In Figure 5 below we present just a few, out of hundreds, of the other traits that have been studied by personologists. Not all of the above traits are currently popular with scientists, yet each of them has experienced popularity in the past.
Although the Five-Factor Model has been the target of more rigorous research than some of the traits above, these additional personality characteristics give a good idea of the wide range of behaviors and attitudes that traits can cover.
The ideas described in this module should probably seem familiar, if not obvious to you. When asked to think about what our friends, enemies, family members, and colleagues are like, some of the first things that come to mind are their personality characteristics. We might think about how warm and helpful our first teacher was, how irresponsible and careless our brother is, or how demanding and insulting our first boss was. But what if this idea were wrong?
What if our belief in personality traits were an illusion and people are not consistent from one situation to the next? This was a possibility that shook the foundation of personality psychology in the late s when Walter Mischel published a book called Personality and Assessment In other words, children who cheat on tests at school may steadfastly follow all rules when playing games and may never tell a lie to their parents. In other words, he suggested, there may not be any general trait of honesty that links these seemingly related behaviors.
Furthermore, Mischel suggested that observers may believe that broad personality traits like honesty exist, when in fact, this belief is an illusion. Because of the findings that Mischel emphasized, many psychologists focused on an alternative to the trait perspective. For instance, although there may not be a broad and general trait of honesty, some children may be especially likely to cheat on a test when the risk of being caught is low and the rewards for cheating are high.
Others might be motivated by the sense of risk involved in cheating and may do so even when the rewards are not very high. Because of this, the same child might act very differently in different situations. If so, then studying these broad traits might be more fruitful than cataloging and measuring narrow, context-free traits like Extraversion or Neuroticism.
And, as is often the case, it turns out that a more moderate middle ground than what the situationists proposed could be reached. Someone who is extremely talkative at one specific party may sometimes be reticent to speak up during class and may even act like a wallflower at a different party.
However, it is also true that if psychologists assess a broad range of behaviors across many different situations, there are general tendencies that emerge. Personality traits give an indication about how people will act on average, but frequently they are not so good at predicting how a person will act in a specific situation at a certain moment in time. Thus, to best capture broad traits, one must assess aggregate behaviors, averaged over time and across many different types of situations.
Most modern personality researchers agree that there is a place for broad personality traits and for the narrower units such as those studied by Walter Mischel. Please use the rating scale below to describe how accurately each statement describes you.
Describe yourself as you generally are now, not as you wish to be in the future. Describe yourself as you honestly see yourself, in relation to other people you know of the same sex as you are, and roughly your same age.
Please read each statement carefully, and put a number from 1 to 5 next to it to describe how accurately the statement describes you. Scoring: The first thing you must do is to reverse the items that are worded in the opposite direction.
In order to do this, subtract the number you put for that item from 6. So if you put a 4, for instance, it will become a 2. Cross out the score you put when you took the scale, and put the new number in representing your score subtracted from the number 6. Next, you need to add up the scores for each of the five OCEAN scales including the reversed numbers where relevant.
Place the sum next to each scale below. Compare your scores to the norms below to see where you stand on each scale. If you are low on a trait, it means you are the opposite of the trait label. For example, low on Extraversion is Introversion, low on Openness is Conventional, and low on Agreeableness is Assertive. Browse Content Personality Traits.
It is our personalities that help make us unique individuals, but not everyone agrees on exactly how many different traits exist. Some break personality down into very narrow and specific traits, while others prefer to look at traits much more broadly.
Traits are typically defined as the different characteristics that make up an individual's personality. In the Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research , authors Roberts, Wood, and Caspi define personality traits as "the relatively enduring patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that distinguish individuals from one another. Trait theory suggests that our personalities are made up of a number of different broad traits.
For example, extroversion often known as extraversion is a personality dimension that describes how people interact with the world. Some people are very extroverted or extraverted and outgoing, for example, while others are more introverted and reserved. Until fairly recently, it was believed that personality traits changed very little over the course of a lifetime. Some newer longitudinal studies have revealed that traits are a bit more nuanced than previously believed and that some personality changes can and do occur over time.
What would you say if someone asked you to list the personality traits that best describe you? You might rattle off a variety of traits such as kind, aggressive, polite, shy, outgoing, or ambitious. If you were to make a list of every personality trait, it would probably include hundreds or even thousands of different terms used to describe different aspects of personality.
Psychologist Gordon Allport once created a list of personality traits that included more than 4, terms. The question of just how many personality traits there is has been the subject of debate throughout much of psychology's history, but many psychologists today rely on what is known as the big five model of personality. According to the big five model , personality is composed of five broad dimensions.
Individual personalities may be either high, low, or somewhere in between on each of the five core traits. The five traits that make up personality are:. Most of the characteristics you might use to describe your own personality fall under one of these broad headings. Personality traits such as shy, outgoing, friendly, and sociable are aspects of extroversion while traits such as kind, thoughtful, organized, and ambitious would be part of the conscientiousness spectrum.
Each of these five traits represents a continuum. Some people are low in certain traits and high in others. In fact, many people are somewhere in the middle of many or most of these characteristics.
What matters more when it comes to personality, nature or nurture? Just how much does your DNA influence your personality? Researchers have spent decades studying family, twins, adopted children and foster families to better understand how much of personality is genetic and how much is environmental. Both nature and nurture can play a role in personality, although a number of large-scale twin studies suggest that there is a strong genetic component.
One study, the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart, studied pairs of twins between and Participants included both identical and fraternal twins who were either raised together or apart. Results revealed that personalities of identical twins were similar whether they were raised in the same household or apart, suggesting that some aspects of personality are influenced by genetics. This certainly does not mean that the environment does not play a role in shaping personality.
Then, using a statistical technique known as factor analysis, he identified closely related terms and eventually reduced his list to just 16 key personality traits. According to Cattell, these 16 traits are the source of all human personality. He also developed one of the most widely used personality assessments known as the "16 Personality Factor Questionnaire. British psychologist Hans Eysenck developed a model of personality based upon just three universal trails.
This 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. Most theorists and psychologists agree that people can be described based on their personality traits. Yet, theorists continue to debate the number of basic traits that make up human personality.
Some of the most common criticisms of trait theory center on the fact that traits are often poor predictors of behavior. While an individual may score high on assessments of a specific trait, he may not always behave that way in every situation. Another problem is those trait theories do not address how or why individual differences in personality develop or emerge. The study of personality and what shapes and influences each person is fascinating.
As you can see, those who study this field have varying opinions. However, they do build off one another, and theorists tend to refine the work of their predecessors, which is common in all scientific pursuits. What is most important to understand is that everyone has different personality traits. We each have certain traits that dominate our personality with a myriad of traits that can arise in different situations.
Also, our traits can change over time and can be shaped by our experiences. Ever wonder what your personality type means? Sign up to find out more in our Healthy Mind newsletter. Fajkowska M, Kreitler S. J Pers.
Fleeson W, Jayawickreme E. Whole Trait Theory. J Res Pers. Subjective ratings of Cattell's 16 Personality Factors. J Pers Assess.
Hampson SE. Personality processes: mechanisms by which personality traits "get outside the skin".
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