1. Instructor name Class Title, Term/Semester, Year Institution © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Introductory Psychology Concepts Trait Theory

2. © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 2 Traits Enduring personality characteristics that tends to lead to certain behaviors. Trait theories : Theories stating that personality consists of broad, enduring dispositions (traits) that tend to lead to characteristic responses. People can be described in terms of the basic ways they behave, such as whether they are outgoing and friendly or dominant and assertive. People who have a strong tendency to behave in these ways are described as high on the traits; those who have a weak tendency to behave in certain ways are described as low on the traits. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Trait theory

3. © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 3 Gordon Allport (1897-1967) Sometimes referred to as the father of American personality psychology, Allport was particularly bothered by the negative view of humanity that psychoanalysis portrayed. Allport rejected the notion that the unconscious was central to an understanding of personality. He believed that to understand healthy people, we must focus on their lives in the present, not on their childhood experiences. In defining personality, Allport (1961) stressed the uniqueness of each person and his/her capacity to adapt to the environment. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Trait theory

4. © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 4 Evaluating trait perspectives In the late 1930s, Allport and his colleague H.S. Odbert (1936) identified 4500 words (traits) that could be used to describe a person—a method called the lexical approach. In 1946, Raymond Cattell applied the relatively new statistical procedure of factor analysis to the Allport and Odbert traits. Cattell concluded that 16 underlying factors summarized the lexical data. This work led to the development of the 16PF, a personality scale that is still used today. In 1963, W.T. Norman reanalyzed Cattell’s data and concluded that only five factors were needed to summarize these traits. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Trait theory

5. © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 5 The Five-Factor Model of Personality The big five factors of personality (“supertraits”) are thought to describe the main dimensions of personality—specifically, neuroticism (emotional instability), extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Use the acronym OCEAN to remember the big five personality factors: Introductory Psychology Concepts: Trait theory O peness Imaginative or practical Interested in variety or routine Independent or conforming C onscientiousness Organized or disorganized Careful or careless Disciplined or impulsive E xtraversion Sociable or retiring Fun-loving or somber Affectionate or reserved A greeableness Softhearted or ruthless Trusting or suspicious Helpful or uncooperative N euroticism Calm or anxious Secure or insecure Self-satisfied or self-pitying