Trait

• “A characteristic of behavior or a disposition to feel and act as assessed by self-reported inventories or peer reports.”

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Trait Theories of Personality

• Trait theorists believe we can describe people’s personalities by specifying their main characteristics (traits).

• Traits like honesty, laziness, ambition, outgoing are thought to be stable over the course of your lives.

Gordon Allport

• Founder of the trait perspective

• He worked on two of the most comprehensive dictionaries of the English language available at the time and extracted 17,953 personality-describing words. He then reduced this gigantic list to 4,504 adjectives which he believed were descriptive of observable and relatively permanent personality traits.

Other Trait Theorists

• Carl Jung – measures introversion vs. extraversion

• Hans Eysenck: 2 axes; researched biological causes of differences

• Raymond Cattell: measure 16 personality factors – warmth, reasoning, emotional stability, etc.

Factor Analysis• A statistical procedure used to identify different

components of your intelligence or personality (depending on the test).

•FA takes the answers you give on tests and compiles them into general traits.

Assessing Our Traits• Personality Inventories: a questionnaire where people respond to items attempting

to gauge different aspects of their personality

Examples of personality inventories: • Myers-Briggs Type Indicator• Kiersey Temperament Sorter• Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) • Big Five

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory: MMPI

•The most widely used personality test. (true/false)

•Originally used to identify emotional disorders and mental illnesses.

•Now used for screening purposes (ie. For certainprofessions or high risk jobs.)

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory: Sample Questions…

1. I like mechanics magazines2.I have a good appetite3.I wake up fresh & rested most mornings4.I think I would like the work of a librarian5.I am easily awakened by noise6.I like to read newspaper articles on crime7.My hands and feet are usually warm enough14.I have diarrhea once a month or more15.Once in a while I think of things too bad to talk about16.I am sure I get a raw deal from life17.My father was a good man22.At times I have fits of laughing & crying that I cannot control23.I am troubled by attacks of nausea and vomiting24.No one seems to understand me25.I would like to be a singer26.I feel that it is certainly best to keep my mouth shut when I’m in trouble27.Evil spirits possess me at times33.I have had very peculiar and strange experiences34.I have a cough most of the time35.If people had not had it in for me I would have been much more successful36.I seldom worry about my heath37.I have never been in trouble because of my sex behavior38.During one period when I was a youngster I engaged in petty thievery39.At times I feel like smashing things

Kiersey Temperament Sorter: Sample Results…

• Extraversion (E) and Introversion (I): ISFPs are introverted. They tend to be reserved and quiet, especially around people they do not know well. They prefer spending time with a close group of family and friends.

• Sensing (S) and Intuition (N): ISFPs like to focus on the details. They spend more time thinking about the here and now rather than worrying about the future. They also prefer concrete information to abstract theories.

•Thinking (T) and Feeling (F): ISFPs care more about personal concerns rather than objective, logical information.

• Judging (J) and Perceiving (P): ISFPs like to keep their options open, so they often delay making decisions in order to see if things might change or if new options come up.

The Big Five

•Emotional Stability (calm/anxious, secure/insecure, self-satisfied/self-pitying).

•Extraversion (sociable/retiring, fun-loving/sober, affectionate/reserved).

•Openness (imaginative/practical, variety/routine, independent, conforming)

The Big Five (Continued)

• Agreeableness (soft-hearted/ruthless, trusting/suspicious, helpful/uncooperative).

•Conscientiousness (organized/disorganized, careful/careless, disciplined/impulsive).

The Big Five

According to Big Five trait theory:

• Your traits are stable over time.

• They can be attributed to your genetics in varying degrees

•They describe personalities equally well across different cultures

•They predict other attributes

What can we predict?...

Protested injustice- Emotionally stable, open

Fell in love at first sight- Extraverted

Have not been in therapy- Emotionally stable

Been in therapy- Open

Not likely to have a lover whose name they forgot- Agreeable

Thrown a large party- Extraverted

Kept a diary- Open

Listen to music by self in dark- Open

What can we predict…?

Read fewer than 12 books per year- Extraverted

Never cheated on a test- Conscientious

Never pulled all-nighter to finish assignment

- ConscientiousNot likely to become addicted to

Internet-Extraverted

Dated a person of a different race- Open

Written a poem spontaneously- Open

Smoke marijuana- Open

MMPI put to the Test