Personality Psychology
Trait or Dispositional Theories
Definition – Trait/Disposition
 A trait is any readily-identifiable, stable
quality that characterizes an individual
from other individuals.
 A trait is a characteristic way in which
an individual perceives, feels, believes,
or acts.
 Traits serve to summarize, predict, and
explain a person’s behavior.
Trait/Dispositional Theories
 Traits present specific ideas about a
person’s disposition which is the way a
person is likely to behave across situations
as well as over time.
 Discover/Define main traits.
 Measure traits.
 Organize traits:
 Hierarchically or as a continuum.
Discovering Traits
 Lexical Approach
 Collecting words and synonyms of traits
 Statistical (Empirical) Approach
 Factor Analysis
 Theoretical Approach
 Using theory and past information
Factor Analysis
 Statistical procedure to identify items
that group together and reflect a larger
factor.
 Selection of traits
 Labeling of factors
 Number of factors
Gordon Allport
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Born 1897, died 1967
Quiet and reserved
Went into Psychology because he followed his
brother, Floyd Allport (a Social Psychologist), to
Harvard.
Received an undergraduate degree in philosophy
and economics from Harvard, and taught in
Europe for a year.
While in Europe, he had a fortuitous meeting with
Sigmund Freud in Vienna, which helped him
decide to complete a Ph.D. in psychology.
Allport’s Disposition Theory

“Father” of trait theory
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Used a lexical approach
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There is value in surface characteristics –
there is more to a person than what is at
the “unconscious” level

To discover what someone is like, ask
them about themselves. They are the best
source of information.

Traits are both inherited and learned
Allport’s Theory (con’t)

Suggested internal and external forces
that influence an individual’s behavior.

Genotypes are internal forces relates to how a
person retains information and uses it to
interact with the external world.

Phenotypes are external forces, these relate to
the way an individual accepts his surroundings
and how others influence their behavior. These
forces generate the ways in which we behave
and are the groundwork for the creation of
individual traits.
Allport’s Theory (con’t)
 Allport suggested that each individual has
a unique set of personality traits
 He called these personal dispositions
 A disposition is “a generalized neuropsychic
structure with the capacity to render many
stimuli functionally equivalent and to initiate
and guide consistent forms of adaptive and
stylistic behavior.”
 Allport divided traits into three categories:
Cardinal, Central, and Secondary
Allport’s Theory (con’t)
Cardinal Traits
Central Traits
Secondary Traits
A trait so dominant a
person’s entire life
revolves around it.
Qualities that
characterize a person’s
daily interactions
Characteristics that are
exhibited in specific
situations
Most people have 5 to
10 central traits
Secondary traits are more
easily modified than
central traits
Most people do not
have one.
To understand a person,
one should look at the
pattern of central traits
Allport’s Theory (con’t)
 Allport further divided personal
dispositions into
 Motivational dispositions, which are strong
enough to initiate action and
 Stylistic dispositions, which refer to the manner
in which an individual behaves and which
guide rather than initiate action.
Allport’s Theory (con’t)
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Motives
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Opportunistic Functioning: tendency to satisfy
biological needs
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Propriate Functioning: expressing one’s self
Proprium

Behaviors and characteristics that people regard
as warm and central in their lives.

Preferred this term over self or ego because the
latter terms could imply an object or thing within a
person that controls behavior, whereas proprium
suggests the core of one's personhood.
Allport’s Theory (con’t)
Development of the Proprium
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Sense of body – Warmth, pain, etc.
Self-identity – Individual entity
Self-esteem – Value, competencies
Self-extension – Self-definition, warm and close
Self-image – How others see us
Rational coping – Dealing with life
Propriate striving – Future, purpose, direction
Allport’s Theory (con’t)
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Psychological Maturity
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Extensions of self, i.e. involvement.
Warm relating to others
Emotional security and self-acceptance
Realistic perception not defensiveness
Problem-centeredness
Self-objectification
A unifying philosophy of life
Raymond Cattell
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Born 1905, died 1998.
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Born in England, first in his family to go
to college. (Degree was in Chemistry.)
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Came to America to work with E. L.
Thorndike and was invited to Harvard
University by Allport.
Raymond Cattell
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Cattell asked the question, "How do we
figure out which personality traits are
most important in understanding
people?"
This is the question asked by many
personality psychologists taking the
"Essential trait approach."
Cattell’s Trait Theory
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Used the Inductive Method
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Gather a large amount of Data
Run an exploratory factor analysis on the
data set (a "fishing expedition" which looks
for data clusters)
This exploratory analysis then gives the
researcher information to base future
hypothesis on, and the underlying significant
factors discovered in the exploratory stage
are then used to run a confirmatory analysis.
Cattell’s Theory (con’t)
•
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Factor analysis reduction of 4,500
trait words (left by Allport) to 16 most
basic primary personality
dimensions.
Not as concerned with whether traits
were inherited or learned.
Cattell’s Theory (con’t)
Trait Description
Description of Opposing Extremes
1
Abstractedness
imaginative vs. practical
2
Apprehension
insecure vs. complacent
3
Dominance
aggressive vs. passive
4
Emotional Stability
calm vs. high-strung
5
Liveliness
enthusiastic vs. serious
6
Openness to Change
liberal vs. traditional
7
Perfectionism
compulsive vs. indifferent
8
Privateness
pretentious vs. unpretentious
9
Reasoning
abstract vs. concrete
10
Rule Consciousness
moralistic vs. free-thinking
11
12
13
14
Self-Reliance
Sensitivity
Social Boldness
Tension
leader vs. follower
sensitive vs. tough-minded
uninhibited vs. timid
driven vs. easy going
15
Vigilance
suspicious vs. accepting
16
Warmth
warmhearted vs. aloof
Cattell’s Theory (con’t)
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Three broad sources of data that are
used to uncover all the major
dimensions of personality.
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These three sources are L-data, Qdata, and T-data.
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These three sources of data must be
integrated to capture the full complexity
of human personality.
Cattell’s Theory (con’t)
L-Data

Gathered
from
one’s life
records
Q-Data
•
T-Data
Information
 Information
gathered from
obtained
questionnaires
from
and interviews
objective
testing
situations
Cattell’s Theory (con’t)
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Two types of Traits
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Surface traits: Clusters of overt
responses that seem to go together.
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Source traits: Building blocks of
personality. More stable than surface
traits and can only be discovered by
factor analysis.
Five-Factor Model
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Many researchers have suggested a FiveFactor Model.
Earliest evidence of the five factor model
came from D. W. Fiske in 1949.
The most commonly used model today is
from McCrae and Costa (1987).
McCrae and Costa (1987)
Big Five Factors
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Openness to experience –
Inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious
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Appreciation for art, emotion, adventure,
unusual ideas, curiosity, and variety of
experience. Openness reflects the degree of
intellectual curiosity, creativity and a preference
for novelty and variety.
McCrae and Costa (1987)
Big Five Factors
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Conscientiousness
Efficient/organized vs. easy-going/careless
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A tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully,
and aim for achievement; planned rather than
spontaneous behavior; organized, and
dependable.
McCrae and Costa (1987)
Big Five Factors
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Extraversion –
Outgoing/energetic vs. solitary/reserved
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Energy, positive emotions, surgency,
assertiveness, sociability and the tendency to
seek stimulation in the company of others, and
talkativeness.
McCrae and Costa (1987)
Big Five Factors
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Agreeableness –
Friendly/compassionate vs. cold/unkind
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A tendency to be compassionate and
cooperative rather than suspicious and
antagonistic towards others.
McCrae and Costa (1987)
Big Five Factors
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Neuroticism
Sensitive/nervous vs. secure/confident
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The tendency to experience unpleasant
emotions easily, such as anger, anxiety,
depression, or vulnerability. Neuroticism also
refers to the degree of emotional stability and
impulse control, and is sometimes referred by
its low pole – "emotional stability".