The trait perspective and the ten personality disorders

1788 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Personality theories in psychology

One of the major theoretical areas in the study of the personality is the trait perspective. It suggests that individual personalities are comprised of broad dispositions, and it identifies and measures the characteristics that they are made up of (Cherry). The trait perspective helps to identify a person’s personality type (Myers). This perspective focuses on the difference between individual personalities and the traits that shape them. A trait is a stable characteristic that causes an individual to behave a certain way. A person’s personality is made up of a special combination of various traits that are unique to each individual (Cherry). In 1936, psychologist Gordon Allport categorized all of the traits into three levers: cardinal traits, central traits, and secondary traits. He said that cardinal traits are traits that dominate an individual’s whole life, that central traits are general characteristics that form the basis of the personality, and that secondary traits are traits that refer to specific attitudes or preferences that only appear in certain situations (Cherry). After Allport, came along two psychologists, Raymond Cattell and Hans Eysenck, who each formulated their own theories regarding traits. Their theories have been the subjects of considerable research in the world of psychology. Cattell seemed to focus on far too many traits, while Eysenck seemed to focus on too few. As a result, psychologists have combined the two theories to make one satisfactory theory (Cherry), called “The Big Five Factors” (Myers). They are: conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, and extraversion. These five factors merge to create the human personality (Cherry). Where people fall into these factors s... ... middle of paper ... ...ping them to be able to understand their patients and what it takes to help them to heal. Works Cited Cherry, Kendra. "Trait Theory of Personality." About.com Psychology. Web. 09 Feb. 2012. . Grohol, John M. "Personality Disorders and Personality Traits." Psych Central. 23 July 2003. Web. 09 Feb. 2012. . Hoermann, Simone, Corrine Zupanick, and Mark Dombeck. "DSM-IV-TR: The Ten Personality Disorders." Mental Health.net. 3 Jan. 2011. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. . Myers, David G. "Chapter 11: Personality." Psychology in Everyday Life. 2nd Ed. New York, NY: Worth, 2009. 292-315. Print. Smith, Darvin. "PERSONALITY DISORDERS DSM-IV." Darv Smith Homepage. Web. 05 Feb. 2012. .

Show More
Related

  • Regina George: The Plastics In High School

    1411 Words  | 3 Pages

    The trait approach focuses on describing and quantifying individual differences. The approach tries to categorize people into groups based upon what traits they exhibit. According to the textbook, “The most important factors of personality ought to be found across different sources of data, and he [Cattell] developed a typology of data – including self-report, peer-report, and behavioral observations – that has become part of the foundation of the distinctions between S, I, L, and B data” (Funder, 2013, p. 222). As the essential--trait approach was being developed over the years, the amount of traits drastically changed over time. Multiple psychologists worked on this theory, all having different ideas and amounts of essential ...

    Read More

  • Compare and Contrast Two Theories of Gender Role Development

    1366 Words  | 3 Pages

    Cervone, D., Pervin, L. A. (2008). Personality: Theory and research (10th Ed.). New York: Wiley.

    Read More

  • Trait Theory Of Introversion

    1401 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Everyday conceptions of personality traits make two key assumptions. First, traits are stable over time… Second, it is generally believed that traits directly influence behavior” (Matthews, Deary, & Whiteman, 2003). Traits can be used as explanations or reasoning for behavior or mood. There have been several notable psychologists to agree with and study the trait theory of personality. Gordon Allport was a psychologist that devoted his work to personality psychology with a focus on the trait perspective (Allport, 1961). Carr and Kingsbury (1938) advocated for further research into personality traits and the idea that the human personality was made specifically of traits even if the traits were not always overt or observable, but rather a person’s behavior could be interpreted to learn about what traits they may

    Read More

  • Definition Of Characteristics: The Trait Perspectives Of Psychology

    995 Words  | 2 Pages

    The trait perspective of psychology are a group of theories that are based around a person’s traits.

    Read More

  • The Big Five Traits

    1850 Words  | 4 Pages

    A person’s personality has been the subject of psychological scrutiny for many years. Psychologists have drawn up several theories in an attempt to accurately predict and determine one’s personality. Foremost amongst these, is the “Big Five Trait Theory” which stemmed from Raymond B. Cattell’s theory.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Positive Cultural Identity

    1171 Words  | 3 Pages

    Schultz, D.P. & Schultz, S.E. (2009). Theories of Personality, Ninth Edition. US: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

    Read More

  • The Trait Theory of Personality

    2125 Words  | 5 Pages

    Lastly, the findings of trait theory and its components described within the paper will be summarised. Major contributors to the trait theory of personality include three prominent psychologists. Boeree (2006) states that American born psychologist Gordon Allport has been described as the founding father of personality trait theory. Allport’s distinguished career included holding the presidency of the American Psychological Association (APA) and receiving the Gold Medal Award and a Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the APA (Carducci, 2009, p. 260). After meeting with Sigmund Freud in 1922 and studying his interpretation of personality, Allport developed the opinion that psychoanalysis was too in-depth while behaviourism was far too shallow in the field of personality psychology.

    Read More

  • The Analysis of the Five Factor Model

    1485 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The Five Factor Model provides a compelling framework for building personality measures that seek to represent the domain of individual terms broadly and systematically” (Briggs, 1989 as cited in McAdams. DP, 1992, p. 332). The FFM consists of five factors (The ‘Big Five’). They are Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. When measured individuals can range from extremes on each of these traits.

    Read More

  • Chaotic Harmony

    610 Words  | 2 Pages

    Huff, Charlotte. "Where Personality Goes Awry." Http://www.apa.org. American Psychological Association, n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2014.

    Read More

  • Social Cognitive Theory And Trait Theory

    1279 Words  | 3 Pages

    Personality can be defined as an individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling and acting. Many personality theorists have put forward claims as to where personality is derived from and how it develops throughout an individual’s life. The two main personality theories this essay will be focusing on is the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) (Bandura, 1986) and the Trait Theory – Five Factor Theory (FFT) (McCrae and Costa, 1995). The SCT allocates a central role to cognitive, observational learning and self-regulatory processes (Bandura, 1986). An individual’s personality develops through experiences with their sociocultural environment. Whereas the Trait Theory proposes that all individuals are predisposed with five traits (Extraversion, Openness, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness and Neuroticism) which determines our personality. This theory also puts forward that personality is stable and cannot change as it’s biologically determined.

    Read More

  • The Big Five Theory: The Five Characteristics Of Personality

    1772 Words  | 4 Pages

    The five traits that make up the Big Five Theory are Extraversion, Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience. Extraversion is linked to the habit of experiencing positive emotions. The category of extraversion includes assertiveness, talkativeness and sociability. Neuroticism is linked to the habit of experiencing negative emotions. Extraversion includes feelings of anxiety, self-consciousness, and irritability. Having low self-esteem would give you a high score in Extraversion in a personality test. Agreeableness is one’s care towards another, their concern for their needs, wishes, and rights. If a person is high in Agreeableness they would be polite and compassionate, if they are low in Agreeableness they would be unsympathetic and possibly aggressive. If a person is Agreeable, they cherish a good understanding of others emotions and what people seek out to do in their lives. Conscientiousness is the ability to conform to rules and self-efficiency. Conscientious people are self-disciplined, keep things in order, and don’t get distracted and keep themselves on track with their goals. Openness includes traits such as imagination, intellectual engagement, and aesthetic interest (Deyoung, 2010). Open people are appreciative of adventure, emotion, curiosity, unusual ideas, art and

    Read More

  • A Comparison Between Freud and Erikson

    1947 Words  | 4 Pages

    Friedman, H. S., & Schustack, M. W. (2012). Personality: Classic theories and modern research (5th ed). Boston , MA, USA: Pearson

    Read More

  • Personality Analysis of Marilyn Monroe by Using Trait Theories

    1074 Words  | 3 Pages

    Feist, J., Feist, G. J., & Roberts, T. A. (2009). Theories of personality. New York:

    Read More

  • Psychology: Personality Theories

    1730 Words  | 4 Pages

    Mccrae, R. R. and Costa Jr, P. T. 1997. Personality trait structure as a human universal. American psychologist, 52 (5), p. 509.

    Read More

  • The Big Five Model Of Personality Traits

    1561 Words  | 4 Pages

    I have been reading a lot about the Big Five Model of personality traits. It is a popular outlook on the 5 main traits human beings possess. These Traits are: Extroversion, Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and openness. This is a long standing debate of whether who we are and how we act is a result of inner personalities are because of “genes” and “nature” or a result of situations and events in life or “nurture”.

    Read More

More about The trait perspective and the ten personality disorders

Open Document