supposed to explain. Kurt Lewin famously said that behavior is a func -
tion of the person and the environment: B=f(P,E); but FFT has a
slightly different answer. Figure 10 and the Interaction postulate claimthat behaviors result from the interaction of Characteristic Adaptationsand External Influences: B=f(CA,EI). For example, Joan might be of -
fered tickets to see La T raviata (an External Influence), but she has a
long-standing aversion to grand opera (a Characteristic Adaptation).She therefore declines the offer (the Objective Biography). In practice,even the simplest behavior involves more than this brief account sug -
gests. Joan must understand the language the offer is made in, she must
consider her relationship to the individual making the offer, she mustremember her feelings about opera (a part of the Self-Concept), shemust follow the dictates of etiquette in declining the invitation, and soon. It is not possible to behave as a human being without having a vastand intricate network of skills, beliefs, and values that allow one tointeract meaningfully with the social environment. That network iswhat FFT calls Characteristic Adaptations .
Figure 10 shows that the behavior itself has consequences, feeding
back on the Self-Concept (strengthening Joan’s sense of herself as acountry-and-Western fan) and on the environment (that’s the last invi-tation she’ll get from that friend!). But nothing we have described so farhas anything directly to do with traits. To involve them, we need to in-voke the Interaction and Adaptation postulates. These postulates spec-ify the origins of Characteristic Adaptations in the interaction of BasicTendencies and External Influences: CA=f(BT,EI).
In fact, this is why they are called Characteristic Adaptations: They
arecharacteristic because they reflect the operation of enduring person -
ality traits, and they are adaptations because they are shaped in response
to the demands and opportunities offered by the environment. Person -
ality traits have more influence on some Characteristic Adaptations
than others. Whether one eats with chopsticks or silverware is almostentirely a function of where one was born. But even here, personalitycan intrude: More adventurous, inquisitive, open people are more liketo learn foreign customs, like eating with silverware.
To continue our earlier example, we can now account for Joan’s
aversion to opera. That Characteristic Adaptation is probably the resultof her life experience and her fundamental closedness to Aesthetics. Ifshe is very closed, she may never even have heard an opera and hasformed an opinion based solely on reputation. (The Baltimore Operaonce used the advertising slogan, “It’s not as bad as you think—it can’tA Five-Factor Theory of Personality 191