Fig. 2.

The fundamental circularity of psychological explanations based on trait concepts. Note. Based on erroneous meta-theoretical assumptions about what phenomena are actually reflected by assessment data, D is considered to be a measure of C, which are the phenomena that underlie A. Therefore, it is concluded that D measures what underlies A and that D can thus causally explain A. But D can be the latent structure only of the phenomena B, which are the constructs and representations that people develop of A. Thus, explaining A with D is circular