HUMAN PERSONALITY AS SIMPLE AND COMPLEX SYSTEMS:PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL ISSUES INVOLVING THE SELF,INDIVIDUALITY, AND UNIQUENESS

摘要

The individual, like all individuals, is truly a complex organism. Therefore, humanrnpersonality may best be described and understood as a reciprocally-interactive complexrnsystem. Biological history, genetic background, culture, society, social-cognitivernlearning factors, judgements, consequences of action and behavior, and psychologicalrnaspects of situations all contribute in concert toward the dynamic system of humanrnpersonality.rnUnfortunately, however, there exists a split in theoretical, philosophical, andrnpsychological features of the scientific study of human personality creating two separaterndisciplines (Cervone, 1991). The distinction between these approaches has receivedrnattention both within the psychological literature on personality (Cervone, 1991; Mischelrn& Shoda, 1995, Shadel & Cervone, 1993) and in recent literature on the philosophy ofrnscience (Shaffer, 1996). The two schools of personality psychology, therntrait/dispositional approach (McCrae & Costa, 1996) and the social-cognitive approachrn(Bandura, 1986; Cervone, 1997; Mischel, 1973; Mischel & Shoda, 1995), are currentlyrnengaged in a debate analogous to a persistent issue, simplicity and simple systems versusrncomplexity and complex systems, present in science and philosophy. This persistentrnissue on simple versus complex systems is also relevant to the debate between personalityrnpsychologists. Trait/dispositional approaches seek simple explanations for behavior andrnview personality as a simple system. Although simplicity is valuable, it is not the keyrnfocus of social-cognitive theorists. Social-cognitive approaches investigate thernuniqueness of the individual and construct a complex system for understanding thoughtrnand action in human personality.rnThis paper presents a solution for psychological assessment and evaluation, shown in thernphilosophy of science literature on alternative models of scientific explanation, to therntheoretical and philosophical problems involving simple and complex systems inrnpersonality psychology. Research reveals that complex cognitive mechanisms mediaternand regulate idiographic patterns of thought and behavior in the individual which suggestrnpersonality to be a complex system.