Theories of Personality Psychology - Trait Approach - Learn in 5 Minutes

- [Girish] Hi, this is Girish Kishnani

and you are watching "5 Minute Learnings."

Welcome to the eighth video
in the series on personality.

Today, we will explore the
trait theories of personality.

The trait theory of personality
suggests that people have

certain basic traits or dispositions,

and it is the strength and
intensity of those traits

that account for personality differences.

The trait approach to personality

is one of the major theoretical areas

in the study of personality.

A trait is a consistent,
stable characteristic

that causes individuals
to behave in certain ways.

It varies from person to person.

The outlook towards personality
and how traits are defined

has evolved over time.

Unlike many other theories of personality,

such as psychoanalytic
or humanistic theories,

the trait approach to personality

is focused on differences
between individuals.

The combination and
interaction of various traits

is unique to each person.

Trait theory is focused on identifying

and measuring these individual
personality characteristics.

If someone asked you to describe

a close friend's personality,

what kind of things would you say?

A few things that might come to mind

are descriptive terms
such as outgoing, kind,

and even-tempered.

All of these represent personality traits.

The first trait theory

was proposed by psychologist
Gordon Allport in 1936.

Allport found that one
English language dictionary

contained more than 4,000 words

describing different personality traits.

He categorized these
traits into three levels:

cardinal, central, and secondary.

Cardinal traits.

Allport suggested that cardinal traits

are rare and dominating,

usually developing later in life.

They tend to define a
person to such an extent

that their names become
synonymous with their personality.

Examples include descriptive terms

such as narcissistic and Christ-like.

Central traits.

These general characteristics

form basic personality foundations.

While central traits are not as dominating

as cardinal traits,

they describe the major characteristics

you might use to describe another person,

such as intelligent, honest, shy,

and anxious refer to central traits.

Secondary traits.

Secondary traits are sometimes related

to attitudes or preferences.

They often appear only
in certain situations

or under specific circumstances.

Some examples include
public speaking anxiety

or impatience while waiting in line.

Cattell's 16-factor personality model.

Trait theorist Raymond Cattell

reduced the number of
main personality traits

from Allport's initial list
of over 4,000 down to 171.

He did so primarily by
eliminating uncommon traits

and combining common characteristics.

Next, Cattell rated a
large sample of individuals

for these 171 different traits.

Using a statistical technique
known as factor analysis,

he identified closely related terms

and eventually reduced his list

to 16 key personality traits.

Among them are dominance, perfectionism,

reasoning, and self-reliance.

According to Cattell, these 16 traits

are the source of all human personalities.

He also developed

one of the most widely used
personality assessments,

the 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire.

Eysenck's three dimensions of personality.

British psychologist Hans Eysenck

believed that personality
has a biological basis,

developing a model of personality

based on just three universal traits.

Introversion/extroversion.

Introversion involves directing attention

to inner experiences,

while extroversion relates
to focusing attention outward

onto other people and the environment.

A person high in introversion
might be quiet and reserved,

while an individual high in extroversion

might be sociable and outgoing.

Neuroticism/emotional stability.

This dimension of Eysenck's trait theory

is related to moodiness
versus being even-tempered.

The trait of neuroticism refers
to an individual's tendency

to become upset or emotional,

while stability refers to the tendency

to remain emotionally constant.

Psychoticism.

Later, after studying
individuals with mental illness,

Eysenck added a personality
dimension he called psychoticism

to his trait theory.

Individuals who are high in this trait

tend to have difficulty
dealing with reality

and may be antisocial, hostile,

non-empathetic, and manipulative.

Five factor model of personality.

Both Cattell's and Eysenck's theories

have been the subject of
considerable research.

This has led some theorists to believe

that Cattell focused on too many traits

while Eysenck focused on too few.

As a result, a new trait theory,

often referred to as the
Big Five theory, emerged.

This five-factor model of personality

represents five core traits that interact

to form human personality.

While researchers often disagree

about the exact labels for each dimension,

they are commonly
described as agreeableness:

level of cooperation
and caring for others,

conscientiousness:

level of thoughtfulness and structure,

extroversion:

level of socialness and
emotional expressiveness,

neuroticism: level of mood stability

and emotional resilience,

openness: level of
adventure and creativity.

Some of the most common
criticisms of trait theory

center on the fact that traits

are often poor predictors of behavior.

While an individual may score high

on assessments of a specific trait,

they may not always behave
that way in every situation.

Another problem is that trait theories

do not address how or why

individual differences in
personality develop or emerge.

We all have certain traits
that dominate our personality

along with various
permutations and combinations

that can arise in different situations.

Also, our traits can change over time

and be shaped by our experiences.

That's all for today.

In the next video, we
shall continue to explore

more related topics on trait theories.

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