Whole Trait Theory

Abstract

Personality researchers should modify models of traits to include mechanisms of differential reaction to situations. Whole Trait Theory does so via five main points. First, the descriptive side of traits should be conceptualized as density distributions of states. Second, it is important to provide an explanatory account of the Big 5 traits. Third, adding an explanatory account to the Big 5 creates two parts to traits, an explanatory part and a descriptive part, and these two parts should be recognized as separate entities that are joined into whole traits. Fourth, Whole Trait Theory proposes that the explanatory side of traits consists of social-cognitive mechanisms. Fifth, social-cognitive mechanisms that produce Big-5 states should be identified.

Issues resolved and unresolved in pathological narcissism

“…These views have contributed to a shift in basic personality psychology from the study of the structure of individual differences to dynamic processes that give rise to dispositional traits [44][45]. This perspective recognizes that individuals may have a "preferred" set-point, which reflects their trait level, around which they fluctuate across time and situations.…”

Agreeable Authoritarians: Personality and Politics in Contemporary Russia

“…Though we know an increasing amount about the correlates of agreeableness, there is little agreement theoretically on the mechanism by which agreeableness (or any other personality trait) is related to social attitudes. Approaches 28 range from those that focus on the specifics of how the person and the situation interact to the more ambitious "whole trait theory," which posits that a complete account of traits requires an explanation of the emergence of traits from social-cognitive mechanisms (Fleeson and Jayawickreme 2015). While there is no space here to pursue a full review of different approaches, in this section we present preliminary evidence on one key mechanism -mediation.…”

Focusing Personality Assessment on the Person: Modeling General, Shared, and Person Specific Processes in Personality and Psychopathology

“…In contrast, contemporary personality theories elaborate within-person dynamic processes that putatively give rise to the major individual difference domains (e.g., Baumert et al, 2017;DeYoung, 2015;Fleeson & Jayawickreme, 2015;Pincus, Hopwood, & Wright, in press). Thus, what we recognize as an individual's personality is actually their particular patterning of behavior as it fluctuates across time and in response to situations (Wright, 2011).…”