TYPE AND TRAIT APPROACHES TO PERSONALITY

Psychological Traits vs. Personality Type Theory

Trait and type approaches.

1. Trait Theories
2. Type Theories

Personality traits

are "enduring patterns of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment
and oneself that are exhibited in a wide range of social and personal contexts." A trait is
what we call a characteristic way in which an individual perceives, feels, believes, or
acts.

Theorists generally assume

1. Traits are relatively stable over time

2. Traits differ among individuals
3. Traits are also bipolar and
4. Traits influence behaviour.

Three Trait Theory

In 1936, psychologist Gordon Allport found that one English- language dictionary alone
contained more than 4,000 words describing different personality traits. He categorized
these traits into three levels.

1. Cardinal Traits: Traits that dominate an individual’s whole life, often to the point
that the person becomes known specifically for these traits. Freudian,
Machiavellian, narcissism, Don Juan, Christ-like, etc.
2. Central Traits: These are the general characteristics that form the basic
foundations of personality. Terms such as intelligent, honest, shy and anxious are
considered central traits.
3. Secondary Traits: These are the traits that are sometimes related to attitudes or
preferences and often appear only in certain situations or under specific
circumstances. Some examples would be getting anxious when speaking to a
group or impatient while waiting in line.

Universal Trait Theory

British psychologist Hans Eysenck developed a model of personality based upon just
three universal traits were sufficient to describe human personality.

Differences between Cattell and Eysenck emerged due to preferences for different forms
of factor analysis, with Cattell using oblique, Eysenck orthogonal rotation to analyse the
factors that emerged when personality questionnaires were subjected to statistical
analysis.

1. Introversion/Extraversion: Introversion involves directing attention on inner

experiences, while extraversion relates to focusing attention outward on other
people and the environment. So, a person high in introversion might be quiet and
reserved, while an individual high in extraversion might be sociable and outgoing.
2. Neuroticism/Emotional Stability: This dimension of Eysenck’s trait theory is
related to moodiness versus even-temperedness. Neuroticism refers to an
individual’s tendency to become upset or emotional, while stability refers to the
tendency to remain emotionally constant.
3. Psychoticism: Later, after studying individuals suffering from mental illness,
Eysenck added a personality dimension he called psychoticism to his trait theory.
Individuals who are high on this trait tend to have difficulty dealing with reality
and may be antisocial, hostile, non-empathetic and manipulative. Universal trait
theory.

Big Five Model

Both Cattell’s and Eysenck’s theory have been the subject of considerable research,
which 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. Lewis Goldberg proposed a five-dimension personality model,
nicknamed the Big five.

1. Openness to Experience: the tendency to be imaginative, independent, and

interested in variety vs. practical, conforming, and interested in routine.
2. Conscientiousness: the tendency to be organized, careful, and disciplined vs.
disorganized, careless, and impulsive.
3. Extraversion: the tendency to be sociable, fun-loving, and affectionate vs.
retiring, sombre, and reserved.
4. Agreeableness: the tendency to be soft-hearted, trusting, and helpful vs.
ruthless, suspicious, and uncooperative.
5. Neuroticism: the tendency to be calm, secure, and self-satisfied vs. anxious,
insecure, and self-pitying.

Criticisms of trait theories

1. being purely descriptive and offering little explanation of the underlying causes of
personality
2. Lead some people to accept oversimplified classifications
3. Underestimate the effect of specific situations on people's behaviour.
4. Poor predictors of behaviour.

Temperament Theory

Temperament theory has its roots in the ancient four humours theory. It may have
origins in ancient Egypt or Mesopotamia, but it was the Greek physician Hippocrates
(460–370 BC) who developed it into a medical theory. Next, Galen (AD 131–200)
developed the first typology of temperament. The word "temperament" itself comes from
Latin "temperare", "to mix". In the ideal personality, the complementary characteristics
or warm-cool and dry-moist were exquisitely balanced.

4 Humours 4 Temperaments

Blood Sanguine (pleasure-seeking and sociable)

Yellow bile Choleric (ambitious and leader-like)

Black bile Melancholic (introverted and thoughtful)

Phlegm Phlegmatic (relaxed and quiet)

Supine (low self esteem)

Type A and Type B theory

Type A personality behaviour was first described as a potential risk factor for heart
disease in the 1950s by cardiologists Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman. After a ten-
year study of healthy men between the ages of 35 and 59, Friedman and Rosenman
estimated that Type A behaviour doubles the risk of coronary heart disease in otherwise
healthy individuals.

Type A

 Ambitious
 rigidly organized
 highly status conscious
 can be sensitive
 care for other people
 are truthful
 impatient
 always try to help others
 take on more than they can handle
 want other people to get to the point
 proactive
 and obsessed with time management.

People with Type A personalities are often high-achieving "workaholics" who multi-task,
push themselves with deadlines, and hate both delays and ambivalence.

Type B

 Live at a lower stress level and typically work steadily,

 Enjoying achievements but not becoming stressed when they are not
achieved.
  When faced with competition, they do not mind losing and either enjoy the
game or back down.
 They are often reflective, thinking about the outer and inner worlds.

Furthermore, Type B personalities may have a poor sense of time schedule and can be
predominately right brained thinkers.

Type D Theory

Type D personality, a concept used in the field of medical psychology, is defined as the
joint tendency towards negative affectivity ( e.g. worry, irritability, gloom) and social
inhibition (e.g. reticence and a lack of self-assurance).

The letter D stands for 'distressed'.

Johan Denollet, professor of Medical Psychology at Tilburg University, Tilburg, The

Netherlands, developed the construct based on clinical observations in cardiac patients,
empirical evidence, and existing theories of personality.

1. Individuals with a Type D personality have the tendency to experience increased

negative emotions across time and situations and tend not to share these
emotions with others, because of fear of rejection or disapproval.
2. The prevalence of Type D personality is 21% in the general population and ranges
between 18 to 53% in cardiac patients.
3. Type D is associated with a 4-fold increased risk of mortality, recurrent
myocardial infarction (MI), or sudden cardiac death, independently of traditional
risk factors, such as disease severity.

Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

This was one of the more influential ideas originated in the theoretical work of Carl Jung
as published in the book Psychological Types. The original developers of the personality
inventory were Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers. these two,
having studied extensively the work of Jung, turned their interest of human behaviour
into a devotion of turning the theory of psychological types to practical use.

The essential difference between the trait theory and type theory is this:

Type theory views characteristics of people as discrete categories whereas trait theory
views these same characteristics as part of a larger continuum.

For example, where a type theorist would claim that introverts and extroverts are two
types of people, a trait theorist would claim there is a gradient leading from introversion
to extroversion and it is possible for individuals to fall somewhere in the middle.

Type theory has its roots in personality scales such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator,
which posits 16 personality types deriving from a set of four fundamental dichotomies:

1. extroversion vs. introversion,

2. thinking vs. feeling,
3. sensing vs. intuitive and
4. perceiving vs. judging.
Proponents of this theory believe that, just as an individual orients toward left or right
handedness, one orients toward one of the 16 possible combinations of these
dichotomies and that is their “type”.

Many psychologists have recently shifted away from type theory in favour of trait theory.
Much research has revealed that variation in human personality indeed occurs along
continuous dimensions and not as discrete categories, and viewing personality in this
way allows for more flexible categorization of individuals by eliminating the ‘boxes’ into
which type theory tries to fit people.

No matter how many dichotomies of traits you choose to look at, a type theory approach
will always have some limit to the number of ways a person’s personality could
potentially be oriented. With a trait theory approach, there is an infinite number of
places on the sliding scales of traits individuals could fall.

Recent research has demonstrated that individuals’ positions on these continuums can
be tied to motivations in terms of real-world behaviour. Used correctly, this view of traits
offers a back door to understanding consumer decision-making and can allow for flexible
customized segmentations based on the aforementioned motivations, rather than
arbitrary "universal" types.

Opening our view of personality to this broader scope can also allow for the inclusion of
other factors that can be viewed on continuums -- like fashion sense or sense of humour
-- into our descriptive model. These factors may not be explicitly related to personality,
but we can refer to them as psychological traits, as they are still important in terms of
figuring out who people are.

By determining valid and reliable measurements of these useful constructs, we can

develop a powerful way of analysing individuals that moves away from strict
categorizations and towards a deep understanding of the variance within segmentations.
In turn, this procession of interpretation, from traits to motivations to behaviours, can
lead to valuable insights about consumer behaviour and decision-making.

The earliest attempt to categories personality was made by Hippocrates (400 BC).

He categorised people on the basis of four body humours and prominent personality
characteristics associated with them such as:

Recently, psychologists have attempted to study personality in their own way. They have
formulated various theories to explain personality.

These are divided into two types, viz., types and traits theories. Both these theories of
personality focus on people’s personal characteristics. However, ‘type’ theorists and
‘trait’ theorists differ in the ways they use characteristics to describe people.

Type Theories:

Type theorists have explained personality on the basis of physique and temperament.
Temperament refers to emotional aspect of the personality like changes in mood,
tensions, excitement, etc. A ‘type’ is simply a class of individuals said to share a common
collection of characteristics.

Three important ‘Type theories’ of personality are explained here:

CG Jung’s Classification:

CG Jung has classified personality on the basis of sociability character as Introverts and
Extraverts.
Introverts

1. are described as people who share characteristics such as shyness, social

withdrawal, and tendency to talk less.
2. Because of these characteristics these people appear to be self-centred,
unable to adjust easily in social situations.
3. They are not easily suggestible.
4. They are future oriented, very sensible and rigid in ideas.

Extraverts

1. share a tendency to be outgoing, friendly, talkative, and social in nature.

2. They prefer social contacts, generous, sportive, and courageous.
3. They are happy-go-lucky persons and show interest in present reality than
future.
4. They express their feelings openly.
5. Take decisions quickly and act upon quickly.
6. They are not affected easily by difficulties.

Ambiverts

1. There are only few people who are pure introverts or pure extraverts.
2. The remaining majority of people possess both the qualities of introverts
and extraverts.
3. Such people are called as Ambiverts.
4. This classification was made by psychologists who came after Jung.

Ernest Kretschmer’s Classification:

German psychologist Kretschmer has attempted to correlate physique and character.

From his studies on mental patients, he found that certain body types are associated
with particular types of mental disorders. He has classified personalities into four types:

 Pyknic type: These are people who are short and having round
body. They will have personality traits of extraverts. These people
are more prone to suffer from a mental disorder called Manic
Depressive Psychosis (MDP).
 Asthenic type: These people will have a slender or slim body. They
will have the personality traits of introverts. These people are more
prone to suffer from a serious mental disorder called Schizophrenia.
 Athletic type: These people will have strong body. They are more
energetic and aggressive. They will be strong enough, determined,
adventurous and balanced. They are comparable with ambiverts.
They are more prone to suffer from MDP.
 Dysplastic type: These people will have unproportionate body and
do not belong to any of the three types mentioned above. This
disproportion is due to hormonal imbalancement. Their behaviour
and personality are also imbalanced.
William Sheldon’s Classification:

Sheldon has proposed a theory of personality correlating temperament and body type.
He has divided people into three types:

1. Endomorph: These people will have soft, fat and round body,
having predominance of abdominal region. They are sociable and
relaxed (can be compared to pyknic type).
2. Ectomorph: These are the people who are tall, thin and flat
chested, having the skin, bones and neural structure
predominantly. They are shy, reserved and self-conscious (can be
compared with asthenic type).
3. Mesomorph: These people are well built with heavy and strong
muscles appear predominantly. They are physically active, noisy,
adventurous by nature (can be compared to athletic type).

Eysenck’s Personality Theory

Eysenck (1952, 1967, 1982) proposed a theory of personality based on biological

factors, arguing that individuals inherit a type of nervous system that affects their ability
to learn and adapt to the environment.

During 1940s Eysenck was working at the Maudsley psychiatric hospital in London. His
job was to make an initial assessment of each patient before their mental disorder was
diagnosed by a psychiatrist.

Through this position, he compiled a battery of questions about behavior, which he later
applied to 700 soldiers who were being treated for neurotic disorders at the hospital
(Eysenck (1947).

He found that the soldiers' answers seemed to link naturally with one another,
suggesting that there were a number of different personality traits which were being
revealed by the soldier's answers. He called these first-order personality traits

He used a technique called factor analysis. This technique reduces behavior to a number
of factors which can be grouped together under separate headings, called dimensions.

Eysenck (1947) found that their behavior could be represented by two dimensions:
Introversion / Extroversion (E); Neuroticism / Stability (N). Eysenck called these second-
order personality traits.

Each aspect of personality (extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism) can be traced

back to a different biological cause. Personality is dependent on the balance between
excitation and inhibition process of the autonomic nervous system (ANS).

Universal Trait Theory

British psychologist Hans Eysenck developed a model of personality based upon just
three universal traits were sufficient to describe human personality.

Differences between Cattell and Eysenck emerged due to preferences for different forms
of factor analysis, with Cattell using oblique, Eysenck orthogonal rotation to analyse the
factors that emerged when personality questionnaires were subjected to statistical
analysis.
 1. Introversion/Extraversion: Introversion involves directing attention on inner
experiences, while extraversion relates to focusing attention outward on other
people and the environment. So, a person high in introversion might be quiet and
reserved, while an individual high in extraversion might be sociable and outgoing.
2. Neuroticism/Emotional Stability: This dimension of Eysenck’s trait theory is
related to moodiness versus even-temperedness. Neuroticism refers to an
individual’s tendency to become upset or emotional, while stability refers to the
tendency to remain emotionally constant.
3. Psychoticism: Later, after studying individuals suffering from mental illness,
Eysenck added a personality dimension he called psychoticism to his trait theory.
Individuals who are high on this trait tend to have difficulty dealing with reality
and may be antisocial, hostile, non-empathetic and manipulative. Universal trait
theory.

Extraversion/introversion

Extraverts are sociable and crave excitement and change, and thus can become bored
easily. They tend to be carefree, optimistic and impulsive. They are more likely to take
risks and be thrill seekers. Eysenck argues that this is because they inherit an under
aroused nervous system and so seek stimulation to restore the level of optimum
stimulation.

Introverts on the other hand lie at the other end of this scale, being quiet and reserved.
They are already over-aroused and shun sensation and stimulation. Introverts are
reserved, plan their actions and control their emotions. They tend to be serious, reliable
and pessimistic.

Neuroticism/stability

A person’s level of neuroticism is determined by the reactivity of their sympathetic

nervous system. A stable person’s nervous system will generally be less reactive to
stressful situations, remaining calm and level headed.

Someone high in neuroticism on the other hand will be much more unstable, and prone
to overreacting to stimuli and may be quick to worry, anger or fear. They are overly
emotional and find it difficult to calm down once upset. Neurotic individuals have an ANS
that responds quickly to stress.

Psychoticism/normality

Eysenck (1966) later added a third trait / dimension - Psychoticism – e.g., lacking in
empathy, cruel, a loner, aggressive and troublesome. This has been related to high
levels of testosterone. The higher the testosterone, the higher the level of psychoticism,
with low levels related to more normal balanced behavior.

He was especially interested in the characteristics of people whom he considered to have

achieved their potential as individuals.

According to Eysenck, the two dimensions of neuroticism (stable vs. unstable) and
introversion-extroversion combine to form a variety of personality characteristics.

Critical Evaluation

Twin studies can be used to see if personality is genetic. However, the findings are
conflicting and non-conclusive.
Shields (1976) found that monozygotic (identical) twins were significantly more alike on
the Introvert – Extrovert (E) and Psychoticism (P) dimensions than dizygotic (non-
identical) twins.

Loehlin, Willerman, and Horn (1988) found that only 50% of the variations of scores on
personality dimensions are due to inherited traits. This suggests that social factors are
also important.

One good element of Eysenck’s theory is that it takes into account both nature and
nurture. Eysenck’s theory argues strongly that biological predispositions towards certain
personality traits combined with conditioning and socialization during childhood in order
to create our personality.

This interactionist approach may, therefore, be much more valid than either a biological
or environmental theory alone.

It also links nicely with the diathesis-stress model of behavior which argues for a
biological predisposition combining with an environmental trigger for a particular
behavior.

Cattell's 16PF Trait Theory

Cattell (1965) disagreed with Eysenck’s view that personality can be understood by
looking at only two or three dimensions of behavior.

Instead, he argued that that is was necessary to look at a much larger number of traits
in order to get a complete picture of someone’s personality.

Whereas Eysenck based his theory based on the responses of hospitalized servicemen,
Cattell collected data from a range of people through three different sources of data.

L-data - this is life record data such as school grades, absence from work, etc.

Q-data - this was a questionnaire designed to rate an individual's personality (known as

the 16PF) .

T-data - this is data from objective tests designed to 'tap' into a personality construct.

Cattell analyzed the T-data and Q-data using a mathematical technique called factor
analysis to look at which types of behavior tended to be grouped together in the same
people. He identified 16 personality traits / factors common to all people.

Cattell made a distinction between source and surface traits. Surface traits are very
obvious and can be easily identified by other people, whereas source traits are less
visible to other people and appear to underlie several different aspects of behavior.

Cattell regarded source traits are more important in describing personality than surface
traits.

Cattell produced a personality test similar to the EPI that measured each of the sixteen
traits. The 16PF (16 Personality Factors Test) has 160 questions in total, ten questions
relating to each personality factor.

Trait theorist Raymond Cattell reduced the number of main personality traits from All
port’s initial list of over 4,000 down to 16 by means of a statistical technique called
factor analysis.
• emotional, easily upset vs. calm, stable

• Intelligent vs. unintelligent

• suspicious vs. trusting

• reserved, unfriendly vs. outgoing, friendly

• assertive, dominant vs. not assertive, humble

• sober, serious vs. happy-go-lucky

• conscientious vs. expedient

• shy, timid vs. venturesome

• tender-minded vs. tough-minded

• practical vs. imaginative

• shrewd vs. forthright

• self-assured, placid vs. apprehensive

• conservative vs. experimenting

• group oriented vs. self-sufficient

• undisciplined vs. self-disciplined

• Relaxed vs. tense, driven

Allport's Trait Theory

Allport's theory of personality emphasizes the uniqueness of the individual and the
internal cognitive and motivational processes that influence behavior. For example,
intelligence, temperament, habits, skills, attitudes, and traits.

Allport (1937) believes that personality is biologically determined at birth, and shaped by
a person's environmental experience.

In 1936, psychologist Gordon Allport found that one English- language dictionary alone
contained more than 4,000 words describing different personality traits. He categorized
these traits into three levels.

1. Cardinal Traits: Traits that dominate an individual’s whole life, often to the point
that the person becomes known specifically for these traits. Freudian,
Machiavellian, narcissism, Don Juan, Christ-like, etc.
2. Central Traits: These are the general characteristics that form the basic
foundations of personality. Terms such as intelligent, honest, shy and anxious are
considered central traits.
3. Secondary Traits: These are the traits that are sometimes related to attitudes or
preferences and often appear only in certain situations or under specific
circumstances. Some examples would be getting anxious when speaking to a
group or impatient while waiting in line.