Interactionism in personality in the twentieth century

This paper examines the historical development of the interaction model of personality in the twentieth century. The philosophical roots of interactionism can be traced to the writings of Aristotle and Descartes. One of the earliest interactionist positions in psychology can be found in the works of Kantor (1924, 1926). Although theoretical interest in interactionism continued with Lewin (1935), Murray (1938) and Rotter (1954), early empirical research examining interactionism developed independently. The social, political, historical and methodological factors that have influenced the research and theorizing on interactionism in personality are examined. Finally, the development of theinteraction model of personality is traced to the evolution of major personality issues, including: (1) the consistency-specifying controversy; (2) reformulation of definitions of consistency; (3) the distinction between mechanistic and dynamic interaction; and (4) the analysis of situations.