A schematic representation of the personality system.
A schematic representation of the personality system. 'Biological bases' (such as genes) and 'external influences' (such as cultural norms) are inputs to the system. Personality traits are found in the category of 'basic tendencies', which are influenced by biological bases, but not external influences. Causal paths are indicated by arrows, and show that, over time, traits interact with the environment to produce 'characteristic adaptations' (such as attitudes), and these in turn interact with the situation to produce the output of the system, the 'objective biography'. The 'self-concept' is a subset of characteristic adaptations of particular importance to self theorists. Adapted from McCrae & Costa (1996)