Trait and process in personality theory: Defined within two contemporary research traditions

The concepts of trait and process are examined within the contexts of two t ypes of personality theory: mechanistic (for trait) and holistic (for proce ss). Although the typical instruments employed to map out traits (self-repo rt questionnaires) are easy to handle and produce fairly robust results, tr ait models often lack an explicit theoretical background and can not, there fore, serve but a limited descriptive purpose. Process research utilizes qu alitative methods, often projective tests, but lately also laboratory instr uments the results of which can be easily quantified. The advantage of a pr ocess approach is its obvious reference to a broad front-line of theorizing , including fields of developmental and dynamic psychology, making process more than a merely descriptive concept. In order to take care of the relati ve stability over time of certain personality characteristics the concept o f structure is introduced as an intrinsic aspect of process, i.e., process with a slow rate of change.