EDUCATION & WELFARE

Fundamental assumptions regarding the nature of personality are discussed in relation to the various approaches or theories of personality assessment. These approaches are the Dispositional and the Specificity Theory. The Dispositional Approach is discussed as to assumptions and the empirical status of the assumptions. Some implications of specificity theory are presented in regard to common misconceptions, specificity and consistency in behavior, moderator variables and subject-condition interactions, from disposition to behavior: the social behaviorist's trip, and from behavior to disposition: the subject's trip. A number of references is provided. (DB