Here's an interesting interview with Cambridge psychologist, Kevin Dutton. Dutton uses the word traits when referring to certain aspects of the psychopathic personality style, but I'm not entirely comfortable with the word because the inference often drawn is of something binary and static. Dutton doesn't make this mistake, but I always wince just a bit when I hear the word trait applied to personality. Our mental lives are anything but binary or static.
Personality refers to a dynamic, adaptive style or preferred pattern of mental processing that solves certain problems of living. But personality styles also come with some degree of maladaptive baggage, depending upon the rigidity and predominance of the style. A personality style that is helpful in one situation may have detrimental effects in another, so some stylistic flexibility is helpful to adjustment overall.
This view of personality style isn't necessarily at odds with the word trait, but for the person who doesn't have deeper exposure to theories of personality, the word can be misleading.
The Dutton interview is worth checking out because he discusses the psychopathic style from an adaptive perspective, which is something you don't always hear about in discussions of psychopathy.
Comments