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Trait Theories of Personality

  • Chapter
Advanced Personality

Part of the book series: The Plenum Series in Social/Clinical Psychology ((SSSC))

Abstract

For anyone who truly wishes to understand human personality, trait psychology is not an option. For decades, most personality psychologists opted for one or another of the major schools of psychology and attempted to understand human beings from its perspective. Psychoanalysts pondered free associations, behaviorists recorded behaviors, and self psychologists inventoried the self-concept. Although eclectic integrations were sometimes advanced (e.g., Murphy, 1947), most personality psychologists regarded perspectives other than their own with scorn and hostility. Dissension was the rule even within schools: Jun-gians and Freudians disputed the nature of the unconscious; Cattellians and Eysenckians argued about the true number of personality trait dimensions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gerontology Research Center, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, 21224, USA

    Paul T. Costa & Robert R. Mccrae

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  1. Paul T. Costa
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  1. Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA

    David F. Barone  & Vincent B. Van Hasselt  & 

  2. Pacific University, Forest Grove, Oregon, USA

    Michel Hersen

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Costa, P.T., Mccrae, R.R. (1998). Trait Theories of Personality. In: Barone, D.F., Hersen, M., Van Hasselt, V.B. (eds) Advanced Personality. The Plenum Series in Social/Clinical Psychology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8580-4_5

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