Nomothetic versus idiographic personality research: a compromise proposal

Trait psychology has dominated the field of personality for the past 50 years, and has been the predominant model in personality research (Endler & Magnusson, 1976; Magnusson & Endler, 1977). Traits have been construed as stable, consistent attributes which "exert generalized and enduring causal effects on behavior" (Mischel, 1968, p. 8). The stability of these traits suggests that an individual's behavior should be consistent across both different situations and across time (Mischel, 1968, 1973). Traits, then, have been seen as broad underlying dimensions of personality on which individuals can be expected to differ.