I recently took some time to conduct a bri ef, partially scientific survey.
I examined the last three issues of the Journal of Personality, theJournal of
Research in Personality, and the personality section of the Journal of Personal-
ity and Social Psychology. These journals are prominent outlets for current re-
search on personality. Of the 45 articles with empirical studies I found in these
journals, 40 included at least one trait measure. That is, in 88.9% of these stud-
ies, researchers measured individual differences and used these scores either to
compare people who fell on different p arts of a trait continuum or to predict
scores on another measure. This finding supports an assertion I have made for
a while: The trait approach has become so entrenched in personality research
today that, for many psychologists, personality research is synonymous withmeasuring and examining traits. A m ore rigorous study than mine found that
the use of trait measures in personalit y research not only is extensive but has
steadily increased over the past few dec ades (Swann & Seyle, 2005). Using trait
measures has become so widespread that it is part of the research arsenal for
experimenters in all of the approaches to personality that are covered in this
book. In addition, if you were to conduct a similar survey of research journals
in developmental psychology, social psyc hology, clinical psychology, industrial-
organizational psychology, and other fields, I suspect you would find a liberal
use of trait measures.
Although personality researchers have studied dozens and dozens of traits
in depth, we ’ll look at five areas of research that illustrate the breadth and
depth of the trait approach. We first examine research on achievement and
achievement motivation. Then we ’ll examine a personality concept that came
to the attention of trait researchers via the medical community. The Type A
behavior pattern and measures of hostility have been used by medical pro-
fessionals to identify candidates for heart disease. We ’ll also look at how per-
sonality research helps psychologists understand a common interpersonalproblem, namely social anxiety or shyness. Next we examine research on in-dividual differences in emotions. Although our emotions vary depending on
the events we encounter, personality psychologists can identify relatively sta-
ble patterns in how we experience and express our feelings. Finally, we lookat research on optimism and pessimism. Research suggests that how typically
optimistic or pessimistic we are in our approach to life has many important
implications.
ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION
Look at the picture on page 184. What is happening? Who do you think this
person might be? Think of a story that might be told about him. How is thestory resolved? There are no right or wrong answers to these questions. One
person might see a man deep in thought, weighing all the possible solutions
to an important problem, on his way to accomplishing something of value.
Another person might say the man is bored with his job, daydreaming about
where he would rather be, and contemplating an excuse to leave the office
early to spend the afternoon with his friends or family.Achievement Motivation 183