in English
Previous attempts to construct an integrative framework for personality psychology are primarily descriptions of what the field looks like today rather than analyses of its logical structure and
therefore threaten to reify and perpetuate the current structure of the field. I aim here to draw attention to logically important points that may help to integrate the field and suggest
potentially fruitful research paths that are unrealized due to historical contingency. My point of departure is that the crucial defining feature of personality psychology is that it studies human
beings not just as mechanical systems, but also as rational agents, whose experiences and actions are imbued with intentionality and meaning. I argue that it follows if we take this core
feature of personality seriously that the study of personality consists of two equally basic and mutually irreducible projects: the study of traits, defined as objective patterns of behavior, and
the study of worldviews, defined as subjective sources of meaning. I argue that worldviews are, contrary to popular belief, not inherently less universal, or in other ways less basic, than
traits, although they have seldom been studied systematically, and that both universalistic and historic- cultural levels of analysis can be usefully combined with both the study of traits and
the study of worldviews. I conclude by emphasizing the importance of integration across the trait- worldview divide, as well as the nomothetic- idiothetic divide, for the development of richer
and more unified portraits of personalities.
therefore threaten to reify and perpetuate the current structure of the field. I aim here to draw attention to logically important points that may help to integrate the field and suggest
potentially fruitful research paths that are unrealized due to historical contingency. My point of departure is that the crucial defining feature of personality psychology is that it studies human
beings not just as mechanical systems, but also as rational agents, whose experiences and actions are imbued with intentionality and meaning. I argue that it follows if we take this core
feature of personality seriously that the study of personality consists of two equally basic and mutually irreducible projects: the study of traits, defined as objective patterns of behavior, and
the study of worldviews, defined as subjective sources of meaning. I argue that worldviews are, contrary to popular belief, not inherently less universal, or in other ways less basic, than
traits, although they have seldom been studied systematically, and that both universalistic and historic- cultural levels of analysis can be usefully combined with both the study of traits and
the study of worldviews. I conclude by emphasizing the importance of integration across the trait- worldview divide, as well as the nomothetic- idiothetic divide, for the development of richer
and more unified portraits of personalities.
Department/s
Publishing year
2013
Language
English
Document type
Conference paper
Topic
- Psychology
Keywords
- personality
- trait
- worldview
- integration
- framework
- philosophy
Conference name
1st World Conference of Personality, 2013
Conference date
2013-03-19 - 2013-03-23
Conference place
Stellenbosch, South Africa
Status
Unpublished