TRAIT APPROACH

• Personality consists of a distinctive set of

relatively stable or enduring characteristics
or dispositions called traits
• Traits are variables or dimensions which
are continuous.

• Extraversion- introversion

• An individual may fall along any point in

the continuum

• The location where the individual falls will

determine how an individual will responds
in various contexts.
• Each person can be placed somewhere on
continuum
• More or less aggressive, more or less friendly, etc.

• Scores will have a normal distribution

(fewer people score in the extreme on any
trait)
• Trait approach attempts to isolate and
describe the basic properties of the
individual

• Public personality

• Personality description and prediction of

behavior
• Trait theories assume that people vary on
a number of personality dimensions

• Global personality
• Can infer an individual’s trait from his
behavior

• Cannot explain behavior

• A man behaving aggressively on many

occasions  aggressive individual

• The man hit his friend because he is an

aggressive individual
Major theories of
personality
 Gordon Allport’s Trait Theory

• Dictionary - picked out more than 4,000

words that describe the human
personality.

• He grouped them into 3 main categories,

and believed that only a few traits really
define who we are.
1. Cardinal trait is a trait so dominant that
a person’s entire life revolves around it

2. Central traits are qualities that

characterize a person’s daily interactions

3. Secondary traits are characteristics that

are exhibited in specific situations
 Cardinal traits
• This is a single characteristic that directs
most of a person’s activities.

• It is so pervasive that it dominates just

about everything that a person does.

• E.g., Hitler’s power and control of people,

Mother Theresa’s altruistic humanitarian
trait
 Central traits
• Central traits are the major characteristics of an
individual.

• These usually number from 5 to 10 in any one

person (e.g., honest, friendly, humorous).
 Secondary traits

• These are characteristics that effect behavior in

fewer situations

• Less influential than central or cardinal traits.

• A preference for ice cream or dislike of modern

art would be considered a secondary trait.
 Raymond Cattell’s Sixteen
Personality Factors
• He reduced the number of main personality
traits from Allport’s initial list of over 4,000
down to 171

• Next, Cattell rated a large sample of individuals

for these 171 different traits.

• Then, using a statistical technique known as

factor analysis  16 key personality traits.
• Factor analysis is a complex statistical
technique for reducing a large number of
measures to a smaller number of independent
dimensions
• Tidy-careless, Calm-anxious, Responsive-
insensitive….

• Extraversion – talkative-silent
open-secretive
adventurous-cautious
 Cattell’s 16 PF
A Cool vs. Warm
B Concrete thinking vs. Abstract thinking
C Affected by feelings vs. Emotionally stable
E Submissive vs. Dominant
F Sober vs. Enthusiastic
G Expedient vs. Conscientious
H Shy vs. Bold
I Tough-minded vs. Tender-minded
L Trusting vs. Suspicious
M Practical vs. Imaginative
N Forthright vs. Shrewd
O Self-assured vs. Apprehensive
Q1 Conservative vs. Experimenting
Q2 Group-oriented vs. Self-sufficient
Q3 Undisciplined Self-conflict vs. Controlled
Q4 Relaxed vs. Tense
• Because you can't always get things done
by gradual reasonable methods, you
sometimes have to use force.

(a) true, (b) in between, (c) false

 Eysenck’s Three Dimensions of
Personality
Introversion/Extraversion:

• Introversion - focused more on internal

thoughts, feelings and moods rather than
seeking out external stimulation

• Extraversion - focusing attention outward

on other people and the environment.
• Neuroticism/Emotional Stability:

Neuroticism - an individual’s tendency to

become upset or emotional

Stability - the tendency to remain

emotionally constant.
Psychoticism
• Difficulty dealing with reality and may be
antisocial, hostile, non-empathetic and
manipulative.
 The Five-Factor Theory of
Personality
• Costa and McCrae
 Evaluation of trait approach
• Lack of agreement on the number of basic
traits that make up personality.
• Some overlap does occur
• Introversion-extraversion/ Stability-
instability
• Traits are often poor predictors of behavior

• Behavior may vary widely from one

situation to another

• eg. dominant
• Does not explain how personality develops