Traits and motives: Toward an integration of two traditions in personality research.

Abstract

After reviewing classic and current conceptions of trait (as measured by questionnaires) and motive (as measured by the Thematic Apperception Test [TAT] or other imaginative verbal behavior), the authors suggest that these 2 concepts reflect 2 fundamentally different elements of personality--conceptually distinct and empirically unrelated. The authors propose that traits and motives interact in the prediction of behavior: Traits channel the behavioral expression of motives throughout the life course. The authors illustrate this interactive hypothesis in 2 longitudinal studies, focusing on the broad trait of extraversion and the 2 social motives of affiliation and power. In interaction with extraversion, both motives show predicted and replicated relations to independently measured life outcomes in the domains of relationships and careers. Extraversion facilitates unconflicted motive expression, whereas introversion deflects social motives away from their characteristic goals and creates difficulties in goal attainment.

Channeling identity: A study of storytelling in conversations between introverted and extraverted friends

“…It is also important to note that the sample was limited to college students who were primarily of European-American descent; studies of storytelling in other cultural communities and age groups suggest different practices with regard to how stories are told, and by whom (e.g., Miller, Wiley, Fung, & Liang, 1997). Other important limitations are that we did not incorporate the domain of goals or motives in this study, another key feature of personality (Winter et al, 1998), nor did we examine how stories were evaluated, an important aspect of storytelling and identity making (McAdams, 2001;McLean & Thorne, 2003).…”

“…A notable difficulty in connecting traits and life stories is that traits tend to be construed as genetic endowments, and life stories as psychosocial constructions (McAdams, 2001). However, it is now widely recognized that traits such as extraversion, while genetically based (e.g., Plomin, Chipuer, & Loehlin, 1990), become developmentally elaborated through psychosocial processes (Caspi, 1998).The present study builds on the idea that traits help to channel the development of other domains of personality (McLean & Pasupathi, 2006;Winter, John, Stewart, Klohnen, & Duncan, 1998). We investigated this channeling by exploring how people actively construct or "do" personality in everyday life (Cantor, 1990).…”

“…The present study builds on the idea that traits help to channel the development of other domains of personality (McLean & Pasupathi, 2006;Winter, John, Stewart, Klohnen, & Duncan, 1998). We investigated this channeling by exploring how people actively construct or "do" personality in everyday life (Cantor, 1990).…”

Using Multiple Methods in Personality Psychology.

“…For instance, early research on achievement motivation was stymied for decades by the empirical finding of negative relationships between the motive and variables such as popularity (Boyatzis, 1973). Given the current theorizing concerning trait-motive relationships, this can now be understood as a by-product of an achievement-extraversion interaction, which explains how extraverts and introverts differentially handle their level of achievement motivation (Winter et al, 1998).…”

“…In their attempt to integrate the domains of traits and motives, Winter et al (1998) suggested that implicit motives and personality traits generally interact in their prediction of life outcomes. More specifically, they hypothesized that motives represent a person's fundamental goals and desires, whereas traits channel the expression of these motives toward specific paths.…”