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Gordon Allport’s Trait Theory

After meeting with Freud when he was beginning his career, Gordon Allport decided that psychoanalysis was too concerned with symbols and unconscious motivations. Allport conducted idiographic research that focused on conscious motivation and personal traits. His trait theory proposed three levels of traits. A cardinal trait is a defining characteristic, in a small number of us, that dominates and shapes all of our behavior. Mother Theresa is the most cited example of a person whose life focused on altruism—benefiting others, even to her own detriment. A central trait is a general characteristic, between 5 and 10 of which shape much of our behavior. For example, cheerfulness and shyness can be central traits. A secondary trait is a characteristic apparent in only certain situations. For example, being uncomfortable in confined spaces can be a secondary trait. Our unique pattern of traits determines our behavior.

Hans Eysenck’s Personality Dimensions

Another trait/type theorist, psychologist Hans Eysenck, tried to reduce description of our personalities to three major genetically influenced dimensions, which everyone possesses to varying degrees. He used factor analysis, a statistical procedure that identifies common factors among groups of items, to simplify a long list of traits into his three dimensions: extroversion (also extraversion), neuroticism, and psychoticism. Extroversion measures our sociability and tendency to pay attention to the external environment, as opposed to our private mental experiences. Neuroticism measures our level of instability—how moody, anxious, and unreliable we are—as opposed to stability—how calm, even-tempered, and reliable we are. Psychoticism measures our level of tough-mindedness—how hostile, ruthless, and insensitive we are—as opposed to tender-mindedness—how friendly, empathetic, and cooperative we are. Twin studies indicate a hereditary component to these three dimensions.

Raymond Cattell’s 16 Personality Factors

A trait theorist who conducted nomothetic research, Raymond Cattell, wanted to find out how traits are organized and how they are linked. Through the use of surveys and records, Cattell studied features of surface traits, visible areas of personality. He found that many surface traits were either absent or present in clusters in people, indicating that they represented a single more basic trait. Using factor analysis, Cattell developed a list of 16 basic traits. He considered these more basic traits source traits, underlying personality characteristics. Cattell’s Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire, also called the 16 PF, yields trait profiles that enable psychologists to get a picture of our personality.

The Big Five Personality Factors

Many personality psychologists considered Eysenck’s three dimensions to be too few to describe personality, but Cattell’s 16 to be too many. More recently, trait psychologists Paul Costa and Robert McCrae have developed a five-factor model of personality, nicknamed, “The Big Five.” In cross-cultural studies, the same five factors have been identified in trait ratings. The Big Five Theory includes the traits of openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.

These can be more easily remembered by using their acronym OCEAN.

Assessment Techniques

Psychologists use a wide variety of techniques to measure personality, including interviews, direct observation and behavioral assessment, projective tests, and personality inventories. Psychologists, human resources specialists, and others use two types of interviews that both involve obtaining information about personal history, personality traits, and current psychological state. Unstructured interviews involve informal conversation centered on the individual, whereas structured interviews involve the interviewer posing a series of planned questions that the interviewee answers. The person being interviewed not only provides