A trait =

A cdusdl interndl chdrdcteristic or fedture      V          Something thdt describes behdvior

Traits are not the behavior itself.

The Act FreBuency Approach

  • Traits refer to a collection of behaviors.
  • Someone has a trait if he or she shows the behavior

Critiques:

  • Same behavior can be caused by different traits
  • Not showing behavior is sometimes informative
  • Not all relevant behaviors can be observed

Achievements:

  • Identification of which behavior corresponds to which traits
  • Meaning of traits difficult to study
  • Indicates cross-cultural differences in manifestation of traits
  • Lends insights into phenomena

Which traits are important?

The lexicdl dpprodch

  • ‘All the traits that are described and defined by the dictionary form the basis of the natural way of describing differences between people’

Critiques:

  • Meaning is not always clear
  • Personality is more than just adjectives

The stdtisticdl dpprodch

  • Approach that uses factor analysis or similar statistical procedures to identify major personality traits. Goal = identifying trait dimensions

Advantage:

  • Factor analysis is suitable for reducing descriptors into smaller dimensions, or factors Critique:
  • Underlying dimensions depend on the variables in the analysis

The theoreticdl dpprodch

  • Theory that predicts which trait(s) are central

Just like with the ddtd types, it is best to use combindtions of severdl dpprodches.

Taxonomies of personality

2 Analogies:

Tree:    Eysenck’s Hierdrchicdl model

  • Personality traits are highly heritable
  • Personal traits have a psychophysiological basis

Hierarchical model:                 Three higher order traits

  • Psychoticism
  • Extraversion/Introversion – Neuroticism/Emotional stability

4 Levels:

  1. Higher-order traits
  2. Less narrow traits
  3. Habitual behavior
  4. Specific behavior

Advantage:

  • Allows specific behavior to be put in a broader context.

Biological basis                                   PEN model

  • Psychoticism, extraversion and neuroticism have certain inheritance factors
  • P, E and N have identifiable physiological substrates

P: more testosterone

E: less easily excitable central nervous system

N: more labile central nervous system

Circle: Interpersondl Circumplex

  • Jerry Wiggins extended the ideas of Timothy Leary

Starting point:

  • The lexical approach
  • Focused on interpersonal traits

Two axes in the interpersonal circumplex are dominance and warmth. –     Inherent in every social exchange

  • Sufficient to describe how someone is in relation to another
  • Analogous to a color wheel

Advantages:

  • Explicit definition of subject – Indicates ‘holes’ in research
  • Specifies relationship between poles

Critiques:

  • Limited to just dominance and warmth
    • Is there more to interpersonal interactions?

Five fdctor dpprodch ‘The Big Five’

Similarities and differences with Eysenck: –   E: Extravert ↔ Introvert

  • N: Neuroticism ↔ Emotional Stability
  • A: Friendliness ↔ Hostility (P1)
  • C: Conscientiousness / Caring (P2)
  • O: Openness / Intellect (NEW)

Empirical evidence:

  • Has often replicated over the past 50 years
  • Found in different cultures and languages
  • Different questionnaires/surveys were done

Critiques:

  • Traits are considered one at a time
  • Fifth factor unclear
    • Openness? Fantasy? Intellect?
  • Remains descriptive and provides no process explanation – Maybe more factors?
    • Masculine / Feminine
    • Spiritual or Religious / Non-believer

Block (1971, 1995) (and others): Personality is about how traits or characteristics are organized within the person.

Ashton & Lee (2001) said that HEXACO was the acronym (each letter means something). This theory was later nuanced by De Raad et al. (2010)

  • Honesty/humility
  • Dark / bright side of personality