THE FACTOR F ANALYTIC THEORY

Raymond Cattell and Hans Eysenck have

each used factor analysis to identify traits
(that is, relatively permanent dispositions
of people).
Cattell has identified 
a large number of personality traits,
whereas Eysenck has extracted only three
general factors.

I. Introduction to Cattell's Trait

Theory
 Personality- is defined as “ that which
tells what a person will do when
placed in a given situation
 Formula: R=f(S,P)
  R- behavioral responses
 f- function
 S- situation that confronts the person
 P- the nature of his personality

II. MAJOR PERSONALITY FACTORS

A. Traits
 Are relatively permanent and broad
reaction tendencies and serve as the
building blocks of personality
Kinds:
1. Constitutional traits
 Characteristics that is biologically
rooted and is very resistant to change

2. Environmental-mold traits
 Characteristics learned through
experiences with the environment

3. Ability traits
 Refers to the person’s skill in dealing
with the complexity of a given
situation
 ( intelligence, multiple intelligence)

4. Temperament traits
 Refers to the stylistic tendencies of
the individual
 ( irritable, moody, easy-going/bold)

5. Dynamic traits
 Refers to the motivation and
interest of the person
 Consist of attitude and sentiments

6. Common traits
 Refers to the characteristics shared
by many people

7. Unique traits
 Refers to those traits that are
unique to one person

8. Surface traits
 Simply a collection of trait elements,
of greater or lesser width of
representation which obviously “ go
together “ in many different individuals
and circumstances
 Cluster together
 9. Source trait
 Is the underlying factor that controls
the variation in the surface cluster of
traits

 refer to the underlying factor or

factors responsible for the
intercorrelation among surface traits.

 They can be distinguished from trait

indicators, or surface traits.

 16 major source traits ( 16PF)

Low score description High score description
RESERVED: detached, OUTGOING:
critical, cool warmhearted, easy-going,
participating
LESS INTELLIGENT: MORE INTELLIGENT:
concrete-thinking ( lower abstract-thinking, bright
scholastic mental capacity) (higher scholastic mental
capacity)
AFFECTED BY EMOTIONALLY
FEELINGS: emotionally STABLE: faces reality,
less stable, easily upset calm
( lower ego strength) (higher ego strength )
HUMBLE: mild, obedient, ASSERTIVE:
conforming( submissive) independent, aggressive,
stubborn
( dominance)
SOBER: prudent, serious, HAPPY-GO-LUCKY:
taciturn(desurgency) heedless, gay, enthusiastic
( surgency)
EXPEDIENT: a law to CONSCIENTIOUS:
himself, by-passes persevering, staid, rule-
obligations bound ( stronger superego
( weaker ego strength strength)
SHY: restrained, diffident, VENTURESOME:
timid socially bold, uninhibited,
spontaneous,
TOUGH –MINDED: self- TENDER-MINDED:
reliant, realistic, no- dependent, over-protected,
nonsense sensitive
TRUSTING: adaptable, free SUSPICIOUS: self-
of jealousy, easy to get on opinionated, hard to fool
with
 PRACTICAL: careful, IMAGINATIVE: wrapped up
conventional, regulated by in inner urgencies, careless
external realities, proper of practical matters,
bohemian
FORTHRIGHT: natural, SHREWD: calculating,
artless, sentimental worldly, penetrating
PLACID: self-assured, APPREHENSIVE: worrying,
confident, serene depressive, troubled
CONSERVATIVE: respecting EXPERIMENTING: critical,
established ideas, tolerant liberal, analytical, free-
of traditional difficulties thinking
GROUP-DEPENDENT: a SELF-SUFFICIENT: prefers
“joiner” and sound follower own decisions, resourceful
CASUAL: careless of CONTROLLED: socially-
protocol, untidy, follows precise, self-disciplined,
own urges compulsive
RELAXED: tranquil, torpid, TENSE: driven,
unfrustrated overwrought, fretful

A. Temperament Traits

 are concerned with how a person

behaves.
 B. Dynamic Traits ( motivational)
 motivational or dynamic traits, which
include attitudes, ergs, and sems. 

 1. Attitudes

 An attitude refers to a specific course

of action, or desire to act, in response to
a given situation.

 2. Ergs

 Ergs are innate drives or motives,

such as sex, hunger, loneliness, pity,
fear, curiosity, pride, sensuousness,
anger, and greed that humans share
with other primates. 

 3. Sems
 Sems are learned or acquired
dynamic traits that can satisfy several
ergs at the same time.

 The self-sentiment is the most

important sem in that it integrates the
other sems. 

VII. The Dynamic Lattice

The dynamic lattice is a complex

network of attitudes, ergs, and sems
underlying a person's motivational
structure.

TECHNIQUE OF ASSESSMENT
 Cattell used an inductive approach
to identify traits;
 that is, he began with a large body
of data that he collected with no
preconceived hypothesis or theory. 

 Factor analysis is a mathematical

procedure for reducing a large number of
scores to a few more general variables or
factors.
 Correlations of the original, specific
scores with the factors are called factor
loadings.

 Traits generated through factor analysis

may be either unipolar (scaled from zero to
some large amount)

or bipolar (having two opposing poles, such

as introversion and extraversion).
 For factors to have psychological
meaning, the analyst must rotate the axes
on which the scores are plotted.

 ( Eysenck used an orthogonal rotation)

whereas Cattell favored an oblique
rotation.

 The oblique rotation procedure

ordinarily results in more traits than the
orthogonal method.

 A. P Technique

 Cattell's P technique is a
correlational procedure that uses
measures collected from one person on
many different occasions and is his
 attempt to measure individual or
unique, rather than common, traits.

 Cattell also used the dR (differential

R) technique, which correlates the
scores of a large number of people on
many variables obtained at two
different occasions.

 By combining these two techniques,

Cattell has measured both states
(temporary conditions within an
individual) and traits (relatively
permanent dispositions of an
individual).

 B. Media of Observation
 Cattell used three different sources
of data that enter the correlation
matrix: 

 (1) L data

 or a person's life record that comes

from observations made by 
others;

 (2) Q data

 which are based on questionnaires;

and

 (3) T data

 or information obtained from

objective tests.
VIII. Genetic Basis of Traits

 Cattell and his colleagues provided

estimates of heritability of the various
source traits.

 Heritability is an estimate of the

extent to which the variance of a given
trait is due to heredity.

 Cattell has found relatively high

heritability values for both:

 A. fluid intelligence (the ability to

adapt to new material) and
 B. crystallized intelligence (which
depends on prior learning),

 suggesting that intelligence is due

more to heredity than to environment

THE PROCESS OF PERSONALITY

DEVELOPMENT
 the physiological behavior of the
mother influences the development of
the embryo
 anoxia- may result to mental
deficiencies
 the temperament of the child is
influenced by the endocrine
condition/hormonal condition of the
mother during gestation
 Cattell point out that in both motor
and verbal learning, untaught children
 quickly achieve the same levels of
performance as those who have been
thoroughly trained
 He point out untrained children may
learn quickly once they are mature
enough to do so and that they can
quickly achieve levels of proficiency that
equal those of their well-trained
counterparts
 As the child matures the
environment has a great impact in the
formation of his traits… his personality