Personality Traits

Personality traits refer to deep-seated differences in what individuals are like. In day-to-day life, many of us describe other people using adjectives like outgoing,open, or adventurous. When we use descriptions like that, we are generally talking about a person’s personality. Psychologists have long been interested in the measurement, causes, and consequences of personality traits. In fact, one branch of psychology is called personality psychology. Scholars who study personality are often interested in identifying, measuring, and describing individual psychological differences, determining the causes of those differences, and understanding the effects of personality. In general, psychologists have found evidence that personality is remarkably stable over time, genetically heritable to at least some extent, and distinct from concepts like values and ideology. In addition, there is solid evidence ...