2.Universally available human experiences as consolidator of general
(culture-independent) traits.The flow of small experiences in every-
day life provides myriad testing and training grounds that, by reveal-
ing and reinforcing genetic proclivities, catalyzes and consolidates our
most basic, most general traits (intelligence, personality) in child-
hood. These are represented in column 2 in Figure 4.6. In this man-
ner, nurture (experience) begins to build the core self from the raw
materials that nature provides us. Researchers describe the resulting
stable differences among us as the “structure” of ability or personality.
With regard to mental abilities, factor analyses have revealed a “hier-
archical” structure in which all abilities can be ordered according to
their generality versus specificity. Only one mental ability has been
found at the most general level, which is called g, for the general
intelligence factor. The g factor, in turn, is the core ingredient of all
8-12 abilities at the next lower level of generality: broad abilities such
as verbal ability and spatial ability. These, in turn, are the major com-
ponents of yet more specific abilities, such as lexical knowledge and
spatial scanning, that are useful in much narrower domains of activ-
ity. With regard to personality, factor analyses generally reveal five
independent dimensions of personality (extraversion, agreeableness,
conscientiousness, neuroticism [or emotional stability], and openness
to experience), which researchers refer to as the “big five.” The most
general dimensions of personality (the big five) and ability (g) are cul-
ture-independent, because all cultures offer enough species-typical
experiences (with people, objects, problem solving, and so on) to
crystallize the relevant genetic differences into stable, organized,
observable—“traited”—distinctions among us (for example, Lykken
et al., 1993).
3.Culturally channeled activity as consolidator of ends-specific (culture-
dependent) trait combinations.Cultures organize human activity by
providing typical forms of activity that are directed toward culture-
specific ends, such as producing particular goods and services or pro-
moting allegiance to specific actors, activities, or ideals, whether they
be economic, social, religious, or political. This cultural organization
GOTTFREDSON’S THEORY OF CIRCUMSCRIPTION, COMPROMISE, AND SELF-CREATION 119