Beyond Traits in the Study of Personality Coherence

Abstract

People exhibit coherent patterns of experience and action that cannot be fully described or explained by personality trait models. Rather, personality coherence is expressed in dispositional tendencies that violate the structure of common trait categories. Across contexts, people display predictable patterns of behavioral variation that cannot be captured by trait constructs, which correspond to mean levels of response. In addition to these empirical findings, theoretical work in both psychology and philosophy challenges the conceptual strategies through which trait models explain personality coherence. These empirical and theoretical points can be addressed by alternative theoretical models that specify how underlying psychological systems give rise to both common and idiosyncratic patterns of personality consistency and variability.