11/9 Trait theories

personality

The combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual’s distinctive character

traits

A distinguishing character or quality that can be used to describe consistent behaviors in an individual

• can be used predictively

Gordon Allport

first true personality psychologists, Harvard alum, worked w/ Freud

Why was Allport the first true personality psychologist?

• focused his research on “healthy” individuals & individual differences

• believed traits to be the heart of personality

• explored biological basis of traits

• examined nuances of traits

biological bases of traits

physiology, genetic inheritance

examined nuances of traits by exploring

• frequency — % of occurrences

• intensity — strength of occurrences

• range — situations eliciting occurrences

the dictionary (Allport & odbert)

looked in dictionaries to find every word in the English language that related to personality; 1800 words found

comparing words for synonyms & antonyms (Cattell)

• similar to eachother

• opposite of each other

• search reduced list to 35 traits

factor analysis (Costa & mcrae)

• found the ones that overalpped w/ each other in response frequency

• reduction left us with a total of 5 personalities

approach to Big 5

1. the dictionary

2. comparing words for synonyms & antonyms

3. factor analysis

The big 5

openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism

openness

curious, original, intellectual, cretive, & open to new ideas

conscientiousness

organized, systematic, punctual, achievement-oriented, & dependable

extraversion

outgoing, talkative, social, enjoys being in social situations

agreeableness

affable, tolerant, sensitive, trusting, kind, warm

neuroticism

anxious, irritable, temperamental, moody

shortcomings of the Big 5

• Not always a good predictor of others cultures 

• Might have too few variables 

• Might have too many variables 

• Might not be a good predictor of specific behaviors 

Sourcing Traits

• Tough traits attempt to avoid causation, many have attempted to look at the cause of traits 

• Genetics seem to matter a lot + unshared environments also matter 

learning theory of traits

• social interactions & identity shape personality traits & our interpretations of them 

• cliques/membership; anchoring effects