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Personality Trait Theory

Author: Erick Taggart
Video Transcript
Terms to Know
Allport’s “Lexical Hypothesis”

Gordon Allport identified 18,000 words representing traits in the dictionary and organized these into levels of traits.

Cardinal Traits

Traits that are so basic that all of a person’s activities can be traced back to the trait.

Central Traits

Core qualities of a personality; major characteristics you would use to describe an individual.

Common Traits

Traits shared by most members of a specific culture.

Individual Traits

Specific person’s unique personality traits.

Personality Trait

The basic and stable and consistent qualities people show over time and in different situations; the building blocks of a person’s self, or sense of who they are.

Secondary Traits

Preferences or dependent on the environment.

Trait Theorist

A personality psychologist that attempts to identify and measure particular aspects or pieces of a person’s personality (or traits).