Post on 31-Dec-2015
PERSONALITYTrait Perspective
The Greeks
Four Humors that Governed the Body Excess of either created a Different Personality
Blood Sanguine (cheerfully optimistic) personality
Black Bile Melancholic (gloomy) personality
Yellow Bile Phlegmatic (calm) personality
Green Bile Choleric (easily angered) personality
Trait Theories
Trait Theories do not seek to place value judgments on people’s behavior. These theories look to describe how people behave and to try to categorize those behaviors so we can understand each other better.
Are some traits more desirable than others? Are some traits linked to the behavior of
men or men? Does this cause limitations to each genders?
Personality Traits
Traits A stable characteristic that influences your
thoughts, feeling and behaviors
State A Temporary emotional condition
The tricky part is separating traits from states or figuring out if people act in a certain way because of who they are or in response to the situation they are in
Gordon Allport
Cardinal Trait A trait that a person organizes his/her life
around Not everyone has one
Central Traits Major characteristic(s) of a person
Secondary Traits Doesn’t explain general behavior.
Hans & Sybil Eysenck
Extraversion Activity level, sociability, expressiveness,
assertiveness, ambition, and aggressiveness
Neuroticism Inferiority, unhappiness, anxiety, dependence,
hypochondria, guilt & obsessiveness Psychoticism
Risk-taking, impulsivity, irresponsibility, manipulativesness, sensation-seeking, tough-mindedness, and practicality
Raymond Cattell
16 Personality Factor ModelHe described these 16 traits on a continuum. In other words, everybody has some degree of every trait, according to Cattell.
The key to assessment is determining where on the continuum an individual falls.
The 16 traits are shown in the chart on the next slide.
Abstractedness imaginative versus practical
Apprehension insecure versus complacent
Dominance aggressive versus passive
Emotional Stability calm and stable versus high-strung and
Liveliness enthusiastic versus serious
Openness to Change liberal versus traditional
Perfectionism compulsive and controlled versus indifferent
Privateness pretentious versus unpretentious
Reasoning abstract versus concrete
Rule Consciousness moralistic versus free-thinking
Self-Reliance leader versus follower
Sensitivity sensitive versus tough-minded
Social Boldness uninhibited versus timid
Tension driven and tense versus relaxed and easy going
Vigilance suspicious versus accepting
Warmth open and warmhearted versus aloof and critical
OCEAN – Big 5 Factors
Openness
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
Factor Analysis
A statistical procedure that identifies clusters of correlated test items that tap basic components of intelligence.
Personality Inventories
MMPI – Minnesota Mulitphasic Personality Inventory Purposes
Assess major symptoms of social & personal maladjustment
Assess medical patients & design effective treatment strategies, including chronic pain management
Support college & career counseling recommendations
Identify suitable candidates for high-risk public safety positions
Provide valuable insight for marriage & family counseling
Personality Inventories
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator A personality inventory is to make the theory
of psychological types described by C. G. Jung understandable and useful in people’s lives.
Keirsey Temperament Sorter A test that includes four scales assessing the
dimensions of extraversion versus introversion, intuiting versus sensing, feeling versus thinking and judging versus perceriving