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PART III:

TRAITS & TEMPERAMENT

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INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF TRAITS

• TRAITS, TEMPERAMENT: Definitions & examples• PROPERTIES OF TRAITS

• TRAIT-STATE DISTINCTION

• MAIN EMPHASIS OF TRAIT THEORY

• TWO DIFFERENT VIEWS OF TRAITS

• GORDON ALLPORT: Father of modern trait approach

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TRAITSStable psychological dispositions to behave in a certain way (e.g., friendliness, curiosity, anxiousness) that people have to different degrees

TEMPERAMENT

• Biologically-based traits:ExcitabilitySociabilityActivity level

• Present at birth

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Examples of traits:

Extraversion ---------------- Introversion

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Warmth ---------------- Hostility

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Anxiousness ---------------- Calmness

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Reliability ---------------- Flakiness

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.

I will do it tomorrow !

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Open-mindedness ------------- Conventionality

How about Vanilla ice-cream!

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PROPERTIES OF TRAITS

-Stability over time

-Consistency across situations

-Individual differences

Examples of psychological constructs that are NOT traits:

Adolescence’s identity confusion -> not stable over timeShort-lived affect states (e.g., surprise) -> not consistent across situationsColor vision -> not meaningful individual differences

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STATE-TRAIT DISTINCTION

State = Transient Psychological Condition.Usually related to specific environmental evente.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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friendlinessfriendliness

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).

Trait (2)

(1)

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GORDON ALLPORT (1897-1967)

Taught the first course in personality psychologyViewed 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