1. The Trait Perspective

2. In your notes:
In separate columns, list the traits you believe to be positive and negative.

3. Ancient Greek take on personality
Hippocrates
Four body fluids called humor (traits) can determine personality
Yellow bile  choleric, quick tempered (irritable)
Blood  warm, cheerful
Phlegm  sluggish, cool (unemotional)
Black bile  melancholy, thoughtful (depressed)

4. Allport & Odbert (1936), identified 18,000 words representing traits.
The Trait Perspective
An individual’s unique constellation of durable dispositions and consistent ways of behaving (traits) constitutes his or her personality.
Examples of Traits
Honest
Dependable
Moody
Impulsive
OBJECTIVE 14| Describe the trait and perspective’s contribution to personality research.
Allport & Odbert (1936), identified 18,000 words representing traits.

5. Allport’s Hierarchy of Traits
Cardinal Traits
Pervasive characteristics that influence behavior
MLK: social justice
Relatively few possess such dominate traits
Central Traits
Basic building blocks of personality that influence behavior
Competitiveness, generosity, independence, arrogance, fearfulness
Secondary Traits
Superficial
Preferences in clothes, music
Influence behavior in relatively few situations
More easily changed over time

6. Personality Type
Personality types, assessed by measures like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, consist of a number of traits. For example, a feeling type personality is sympathetic, appreciative, and tactful. Thinking types “prefer an objective standard of truth” and are “good at analyzing”
Sympathetic
Appreciative
Tactful
Feeling Type Personality

7. Exploring Traits
Factor analysis is a statistical approach used to describe and relate personality traits.
Cattell used this approach to develop a 16 Personality Factor (16PF) inventory.
OBJECTIVE 15| Describe some of the ways psychologists have attempted to compile a list of basic personality traits.
Raymond Cattell
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8. Factor Analysis
Cattell found that large groups of traits could be reduced down to 16 core personality traits based on statistical correlations.
Excitement
Impatient
Irritable
Boisterous
Basic
trait
Superficial
traits
Impulsive
Cattell Inventory

9. Personality Dimensions
Hans and Sybil Eysenck suggested that personality could be reduced down to two polar dimensions, extraversion-introversion and emotional stability-instability.

10. Assessing Traits
Personality inventories are questionnaires (often with true-false or agree-disagree items) designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors assessing several traits at once.
OBJECTIVE 16| Explain how psychologists use personality inventories to assess traits, and discuss the most widely used of these inventories.

11. MMPI
The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) is the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. It was originally developed to identify emotional disorders.
The MMPI was developed by empirically testing a pool of items and then selecting those that discriminated between diagnostic groups.

12. Characteristics of MMPI
Developed in 1930s to distinguish between “normal” and “disturbed”
Depression
Hypochondria
Schizophrenia
MMPI-2 developed in 1989
557 Items presented in True/False format
Divided into 10 clinical scales and 8 validity scales with cutoff points for normal range of score within each section
Social shyness
Suspiciousness
Anxiety
Scales used to determine how well the questions were understood, how much the person lied

13. Sample MMPI-2 Questions
My father was a good man.
I am seldom troubled by headaches.
My hands and feet are usually warm enough.
I have never done anything dangerous for the thrill of it.
I work under a great deal of tension.

14. Problems with MMPI
The meaning attached to the items may be misinterpreted
Examples:
Question: “People talk about me” T F
Answer might show paranoia or pride
Question: Agent of God T F
Answer might show delusional or faithful
Good place to start but not good by itself

15. MMPI Test Profile

16. The Big Five Factors
Today’s trait researchers believe that Eysencks’ personality dimensions are too narrow and Cattell’s 16PF too large. So, a middle range (five factors) of traits does a better job of assessment.
Conscientiousness
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
Openness
Extraversion
OBJECTIVE 17| Identify the Big Five personality factors, and discuss some of the strengths of this approach to studying personality.

17. Endpoints

18. Questions about the Big Five
1. How stable are these traits?
Quite stable in adulthood. However, they change over development.
2. How heritable are they?
Fifty percent or so for each trait.
3. How about other cultures?
These traits are common across cultures.
4. Can they predict other personal attributes?
Yes. Conscientious people are morning type and extraverted are evening type.

19. Evaluating the Trait Perspective
The Person-Situation Controversy
Walter Mischel (1968, 1984, 2004) points out that traits may be enduring, but the resulting behavior in various situations is different. Therefore, traits are not good predictors of behavior.
OBJECTIVE 18| Summarize the person-situation controversy, and explain its importance as a commentary on the trait perspective.

20. The Person-Situation Controversy
Trait theorists argue that behaviors from a situation may be different, but average behavior remains the same. Therefore, traits matter.

21. The Person-Situation Controversy
Traits are socially significant and influence our health, thinking, and performance (Gosling et al., 2000).
John Langford Photography
Samuel Gosling

22. Consistency of Expressive Style
Expressive styles in speaking and gestures demonstrate trait consistency.
Observers are able to judge people’s behavior and feelings in as little as 30 seconds and in one particular case as little as 2 seconds.
OBJECTIVE 19| Explain why psychologists are interested in the consistency of the trait expressiveness.