N. Nicholson, TOWARDS A NEW AGENDA FOR WORK AND PERSONALITY - TRAITS, SELF-IDENTITY, STRONG INTERACTIONISM, AND CHANGE - INTRODUCTION, Applied psychology, 45(3), 1996, pp. 189-205
Personality concepts and measurements are showing a sustained revival
of interest, and this paper aims to review some major current themes,
as well as suggesting new directions for theory and research, consider
ing in particular their relevance for work psychology. Historically th
e field has developed along three themes: the search for universals in
personality description and prediction; the search for perfectibility
through concepts of learning and change and the search for interactio
nist alternatives to steer a course between these positions. However,
much so-called interactionism seems to occupy shifting ground, and a n
eed for new ''strong'' interactionism is argued, which recognises the
relative immutability and power of deep personality structures, as wel
l as the importance of situational constraint. One way of reconceptual
ising these relationships is by a clearer recognition of the different
status and functioning of personality and self-identity constructs. T
his also leads to some new ways of thinking about the key issues of pe
rson-environment fit, such as the possible significance of ''determina
nt'' vs. ''indeterminant'' personality types, and about individual dif
ferences in propensity for stability and change in personality.