Taxonomies of situations from a trait psychological perspective. A review

Abstract

In this article we review studies of situations and situation taxonomies from the perspective of trait psychology. Objections to trait psychology are discussed and several refutations are recapitulated. The relation between traits and situations is analysed, as well as the anity that both concepts demonstrate. Some taxonomic properties are discussed, exempli®ed by one of the most common and detailed trait taxonomies to date, the Abridged Big Five Circumplex, and by seven situation taxonomies. Personality psychologists, besides trait psychologists, have stressed the need to no longer debate the existence of traits, but to specify their nature with increasing precision in dierent situations. What is needed is a taxonomy of personality characteristics that systematically incorporates situational information, so that traits can be questioned in their context, that is, in a context that allows for individual dierences in the expression of trait-relevant behaviour.

The Application of Signature Character Strengths and Positive Experiences at Work

“…Furthermore, the situational influences on trait-relevant behavior have been noted earlier in personality research (Ten Berge and De Raad 1999), but this study extends this to the trait concepts of the character strengths as postulated by Peterson and Seligman (2004). Kenrick et al (1990) found that some traits could be observed across more situations than others.…”

“…Items should therefore assess the degree of control and confidence to perform certain behavior (i.e., ''I do it''). We added a fourth aspect namely (d) the motivation to behave in a certain way in a certain environment, because the expression of traits also depends on individual motives (Ten Berge and De Raad 1999). Items should therefore ask for the individuals' evaluation of the relative importance of the behavior of interest (i.e., ''it is important for me'' to behave in line with the behavior of interest).…”

“…Formal situations like the workplace might not always encourage behavior that suits an individual's trait pattern (Ten Berge and De Raad 1999). For example, norms given by the job description, supervisors or co-workers restrict the range of suitable behaviors.…”

“…Secondly, situational circumstances (e.g., at the workplace or in private life) need to allow or call for the demonstration of a strength, as trait-related behavior needs conducive circumstances to be displayed (Saucier et al 2007;Ten Berge and De Raad 1999). Formal situations like the workplace might not always encourage behavior that suits an individual's trait pattern (Ten Berge and De Raad 1999).…”

Individual behavioral phenotypes: An integrative meta‐theoretical framework. Why “behavioral syndromes” are not analogs of “personality”

“…Situations are complex constellations of stimuli or conditions in the abiotic, biotic, and conspecific environments (Capitanio, 2004) that can affect individuals by both their presence and their absence, such as presence of samesex conspecifics, and absence of predator cues. Situations can be classified by the specific properties they represent for particular individuals, groups of individuals, or populations (Sih et al, 2004b;Ten Berge & De Raad, 1999;Uher, 2008b), such as degrees of competition or predation risk. These may differ, for example, among age groups, such that, for snake-naive infant monkeys, snakes may represent less strong threats than for snake-experienced adult monkeys (Cook & Mineka, 1989).…”