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4 - States and Situations, Traits and Environments

from Part I - Foundational Issues: History and Approaches to Personality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2020

By
Jens B. Asendorpf  and
John F. Rauthmann
Edited by
Philip J. Corr  and
Gerald Matthews
Philip J. Corr
Affiliation:
City, University London
Gerald Matthews
Affiliation:
University of Central Florida
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Summary

According to a famous quotation, “Every man is in certain respects (a) like all other men, (b) like some other man, (c) like no other man” (Kluckhohn & Murray, 1953, p. 53). General psychology is concerned with Point (a), and personality psychology with Points (b) and (c) (Allport, 1937, who owed most of his ideas to Stern, 1911). Personality psychology attempts to describe, predict, and explain those recurrent behaviors and experiences that set an individual apart from some or all other age-mates (personality traits; see ). These behaviors and experiences (psychological states) do not occur in a vacuum – they occur in psychological situations, and if these situations recur, these environmental characteristics (environments) also characterize individuals. This chapter is concerned with the relations between these four key constructs of personality psychology: states and traits, situations and environments.

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The Cambridge Handbook of Personality Psychology , pp. 56 - 68
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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