MOTIVATION PROBLEMS IN FOREIGN PERSONALITY THEORIES

2020 ◽  
pp. 12-28
Author(s):  
Inna R. Altunina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Behavior ◽  
Psychological Theory ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Personality Psychology ◽  
Psychological Theories ◽  
Personality Theories ◽  
Theoretical Issues ◽  
Theory Of Motivation

Foreign author’s psychological theories of personality from the point of view of formulating and solving issues related to the field of motivation of human behavior are examined in the article. The theories are mainly presented, which are usually considered both in monographs devoted to theoretical issues of personality psychology, and in books, the purpose of which is to illuminate motivational issues. The provisions of these theories related to the topic of motivation are revealed and discussed. Particular attention is paid to the lack of clear scientific criteria for classifying a particular theory as a personal or motivational problem, although in fact motivation is only a particular aspect of personality psychology. In conclusion, the point is made that in modern theories of personality, the issues of motivation of human behavior are disclosed quite fully and versatile, however, there is still no unified, holistic psychological theory of motivation and a clear division of the theory into personal and motivational. The same is stated with regard to psychological theories of personality, which differ significantly from each other in terms of terminology, problems considered in them and scientific solutions offered to them.

Impulse and Constraint: Perspectives From Personality Psychology, Convergence With Theory in Other Areas, and Potential for Integration

2005 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 312-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles S. Carver
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Psychology ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Personality Psychology ◽  
Psychological Theories ◽  
Behavioral Dimension ◽  
Personality Theories

A behavioral dimension of impulse versus constraint has long been observed by personality psychologists. This article begins by reviewing processes underlying this dimension from the perspectives of several personality theories. Some cases of constraint reflect inhibition due to anxiety, but some theories suggest other roots for constraint. Theories from developmental psychology accommodate both possibilities by positing 2 sorts of control over action. These modes of influence strongly resemble those predicated in some personality theories and also 2 modes of function that are asserted by some cognitive and social psychological theories. Several further literatures are considered, to which 2-mode models seem to contribute meaningfully. The article closes by addressing questions raised by these ideas, including whether the issue of impulse versus constraint applies to avoidance as well as to approach.

scholarly journals Anatomy of a Psychological Theory: Integrating Construct-Validation and Computational-Modeling Methods to Advance Theorizing

2021 ◽  
pp. 174569162096679
Author(s):  
Ivan Grahek ◽  
Mark Schaller ◽  
Jennifer L. Tackett
Keyword(s):  
Computational Modeling ◽  
Construct Validation ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Psychological Theory ◽  
Modeling Methods ◽  
Psychological Theories ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
Convergence And Divergence

Discussions about the replicability of psychological studies have primarily focused on improving research methods and practices, with less attention paid to the role of well-specified theories in facilitating the production of reliable empirical results. The field is currently in need of clearly articulated steps to theory specification and development, particularly regarding frameworks that may generalize across different fields of psychology. Here we focus on two approaches to theory specification and development that are typically associated with distinct research traditions: computational modeling and construct validation. We outline the points of convergence and divergence between them to illuminate the anatomy of a scientific theory in psychology—what a well-specified theory should contain and how it should be interrogated and revised through iterative theory-development processes. We propose how these two approaches can be used in complementary ways to increase the quality of explanations and the precision of predictions offered by psychological theories.

scholarly journals So Useful as a Good Theory? The Practicality Crisis in (Social) Psychological Theory

2021 ◽  
pp. 174569162096965
Author(s):  
Elliot T. Berkman ◽  
Sylas M. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Social Issues ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
National Level ◽  
Laboratory Data ◽  
Psychological Theory ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Psychological Theories ◽  
Health Domains ◽  
Societal Problems ◽  
Social Psychological Theory

Practicality was a valued attribute of academic psychological theory during its initial decades, but usefulness has since faded in importance to the field. Theories are now evaluated mainly on their ability to account for decontextualized laboratory data and not their ability to help solve societal problems. With laudable exceptions in the clinical, intergroup, and health domains, most psychological theories have little relevance to people’s everyday lives, poor accessibility to policymakers, or even applicability to the work of other academics who are better positioned to translate the theories to the practical realm. We refer to the lack of relevance, accessibility, and applicability of psychological theory to the rest of society as the practicality crisis. The practicality crisis harms the field in its ability to attract the next generation of scholars and maintain viability at the national level. We describe practical theory and illustrate its use in the field of self-regulation. Psychological theory is historically and scientifically well positioned to become useful should scholars in the field decide to value practicality. We offer a set of incentives to encourage the return of social psychology to the Lewinian vision of a useful science that speaks to pressing social issues.

Reasons, Causes, and Intentional Explanation

1986 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick Stoutland
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Human Behavior ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Social ◽  
Intentional Explanation ◽  
Covering Law ◽  
Causal Laws ◽  
Physical Laws ◽  
And Behavior

AbstractThe reasons-causes debate concerns whether explanations of human behavior in terms of an agent's reasons presuppose causal laws. This paper considers three approaches to this debate: the covering law model which holds that there are causal laws covering both reasons and behavior, the intentionalist approach which denies any role to causal laws, and Donald Davidson’s point of view which denies that causal laws connect reasons and behavior, but holds that reasons and behavior must be covered by physical laws if reasons explanations are to be valid. I defend the intentionalist approach against the two causalist approaches and conclude with reflections on the significance of the debate for the social sciences.

Introduction to Psychophysiology of Human Personality

2017 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Psychological Functioning ◽  
Historical Data ◽  
Measurement Methods ◽  
Personality Psychology ◽  
Human Personality ◽  
Biological Basis ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Personality Theories ◽  
Psychological Concepts

The analysis of historical data has shown that there have been numerous attempts in exploring and understanding individual differences in human personality. Many of them have been using the arousal construct seemed as the most dominant one. Since then, personality psychology has revealed many personality theories and measurement methods as a theoretical and methodological frame in understanding human personality. Besides that, the same researchers and many others have tried to explain human personality and its various psychological concepts using different psychophysiological methods. Therefore, contemporary psychophysiology of personality includes all research on the biological basis of personality underlying trait-like differences in psychological functioning. This section will provide a detailed overview of the psychophysiology of human personality along with the most intriguing research questions.

Sender outcomes of online word-of-mouth transmission

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 197-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cuiping Chen ◽  
Tao (Tony) Gao
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Word Of Mouth ◽  
Signaling Theory ◽  
Consumer Welfare ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Psychological Theories ◽  
Online Word Of Mouth ◽  
Theories Of Emotions

Purpose Despite the importance of online word-of-mouth (WOM) communication to senders, receivers and concerned companies alike, a surprisingly limited amount of research exists on the impacts of online WOM participation on the senders themselves. Motivated by an attempt to fill this significant gap in the literature, this paper aims to investigate the sender outcomes of online WOM participation. Design/methodology/approach The authors draw on insights from focus group studies and psychological theories of emotions, catharsis and regret and the signaling theory to develop a conceptual model linking the drivers and content characteristics of online WOM participation and sender outcomes. Findings The findings show that sender outcomes from online WOM transmission differ by the types of drivers stimulating the online sharing activity and the level of exaggeration in the senders’ self-generated contents. Specifically, online WOM triggered by emotions leads to catharsis and emotional homeostasis among the senders, while that stimulated by motivational drivers such as altruism, reciprocity, self-enhancement and belongingness leads to sender happiness. Exaggeration in self-generated WOM contents by the senders, in turn, leads to delayed outcomes of sender regret and reduced sender trust in general online WOM contents. Research limitations/implications The most important contribution to online WOM research lies in the study of the outcomes of WOM transmission from a sender’s point of view. By drawing on our exploratory findings and psychological theories of emotions, catharsis and regret and the signaling theory, the authors develop a conceptual model linking the drivers and the exaggeration nature of online WOM participation and sender outcomes. Practical implications Managers should realize that the most fundamental way of ensuring positive consumption experiences is to listen to customer voices, including even the most negative of feedback shared privately or publicly, and use that information to improve essential customer experience aspects. The finding on the effects of online WOM exaggerations on sender regret suggests that companies and consumers alike should work on ensuring producing more accurate and complete online customer reviews. The finding on the negative effect of online WOM exaggerations on sender trust raises an important question on the meaning of high quality reviews from the company’s perspective. To pursue high quality reviews, merchants should not only aim at receiving the highest possible numeric ratings but also encourage most truthful accounts of purchase and usage experiences. In turn, online platforms such as Amazon should also factor the quality of online ratings more effectively into their product recommendation algorithms. Social implications In further consideration of consumer welfare implications, online WOM transmissions should be more recognized as a tool for allowing consumers to cleanse their emotions associated with marketing stimuli. Originality/value Overall, the qualitative study and proposed conceptual model contribute to a more thorough and deeper understanding of individual-level sender outcomes of online WOM participation.

scholarly journals Traits and Adaptations: A Theoretical Examination and New Empirical Evidence

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Henry ◽  
René Mõttus
Keyword(s):  
Social Desirability ◽  
Big Five ◽  
Rank Order ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Rater Agreement ◽  
Evolutionary Time ◽  
Personality Psychology ◽  
Environment Model ◽  
Personality Theories ◽  
Empirical Implications

We investigated the distinction between traits (also labelled basic tendencies or dispositions) and (characteristic) adaptations, two related features of the personality system postulated to influence how personality manifests throughout the lifespan. Traits are alleged to be universal, causal, and enduring entities that exist across cultures and through evolutionary time, whereas learned adaptations are acquired through sustained interaction with cultural, physical, and social environments. Although this distinction is central to several personality theories, they provide few measurable criteria to distinguish between traits and adaptations. Moreover, little research has endeavoured to operationalize it, let alone test it empirically. Drawing on insights from four frameworks—the Five–Factor Theory, Cybernetic Big Five Theory, Disposition–Adaptation–Environment Model, and New Big Five—we attempted to investigate the distinction both theoretically and empirically. Using various experimental rating conditions, we first scored 240 questionnaire items in their degrees of definitionally reflecting traits and/or adaptations. Next, we correlated these definitional ratings with the items’ estimates of rank–order stability, consensual validity, and heritability—criteria often associated with personality traits. We found some evidence that items rated as more trait–like and less adaptation–like correspond to higher cross–rater agreement and stability but not heritability. These associations survived controlling for items’ retest reliability, social desirability, and variance. The theoretical and empirical implications of these findings are discussed. © 2020 European Association of Personality Psychology

scholarly journals Concept, Possibilities and Pilot-Testing of a New Smartphone Application for the Social and Life Sciences to Study Human Behavior Including Validation Data from Personality Psychology

J ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Montag ◽  
Harald Baumeister ◽  
Christopher Kannen ◽  
Rayna Sariyska ◽  
Eva-Maria Meßner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Internet Of Things ◽  
Human Behavior ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Smartphone Application ◽  
Self Report ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Validation Data ◽  
Personality Psychology ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Internet Of Things

With the advent of the World Wide Web, the smartphone and the Internet of Things, not only society but also the sciences are rapidly changing. In particular, the social sciences can profit from these digital developments, because now scientists have the power to study real-life human behavior via smartphones and other devices connected to the Internet of Things on a large-scale level. Although this sounds easy, scientists often face the problem that no practicable solution exists to participate in such a new scientific movement, due to a lack of an interdisciplinary network. If so, the development time of a new product, such as a smartphone application to get insights into human behavior takes an enormous amount of time and resources. Given this problem, the present work presents an easy way to use a smartphone application, which can be applied by social scientists to study a large range of scientific questions. The application provides measurements of variables via tracking smartphone–use patterns, such as call behavior, application use (e.g., social media), GPS and many others. In addition, the presented Android-based smartphone application, called Insights, can also be used to administer self-report questionnaires for conducting experience sampling and to search for co-variations between smartphone usage/smartphone data and self-report data. Of importance, the present work gives a detailed overview on how to conduct a study using an application such as Insights, starting from designing the study, installing the application to analyzing the data. In the present work, server requirements and privacy issues are also discussed. Furthermore, first validation data from personality psychology are presented. Such validation data are important in establishing trust in the applied technology to track behavior. In sum, the aim of the present work is (i) to provide interested scientists a short overview on how to conduct a study with smartphone app tracking technology, (ii) to present the features of the designed smartphone application and (iii) to demonstrate its validity with a proof of concept study, hence correlating smartphone usage with personality measures.

Why democracy must be global: self-founding and democratic intervention

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Agné
Keyword(s):  
Point Of View ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
Failed States ◽  
Foreign Intervention ◽  
Boundary Issues ◽  
Theoretical Issues ◽  
Political Decisions

Globalization, foreign intervention, and failed states have drawn new attention to theoretical issues of how political orders and communities can be legitimately founded, and what it means for a people to be self-governing. In this article, I will challenge an argument in this debate saying that the founding of new political orders is always in some sense illegitimate insofar as it cannot be decided democratically. In opposition to this view, I will suggest that the founding of political orders is legitimate even from a democratic point of view when decided together by people within as well as beyond the boundaries inherent in the foundation. In case of persisting disagreement over boundary issues, political decisions can still derive democratic legitimacy from global procedures that are equally inclusive of everyone capable of contesting those decisions. Elaborating on the implications of this argument, I will also reject the notion that foreign interventions for establishing democracy are themselves necessarily illegitimate or undemocratic.

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