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Trait Theory And Personal Construct Theory Have Markedly Different Approaches To The Understanding Of Individual Differences. Outline These Approaches And Assess The Strengths And Weaknesses Of Each. What Consequences Does Each Approach Have ...

Trait theory and personal construct theory have markedly different approaches to the understanding of individual differences. Outline these approaches and assess the strengths and weaknesses of each. What consequences does each approach have for understanding agency – structure dualism?

This paper commences with a brief overview of two competing influential theories that attempt to account for individual differences within the area of personality and intelligence. These are namely; Eysenck’s and Rachman’s Trait Theory (1965) and Geoerge Kelly’s Personal Construct theory, represented here through Salmon’s Phenomenological reworking of Kelly’s ideas in her approach to learning ( 2003) Following from which is an exploration of the definitive aspects of these theories and the main theoretical perspectives to which each generally ascribe. An evaluative discussion upon the strengths and weaknesses of each approach follows with consideration to the implications each theory may potentially bear upon individuals and wider social practice. I conclude by seeking to reveal the assumptions each perspective hold in regard to the agency- structure dualism and the possible consequences which may result by an overemphasis upon one or the other .

Psychologists have long puzzled over the way in which individuals may act differently in identical situations, resulting in various strands of personality theory to have emerged within the realm of psychology each attempting to explain personality traits at various levels , these being experimental, psychometric and clinical. Butt (2004) notes how Eysenck’s Trait Theory although presented as a clinical approach to understanding individual difference, was fundamentally rooted within the psychometric tradition which emerged from within the mainstream paradigm in the early twentieth century . Most famously to appear from this era was the Likert scale...