Trait Theories

Traits

• Are aspects of our personalities that are inferred from behavior and assumed to give rise to behavioral consistency.

• We tend to describe other people in terms of traits

Examples

• If you describe a friend as shy it may be because you observed the behavior of being socially withdrawn

Gordon Allport• Thought of traits being

embedded into our nervous systems and said traits guide or steer us to behave consistently.

• Ex: The trait of sociability may steer us to include others or make people feel at home at social gatherings

• Allport and Oddbert catalogued about 18, 000 traits that served as the basis for personality research by other psychologists

Raymond Cattell

• Used statistical techniques to reduce the innumerable traits to smaller lists of traits to show commonality.

• Described the difference between surface and source traits

Surface traits

• Characteristic ways of behaving• Ex: cleanliness, stubbornness, thrift,

orderliness• We observe these types of traits from

meaningful patters

Source Traits

• Underlying traits from which surface traits are derived.

• Cattell’s research led him to suggest there are 16 source traits which can be measured by the Sixteen Personality factors or 16PF.

Big Five Traits

• Empirically based• Allport extracted 17,953 personality-

describing words. • Then reduced to 4,504 adjectives which

were believed were descriptive of observable and relatively permanent traits.

• Can be universally tested and measured using percentage scores.

Big Five Traits

• Openness – (inventive / curious vs. consistent / cautious). Appreciation for art, emotions, adventure, unusual ideas, curiosity, and variety of experience.

• Conscientiousness – (efficient / organized vs. easy-going / careless). A tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully, and aim for achievement; planned rather than spontaneous behavior.

• Extraversion – (outgoing / energetic vs. shy / reserved). Energy, positive emotions, surgency, and the tendency to seek simulation in the company of others.

• Agreeableness – (friendly / compassionate vs. competitive / outspoken). A tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious and antagonistic towards others.

• Neuroticism – (sensitive / nervous vs. secure / confident). A tendency to experience unpleasant emotions easily, such as anger, anxiety, depression, or vulnerability.

Openness

• I have a rich vocabulary.• I have a vivid imagination.• I have excellent ideas.• I spend time reflecting on things.• I use difficult words.• I am not interested in abstractions. (reversed)• I do not have a good imagination. (reversed)• I have difficulty understanding abstract ideas. (reversed)

Conscientiousness

• I am always prepared.• I am exacting in my work.• I follow a schedule.• I get chores done right away.• I like order.• I pay attention to details.• I leave my belongings around. (reversed)• I make a mess of things. (reversed)• I often forget to put things back in their proper place. (reversed)• I shirk my duties. (reversed)

Extraversion

• I am the life of the party. • I don't mind being the center of attention. • I feel comfortable around people. • I start conversations. • I talk to a lot of different people at parties. • I am quiet around strangers. (reversed) • I don't like to draw attention to myself. (reversed) • I don't talk a lot. (reversed) I have little to say.

(reversed)

Agreeableness

• I am interested in people.• I feel others' feelings.• I have a soft heart.• I make people feel at ease.• I sympathize with others’ feelings.• I take time out for others.• I am not interested in other people’s problems. (reversed)• I am not really interested in others. (reversed)• I feel little concern for others. (reversed)• I insult people. (reversed)• I like being isolated. (reversed)

Neuroticism

• I am easily disturbed.• I change my mood a lot.• I get irritated easily.• I get stressed out easily.• I get upset easily.• I have frequent mood swings.• I often feel blue.• I worry about things.• I am relaxed most of the time. (reversed)• I seldom feel blue. (reversed)

Hans Eysenck

• Focused much of his research on the relationship between two important traits:

1. introversion-extroversion

2. emotional stability-instability, otherwise called neuroticism.

Extraversion-introversion

• Hypothesized that extraversion-introversion is a matter of the balance of “inhibition” and “excitation” in the brain itself. 

• Excitation is the brain waking itself up, getting into an alert, learning state.

• Inhibition is the brain calming itself down, either in the usual sense of relaxing and going to sleep, or in the sense of protecting itself in the case of overwhelming stimulation.

Extroversion

• Someone who is extraverted, he hypothesized, has good, strong inhibition: When confronted by traumatic stimulation -- such as a car crash -- the extravert’s brain inhibits itself, which means that it becomes “numb,” you might say, to the trauma, and therefore will remember very little of what happened.

• After the car crash, the extravert might feel as if he had “blanked out” during the event, and may ask others to fill them in on what happened.  Because they don’t feel the full mental impact of the crash, they may be ready to go back to driving the very next day.

Introversion

• The introvert, on the other hand, has poor or weak inhibition: When trauma, such as the car crash, hits them, their brains don’t protect them fast enough, don’t in any way shut down. 

• Instead, they are highly alert and learn well, and so remember everything that happened.  They might even report that they saw the whole crash “in slow motion!”  They are very unlikely to want to drive anytime soon after the crash, and may even stop driving altogether.

Strengths of Trait Theories

1. Psychological testing

2. Personality and career fits

3. Identifying basic traits

4. Established traits as relatively stable

Weaknesses of Trait Theories

1. Only descriptive, not explanatory

2. Situational variability in behavior

Activity

• Pick a person, either famous or not (if you have their permission) and describe the traits you believe they have.

• Please include percentages of the big five in your analysis.