TRAIT AND FACTOR THEORIES

Hans Eysenck's Biological Theory of Personality

Raymond Cattell's 16 Personality Factors
Gordon Allport's Dispositional Theory
McCrae and Costa's Five Factor Theory
 1 PSYCHODYNAMIC

Approach 2 BEHAVIORAL

es of 3 HUMANISTIC

Personalit 4 COGNITIVE
y Theories 5 TRAIT
PERSONALITY
◦ a pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique characteristics that give both
consistency and individuality to a person’s behavior.

TRAIT
◦ relatively stable characteristics that causes individuals to consistently behave in
certain ways

CHARACTERISTIC
S◦ unique qualities of individual that include such attributes as temperament, physique
and intelligence
 TRAIT AND
FACTOR THEORIES
TRAIT
THEORIS
TS Gordon Allport

Hans Eysenck
Raymond Cattell
 Hans Eysenck
 born in Berlin,Germany; March 4, 1916 -
September 4, 1997
 left Germany in opposition of the Nazi Regime
and eventually completed his Ph.D. in Psychology
at the Univerdsty of London
 known as controversialist (psychoanalysis and
intelligence)
 he published more than 75 books and over 1600
journal articles
 3 Personality Dimensions (PEN Model)
 Hans Eysenck's Biological
Approach
 developed a model of personality based upon just three universal traits
 believed that we all have these traits but we express them in a
different degrees

3 PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS
Extraversio Psychoticis
Neuroticism
n m
emotional stability
degree of sociability degree to which reality
is distorted
 4th Level : Types or Superfactors
- is made up of several interrelated traits

3rd Level : Traits

Hierarchy - important semi-permanent personality dispositions
of Behavior - significant intercorrelations between different habitual
behaviors
Organization 2nd Level : Habitual Acts or
Cognitions –
1- Level
st
: Specific
responses Behaviors
that recur under or
similar conditions

Cognitions
- individual behaviors or thoughts that may or may not
be characteristic of a person
• Extraverts are characterized by

EXTRAVERSI
sociability, impulsiveness, jocularity,
liveliness, optimism, and quick
wittedness, whereas introverts are quiet,
passive, unsociable, careful, reserved,
thoughtful, pessimistic, peaceful, sober,
ON
and controlled.
/
• principal difference between extraverts
and introverts is one of cortical arousal INTROVERSI
level.
ON
 ◦ frequently have a tendency to overreact emotionally and to

NEUROTICI have difficulty returning to a normal state after emotional

arousal

SM ◦ accepted the Diathesis-Stress Model

/
◦ In other words, the higher the neuroticism score, the lower
the level of stress necessary to precipitate a neurotic disorder

STABILITY ◦ people who are neurotic seems to be anxious, tense,

irrational, moody, having guilt feelings and low self-esteem
◦ High P scorers are often egocentric, cold,
nonconforming, impulsive, hostile,
aggressive, suspicious, psychopathic, and
antisocial. People low on psychoticism (in the
PSYCHOTICIS
direction of superego function) tend to be
altruistic, highly socialized, empathic, caring, M
cooperative, conforming, and conventional
/
SUPEREGO
◦ the higher the psychoticism score, the lower
the level of stress necessary to precipitate a
psychotic reaction

FUNCTION
 ◦ The BEHAVIOR ACTIVATION SYSTEM
(BAS) located at the left hemisphere
Behavior (esp in the frontal and temporal lobes)
is marked by low to moderate
Activation autonomic arousal and a tendency to
System approach is related to feelings of
happiness and anger.
◦ Associated with Extraversion
 ◦ Increased activity of the frontal and
temporal lobes of the right
hemisphere is associated with the
Behavior BEHAVIOR INHIBITION SYSTEM (BIS),
Inhibition which increases attentions and
arousal, inhibits action and stimulates
System emotions such as fear and disgust.
◦ Associated with Neuroticism
 Raymond Cattell
born on March 20, 1905, in a small town in England

his father worked on projects developing military

equipment for WWI

first person from his family to attend college, earning

his BS in Chemistry from the Kings College when he was
just 19

completed a Ph.D. in Psychology from the

University of London
Raymond
Cattell Media of Observation
◦ L Data -
T-data –
this is data
argued that that is this is life Q-data -
was necessary to from objective
record data this was a
look at a much tests designed
such as questionnaire
larger number of to 'tap' into a
school grades, designed to
traits in order to personality
get a complete absence from rate an construct.
picture of work, etc. individual's
someone’s personality
personality. (known as the
16PF)
 CATTELL EYSENCK

 used inductive method  used deductive method

 used 3 different sources of  limited to self-report questioners
data  3 Personality Dimensions
1. L Data  used factor analysis
2. Q Data
3. T Data
 16 Personality Factors
 used factor analysis
 Gordon Allport
Born in Montezuma, Indiana in 1897

4th and youngest son of a country doctor

and a former school teacher. His brother
was a Social Psychologist

Earned undergraduate degree in Philosophy

and Economics from Harvard

While in Europe, he had a fortuitous

meeting with Sigmund Freud which helped
him decide to complete Ph.D. in Psychology
 LEVELS OF PERSONAL
DISPOSITIONS
CENTRAL SECONDAR
CARDINAL TRAITS Y TRAITS
TRAITS - all people have 5-10
central traits or - are less reliable and
characteristics around less conspicuous than
- a ruling passion, a which their lives central traits.
powerful force that revolve
dominates behavior
Nomothetic Approach
Researchers assume that all people can be
described along a single dimension according
to their level of trait (e.g. assertiveness /
anxiety)
Idiographic Approach
Identify the unique combination of traits that
best accounts for the personality of a single
individual
FIVE FACTOR MODEL
 born April 28, 1949 in Maryville, Missouri, the youngest of three
children. After completing an undergraduate degree in philosophy
from Michigan State University, he earned a PhD in psychology
from Boston University. Following the lead of Raymond Cattell,
INSTRUCTIONS he began using factor analysis as a means of measuring the
FOR USE structure of human traits. After completing his academic work,
McCrae began working with Paul Costa at the National Institute
of Health, where he is still employed.

◦ Robert Roger
 was born September 16 in Franklin, New Hampshire. He earned
his undergraduate degree in psychology from Clark University
IN TWO OR and a PhD from the University of Chicago. In 1978 he began
working with Robert McCrae at the National Institute of Aging,
THREE where he continues to conduct research on human development

COLUMNS and aging. The collaboration between Costa and McCrae has
been unusually fruitful, with well over 200 co-authored research
articles and chapters, and several books.

Paul T.
Costa Jr
 Taxonomy
 a classification of things according to their natural
relationships.
 essential to the development of science because

Is The Big without classification of data, science would not

grow
Five:
Taxonomy Theory
 set of abstract concepts developed about a group of
or Theory? facts/ events in order to explain them
 Set of related assumptions that allows scientist to
use logical deductive reasoning to formulate
testable hypothesis.
OPENNESS TO
EXPERIENCE
 concern about people’s willingness to
try to new things, their ability to be
vulnerable, and their capability to think
outside the box.

 High O scorers prefer variety in their

life and are contrasted to low O scorers
who have a need for closure and who
gain comfort in their association with
familiar people and things.
CONSCIENTIOUSNE
SS
 the tendency to control impulses and act
in socially acceptable ways, behaviors
that facilitate goal-directed behavior.

 people high on the C scale tend to be

ordered, controlled, organized,
ambitious, achievement-focused, and
self-disciplined.
EXTRAVERSION
 concerns where an individual draws their
energy from and how they interact with
others

 People who score high on E tend to be

affectionate, jovial, talkative, a joiner,
and fun-loving, whereas low E scorers
tend to have opposing traits.
AGREEABLENE
SS
 concerns how well people get along
with others.

 People who score high on A tend to be

trusting, generous, yielding, acceptant,
and good natured. Low A scorers are
generally suspicious, stingy,
unfriendly, irritable, and critical of
other people.
NEUROTICISM
 encompasses one’s emotional stability
and general temper.

 people who score high on N tend to be

anxious, temperamental, self-pitying,
self-conscious, emotional, and vulnerable
to stress-related disorders, whereas
people with low scores on N tend to have
opposite characteristics.
CRITIQUES ABOUT THE BIG
5
Very high on generating research
Moderate on falsifiability
High on organizing knowledge
Moderate to low as a guide for practitioners
Moderate to low internal consistency
Very high on parsimony
 “
◦ Strenghts of Trait Theories:
◦ Used empirical objective measures (less
bias & subjectivity)
◦ many practical applications
◦ vast research contributions
 “
◦ Criticisms of Trait Theories:
◦ does not explain development of traits or
how to help people with extreme scores
◦ lack of an agreed upon framework
 CONCEPT OF HUMANITY
Not concerned with concepts of determinism versus free
choice
Not concerned with optimism versus pessimism
Not concerned with causality versus teleology
Conscious over unconscious
Biology over social influence
Mix on Uniqueness over similarity
 References

Feist, J. & Feist G. J. (2009). Theories of Personality (7th ed.). USA:

McGraw-Hill.
Schultz, D.P. & Schultz, S.E. (2008). Theories of Personality (10th ed.).
USA: Wadsworth.

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