Personality Traits Evolution: The Lexical Hypothesis by Sir Francis Galton

What is the Lexical Hypothesis by Sir Francis Galton?

How does socially relevant aspects of human personality become encoded in our language?

Answer:

The Lexical Hypothesis by Sir Francis Galton posits that socially relevant aspects of human personality become encoded in our language, with the most relevant ones often expressed as single words.

Sir Francis Galton, in 1884, proposed the Lexical Hypothesis. His theory suggests that the most important aspects of human personality are reflected in our language. According to this hypothesis, individual differences that are socially relevant in people’s lives will eventually become encoded into their language. The more significant the difference, the more likely it is to be expressed as a single word.

This theory provides a unique understanding of how personality traits evolve over time through language. The Lexical Hypothesis is a significant postulate in Psychology, especially in the study of personality characteristics and traits.

The concept can be compared to other hypotheses like the Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis, which explores the relationship between language and thought processes. On the other hand, the Chromosomal Theory of Inheritance proposes a different relationship between genetics and traits. While all these theories suggest a link between different aspects, they each focus on a different nature of interconnection.