Think about how you would describe your best friend. How would you explain to others what they are like? How would you explain what their personality is like? Would you use descriptive words like "funny," "serious," or "extroverted?" If so, you would be using a traits approach to describing their personality!
- First, we will discuss what trait theory is in psychology.
- Then, we'll discover more about Gordon Allport's contribution to the trait theory of personality.
- After this, we will learn more about Raymond Cattell's trait theory of personality.
- We will outline the Big Five trait theory of personality.
- To conclude, we will go over a few pros and cons of trait theories in measuring personality.
Trait Theories of Personality in Psychology
As we get started talking about trait theories, it is important to make sure we define traits.
A trait is a personality characteristic that someone regularly exhibits.
It is important to note that traits are not based on behaviors you do once or a few times; instead, they are consistent patterns of behavior and personality across a person's life and multiple settings.
Trait theories within psychology are one way of understanding and describing personality. Trait theories focus on the idea that all humans possess various sets and levels of personality and behavioral traits. Trait theories help us communicate aspects of ourselves to others and better understand others. While it can be hard to imagine that all people possess similar traits, remember that we all possess our own unique combinations and different levels of traits.
Sally is a cheerleader at her school and was homecoming queen last year. Mary Jane is an honors student and is part of the robotics club. While these two girls seem to have little in common, they both possess the traits of friendliness, extraversion, and independence to different degrees.
Fg. 1 Trait theories, freepik.com
Gordon Allport's Trait Theory of Personality
Gordon Allport's role in the trait theory of personality was monumental and is what earned him the title of "the father of personality" in the 1930s. He identified 18,000 terms that can be used to describe personality and worked from there to develop what he referred to as the fundamental categories of personality traits. The structure of personality according to Allport can be broken up into the following three parts:
Fundamental Categories of Personality Traits
Let's take a look at the fundamental categories of personality traits, as outlined by Allport.
Cardinal Traits
A cardinal trait according to Allport is a trait that steers a person's life almost like a sail on a boat. If someone has the cardinal trait of kindness they might spend their life working on projects to help others. If someone has a cardinal trait of control, they might find themselves in a political or corporate power position.
Central Traits
Not everyone has a cardinal trait. In fact, according to Allport, most people have around 5-10 central traits instead. Central traits grouped together describe a person's core personality. Someone might be extroverted, friendly, inviting, warm, etc. All of these central traits paint a picture of who they are as a person.
Secondary Traits
Secondary traits in Allport's theory are traits that impact someone's behavior but are not necessarily as important or influential as cardinal or central traits. Taste in music or a general love of animals are examples of secondary traits. They add to the uniqueness and depth of a person, but they are not as defining as central traits.
Proprium
The third part of the personality structure according to Allport is proprium.
Proprium in psychology is the sense of self that is central to every individual.
Proprium involves each of the following concepts that form our central sense of self.
Sense of body
Self-identity
Self-esteem
Self-extension
Self-image
Rational coping
Propriate striving
Fg. 2 Central personality traits, Freepik.com
Raymond Cattell's Trait Theory of Personality
Years later, another personality psychologist named Raymond Cattell developed what is called the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF). The 16PF is a test that measures personality based on levels and combinations of the sixteen pairs of personality traits. Cattell identified these sixteen traits using a research technique known as factor analysis.
Factor Analysis is a method that uses statistics to identify patterns among variables and then uses those patterns to identify groupings.
Another personality psychologist that used factor analysis was Hans Eysenck. Eysenck came to a different conclusion than Cattell. He boiled down personality traits into 3 major types: extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism. Each category operates on a scale or spectrum with the lack or opposite of the trait making up its own trait (i.e., extraversion and introversion).
The Big Five Factors of Personality Trait Theory
Since Eysenck's move towards major scales of personality traits, one theory has taken over in the last two decades. It is called The Big Five trait theory of personality. This theory of personality traits took Eysenck's work and expanded on it. The Big Five is a very useful tool in understanding personality traits and has massive success in use globally across cultures.
The Big Five personality factors are:
1. Conscientiousness
Conscientiousness is measured on a spectrum from disorganization, carelessness, and impulsivity to organization, carefulness, and discipline.
2. Agreeableness
Agreeableness is measured on a spectrum from uncooperative, suspicious, and mean to sweet, trusting, and helpful.
3. Neuroticism
Neuroticism is measured on a spectrum from calm, self-secure, and content to anxious, insecure, and emotionally unstable.
4. Openness
Openness is measured on a spectrum from predictable, logic-based, and conforming to imaginative, independent, and spontaneous.
5. Extraversion
Extraversion is measured on a spectrum from reserved, introspective, and enjoying personal space to social, outgoing, and outwardly affectionate.
Fg. 3 Extrovert vs introvert, Freepik.com
The Pros and Cons of Trait Theories of Personality
Trait theories are a great way of understanding individual personalities as well as personality differences. Even though they are helpful, trait theories are not perfect.
Pros of Trait Theories
- Trait theories, especially the Big Five, are stable across a person's life. While many people experience some age-appropriate shifts in conscientiousness, agreeableness, and extroversion during their lives, traits are generally stable throughout life.
- Researchers have found that personality traits in the Big Five are 50% or more likely to be hereditary, and this was found to be true across cultures and nationalities.
- Personality traits like those in The Big Five can be used to predict behavior with some accuracy. Introverted people are more likely to e-mail rather than call. Higher levels of conscientiousness lead to better grades or work performance.
- Trait theories form the basis of many personality measurement tools that help us research personality to better understand and relate to one another.
Cons of Trait Theories
- One common critique is that trait theory does not explain the origin of personality or how personality traits are developed. Traits are simply a way to identify and label traits that are present in a personality, but it does not seek to answer why or how personality exists.
- Not all trait theories agree on what are the most fundamental personality traits and which are the most accurate.
- Another common drawback to trait theories is what is known as the person-situation controversy. The person-situation controversy is essentially the idea that we do not always act the same in all settings and with all people. We change our behaviors based on the setting and exemplify different traits based on our role or our environment.
When are we the most ourselves? Are there truly traits that remain stable across our lives if we are constantly adapting to different situations? While those who defend the usefulness of trait theories ask us to examine behavior and traits across time and settings, trait theories do not explain inconsistencies in behavior from one setting to another.
Trait Theories of Personality - Key takeaways
- A trait is a personality characteristic that someone regularly exhibits.
- Gordon Allport developed what he referred to as the fundamental categories of personality traits.
- Raymond Cattell developed what is called the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF).
- Factor Analysis is a method that uses statistics to identify patterns among variables and then uses those patterns to identify groupings.
- Eysenck's The Big Five trait theory of personality has taken over in the last two decades.
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