disengagement theory.] [[activity–passivity]] ~(https://dictionary.apa.org/activity-passivity) (2020). in psychoanalytic theory, polarities characterizing instinctual aims (see aim of the instinct). Sigmund Freud asserted that instincts are always active but that their aims can be either active (e.g., sadism, voyeurism) or passive (e.g., exhibitionism, masochism). The concept now plays a role in many trait theories of personality[.] [[actor–observer effect]] ~(https://dictionary.apa.org/actor-observer-effect) (2020). in attribution theory, the tendency for individuals acting in a situation to attribute the causes of their behavior to external or situational factors, such as social pressure, but for observers to attribute the same behavior to internal or dispositional factors, such as personality. See fundamental attribution error. See also dispositional attribution