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- [Girish] Hi, this is Girish Kishnani
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and you are watching "5 Minute Learnings."
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Welcome to the eighth video
in the series on personality.
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Today, we will explore the
trait theories of personality.
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The trait theory of personality
suggests that people have
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certain basic traits or dispositions,
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and it is the strength and
intensity of those traits
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that account for personality differences.
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The trait approach to personality
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is one of the major theoretical areas
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in the study of personality.
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A trait is a consistent,
stable characteristic
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that causes individuals
to behave in certain ways.
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It varies from person to person.
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The outlook towards personality
and how traits are defined
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has evolved over time.
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Unlike many other theories of personality,
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such as psychoanalytic
or humanistic theories,
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the trait approach to personality
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is focused on differences
between individuals.
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The combination and
interaction of various traits
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is unique to each person.
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Trait theory is focused on identifying
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and measuring these individual
personality characteristics.
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If someone asked you to describe
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a close friend's personality,
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what kind of things would you say?
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A few things that might come to mind
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are descriptive terms
such as outgoing, kind,
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and even-tempered.
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All of these represent personality traits.
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The first trait theory
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was proposed by psychologist
Gordon Allport in 1936.
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Allport found that one
English language dictionary
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contained more than 4,000 words
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describing different personality traits.
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He categorized these
traits into three levels:
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cardinal, central, and secondary.
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Cardinal traits.
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Allport suggested that cardinal traits
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are rare and dominating,
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usually developing later in life.
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They tend to define a
person to such an extent
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that their names become
synonymous with their personality.
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Examples include descriptive terms
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such as narcissistic and Christ-like.
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Central traits.
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These general characteristics
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form basic personality foundations.
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While central traits are not as dominating
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as cardinal traits,
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they describe the major characteristics
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you might use to describe another person,
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such as intelligent, honest, shy,
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and anxious refer to central traits.
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Secondary traits.
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Secondary traits are sometimes related
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to attitudes or preferences.
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They often appear only
in certain situations
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or under specific circumstances.
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Some examples include
public speaking anxiety
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or impatience while waiting in line.
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Cattell's 16-factor personality model.
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Trait theorist Raymond Cattell
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reduced the number of
main personality traits
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from Allport's initial list
of over 4,000 down to 171.
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He did so primarily by
eliminating uncommon traits
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and combining common characteristics.
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Next, Cattell rated a
large sample of individuals
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for these 171 different traits.
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Using a statistical technique
known as factor analysis,
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he identified closely related terms
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and eventually reduced his list
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to 16 key personality traits.
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Among them are dominance, perfectionism,
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reasoning, and self-reliance.
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According to Cattell, these 16 traits
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are the source of all human personalities.
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He also developed
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one of the most widely used
personality assessments,
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the 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire.
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Eysenck's three dimensions of personality.
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British psychologist Hans Eysenck
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believed that personality
has a biological basis,
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developing a model of personality
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based on just three universal traits.
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Introversion/extroversion.
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Introversion involves directing attention
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to inner experiences,
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while extroversion relates
to focusing attention outward
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onto other people and the environment.
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A person high in introversion
might be quiet and reserved,
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while an individual high in extroversion
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might be sociable and outgoing.
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Neuroticism/emotional stability.
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This dimension of Eysenck's trait theory
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is related to moodiness
versus being even-tempered.
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The trait of neuroticism refers
to an individual's tendency
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to become upset or emotional,
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while stability refers to the tendency
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to remain emotionally constant.
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Psychoticism.
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Later, after studying
individuals with mental illness,
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Eysenck added a personality
dimension he called psychoticism
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to his trait theory.
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Individuals who are high in this trait
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tend to have difficulty
dealing with reality
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and may be antisocial, hostile,
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non-empathetic, and manipulative.
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Five factor model of personality.
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Both Cattell's and Eysenck's theories
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have been the subject of
considerable research.
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This has led some theorists to believe
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that Cattell focused on too many traits
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while Eysenck focused on too few.
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As a result, a new trait theory,
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often referred to as the
Big Five theory, emerged.
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This five-factor model of personality
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represents five core traits that interact
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to form human personality.
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While researchers often disagree
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about the exact labels for each dimension,
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they are commonly
described as agreeableness:
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level of cooperation
and caring for others,
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conscientiousness:
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level of thoughtfulness and structure,
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extroversion:
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level of socialness and
emotional expressiveness,
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neuroticism: level of mood stability
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and emotional resilience,
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openness: level of
adventure and creativity.
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Some of the most common
criticisms of trait theory
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center on the fact that traits
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are often poor predictors of behavior.
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While an individual may score high
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on assessments of a specific trait,
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they may not always behave
that way in every situation.
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Another problem is that trait theories
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do not address how or why
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individual differences in
personality develop or emerge.
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We all have certain traits
that dominate our personality
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along with various
permutations and combinations
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that can arise in different situations.
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Also, our traits can change over time
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and be shaped by our experiences.
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That's all for today.
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In the next video, we
shall continue to explore
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more related topics on trait theories.
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Hope you found this video helpful.
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give me a thumbs up
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5 Minute Learnings,
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Thanks for watching.