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INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF TRAITS
• TRAITS, TEMPERAMENT: Definitions & examples
• PROPERTIES OF TRAITS
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TRAIT-STATE DISTINCTION
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MAIN EMPHASIS OF TRAIT THEORY
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TWO DIFFERENT VIEWS OF TRAITS
• GORDON ALLPORT: Father of modern trait approach
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Stable psychological dispositions to behave in a certain way (e.g., friendliness, curiosity, anxiousness) that people have to different degrees
• Biologically-based traits:
Excitability
Sociability
Activity level
• Present at birth
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Examples of traits:
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I will do it tomorrow !
Laziness is warm. Laziness is comfort.
Laziness is the promise of sleep. The promise of rest. Laziness demands a new day.
A new day to do what you didn't do today.
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How about Vanilla ice-cream!
Open-mindedness ------------- Conventionality
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-Stability over time
-Consistency across situations
-Individual differences
Examples of psychological constructs that are NOT traits:
Adolescence’s identity confusion -> not stable over time
Short-lived affect states (e.g., surprise) -> not consistent across situations
Color vision -> not meaningful individual differences
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STATE-TRAIT DISTINCTION
State = Transient Psychological Condition.
Usually related to specific environmental event e.g., low-energy, nervousness, anger
Trait = General Tendencies, Dispositions.
e.g., languidness, neuroticism, hostility
Notice that frequent experience of certain affective states
(e.g., anger, anxiety, tiredness) defines the core of certain traits (e.g., hostility, nervousness, apathy), which are called
‘affective’ traits (e.g., Positive and Negative Emotionality).
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MAIN EMPHASIS OF TRAIT THEORIES
• Describing and classifying (vs. explaining) the more permanent personality characteristics that differentiate individuals
• Describing, classifying, and differentiating people’s traits involves comparison
Favored method: Nomothetic (obtaining population norms for various traits so we can compare people)
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TWO DIFFERENT USES OF TRAITS:
Embedded in the notion of TRAIT is the idea of traits as (1) underlying behavioral tendencies (explanatory), but also as (2) behavioral summaries (descriptive).
(1)
Trait (2)
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GORDON ALLPORT (1897-1967)
Taught the first course in personality psychology
Viewed traits as building blocks of personality
Cardinal traits: very pervasive and outstanding traits around which the lives of certain people seem to be organized (e.g.. manipulativeness for Machiavelli; hatred for Hitler)
Central traits: 5-10 major characteristics of a person
Secondary traits: enduring qualities of a person, but not very pervasive
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