Trait Theory Vocabulary

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers key concepts, theorists, and models within Trait Theory, including traditional definitions and historical foundations.

Trait perspective

The perspective that personality is made up of stable qualities that influence behaviour consistently across situations and over time.

Types

Distinct, qualitative categories used to classify individuals as either/or, such as Type A or Type B personality.

Nomothetic

An approach to personality that views traits as universal and applies the same set of traits to everyone to compare people.

Idiographic

An approach focusing on the unique nature of an individual's personality, suggesting that traits may differ from person to person.

Lexical Approach

The idea that important personality traits are contained within language, used by Gordon Allport ($1937$) to identify approximately $8,000$ trait adjectives.

Raymond Cattell

A researcher who used factor analysis to reduce the number of identified personality traits down to $16$ factors in ($1947$).

PEN Model

The hierarchy of personality developed by Eysenck consisting of three main supertraits: Psychoticism, Extraversion, and Neuroticism.

Factor Analysis

A statistical method used to identify patterns of correlation (covariance) to reduce many personality variables into underlying dimensions.

Wiggins’ Interpersonal Circle

A personality model developed in ($1979$) that focuses on interpersonal functioning using the dimensions of Dominance and Love/Warmth.

Social desirability bias

A limitation of self-report assessments where individuals answer questions based on how they want to appear rather than providing a true self-evaluation.