PERSONALITYTrait Perspective

The Greeks

Four Humors that Governed the Body Excess of either created a Different Personality

Blood Sanguine (cheerfully optimistic) personality

Black Bile Melancholic (gloomy) personality

Yellow Bile Phlegmatic (calm) personality

Green Bile Choleric (easily angered) personality

Trait Theories

Trait Theories do not seek to place value judgments on people’s behavior. These theories look to describe how people behave and to try to categorize those behaviors so we can understand each other better.

Are some traits more desirable than others? Are some traits linked to the behavior of

men or men? Does this cause limitations to each genders?

Personality Traits

Traits A stable characteristic that influences your

thoughts, feeling and behaviors

State A Temporary emotional condition

The tricky part is separating traits from states or figuring out if people act in a certain way because of who they are or in response to the situation they are in

Gordon Allport

Cardinal Trait A trait that a person organizes his/her life

around Not everyone has one

Central Traits Major characteristic(s) of a person

Secondary Traits Doesn’t explain general behavior.

Hans & Sybil Eysenck

Extraversion Activity level, sociability, expressiveness,

assertiveness, ambition, and aggressiveness

Neuroticism Inferiority, unhappiness, anxiety, dependence,

hypochondria, guilt & obsessiveness Psychoticism

Risk-taking, impulsivity, irresponsibility, manipulativesness, sensation-seeking, tough-mindedness, and practicality

Raymond Cattell

16 Personality Factor ModelHe described these 16 traits on a continuum.  In other words, everybody has some degree of every trait, according to Cattell. 

The key to assessment is determining where on the continuum an individual falls. 

The 16 traits are shown in the chart on the next slide.

Abstractedness imaginative versus practical

Apprehension insecure versus complacent

Dominance aggressive versus passive

Emotional Stability calm and stable versus high-strung and

Liveliness enthusiastic versus serious

Openness to Change liberal versus traditional

Perfectionism compulsive and controlled versus indifferent

Privateness pretentious versus unpretentious

Reasoning abstract versus concrete

Rule Consciousness moralistic versus free-thinking

Self-Reliance leader versus follower

Sensitivity sensitive versus tough-minded

Social Boldness uninhibited versus timid

Tension driven and tense versus relaxed and easy going

Vigilance suspicious versus accepting

Warmth open and warmhearted versus aloof and critical

OCEAN – Big 5 Factors

Openness

Conscientiousness

Extraversion

Agreeableness

Neuroticism

Factor Analysis

A statistical procedure that identifies clusters of correlated test items that tap basic components of intelligence.

Personality Inventories

MMPI – Minnesota Mulitphasic Personality Inventory Purposes

Assess major symptoms of social & personal maladjustment

Assess medical patients & design effective treatment strategies, including chronic pain management

Support college & career counseling recommendations

Identify suitable candidates for high-risk public safety positions

Provide valuable insight for marriage & family counseling

Personality Inventories

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator A personality inventory is to make the theory

of psychological types described by C. G. Jung understandable and useful in people’s lives.

Keirsey Temperament Sorter A test that includes four scales assessing the

dimensions of extraversion versus introversion, intuiting versus sensing, feeling versus thinking and judging versus perceriving