TRAITS

- By Dr. Riya Jain

M.D. (Psychiatry) Part II
 PERSONALITY TRAIT
• Personality trait is a characteristics of someone’s personality that endures over
time and across different situations.
• Trait theories of personality focus on measuring, identifying and describing
individual differences in personality in terms of traits.
• Focus is on what is different- not what is the same.

A trait is what we call a characteristic way in which an individual

perceives, feels, believes, or acts.
 E.G.
A boy of 7yrs old snatched a TV remote from her little sister who is 4yrs old. Why?
Traits:
aggressive
undisciplined
 THEORIES
1. Traits are relatively stable over time
2. Traits differ among individuals
3. Traits are also bipolar
4. Traits influence behaviour
 THREE TRAIT THEORY

The psychologist Gordon Allport found that one English language

dictionary alone contained more than 4000 words describing different
personality traits. He said that all of have different traits. He
categorized these traits into three levels.
 THREE TRAIT THEORY
1. Cardinal traits: Traits that dominate an individual’s whole life, often to the point that
the person becomes known specifically for these traits.
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
preference 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.
 16 PERSONALITY FACTOR THEORY

Trait theorist Raymond Cattell reduced the number of main personality traits
from ALLport’s initial list of over 4000 down to 16 by means of statistical
technique called factor analysis.
1. Emotional,easily upset vs. calm, stable
2. Intelligent vs. unintelligent
3. Suspicious vs. trusting
4. Reserved, unfriendly vs. outgoing, friendly
5. Assertive, dominant vs. not assertive, humble
6. Sober, serious vs. happy-go-lucky
7. Conscientious vs. expendient
8. Shy, timid vs. venturesome
9. Tender-minded vs. tough-minded
10. Practical vs. imaginative
11. Shrewd vs. forthright
12. Self-assured, placid vs. apprehensive
13. Conservative vs. experimenting
14. Group oriented vs. self-sufficient
15. Undisciplined vs. self-disciplined
16. Relaxed vs. tense, driven
 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 analyze 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 quite 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.
 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.
 Openness

Conscientiousn
Neuroticism
ess

Agreeableness Extraversion
 HISTORY AND BACKGROUND
• The big five was originally derived in the 1970’s by two independent research teams –
Paul Costa and Robert McCrae.
• These five dimensions were derived by asking thousands of people hundreds of
questions and then analyzing the data with a statistical procedure known as factor
analysis.
• The Big Five is now the most widely accepted and used model of personality.
• The five-factor theory is among the newest models developed for the description of
personality, and this model shows promise to be among the most practical and
applicable models available in the field of personality psychology.
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, somber, 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.

OCEAN
 OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE
• Openness is a general appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas,
imagination, and variety of experience.
• Open to emotion, sensitive to beauty and willing to try new things

• E.g.
• I have a rich vocabulary
• I have excellent ideas
• I am quick to understand things
• I use difficult words
 OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE
More Less

Imaginative Avoids thrill

Curious Seeking behaviour
Creative Conservative
Potential Conventional
 CONSCIENTIOUSNESS
• Tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully, and aim for achievement against
measures or outside expectations.
• It is related to the way in which people control, regulate.
• The average level of conscientiousness rises among young adults and then declines
among older adults.

• E.g.
• I am always prepared
• I pay attention to details
• I follow a schedule
 CONSCIENTIOUSNESS
High Low
Few Goals Many Goals
Careful Careless
Self- disciplines
Organized, Systematic Disorganized
Responsible Irresponsible
 EXTRAVERSION
• It is characterized by breath of activities
• Extraverts enjoy interacting with people, and are often perceived as full of energy
• They possess high group visibility, like to talk

• E.g.
• I feel comfortable around people
• I start conversations
• I talk to a lot of different people at parties
 EXTRAVERSION
More Less
Extraversion Introversion
Sociable Tentative
Talkative Reserved
Energized by social interaction Energized by being alone
 AGREEABLENESS
• It reflects individual differences in general concern for social harmony
• Generally considerate, kind, generous, trusting and trustworthy, helpful, and willing to
compromise their interests with others.
• Agreeable people also have an optimistic view of human nature.

• E.g.
• I am interested in people
• I have a soft heart
• I take time out for others
• I feel others emotions
 AGREEABLENESS
High Low
Gentle Irritable
Good-Natured Short- tempered
Understanding Uncooperative
Forgiving Antagonistic
 NEUROTICISM
• Tendency to experience negative emotions, such as anger, anxiety, or depression.
• It is sometimes called emotional instability.
• Those who score high in neuroticism are emotionally reactive

• E.g.
• I get irritated easily
• I get upset easily
• I have frequent mood swings
• I worry about things
 NEUROTICISM
More Less
Poised Depressed
Resilient Reactive
Secure Insecure
Calm Anxious
 BIOLOGICAL AND
DEVELOPMENTAL FACTOR
Temperament Personality
Pre-cultural individuals (such as Personality is a Socio-culture concept.
animals r young infant) belong to
temperament.
Early childhood temperaments may Adult personality traits as individuals
become adolescent basic genetic characteristic actively,
reactively, and passively interact with
their changing environments
It is based on biochemical systems It is based on product of socialization
It refers to dynamical features of It is to be considered a psycho-social
behaviour such as energetic, tempo, construct comprising the content
sensitivity and emotionally- related characteristics of human behaviour
such as values, attitudes, habits,
preference, personal history
• Temperament interacts with social-culture factors, but still cannot be controlled or
easily changed by these factors. Therefore, it is suggested that temperament should be
kept as an independent concept for further studies and not be conflated with
personality.
 HERITABILITY
• Heritability and environmental factors both influence all five factors to the same degree.
• The mean percentage for heritability was calculated for each personality and it was
concluded that heritability influenced the five factors broadly.
• Openness to experience was estimated to have a 57% genetic influence, extraversion
54%, conscientiousness 49%, neuroticism 48% and agreeableness 42%
 DEVELOPMENT DURING
CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE
• Temperament often refers to early behavioral and affective characteristics that are
thought to be driven primarily by genes.
• Models of temperament often include four trait dimensions:
• Sociability
• Negative emotionally
• Persistence or effortful control
• Activity level
• E.g. both parents and researchers recognize that some newborn infants are peaceful
and easily soothed while others are comparatively fussy and hard to calm.
• However development of personality as gradually occurring throughout childhood
 DEVELOPMENT THROUGHOUT
ADULTHOOD
• Each individual has the capacity to move along each dimension as circumstances
(social or temporal) changes.
• He is or she is therefore not simply no one end of each trait dichotomy but is a blend of
both, exhibiting some characteristics more often than others
 PERSONALITY CHANGE FROM
DISEASE
• While personality is mostly stable in adulthood, some diseases can alter personality.
• Gradually impairment of memory is the hallmark feature of Alzeimer’s disease.