Individual Personality Traits vs.

Broader Personality
Dimensions
As you browsed through this list, you may have already spotted one of the problems faced
by psychologists when attempting to create personality taxonomies. Do each of these
terms really indicate a separate and distinct personality trait, or are they simply aspects
of a much broader trait? For example, is daringness truly a distinctive trait, or is it simply
a subtrait of something like risk-taking or self-confidence? Are all of those simply subsets
of a much broader trait like extraversion?

Rather than creating a massive list of words related to personality traits (many of which
might really just be describing the same thing), many psychologists today prefer to focus
on identifying the broad dimensions that make up personality.

The big five theory of personality is one of the most popular of these theories, and it
suggests that personality is composed of five key trait dimensions: openness to
experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Each of
these dimensions exists as a continuum, and each persons unique personality lies
somewhere between the two extremes. On a trait such as extroversion, for example, a
person might be very extroverted, not at all extroverted (aka introverted), or they might
lie somewhere in the middle of the continuum.

If you looked at a broad trait like extroversion in a hierarchical manner, extroversion

might lie at the peak with mid-level traits such as sociability and sensation-seeking in the
center and lower-level traits like sensation-seeking and talkativeness at the base of the
trait pyramid.

So, while it is possible to list off thousands of words that describe or relate to different
personality traits, many contemporary theories propose that the majority of these can be
grouped into between three and five broad categories. Take a closer look at some of the
many personality traits listed above and consider how you might go about grouping them
into related categories.

How Many Personality Traits Are There?

Howmanypersonalitytraitsdoyouthinkexist?Howmanypersonalitytraitscanyou
listjustoffthetopofyourhead?Outgoing,friendly,kind,cranky,lazy,mean.Youcan
probablyrattleoffalotofdifferentdescriptionsthatapplytopersonality,butdoeach
ofthesereallyrepresentaspecificpersonalitytrait?

Psychologistshavealsotriedtodeterminejusthowmanypersonalitytraitstheremight
be,andthenumbersvarydramaticallyfromoneexperttothenext.

Forexample,GordonAllportsuggestedthatthereweremorethan4,000different
personalitytraitswhileHansEysenckproposedthattherewerejustthree.

Today,themostpopulartheorysuggeststhattherearefivebroaddimensionsof
personality.Manyofthetermsthatwemightusetodescribeaperson'spersonality
wouldfallunderoneofthesefivecoredimensions.Soinsteadofthinkingof
personalityasmadeupofthousandsofdifferentindividualtraits,manyexpertswould
suggestthatitismadeupofseveralbroaddimensionsthatencompassallofthesetrait
descriptors.

The Quest to Determine How Many Personality Traits Exist

Thetraittheoryofpersonalitysuggeststhatpersonalityiscomposedofanumberof
broadtraits.Outgoing,kind,aggressive,andenergeticarejustafewofthetermsthat
mightbeusedtodescribesomeofthesetraits.Butjusthowmanydifferentpersonality
traitsarethere?

Therehavebeenanumberofdifferenttheoriesproposedovertheyearswithregardsto
exactlyhowmanytraitstheremightbe.Thefollowingaresomeoftheestimatesand
theoriesputforthbydifferentexperts:

Allport: Thousands of Traits

PsychologistGordonAllportwasoneofthefirsttodoso.Hecreatedalistofmore
than4,000personalitytraits.

Allportgroupedthesetraitsintothreedifferentcategories:cardinaltraits,centraltraits,
andsecondarytraits.

Cardinaltraitsarethosethataresodominantthattheyare
expressedacrosssituationsandvariouspartsofaperson'slife.
Thistypeoftraitisconsideredrare.

Centraltraitsarethecoretraitsthattendtoremainrelatively
stablethroughoutlife.Manytraittheoriesofpersonalityfocus
onthesetraits.Thesetraitsserveasthe"buildingblocks"of
personality.

Secondarycharacteristicsarethosethatemergeincertain
situations.Thesecanbeinconsistentandmaynotremain
stableovertime.

Cattell: 16 Traits
Later,psychologistRaymondCattellnarrowedthisexpansivelistdownto16.Usinga
statisticaltechniqueknownasfactoranalysis,CattellwhittleddownAllport'soriginal
listofapproximately4,000traitstowhatCattellcalledthe16"sourcetraits."He
believedthattheseunderlyingtraitswerewhatinfluencedthebehaviorsthatare
referredtoaspersonality.

Hislistof16factorsincludedapprehension,emotionalstability,opennesstochange,
selfreliance,andsensitivity.Eachfactorrepresentsadimensionandhesuggestedthat
peoplecouldbehighorlow(orinthemiddle)withregardstoaparticulartrait.

Eysenck: Three Traits

PsychologistHansEysencknarrowedthelistoftraitsdownevenfurther,suggesting
thattherewerejustthree.HebelievedthatCattell'ssystemincludedtoomanysimilar
traitsandoriginallyproposedthathumanpersonalitycouldbeexplainedusingjusttwo
factors:extraversion/introversionandemotionalstability/emotionalinstability.He
lateraddedathirdfactorknownapsychoticism,whichrelatedtoaperson'stendency
tobepsychoticorsociopathic.

Contemporary View: Five Personality Dimensions

Today,oneofthemostpopulartheoriesisCostaandMcRae'sfivefactortheory.

Oftenreferredtoas"thebigfive,"thistheorysuggeststhattherearefivebroad
personalitydimensions.Eachdimensionexistsasacontinuumandanindividual's
personalitycanlieatanypointonthatcontinuumforthatparticulartrait.

Sojustwhatarethese"bigfive"dimensions?Theyareextroversion,agreeableness,
conscientiousness,neuroticism,andopenness.Soifyoulistedtraitssuchascheerful,
happy,kind,andhelpful,thosemightfallunderthebroadcategoriesofagreeableness
andconscientiousness.

Itisimportanttorememberthateachofthesedimensionsrepresentsacontinuum.
Peoplemaybehighinadimensionsuchasextroversionwhiletheyarelowina
dimensionsuchasneuroticism.Itiswherepeoplefallonthecontinuumforeach
dimensionthathelpsmakeuptheiruniquepersonality.

Learnmoreabout:

TraitTheory
 Big5Theory

Extroversion

Introversion

Cattell's16PersonalityFactors

What Is the Trait Theory of Personality?

Ifsomeoneaskedyoutodescribeaclosefriend'spersonality,whatkindofthings
wouldyousay?Afewthingsthatmightcometomindaredescriptiveterms,such
asoutgoing,kindandeventempered.Alloftheserepresenttraits.Whatexactlydoes
thistermmean?

Atraitcanbethoughtofasarelativelystablecharacteristicthatcausesindividualsto
behaveincertainways.Thetraitapproachtopersonalityisoneofthemajor
theoreticalareasinthestudyofpersonality.

Thetraittheorysuggeststhatindividualpersonalitiesarecomposedofthesebroad
dispositions.

Unlikemanyothertheoriesofpersonality,suchaspsychoanalyticorhumanistic
theories,thetraitapproachtopersonalityisfocusedondifferencesbetween
individuals.Thecombinationandinteractionofvarioustraitsformapersonalitythatis
uniquetoeachindividual.Traittheoryisfocusedonidentifyingandmeasuringthese
individualpersonalitycharacteristics.

Gordon Allports Trait Theory

In1936,psychologistGordonAllportfoundthatoneEnglishlanguagedictionary
alonecontainedmorethan4,000wordsdescribingdifferentpersonalitytraits.He
categorizedthesetraitsintothreelevels:

CardinalTraits:Thesearetraitsthatdominatean
individualswholelife,oftentothepointthattheperson
becomesknownspecificallyforthesetraits.Peoplewithsuch
personalitiesoftenbecomesoknownforthesetraitsthattheir
namesareoftensynonymouswiththesequalities.Considerthe
originandmeaningofthefollowingdescriptiveterms:
 Freudian,Machiavellian,narcissistic,DonJuan,Christlike,
etc.Allportsuggestedthatcardinaltraitsarerareandtendto
developlaterinlife.

CentralTraits:Thesearethegeneralcharacteristicsthatform
thebasicfoundationsofpersonality.Thesecentraltraits,while
notasdominatingascardinaltraits,arethemajor
characteristicsyoumightusetodescribeanotherperson.
Termssuchasintelligent,honest,shyandanxiousare
consideredcentraltraits.

SecondaryTraits:Thesearethetraitsthataresometimes
relatedtoattitudesorpreferencesandoftenappearonlyin
certainsituationsorunderspecificcircumstances.Some
exampleswouldbegettinganxiouswhenspeakingtoagroup
orimpatientwhilewaitinginline.

Raymond Cattells Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire

TraittheoristRaymondCattellreducedthenumberofmainpersonalitytraitsfrom
Allportsinitiallistofover4,000downto171,mostlybyeliminatinguncommontraits
andcombiningcommoncharacteristics.Next,Cattellratedalargesampleof
individualsforthese171differenttraits.Then,usingastatisticaltechniqueknownas
factoranalysis,heidentifiedcloselyrelatedtermsandeventuallyreducedhislistto
just16keypersonalitytraits.

AccordingtoCattell,these16traitsarethesourceofallhumanpersonality.Healso
developedoneofthemostwidelyusedpersonalityassessmentsknownastheSixteen
PersonalityFactorQuestionnaire(16PF).

Eysencks Three Dimensions of Personality

BritishpsychologistHansEysenckdevelopedamodelofpersonalitybaseduponjust
threeuniversaltrails:

1. Introversion/Extraversion:
Introversioninvolvesdirectingattentiononinnerexperiences,
whileextraversionrelatestofocusingattentionoutwardon
otherpeopleandtheenvironment.So,apersonhighin
 introversionmightbequietandreserved,whileanindividual
highinextraversionmightbesociableandoutgoing.

1. Neuroticism/EmotionalStability:
ThisdimensionofEysenckstraittheoryisrelatedto
moodinessversuseventemperateness.Neuroticismrefersto
anindividualstendencytobecomeupsetoremotional,while
stabilityreferstothetendencytoremainemotionallyconstant.

2. Psychoticism:
Later,afterstudyingindividualssufferingfrommentalillness,
Eysenckaddedapersonalitydimensionhecalledpsychoticism
tohistraittheory.Individualswhoarehighonthistraittendto
havedifficultydealingwithrealityandmaybeantisocial,
hostile,nonempatheticandmanipulative.

The Five-Factor Theory of Personality

BothCattellsandEysenckstheoryhavebeenthesubjectofconsiderableresearch,
whichhasledsometheoriststobelievethatCattellfocusedontoomanytraits,while
Eysenckfocusedontoofew.

Asaresult,anewtraittheoryoftenreferredtoasthe"BigFive"theoryemerged.
Thisfivefactormodelofpersonalityrepresentsfivecoretraitsthatinteractto
formhumanpersonality.Whileresearchersoftendisagreeabouttheexactlabelsfor
eachdimension,thefollowingaredescribedmostcommonly:

1. Extraversion

2. Agreeableness

3. Conscientiousness

4. Neuroticism

5. Openness

Assessing the Trait Approach to Personality

Whilemostagreethatpeoplecanbedescribedbasedontheirpersonalitytraits,
theoristscontinuetodebatethenumberofbasictraitsthatmakeuphumanpersonality.
Whiletraittheoryhasanobjectivitythatsomepersonalitytheorieslack(suchas
Freudspsychoanalytictheory),italsohasweaknesses.Someofthemostcommon
criticismsoftraittheorycenteronthefactthattraitsareoftenpoorpredictorsof
behavior.Whileanindividualmayscorehighonassessmentsofaspecifictrait,heor
shemaynotalwaysbehavethatwayineverysituation.Anotherproblemisthattrait
theoriesdonotaddresshoworwhyindividualdifferencesinpersonalitydevelopor
emerge.

Sources:

Boeree,C.G.(2006).GordonAllport.PersonalityTheories.Foundonlineathttp://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/allport.html

McCrae,R.R.,&Costa,P.T.(1997)Personalitytraitstructureasahumanuniversal.AmericanPsychologist,52,509516.

A List of Personality Traits (From A to Z)

At various points in psychology history, researchers have tried to come up with a
comprehensive list of personality traits. Traits are often defined in a variety of ways,
but in psychology they are generally thought of as characteristic forms of behaviors,
thoughts, or feelings that tend to be relatively stable and consistent.

If someone asked you to describe yourself, what would you say? If you are like many
people, you would probably rattle off a list of words that describe different aspects of your
personality. It can be difficult at times to think about your own personality in an objective
way. You may actually find it easier to describe the personality of a friend of family
member.

If you had to estimate how many personality traits exist, what would your guess be? Tens,
hundreds, or maybe even thousands? Over the years, researchers have proposed a
number of estimates, ranging from a miniscule number of just three to several thousand.

So whats the real number? Well, that depends on how you decide to classify and
categorize different traits. Lets take a closer look at a few estimates and learn why many
psychologists today prefer to look at personality dimensions rather than lists of
individual traits.

A Quick Look at the History of Personality Trait

Research
Psychologist Gordon Allport was one of the first to create a personality taxonomy,
arriving at a grand list of more than 4,000 different traits. Other psychologists later
suggested that many of these traits were merely variations of broader dimensions and
attempted to whittle down the list to something much more manageable. Cattell
suggested there were 16 key traits, while Eysenck believed there were really just three.
Today, many contemporary psychologists believe that personality is composed of five
broad dimensions.
So just what are some of these many traits that have been identified and described by
psychologists at various points in history?

Some of these traits include:

Absent-minded

Adaptable

Aggressive

Aloof

Altruistic

Angry

Approval-seeking

Assertive

Calm

Charismatic

Charming

Cheerful

Clever

Compassionate

Compliant

Confident

Conforming

Conscientious

Considerate

Contemplative

Courageous

Creative
 Cruel

Curious

Cynical

Decisive

Dishonest

Dramatic

Emotionally stable

Empathetic

Energetic

Enthusiastic

Extroverted

Friendly

Forthright

Gregarious

Honest

Impulsive

Introverted

Irritable

Kind

Loyal

Moody

Narcissistic

Neat

Needy
 Nervous

Neurotic

Obedient

Open to experience

Optimistic

Orderly

Resilient

Rigid

Risk-taking

Self-control

Selfish

Sensation-seeking

Serious

Shy

Sociable

Tidy

Timid

Trustworthy

Understanding

Vindictive

Warm