Personality Psychology

Personality Psychology

Introduction

Personality researchers have suggested numerous theories on the structure and organization of personality. These theories are attempts at providing a framework for the study of personality the important ways people differ in their enduring emotional, interpersonal, attitudinal, and motivational styles. Personality disorders are characterized by patterns of perception, reaction and relationship are relatively fixed and socially maladjusted. This paper in connection to the personality psychology, will attempt to identify the negative and positive correlation between two personality traits. The study answers how personality traits: one promiscuity and guilt; second religiosity and hostility are either positively or negatively correlated. The correlation will be defined in accordance with the personality traits theories. The method to test the correlation will be defined in the later section, and finally the results will be analyzed and discussed.

Theoretical Framework: Personality and Social Behavior

In a proposition that has guided theory development and research for years in the social sciences, Kurt Lewin claimed behavior is a function of the person and the environment. Thus, behavior is a result of the individual's characteristics (i.e., traits, dispositions, past experiences) and of the characteristics of the situation in which the behavior occurs (Leary, M. R., & Tangney, 2003). Three strategies have been commonly used to study the relationship between personality and social behavior: the dispositional strategy, the interactional strategy, and the situational strategy. These strategies differ in the extent to which they emphasize the importance of personal characteristics and social sources of influence.

Hypothesis

H1: Promiscuity and guilt are the two personality traits that are interconnected and share positive correlation.

H2: Religiosity and hostility are also the two personality traits that are not connected mutually and share negative correlation.

The Dispositional Strategy

The dispositional strategy attempts to understand consistencies and regularities in behavior based on stable traits and enduring dispositions that are believed to be located “within” the individual. Empirical work using the dispositional strategy has focused on defining domains of behavior where it is possible to discern regularities over time and across situations. These regularities that manifest themselves across various situations and are not limited to any particular length of time are believed to be components of personality. Research has considered the impact of a wide range of traits on behavior: extraversion, empathy, locus of control, need for approval, authoritarianism, and Machiavellianism (Leary & Tangney, 2003).

The main critique of the dispositional strategy is that it gives too much emphasis to the role of the individual and overlooks, or greatly minimizes the powerful impact of the situation. This critique argues that in certain situations people may behave in unusual and irregular ways. Focusing on just the traits and dispositions of individuals may miss the role of the situation in determining and guiding behavioral decisions (Snyder, M., & Cantor, 1998).

The Interactional Strategy

The interactional strategy attempts to understand behavior by focusing on the interactive influence of personality (i.e., traits and dispositions of the individual) and features of the situation. This strategy addresses the main critique of the dispositional strategy by considering the influence of ...