Final answer:
The humanistic approach to personality, championed by Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers, emphasizes the innate goodness and potential for growth in people. Rogers's concept of self-concept and his emphasis on congruence between the ideal and real selves promote self-worth and personal development. Trait theory, on the other hand, concerns itself with characteristic behaviors and does not inherently focus on positive or negative aspects.
Step-by-step explanation:
The approach to personality that tends to emphasize the goodness in people is the humanistic approach. Pioneered by psychologists such as Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers, this approach focuses on the potential for self-actualization and the inherent goodness and growth potential within all individuals. Rather than seeing behaviors as responses to unconscious conflicts or as the products of conditioning, humanistic psychologists view people as inherently motivated towards growth and self-improvement.
Carl Rogers, a prominent humanistic theorist, introduced the concept of self-concept, which includes the ideal self (who we would like to be) and the real self (who we actually are). He emphasized the importance of achieving congruence between these two selves for greater self-worth and a healthy, productive life. Rogers's notion of providing unconditional positive regard to children fosters a supportive environment for personal growth and self-acceptance.
Trait theorists, meanwhile, focus on characteristic ways of behaving, such as being sociable or shy, passive or aggressive. Trait theorists like Gordon Allport identified thousands of words describing human personality traits and categorized them into cardinal traits, central traits, and secondary traits. Unlike the humanistic approach, trait theorists do not inherently focus on the positive aspects of personality.