What is the term for a person's stable tendencies to behave in a specific way?

The correct term for a person's stable tendencies to behave in a specific way is known as "personality traits." Personality traits are consistent patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that encompass the various ways individuals typically respond to their environment and interact with others. These traits form the foundation of a person's identity and influence how they perceive and react to different situations over time.

Understanding personality traits is vital in personality theory because they help to categorize and analyze the complexities of human behavior. Traits are often measured along a continuum and can be identified using various psychological assessments, helping to explain individual differences in behavior.

While behavior patterns describe specific actions or responses that a person may use frequently, they do not provide the encompassing stability that personality traits denote. Emotional responses refer specifically to reactions to certain stimuli, and character attributes focus more on moral and ethical aspects rather than stable behavioral tendencies. Thus, personality traits capture the essence of a person's consistent ways of functioning across different contexts.