personality theories

Personality is the ‘psychological characteristics that make a person unique and account for regular patterns of behaviour’. When we discuss a person’s personality we use words like shy, outgoing, boisterous, aggressive, temperamental, moody, sensitive, humorous, lively and dull and we formulate an impression of their personality from what they say or how they act. There has been an abundance of research in mainstream psychology trying to investigate the factors that impact on behaviour, referred to as traits.

Trait theory suggests that an individual’s personality is inherited from their parents; that traits are innate characteristics that we are born with. They are stable characteristics that are not easily changed so remain stable through our lifetime. The researchers or theorists who have proposed this approach state that traits are stable and enduring and that behaviour can be predicted because they predispose an individual to act in a certain way regardless of the situation.

Early trait theorists proposed that traits can be generalized and express personality consistently. For example, if a performer was highly aggressive they would act aggressively in most, if not all, situations or if a person was self-disciplined then they would be so at school as well as in sports settings.

In the 1950s Professor Hans Eysenck proposed a model with two dimensions that encompasses a number of personality traits. He developed a questionnaire, sometimes called an inventory (EPI), that could be used to work out an individual’s personality and this could be used to predict behaviour. His model contains two continua; on one continuum at opposing ends are stable and neurotic. On the other continuum the two opposing traits are introversion and extroversion. You can take the test here.

Personality and Levels of Aroual

There is a biological perspective of trait theory which suggests that personality is influenced by the Reticular Activating System (RAS) and the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS). The RAS is a part of the brain that influences the Introvert-Extrovert dimension. It has many roles, including whether we are awake or asleep and levels of excitement or arousal. The RAS interprets information that comes into the brain from the senses and controls our alertness and state of arousal. It is believed that in introverts the RAS is already stimulated so even minor changes in the environment will lead to over-arousal. For example this could be reading out loud to the members of the group. It is thought that in extraverts the RAS operates at a lower level so much more stimulation is needed to experience excitement and arousal. This means that extraverts seek out stimulating environments (e.g. performing in front of a crowd) so the RAS is activated.

The Autonomic Nervous System influences the Stable-Neurotic dimension. The ANS impedes incoming information for stable individuals and causes a delayed response to situations, giving the impression of a laid back personality. The ANS speeds up incoming information for neurotic individuals and causes a rapid response to situations, giving the impression of restlessness.

The Interactionist approach takes into account the strengths of both the Trait and Situational theories. Each performer brings with them a basic set of personality traits to sporting situations; however, the most significant effect may not just be from the personality traits, but from interaction with the environment.

Two predictions can be made using Interactionist theory: the first is when environmental factors are strong they are more likely to affect behaviour than personality traits. A usually quiet person may celebrate exuberantly when winning an important match; this behaviour may be seen as an unusual behaviour for that person. The second prediction is when personality factors are stronger than the situation; behaviour is more likely to be consistent with the performer’s regular personality traits.

Lewin (1935) proposed a formula to explain this interaction between the person and the situation as B=f(PE) where:

B = Behaviour

F = Function

P = Personality traits

E = Environment

Behaviour is the function of the sum of the individual’s personality (traits) and the environment/situation (social learning). Former England football star Chris Waddle is an example of how Interactionist theory works; Chris was generally confident on the pitch (trait) until he had to take a penalty. His past experience of missing penalties in important games (social learning) caused Chris to display a lack of confidence (resultant behaviour).