TRAIT THEORIES

TRAIT THEORIES

1. TRAIT THEORY OF PERSONALITY

   • Traits can be defined as a stable characteristic that causes a person to depict a response to any situations in certain ways.
   • Trait refer to the ways in which we generally describe a person
     • The descriptive terms such as out-going, short tempered, generous are all traits.
     • Trait approach is one of the most vital areas of study in psychology that helps identify a person’s personality.
   • The theory designated to identify and measure individual personality characteristics can be defined as trait theory
     • These trait forms are unique from one individual to another.
     • An individual, as a whole, doesn’t just have a single trait, but the variety of trait forms of personality.
     • Trait theories indicate that the traits are always constant regardless of the situations.

2. GORDON ALLPORT'S TRAIT THEORY

   • Gordon Allport was among the firsts psychologist to come up with a personality trait theory.
   • “Building block of personality”
   • He came about with an astounding (amazing) discovery in 1936, which showed that more than 4000 words in an English language dictionary described personality traits.
   • He came about with an astounding (amazing) discovery in 1936, which showed that more than 4000 words in an English language dictionary described personality traits.
   • Three classes of traits
     • Cardinal Traits
       • -Dominate and shape an individual’s behavior.
       • -They stand at the top of the hierarchy
       • Collectively known as the individual’s master control.
       • They are considered to be an individual’s ruling passions.
       • Example: Ebenezer Scrooge’s greed
       • The traits around which a person organizes his whole life.
       • These traits are developed later in life, and are in fact quite rare.
       • But, these traits play such an important role in a person’s life that they often become synonymous with the names of the person.
       • Meaning, a person might be specifically known for these traits.
       • E.g.: greed, lust, kindness, narcissism.
     • Central Traits
       • It come next in the hierarchy.
       • These are general characteristics found in varying degrees in every person.
       • Example: loyalty, kindness, agreeableness, friendliness wildness.
       • They are the basic building blocks that shape most of our behavior.
       • Traits representing major characteristics of a person.
       • These can also be considered as the characteristics that lead to the foundation of an individual’s personality.
       • Example of central traits: shy, anxious, intelligent, dishonest.
     • Secondary Traits
       • It exist at the bottom of the hierarchy and are not quite as obvious or consistent as central traits.
       • These secondary traits explain why a person may at times exhibit behaviors that seem incongruent with their usual behaviors.
       • For example: a friendly person gets angry when people try to tickle him
       • The general behavior patterns that only appear under certain circumstances.
       • An example would be getting nervous to speak in public.
       • Is not an anxious person but always feels nervous speaking publicly.
   • “Genotypes & Phenotypes”
     • Allport hypothesized that internal and external forces influence an individual’s behavior and personality
     • Genotypes: are internal forces that relate to how a person retains information and uses it to interact with the world.
     • Phenotypes: are external forces that relate to the way an individual accepts his or her surroundings and how others influence his or her behavior.

3. HANS EYSENCK

   • Eysenck is the most famous British psychologist.
   • He considered that there are two major dimensions of personality which account for the many different types of person we encounter.
     • They are: 1) Extroversion 2) Introversion
   • He proposed a model of personality based on these two universal traits, and the third dimension later added by the psychologist himself.
   • Hans Eysenck was a personality theorist who focused on temperament—innate, genetically based personality differences.
   • He believed personality is largely governed by biology, and he viewed people as having two specific personality dimensions: extroversion vs. introversion and neuroticism vs. stability.
     • Introversion/ Extroversion
       • People high on the trait of extroversion are sociable and out going and readily connect with others.
       • Whereas people high on the trait of introversion have a higher need to be alone, engage in solitary behaviors, and limit their interactions with others.
       • This dimension encompasses shyness to sociability.
       • Introversion involves focusing energy on inner experiences
       • Extroversion refers to focusing energy on environment and people.
       • To put it bluntly, introverts are shy and extroverts are sociable.
       • extrovert <—-> introvert
     • Neuroticism/ Emotional Stability
       • People high on neuroticism tend to be anxious
       • They tend to have an overactive sympathetic nervous system and even with low stress, their bodies and emotional state tend to go into a flight-or-fight reaction.
       • Contrast, people high on stability tend to need more stimulation to activate their flight-or-fight reaction and are therefore considered more emotionally stable.
       • The dimension encompasses moodiness to even temperedness
       • Emotional stability refers to the literal meaning of the term, the state of being emotionally stable or constant.
       • Neuroticism refers to instability of emotions, causing a person to become upset or emotional.
       • neurotic <—-> normal (or stable)
     • Psychoticism/ Socialization
       • People who are high on psychoticism tend to be independent thinkers, cold, nonconformist, impulsive, antisocial, and hostile.
       • People who are high on socialization tend to have high impulse control.
       • They are more altruistic, empathetic, cooperative, and conventional.
       • This dimension was included in Eysenck’s earlier model.
       • He added this dimension after conducting a study on mentally ill individuals.
       • People high on this trait suggests that the individual might not be normal and might have trouble dealing with reality.
       • General characteristics shown: being hostile, non-empathetic, manipulative and antisocial.
   • Criticisms of Eysenck’s Theory
     • The model was initially developed from a very small sample, which has led to oversimplification.
     • The testing is entirely based on self-reports, and therefore, it is likely to be heavily influenced by the respondent’s mood at the time.

4. RAYMOND CATTELL'S TRAIT THEORY

   • Unlike Eysenck, Cattell based his theory on various sources rather than just self reporting.
   • Cattell’s trait theory has been built around the use of factor analysis, a mathematical technique created by Charles Spearman.
   • With the use of factor analysis, Cattell reviewed and categorized a large number of traits, seeking the most basic and useful ones, and developed a scheme for classifying them.
   • This brought down the Allport’s initial list of over 4000 words to 171 different traits.
   • He further identified the closely related terms and the final list was prepared of 16 basic source traits.
   • According to him, these are the base of all human personality.
   • surface traits
     • easily visible to any observer.
     • clusters of related behaviors observed in a given situation.
   • source traits
     • the underlying structures responsible for the surface traits.
     • Sixteen basic dimensions of personality which are the roots of all behavior.
   • Sixteen dimension of Personality
     • Abstractedness
     • Warmth
     • Apprehension
     • Emotional stability
     • Liveliness
     • Openness to change
     • Perfectionism
     • Privateness
     • Intelligence
     • Rule consciousness
     • Tension
     • Sensitivity
     • Social boldness
     • Self-reliance
     • Vigilance
     • Dominance.
   • Sixteen factors of Personality
     • reserved vs. outgoing
     • less intelligent vs. more intelligent
     • affected by feelings vs. emotionally stable
     • submissive vs. dominant
     • serious vs. happy-go-lucky
     • expedient vs. conscentious(diligent)
     • timid(nervous/shy/fearful) vs. venturesome
     • though-minded vs. sensitive
     • trusting vs. suspicious
     • practical vs. imaginative
     • forthroght(frank) vs. shrewd
     • self-assured vs. apprehensive
     • conservative vs. experimenting
     • group dependent vs. self-sufficient
     • uncontrolled vs. controlled
     • relaxed vs. tense

5. THE BIG FIVE FACTORS THEORY OF PERSONALITY

   • The labels of “The Big Five Factors” developed by Costa and McCrae in 1985 are still in use today.
   • Lots of researchers and psychologists believed that Eysenck’s theory focused on too few traits while Cattell’s theory focused on too many traits.
   • As a result, a new theory was established, namely “The Big Five Factor Theory of Personality”.
   • 1. Openness to experience (inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious)
     • This trait includes appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, curiosity, and variety of experience
     • Openness reflects a person’s degree of intellectual curiosity, creativity, and preference for novelty and variety.
     • Those who score high in openness to experience prefer novelty, while those who score low prefer routine.
   • 2. Conscientiousness (efficient/organized vs. easy-going/careless)
     • This trait refers to one’s tendency toward self-discipline, dutifulness, competence, thoughtfulness, and achievement-striving = goal-directed behavior
     • Individuals high in conscientiousness prefer planned rather than spontaneous behavior and are often organized, hardworking, and dependable.
     • Individuals who score low in conscientiousness take a more relaxed approach, are spontaneous, and may be disorganized.
   • 3. Extraversion (outgoing/energetic vs. solitary/reserved)
     • An individual who scores high on extraversion is characterized by high energy, positive emotions, talkativeness, assertiveness, sociability, and the tendency to seek stimulation in the company of others.
     • Those who score low on extraversion prefer solitude and/or smaller groups, enjoy quiet, prefer activities alone, and avoid large social situations.
   • 4. Agreeableness (friendly/compassionate vs. cold/unkind)
     • This trait measures one’s tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious and antagonistic towards others
     • It is also a measure of a person’s trusting and helpful nature and whether that person is generally well-tempered or not.
     • People who score low on agreeableness tend to be described as rude and uncooperative.
   • 5. Neuroticism (sensitive/nervous vs. secure/confident)
     • High neuroticism is characterized by the tendency to experience unpleasant emotions, such as anger, anxiety, depression, or vulnerability.
     • Neuroticism also refers to an individual’s degree of emotional stability and impulse control.
     • People high in neuroticism tend to experience emotional instability and are characterized as angry, impulsive, and hostile.
     • People who score low in neuroticism tend to be calm and even-tempered.

6. IMPORTANT NOTES

   • Each of the five factors represents a range of possible personality types.
   • For example = an individual is typically somewhere in between the two extremes of “extraverted” and “introverted”, and not necessarily completely defined as one or the other.
   • It’s also important to note that the Big Five traits are relatively stable over our lifespan, but there is \some tendency for the traits to increase or decrease slightly.
   • Researchers have found that conscientiousness increases through young adulthood into middle age, as we become better able to manage our personal relationships and careers
   • Agreeableness also increases with age, peaking between 50 to 70 years
   • Neuroticism and extroversion tend to decline slightly with age.