Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Comparison Between Famous Trait Theories

Good Essays
1009 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Comparison Between Famous Trait Theories
Compare famous Three Trait Theories
The trait approach to personality is focused on differences between individuals. The combination and interaction of various traits forms a personality that is unique to each individual. Trait theory is focused on identifying and measuring these individual personality characteristics.
Gordon Allport’s Trait Theory:
A generalized and focalized neuropsychic system (peculiar to the individual), with the capacity to render many stimuli functionally equivalent, and to initiate and guide consistent (equivalent) forms of adaptive and expressive behavior.
Gordon described trait by dividing it into three levels and gave Personal Disposition Theory:
In 1936, psychologist Gordon Allport found that one English-language dictionary alone contained more than 4,000 words describing different personality traits. He categorized these traits into three levels:

• Cardinal Traits: Traits that dominate an individual’s whole life, often to the point that the person becomes known specifically for these traits. People with such personalities often become so known for these traits that their names are often synonymous with these qualities. Consider the origin and meaning of the following descriptive terms: Freudian, Machiavellian, narcissism, Don Juan, Christ-like, etc. Allport suggested that cardinal traits are rare and tend to develop later in life.

• Central Traits: These are the general characteristics that form the basic foundations of personality. These central traits, while not as dominating as cardinal traits, are the major characteristics you might use to describe another person. Terms such as intelligent, honest, shy and anxious are considered central traits.

• Secondary Traits: These are the traits that are sometimes related to attitudes or preferences and often appear only in certain situations or under specific circumstances. Some examples would be getting anxious when speaking to a group or impatient while waiting in line.

Cattell’s Approach to Personality Traits:

Relatively permanent reaction tendencies that are basic structural units of the personality Trait theorist Raymond Cattell reduced the number of main personality traits from Allport’s initial list of over 4,000 down to 171, mostly by eliminating uncommon traits and combining common characteristics. Next, Cattell rated a large sample of individuals for these 171 different traits. Then, using a statistical technique known as factor analysis, he identified closely related terms and eventually reduced his list to just 16 key personality traits. According to Cattell, these 16 traits are the source of all human personality. He also developed one of the most widely used personality assessments known as the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF). The 16PF (personality factor) questionnaire is designed to assess 16 different source traits associated with "normal" behavior.
• Common trait is “A trait which can be measured for all people by the same battery (of tests) and on which (the people) differ in degree rather than in form”.
• Unique trait is “so specific to an individual that no one else could be scored on (its dimension)”.
Cattell's model consisted of three major types of traits which are second-order traits, source traits, and surface traits.
Second-order traits: Second-order traits are the most 'all-embracing' of the traits and are located at the top of the hierarchy as a 'superfactor' that completely subsumes other traits. Second-order traits are composed of traits of even lower value that all are related to the label of a secondary trait.
Source traits: Such traits are of a crucial factor dimension which stresses the specific proposition that the value variations along it are chosen by an individual unitary source or influence. Different types of source traits exist:
Temperament Traits: concerned with HOW a person behaves.
Motivation Traits: concerned with WHY a person behaves in a particular way. Motivations are complex and many may underlie a single behavior.
Ability Traits: how fast can a person perform some particular behavior.
Surface traits: Such traits do not form a factor, yet are correlated and are therefore believed to be determined by multiple influences or sources. These traits are 'gutlevel' feelings, thoughts, or actions that may be portrayed through events.
16PF (personality factor)
Factor Descriptors
A Warmth Reserved Outgoing
B Reasoning Less Intelligent More Intelligent
C Emotional Stability Affected by feelings Emotionally stable
E Dominance Humble Assertive
F Liveliness Sober Happy-go-lucky
G Rule Consciousness Expedient Conscientious
H Social Boldness Shy Venturesome
I Sensitivity Tough-minded Tender-minded
L Vigilance Trusting Suspicious
M Abstractedness Practical Imaginative
N Privateness Straightforward Shrewd
O Apprehension Self-Assured Apprehensive
Q1 Openness to Change Conservative Experimenting
Q2 Self-Reliance Group-dependent Self-sufficient
Q3 Perfectionism Self-conflict Self-control
Q4 Tension Relaxed Tense
Eysenck’s three Dimensions of Personality:
His definition of personality emphasized traits as stable and enduring characteristics which when duster together are organized as types.

British psychologist Hans Eysenck developed a model of personality based upon just three universal trails:

1. Introversion/Extraversion:
Introversion involves directing attention on inner experiences, while extraversion relates to focusing attention outward on other people and the environment. So, a person high in introversion might be quiet and reserved, while an individual high in extraversion might be sociable and outgoing.

2. Neuroticism/Emotional Stability:
This dimension of Eysenck’s trait theory is related to moodiness versus even-temperedness. Neuroticism refers to an individual’s tendency to become upset or emotional, while stability refers to the tendency to remain emotionally constant.

3. Psychoticism:
Later, after studying individuals suffering from mental illness, Eysenck added a personality dimension he called psychoticism to his trait theory. Individuals who are high on this trait tend to have difficulty dealing with reality and may be antisocial, hostile, non-empathetic and manipulative.
The Five-Factor Theory of Personality
Both Cattell’s and Eysenck’s theory have been the subject of considerable research, which has led some theorists to believe that Cattell focused on too many traits, while Eysenck focused on too few. As a result, a new trait theory often referred to as the "Big Five" theory emerged. This five-factor model of personality represents five core traits that interact to form human personality. While researchers often disagree about the exact labels for each dimension, the following are described most commonly:
1. Extraversion
2. Agreeableness
3. Conscientiousness
4. Neuroticism
5. Openness

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Freud's

    • 597 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Trait is a characteristic pattern of behavior or a tendency to feel and act in a certain way, as assessed by self-reports on a personality test and social-cognitive perspective: views behavior as influenced by the interaction between persons (and their thinking) and their social context.…

    • 597 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Psychologists believe that we all have the ability to control our lives and to achieve what we desire. Carl Rogers believed that each person is born with natural capacities for growth and fulfillment. Trait perspectives, personality consists of broad, enduring dispositions, that tend to lead to characteristic responses. The big five factors of personality, the broad traits that are thought to describe the main dimension of personality- neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and…

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The trait theory would explain the many differences in our personalities such as how we each think and act. The trait theory supports the belief that there are individual characteristics. With this belief, the individual characteristics are believed to be the reason for our individual ways of thinking and acting. The trait theory is assessed through use of the objective tests (Axia College, 2010, Week 6 Reading). The fourth and last theory is the Social Learning theory. This theory thrives on the belief that personality is shaped by past reinforcement and punishment.…

    • 473 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “When discussing the theories on personalities you could name a view that are researched. Biological Theories are the approach of genetics and personality traits. Behavioral Theories suggest that personality is a result of interaction between the individual and the environment. These theorist reject theories that internal thoughts and feeling into account. Psychodynamic Theories are influenced by Freud, focuses on the childhood experience and the unconscious mind in personality. Humanist Theories emphasizes on the importance of free will and individual experience in the development of personalities. Trait Theories is one of the largest in personality theories. It basically a relative characteristic that causes a person to act the way they do (abouteducation).”…

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The healthy personality is found in balancing the social self with the individual self. Humanistic Theory…

    • 1033 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    However, Luchins did find that if a space of time was involved between the primary information and the recent information then the recency effect could over ride the primacy effect. He said that the recency effect was important but not as important as the primacy effect (Silka 1989). Central traits are also said to affect attitude formation. Kelley (1950) found that central traits are more important to us when building first impressions during the substitute teacher study. Kelley found that using words such as 'warm ' or 'cold ' to describe someone can affect the way that people behave towards the described person. Being a 'cold ' or 'warm ' person is known as a central trait. Grouping traits around the central traits is known as the halo effect. This is believing that people have other traits such as being 'friendly ' because they are considered a 'warm ' person. It is thought that we judge people who have even just one good central trait on being a good person despite their peripheral traits. This is the same for having a bad central trait. We judge them as bad as we assume they possess other bad traits that we associate with the bad central trait.…

    • 3102 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The trait approach to personality is one of the major theoretical areas in the study of personality. The trait theory suggests that individual personalities are built up of characteristics and that each individual has different traits such as outgoing, kind; shy, aggressive and so on.…

    • 4244 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Traits: Traits refer to recurring regularities or trends in a person’s behavior (Hughes, Ginnette, & Curphy, 2002, p. 168). Exhibiting leadership traits is strongly correlated with people’s desire to follow the leader. Exhibiting these traits will inspire confidence in one’s leadership. Personality traits are useful for explaining why people act fairly consistently in different situations. Knowing differences in personality traits can help predict more accurately how people will tend to act in different situations.…

    • 1088 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Psychological Traits – Characteristics that describe ways in which people are unique or different from or similar to each other.…

    • 4137 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The trait theory approach lends to the suggestion that each individual’s personality is made up of broad dispositions. Our personality traits are relatively consistent over time and across situations, our traits are made up or our; thoughts, emotions and behaviors. I believe that all types of personalities stem from one basic group of characteristics and individual personalities are just selections of a few of those…

    • 1374 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Big Five Trait Clusters

    • 1824 Words
    • 8 Pages

    In modern psychology, the “Big Five” Personality Traits are five categories of personality that are used to describe human personality and the behaviors in which they differ from each other. Some researchers have concluded that adult personality change is genetically influenced. Researchers say individual differences in the “Big Five” traits are large and highly stable and, an adult scoring high or low at a certain age is likely to do the same at another age, with intervals of three to 30 years’ time (Costa & McCrae, 1994). In more than 150 longitudinal studies with more than 5000 participants, reanalysis showed personality trait stability improved during early and middle adulthood, peaking in the fifties (Roberts & DelVecchio, 2000). These traits are broad categories of personality traits and not all researchers agree on the names given. However, these five categories that remain stable throughout adulthood are: neuroticism, extroversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness.…

    • 1824 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Personality traits can be influenced by countless aspects of an individual’s life: genetics, environment, and culture are key ingredients in a person’s traits and personality. According to Erickson our personality traits come in opposites. We think of ourselves as optimistic, pessimistic, independent or dependent which are inborn traits. McCrae et al. (2000) noted the optimal conditions for infant development must take into account the actual circumstances in which children in different cultures live. Culture effects personality in a variety of ways. Behaviors tend to be culturally patterned with childhood experiences influencing personality as an adult and socialization throughout childhood and adulthood shape personality patterns. We often share personality traits with others, especially members of our own family and community. It is normal for us to acquire personality traits as a result of enculturation. Most people adopt the traditions, rules, manners, and biases of their culture.…

    • 372 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    human traits that are found in all people, traits that we all at one time or another have…

    • 628 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In comparing the Humanistic and Trait Theories, a researcher will find that there are a plethora of differences between the two theories and quite a few similarities. However, the theories equally concur that a person’s personality is somewhat invented by the choices the person make. These two theories hardly come close to each other’s depiction of a person’s personality and have just about nothing in common.…

    • 506 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    These are traits which describe the things that the character does, or is capable of doing or personal reactions to various situations. They may be specific things or they may be abstract traits of the character. These are best illustrated by the use of examples from the text which show the character emulating that particular trait.…

    • 509 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays