Chapter 9 - Affect and Cognition

Summary

Personality is a complex component of agency composed of interactive affect and cognition, resulting in patterns of behaviour. This occurs for the individual as well as for the social collective, like the organisation (Fink & Yolles, 2015). As we have already indicated throughout this book, there is still fragmentation in personality psychology (e.g., L’Abate, 2005). For Carver (2005: 320), ‘there is potential for confusion in comparing …[theories of personality] across literatures, due to differences in use of terms’. This is supported by Boeree (2006), who indicates that field of personality offers a plurality of theories, rather than a science of personality; this results in a confusing complexity of non-relatable terms. Such views apply not only to cognition theories of personality, but affect theories too. Historically, Leventhal (1980: 140) has noted that the concept of emotion is poorly defined, and research is fragmented and unintegrated, a situation is not much better more recently in relation to theories of emotion regulation.