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Using Cholesky Decomposition to Explore Individual Differences in Longitudinal Relations between Reading Skills
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Whole Trait Theory.

William Fleeson1, Eranda Jayawickreme1

  • 1Wake Forest University.

Journal of Research in Personality
|June 23, 2015
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Personality models need to incorporate situational reactions. Whole Trait Theory proposes traits have descriptive (state distributions) and explanatory (social-cognitive mechanisms) parts, integrating the Big 5 traits.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Personality Science

Background:

  • Traditional trait models often overlook situational influences.
  • Understanding personality requires explaining how traits manifest in different contexts.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose a revised framework for personality traits called Whole Trait Theory.
  • To integrate situational reactivity into personality models.

Main Methods:

  • Conceptualizing the descriptive aspect of traits as density distributions of states.
  • Developing an explanatory account for the Big Five personality traits.
  • Identifying social-cognitive mechanisms underlying trait expression.

Main Results:

  • Whole Trait Theory posits traits have distinct descriptive and explanatory components.
  • The explanatory component is proposed to comprise social-cognitive mechanisms.
  • These mechanisms are responsible for generating observable states related to the Big Five.

Conclusions:

  • Personality models must account for differential reactions to situations.
  • Whole Trait Theory offers a comprehensive framework by separating and integrating descriptive and explanatory trait aspects.
  • Identifying specific social-cognitive mechanisms is crucial for a complete understanding of personality.