1. DISPOSITIONAL DOMAIN
Chapters 3, 4, & 5

2. Traits and Trait Taxonomies
Chapter 3
Traits and Trait Taxonomies

3. Trait-Descriptive Adjectives
Words that describe traits – ____________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
i.e., consistent and stable characteristics

4. Three Fundamental Questions Guide Those Who Study Traits
How should we conceptualize traits?
How can we identify which traits are the most important from among the many ways that individuals differ?
How can we formulate a comprehensive taxonomy of traits—a system that includes within it all the major traits of personality?

5. What Is a Trait?: Two Basic Formulations
Traits as Internal Causal Properties
Traits as Purely Descriptive Summaries

6. Traits as Internal Causal Properties
Traits are presumed to be internal in that ________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Desires and needs are presumed to be causal in that they explain behavior of individuals who possess them
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Whether the trait is expressed may depend on the context/situation
Scientific usefulness of viewing traits as causes of behavior lies in ruling out other causes

7. Traits as Purely Descriptive Summaries
Traits as descriptive summaries of attributes of a person; _______________________________________
________________________________________________
Argue that we must first identify and describe the important individual differences among people, then subsequently develop casual theories to explain them

8. Identification of the Most Important Traits: Three Approaches
Lexical Approach
Statistical Approach
Theoretical Approach

9. Lexical Approach Lexical hypothesis – ___________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Over time, differences among people that are important are noticed, and words (adjectives) are invented to talk about those differences
e.g., dominant, creative, reliable, cooperative, hot-tempered, self-centered, manipulative, arrogant

10. Lexical Approach Two criteria for identifying important traits
Synonym frequency – __________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
e.g., Dominance
Bossy, assertive, powerful, pushy, forceful, leader-like, domineering, influential, authoritative, arrogant
_____________________________ – the more important is an individual difference in human transactions, the more languages will have a term for it
i.e., the trait is considered important across multiple cultures

11. Lexical Approach Problems and limitations
Many traits are ambiguous, metaphorical, obscure, or difficult
Personality is conveyed through different parts of speech (not just adjectives), including nouns and adverbs
Lexical approach is a good starting point for identifying important an individual difference, but should not be the exclusive approach used

12. Statistical Approach
Starts with a large, diverse pool of personality items
Most researchers using lexical approach turn to statistical approach to distill ratings of trait adjectives into basic categories of traits
____________________________________________________________________________________________

13. Statistical Approach Factor analysis
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Provides means for determining which personality variables share some property or belong within the same group
Useful in reducing the large array of diverse traits into smaller, more useful set of underlying factors
_________________:
Index of how much of a variation in an item is “explained” by a factor (see next slide)
Cautionary note:
You only get out of factor analysis what you put in; thus, researchers must pay attention to the initial selection items

14. Statistical Approach

15. Theoretical Approach
Starts with a theory that determines which variables are important
For example:
Freud – oral personality, anal personality, etc.
Maslow/Rogers – motivation to self-actualize
____________________________________________________________________________________________

16. Evaluating the Approaches for Identifying Important Traits
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Example: Norman (1963) and Goldberg (1990) started with the lexical strategy to identify the first set of variables for inclusion
They then used factor analysis to reduce the set to a more manageable number (five or six)
(This can then be used to help generate/modify a theoretical approach.)

17. Taxonomies of Personality
Eysenck’s Hierarchical Model of Personality
Cattell’s Taxonomy: The 16 Personality Factor System
Five-Factor Model

18. Eysenck’s Hierarchical Model of Personality
Model of personality based on traits that Eysenck believed were ________________________________
________________________________________________ (i.e., strongly rooted in biology)
Three traits met criteria:
_________________________________
________________________________________
___________________

19. Eysenck’s Hierarchical Model of Personality
Extraversion
High scorers like parties, have many friends, require people around to talk to, like playing practical jokes on others, display carefree, easy manner, and have a high activity level
Neuroticism
High scorers are worriers, anxious, depressed, have trouble sleeping, experience array of psychosomatic symptoms, and over-reactivity of negative emotions
Psychoticism
High scorers are solitary, lack empathy, often cruel and inhumane, insensitivity to pain and suffering of others, aggressive, penchant for the strange and unusual, impulsive, and have antisocial tendencies

20. Eysenck’s Hierarchical Model of Personality
Hierarchical Structure of Eysenck’s System
_____________________________________
Narrower traits at the second level
Subsumed by each narrower trait is the third level—________________
At the lowest level of the four-tiered hierarchy are specific acts
Hierarchy has the advantage of locating each specific, personality-relevant act within increasingly precise nested system

22. Eysenck’s Hierarchical Model of Personality
Biological Underpinnings
Heritability
For Eysenck, a key criterion for a “basic” dimension of personality is that it has reasonably high heritability
P, E, and N have ________________________________, but so do many other personality traits
Identifiable physiological substrate
One can identify properties in the brain and central nervous system that are presumed to be part of the causal chain that produces personality traits
Example: extraversion should be linked with central nervous system arousal or reactivity
Limitations
Many other personality traits show moderate heritability
_____________________________________________________

23. Cattell’s Taxonomy: The 16 Personality Factor System
Cattell’s goal was to identify and measure the basic units of personality
Believed that the true factors of personality should be found across different types of data, such as self-reports and laboratory tests (using factor analysis)
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Major criticisms
Some personality researchers have failed to replicate the 16 factors
Many argue that a smaller number of factors captures important ways in which individuals differ

25. Five-Factor Model
Originally based on the combination of the lexical and statistical approach
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Some critics argue that although the five factors can be used for laypersons in everyday life, they fail to capture underlying causal personality processes (e.g., what does scoring low on emotional stability actually mean?)
Response: not the purpose of the the Big Five

26. Five-Factor Model Five broad factors
__________________________________ – talkative, assertive, forward, outspoken versus shy, quiet, bashful, inhibited
____________________________ – sympathetic, kind, warm, understanding, sincere versus unsympathetic, unkind, harsh, cruel (aggressive)
_____________________________ – organized, neat, orderly, practical, prompt, meticulous versus disorganized, disorderly, careless, sloppy, impractical
______________________________________________ – calm, relaxed, stable versus moody, anxious, insecure (also includes depressed, impulsivity)
___________________________________________ – creative, imaginative, intellectual versus uncreative, unimaginative, unintellectual

27. Five-Factor Model

28. Five-Factor Model Empirical Evidence for Five-Factor Model
Replicable in studies using English language trait words as items
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Replicated in every decade for the past half century, suggesting five- factor solution replicable over time
Replicated using different item formats

29. Five-Factor Model Empirical Correlates of the Five Factors
Good grades: Conscientiousness (high) and Emotional Stability (high)
Risky sexual behaviors: Extraversion (high), Emotional Stability (low), Conscientiousness (low), and Agreeableness (low)
Substance abuse disorders and pathological gambling: Emotional Stability (low) and Conscientiousness (low)
Happiness: Extraversion (high) and Neuroticism (low)
Forgiveness: Agreeableness (high) and Emotional Stability (high)
Leadership effectiveness: Extraversion (high), Agreeableness (high), Conscientiousness (high), Emotional Stability (high)
Favorable attitudes toward being touched by an intimate partner: Agreeableness (high) and Openness (high)

30. Summary and Evaluation
There are different approaches to identifying the important traits
Personality psychologists sometimes blend the approaches
The Big Five the most heavily endorsed model by personality psychologists
Formulating an overarching taxonomy of personality traits is fundamental