Toward an integrative personality psychology
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 research possibilities. I aim 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, and that both traits and worldviews can, and should, be studied across universalistic,
historic- cultural, and individual- centered levels of analysis. I conclude by emphasizing the need for a systematic study
of worldviews, and systematic integration across the trait- worldview divide and the nomothetic- idiothetic divide, for
the development of richer and more unified portraits of personalities.
the field looks like today rather than analyses of its logical structure and research possibilities. I aim 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, and that both traits and worldviews can, and should, be studied across universalistic,
historic- cultural, and individual- centered levels of analysis. I conclude by emphasizing the need for a systematic study
of worldviews, and systematic integration across the trait- worldview divide and the nomothetic- idiothetic divide, for
the development of richer and more unified portraits of personalities.
Department/s
Publishing year
2013
Language
English
Full text
Document type
Conference paper
Topic
- Psychology
Keywords
- personality
- trait
- worldview
- integration
- framework
- philosophy
Conference name
13th FEPSAC European Congress of Sport Psychology
Conference date
2011-07-12 - 2011-07-17
Conference place
Madeira, Portugal
Status
Unpublished