The theory of personality focuses on personality traits, but what exactly is a personality trait?
Personality traits are the basic, stable, and consistent qualities that people show over time and in different kinds of situations. These are the building blocks of a person’s self. Essentially, they are the qualities we put together to describe who a person is and what they're like. Personality traits can have an influence on our behaviors.
EXAMPLE
For instance, if somebody is an angry or irritable person, they may be more prone to act out of anger or violence.A trait theorist is a personality psychologist that conducts a scientific study of personality to identify and measure these particular aspects of a person's personality. This area of study is considered reductive as a theory, like structuralism, because it tries to break it down into the smallest possible parts.
One of the founding figures in trait theory of personality is Gordon Allport. Allport studied and lived during the first half of the 1900s. His major contribution to personality trait theory was the identification of different levels and categories of traits.
He developed the idea of general versus specific traits in personality.
| Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Common Traits | Also considered a general trait. Common traits are traits that are recognized and shared by most people within a certain culture. | In the United States, competitiveness is a trait that is shared and valued by people. However, collective or more group-oriented cultures in Africa or Asia might not value the trait of competitiveness as highly. |
| Individual Traits |
Specific traits are individual traits that a person has; these are unique and specific to each person over time. Individual traits are the focus of our trait theories. Within individual traits, Allport further identified levels of importance for those traits. He developed what is called Allport's "Lexical Hypothesis" and identified 18,000 words representing traits in the dictionary. He organized these into levels of traits. |
A person from the U.S. may be a shy and less outgoing person while still sharing the general trait of competitiveness with someone from another region. |
| Cardinal Traits | People might consider certain traits as being more important or more influential to their own ideas and behavior. A cardinal trait is the most influential and important trait that can be in a person, and this trait is essentially behind every kind of action that the person takes. Cardinal traits are very rare, since people are generally not defined by a single trait. | Mother Teresa has a cardinal trait of kindness, because this trait essentially guided all of her actions during her life.} |
| Central Traits | This type of trait is probably the most important to the trait theory. Central traits are the prominent, influential traits that are at the core of the personality. They don't completely define a person, but do influence the way that people usually act. | A person might be humorous, intelligent, or shy. |
| Secondary Traits | This type of trait is considerably less influential. These can be things like preferences in what you like about food or colors. It could also be certain kinds of traits that are only shown in certain situations or circumstances. | A person might only be shy or anxious when speaking in public, but otherwise might be an outgoing person. |
Source: This work is adapted from Sophia author Erick Taggart.
