TRAITS AND MOTIVES - TOWARD AN INTEGRATION OF 2 TRADITIONS IN PERSONALITY-RESEARCH

After reviewing classic and current conceptions of trait las measured by questionnaires) and motive las measured by the Thematic Apperceptio n Test [TAT] or other imaginative verbal behavior), the authors sugges t that these 2 concepts reflect 2 fundamentally different elements of personality-conceptually distinct and empirically unrelated. The autho rs propose that traits and motives interact in the prediction of behav ior: Traits channel the behavioral expression of motives throughout th e life course. The authors illustrate this interactive hypothesis in 2 longitudinal studies, focusing on the broad trait of extraversion and the 2 social motives of affiliation and power. In interaction with ex traversion, both motives show predicted and replicated relations to in dependently measured life outcomes in the domains of relationships and careers. Extraversion facilitates unconflicted motive expression, whe reas introversion deflects social motives away from their characterist ic goals and creates difficulties in goal attainment.