FIVE-FACTOR THEORY
Components of the Personality System
Figure 9 represents the components of the personality system according
to FFT. The three rectangles refer to central components; the three el -
lipses to peripheral components that mark the interface with systems
outside personality per se. Biological Bases and External Influences are
the inputs, representing interactions of personality with the physicalbody and with the environment. The Objective Biography is the output:
It is everything the person does, thinks, or feels across the whole life -
span. It differs, of course, from the life narrative, which is a subjective
biography that may be inaccurate and must be highly selective.
The three central components are labeled Basic T endencies ,Charac -
teristic Adaptations , and the Self-Concept . As Figure 9 indicates, the Self-
Concept is in fact a Characteristic Adaptation, but one of such interestand importance to psychologists that it has been given the status of aseparate component. The heart of the model is the distinction betweenBasic Tendencies and Characteristic Adaptations, precisely the distinc-tion that we need to explain the stability of personality . Basic Ten-dencies are the abstract capacities and tendencies of the individual,whereas Characteristic Adaptations are concrete acquired structuresthat develop as the individual interacts with the environment. Thus Ba-sic Tendencies can be stable, while Characteristic Adaptations change.
Although FFT focuses chiefly on personality traits, Basic Ten-
dencies also include cognitive abilities, artistic talents, sexual orienta -
tion, and the whole psychological machinery underlying learning, per -
ception, and other psychological functions. For example, the capacity
to learn language is a Basic Tendency that all human infants possess. Butknowledge of French or Swahili or Quechua is not a Basic Tendency ,even in those born to the culture; it is a Characteristic Adaptation. Alllearned skills are Characteristic Adaptations, as are habits, interests, at -
titudes, beliefs, and the internalized, psychological aspects of roles and
relationships. Some Characteristic Adaptations, like language, are ex -
traordinarily long-lived; others, like the personal concerns McAdams
assigns to his second level, may be much more transient.
Although the distinction between Basic Tendencies and Character -
istic Adaptations is not customarily emphasized in personality psychol -
ogy , it is not particularly controversial. The claim that personality traitsA Five-Factor Theory of Personality 187