Dispositional Personality Theories Matrix

PSY 405 Theories of Personality

September 16, 2013

Theory	Assumptions	Reliability	Validity	Application
Allport’s Psychology of the Individual Theory	Allport’s emphasis that each individual is unique unto him or herself lies at the root of his assumptions and his lifelong works, which involve detailing individualization of personality.  Personality is what Allport described as ‘“the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems… that determine his characteristic behavior and thought’” (Allport, 1961, p. 28; as restated by Feist & Feist, 2009, p. 378).  Allport built the basis of his assumptions on personal dispositions that permit descriptions of personal traits and characteristics.	With nearly 18,000 adjectives available “in the 1925 edition of the Webster’s New International Dictionary” to confirm the meanings of the personal dispositions that Allport describes in his theory (Feist & Feist, 2009, p. 381).  Although Allport’s scope of personality theory is fairly narrow, his assumptions are still able to generate testable hypothesis for adult motivations.	Although Allport’s theories only moderately generate research (e.g., religious orientation and prejudice reduction), most of Allport’s work is beyond the realm of falsifiability; but even with that his work serves as a guide for teachers and therapists’ to treat people as individuals instead of stereotypes; furthermore, Allport’s psychology is “both internally consistent and parsimonious” (Feist & Feist, 2009, p. 397).	Allport’s work on intrinsic and extrinsic religious orientation continued throughout his life, associating the benefits of intrinsic faith with a healthier (e.g., better cardiovascular health), longer life.  Allport also worked with “developing way to reduce racial prejudice” that has stemmed additional research in the reduction of not only racial prejudices but also toward the elderly and the mentally ill (Feist & Feist, 2009, p. 395).
Trait and Factor Theory	“Based on a procedure that assumes that human traits can be measured by correlational studies,” Eysenck, McCrae, and Costa share the idea that personality factors are biological and identifiable (p. 436).  In addition to the biological factors of this theory, there also lies a predictability factor too it.  Furthermore, this theory suggests that traits stabilize as people mature.	Trait and factor theories generate a considerable amount of empirical research throughout many cultures.  In addition the organization of these theories are consistent as individual presentations (e.g., Eysenck’s Three factor model versus McCrae and Costa’s Big Five model).  Regardless of the struggle between these slight differences these theories are comprehensive for research purposes but as friendly for lay purposes.	According to Feist and Feist (2009), this theory receives a “moderate to high rating” for falsifiability even though some researchers want to the theories explained for non-western cultures (p. 435).  Receiving an excellent rating for reducing variables (parsimony), trait and factor theories make analyzing personality easier to interpret.	Eysenck’s theory relates to the biological relationship to personality; suggesting that introvert and extrovert reactions create cortical stimulation, thus influencing biological makeup (Feist & Feist, 2009).  Additional research on traits and academics is working on the association between the “Big Five” personality traits and the predictability of SAT and GPA scores and retest ability. Feist and Feist (2009) further indicate that research is researchers are also working on the predicting the emotional aspect of personality traits, meaning the association between a foreseeable character trait like extroversion and the likelihood of positive mood.  These types of studies could be helpful to positive psychology.

References

Feist, J., & Feist, G. J. (2009). Theories of personality (7^th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.