Trait conceptions of Personality

The trait perspective of personality explores your personality traits and how many traits you have

Trait approach to personality

An approach the emphasises psychological characteristics, known as trait, that define the individuals as a person

seeks to describe the differences and similarities between people based on traits

Gordon Allport:

  • he found 18000 words to describe other people. Later reduced to pool of 4000 traits terms
  • Organised them into a hierarchy of 3 levels by how they determine behaviour

Cardinal trait:

  • highest level
  • so pervasive and dominant it influences behaviour (mother theresa)

Central trait:

  • traits you would describe yourself(e.g. competitiveness, generosity

Secondary Trait:

  • more superficial level
  • affect behaviour in fewer situations under certain conditions and are less consistent

Hans Eysenck

Believed personality is a result of genetic inheritance

Dimensions of Personality

he described personality as a relationship between 3 basic types of traits

  • Extraversion- introversion
  • Neuroticism- Stability
  • Psychotism - Impulse control

Raymond Cattell

identified two levels of trait

Surface traits

that are on the surface of personality

Can be inferred from observations of behaviour

argued these were inter-related and appeared in clusters or groups

Source traits

the surface traits formed as representatives of an underlying source trait

  • some is reserved and quite- this reflects her source that of introversion

identified 16 key source traits using a complex statistical procedure called factor analysis

16 personality factor

from this he developed a personality test that used 185 yes/no questions that would provide information on each of the 16 personality source trait

this 16PF questionnaire provides a useful profile of the individual personality and enable comparison between two or more individuals

Five-factor model (OCEAN)

Named after 5 board personality factors that have consistently been found in research studies

  • Especially studies using factor analysis to determine how traits can be grouped together to represent underlying patterns or factors

openness

Imaginative, curious, intellectual, open to non-traditional values vs conforming, practical, conventional

Conscientiousness

Reliable, responsible, self-disciplined, ethical, hardworking ambitious vs disorganised, unreliable, lax, impulsive, carless

Extraversion

Outgoing friendly enthusiastic fun-loving vs solitary shy serious reserved

Agreeableness

Sensitive warm tolerant easy to get along with concerned with others feelings and needs vs cold suspicious hostile callous

Neuroticism

Proneness to anxiety worry guilt emotional instability vs relaxed calm secure emotionally stable

Strengths

  • Has intuitive appeal
  • Commonly use trait terms when describing own and others personality
  • useful- provides convenient categories or grouping traits that people commonly have

Weakness

  • Attaches label rather than explain behaviour
  • May not capture unique characteristics of individuals