In relation to the Trait Theory of Personality, people possess some characteristics, and the degree and intensity of those characteristics are the reasons for personality differences. The trait approach is a crucial theoretical topic in the study of personality. According to trait theory, someone’s personality is built up of a range of tendencies (Swanson et al., 2000). A characteristic is a personality trait that meets three criteria: consistency, stability, and individual variation. According to Adler, a characteristic is a stable quality that causes people to behave in specific ways. In this paper, I will explore the characteristic perspective and the motive viewpoint, as well as how they benefit or harm the study of psychology.
The strategies used by psychologists to affect how people think about personality, specifically how they define features, have progressed gradually. In contrast to other theories of personality, the attribute approach to personality emphasizes individual differences (Harley et al., 2013). The mix and interaction of many qualities shape each person’s personality. Trait perspective theory aims to identify and quantify these different personality features.
The motive perspective to personality is based on the assumption that Behavior reflects underlying wants. A need is more likely to impact behaviour as it grows stronger. External inputs that elicit motivational inclinations also influence behaviour. Needs change in intensity from moment to moment, but people also differ in chronic need strength patterns. This distinction, according to this point of view, is the cause of individual variances in personality motivation perspectives.
In his scholarly work, Murray catalogued human motivations, several of which were later studied in depth by others. The urge for success was one. It was the motivation to overcome barriers and achieve goals. People with a high degree of accomplishment incentive behave differently than those with a low level in various ways: the kind of work they choose, the amount of effort they put in, and so on. The level of work difficulty they like, their persistence, and their performance levels (Fouad et al.,2007). Early accomplishment research ignored how approach and avoidance incentives might influence behaviour individually. Recent research has begun to investigate such unique influences.
Let us compare and contrast the benefits between trait and motivation perspectives in terms of their essential aspects, benefits, and drawbacks.
Trait Perspectives have the empirical Approach because the perspective is based on empirical research and measurement; it is simple to quantify personality features in people; it also includes Simplicity and accessibility: this consists of the Five-Factor Model, provides a simple framework that is simple to grasp and implement, making it accessible to both researchers and individuals trying to understand their personalities (Alder et al.,2013).
This type of perspective also comes with drawbacks, including Situational Variation. This involves the viewpoint of people that may miss the impact of situational circumstances on behaviour and may not adequately account for the diversity in behaviour caused by different situations (Alder et al.,2013).
The motives perspective has many benefits, as considered by philosophers; it gives insight into unconscious processes: The motive perspective delves deeper into the unconscious motives, wants, and unresolved conflicts that influence personality and behaviour. This provides insights into hidden aspects that may be obscure based solely on surface behaviour. It also analyses the holistic understanding viewed as an address to confine the interplay of multiple aspects of the psyche and how conflicts can lead to complicated behaviours (Fouad et al.,2007). It tackles the internal conflicts that people experience in their pursuit of psychological balance
No matter how well it can be studied, the motive perspective has its own setbacks. Firstly, the lack of empirical validation: Some parts of the motivation perspective are difficult to quantify experimentally, and notions such as the unconscious mind might be challenging to investigate using typical scientific methods (Slavin et al.,2012). The perspective also employs complicated theoretical constructs subject to interpretation, and its emphasis on unconscious processes can lead to Subjective interpretations and insufficient empirical validation.
In conclusion, the trait perspective stresses observable and stable features that can predict behaviour across settings. In contrast, the motive perspective dives into unconscious reasons and inner conflicts that determine behaviour and personality. The trait perspective is more empirical and relevant, whereas the motivation perspective provides a deeper understanding of psychological processes. Both viewpoints, however, have drawbacks, with the trait perspective potentially ignoring situational influences and the motivation perspective needing to be more complex and challenging to establish experimentally.
References
Adler, A. (2013). The practice and theory of individual psychology (Vol. 133). Routledge.
Slavin, R. E. (2012). Educational psychology: Theory and practice.
Fouad, N. A. (2007). Work and vocational psychology: Theory, research, and applications. Annu. Rev. Psychol., pp. 58, 543–564.
Swanson, J. L., & Gore, P. A. (2000). Advances in vocational psychology theory and research.
Harley, T. A. (2013). The psychology of language: From data to theory. Psychology Press.
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