AP Psychology - Unit 4.6a Trait Theories

Trait Theories

• define personality in terms of stable and enduring behavior patterns

Traits

• referred to as enduring characteristics

• patterns of behaviors or dispositions to feel and act in certain ways

• assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

• a popular personality assessment

• used for counseling, leadership training, and work-team development

• criticism: does not accurately predict job performance

Factor Analysis

• a statistical method that identifies clusters (factors) of related test items that measure basic components of the same trait

• used by Raymond Cattell to identify 16 distinct personality factors

Eysenck’s Personality Theory

centered around 3 traits

• Introversion/Extroversion

• Neuroticism/Emotional Stability

• Psychoticism (antisocial, egocentric, aggressive)

Allport’s Trait Theory

first trait theory

describes personality traits into three levels:

• Cardinal Traits: rare and dominant traits

• Central Traits: form basic personality

• Secondary Traits: preferences or attitudes

Personality Inventories

• questionnaires that are designed to cover a wide range of feelings and behaviors

• used to assess selected personality traits

• scored objectively

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

• the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests

• originally developed to identify emotional disorders

• used to assess people’s personality traits

• empirically derived

Empirically Derived

• a test that was created by selecting items that discriminated groups of people

• includes scales that asses introversion-extraversion and masculinity-femininity

Big Five Factors Theory

developed by Robert McCrae and Paul Costa

describes personality through;

• openness

• conscientiousness

• extraversion

• agreeableness

• neuroticism

(acronym: OCEAN)

Openness

refers to an individual’s imagination, creativity, and curiosity

• low openness = prefers routines and traditional approaches

• high openness = enjoy new experiences, prefer variety, explorative, appreciate unconventional ideas

Conscientiousness

involves a person’s organization, dependability, discipline, and goal-directed behaviors

low conscientiousness = impulsive, careless, disorganized

high conscientiousness = well organized, reliable, disciplined, careful

Extraversion

involves a person’s sociability, enthusiasm, and assertiveness

• high extraversion = sociable, energetic, outgoing

• low extraversion = reserved, introverted, reflective

Agreeableness

involves a person’s trustworthiness, altruism, kindness, and affection

• high agreeableness: cooperative, empathetic, helpful, trusting

• low agreeableness: uncooperative, suspicious, competitive, selfish

Neuroticism

referred to as emotional stability

involves a person’s tendency to remain calm in stressful situations

• high neuroticism = anxious, low level of emotional stability

• low neuroticism = calm, secure, high level of emotional stability

Maturity Principle of Personality

from adolescence onward, individuals tend to become more conscientious and agreeable, and less neurotic

Likert Scale

• allows participants to rate their level of agreement on a numerical scale

• provides researchers with quantifiable data on traits