1

PattersonTBTM7101-1

Trait Theory and Its Application to Business Issues

Tiffany C. Patterson

School of Business, Northcentral University

BTM-7101: Doctoral Studies in Business

Dr. Chloe Shay

August 16, 2020

 2
PattersonTBTM7101-1
Trait Theory and Its Application to Business Issues

A theory is a set of interrelated principles, which form and clarify a structured understanding of

phenomena. A theory is like a schematic, a roadmap to structural design. A schematic shows the

components of a structure and the relationship between each aspect, which is very similar to how a

theory shows the principles that form it and the relationship between them (Imenda, 2014).

Trait Theory

One particular leadership theory to examine is trait theory. This theory  focuses on personality

analysis. The theory suggests, a person's personality consists of a large variety of specified attributes or

qualities, which underlie the actions of that individual (Miller, 2019). The Trait Theory was founded by

professor and psychologist Gordon Allport of Harvard University in the mid 1930s. Allport desired to

increase his scientific awareness of human personality and proceeded to organize all the terms in an

English-language dictionary which illustrated personality characteristics. He divided over four-thousand

words into three categories: Cardinal Traits, Central Traits, and Secondary Traits (Miller, 2019).

Allport describes a cardinal trait as one that dominates the individual. These traits are not observable

and typically emerge later in life. Central traits underpin the core personality of an individual, like

integrity, greed or determination. Both cardinal and central traits are shaped by early encounters in life

and are developed over time in the individual. Lastly, secondary traits provide attributes that emerge

primarily from a single situation. This even includes feelings of apprehension before an important event

(Miller, 2019).

Throughout the years the list of personality characteristics has drastically reduced and in the

1990s, the Five-Factor Theory also known as the Big Five, emerged. This model revealed five key

attributes that shaped the basis of a human's personality. Often recognized as the OCEAN of personality,

the five attributes are: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion/introversion,

agreeableness, and neuroticism (emotional stability) (Miller, 2019).

 3
PattersonTBTM7101-1
Application to Air Force Retention Issues

Trait theory can be used in any organization by individuals at every level and the effectiveness of

an organization is based on its members. Supervisors can use this theory to evaluate their role in the

organization and they can determine how their position in the company can be improved (Zaccaro,

2007). Additionally, trait theory can equip supervisors with vital information regarding their leadership

effectiveness which also affects staff management and employee performance.

Staff management is a problem in the Air Force and it has had detrimental effects on retention.

Historically, the Air Force used cognitive tests such as the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery or

ASVAB as a dominant tool to facilitate staff management. Unfortunately, this assessment is not able to

predict an individual's motivation for exceptional performance nor willingness to stay with the Air

Force over time (Johnson, Romay and Barron, 2020). While serving as a Career Assistance Advisor in the

Air Force, I provided career counseling to Airmen who struggled with the decision of whether or not to

stay in the Air Force. During the counseling process, I discovered the common reason why most Airmen

wanted to separate was because they felt discontent with working in an environment that did not

compliment their personality. This drove me to offer the opportunity of retraining in order to change

career fields instead of the Airman separating from the Air Force.

Air Force Work Interest Navigator

During the retraining process, I encouraged Airmen to utilize the Air Force Work Interest

Navigator; a survey-based assessment that optimizes the Airman-career field match between enlisted

personnel in Air Force (Johnson, Romay and Barron, 2020). This web-based resource provides Airmen

with a range of questions and then generates a tailored career match to the personal preferences of the

Airmen (Johnson, Romay and Barron, 2020). Surprisingly, when Airmen utilized this tool, they found the

results uncanny since the list of career fields matched were consistently in line with their personality
 4
PattersonTBTM7101-1
type. This made improving Air Force retention rates easier as a result of this non-cognitive assessment

tool.

Conclusion

Finally, an organization's success is determined by its leaders. Applying leadership theories such

as trait theory early in a person’s career could increase the probability of organizational success by

placing an individual in a career that complement their central traits and vocational interests. I suspect if

this approach was implemented during the Air Force’s recruitment phase, Airmen could increase the

probability of overall job satisfaction which ultimately would reduce the egregious number of Airmen

who chose to separate from the Air Force on a daily basis.

References

Imenda, S. (2014). Is There a Conceptual Difference between Theoretical and Conceptual Frameworks?

Journal of Social Sciences, 38(2), 185-195. doi:10.1080/09718923.2014.11893249

James F. Johnson, Sophie Romay & Laura G. Barron (2020) Air Force Work Interest Navigator (AF-WIN)

to improve person-job match: Development, validation, and initial implementation, Military

Psychology, 32:1, 111-126, DOI: 10.1080/08995605.2019.1652483

Miller, S. P. (2019). Trait theory. Salem Press Encyclopedia

Zaccaro, S. J. (2007). Trait-based perspectives of leadership. American Psychologist, 62(1), 6–16.

https://doi-org.proxy1.ncu.edu/10.1037/0003-066X.62.1.6