Personality Psychology

Dispositional/Traits Theories

Muhammad Akram Riaz

Lecturer
Karakoram International University
Gilgit-Baltistan
Traits Theories
Contents
• Allport: Psychology of the Individual

• Eysenck, McCrae, and Costa’s Trait and Factor Theories

• Book: Chapter 4, Theories of Personality

Allport: Psychology of the
Individual
Personal Dispositions
• Throughout most of his career, Allport was careful to
distinguish between common traits and individual traits.

• Common traits are general characteristics held in common by

many people.

• They can be inferred from factor analytic studies such as those

conducted by Eysenck and the authors of the Five-Factor
Theory or they can be revealed by various personality
inventories.
Personal dispositions
• The most important distinction between a personal
disposition and a common trait is indicated by the
parenthetical phrase “peculiar to the individual.”

• Personal dispositions are individual; common traits are shared

by several people.
Cardinal Dispositions
• Some people possess an well-known characteristic or ruling
passion so outstanding that it dominates their lives.

• Some examples of these cardinal dispositions include quixotic,

chauvinistic, narcissistic, sadistic, a Don Juan, and so forth.

• When these names are used to describe characteristics in

others, they become common traits.
Central Dispositions
• Few people have cardinal dispositions, but everyone has
several central dispositions, which include the 5 to 10 most
outstanding characteristics around which a person’s life
focuses.

• We will also see that three separate analyses of these letters

revealed that Jenny could be described by about eight central
dispositions.
Secondary Dispositions
• Less conspicuous but far greater in number than central
dispositions are the secondary dispositions.

• Everyone has many secondary dispositions that are not

central to the personality yet occur with some regularity and
are responsible for much of one’s specific behaviors.
Proprium
• Allport used the term propriumto refer to those behaviors and
characteristics that people regard as warm, central, and
important in their lives.

• The proprium is not the whole personality, because many

characteristics and behaviors of a person are not warm and
central; rather, they exist on the periphery of personality.
Cont.
• These nonpropriate behaviors include

• (1) basic drives and needs that are ordinarily met and satisfied
without much difficulty;

• (2) tribal customs such as wearing clothes, saying “hello” to

people, and driving on the right side of the road; and

• (3) habitual behaviors, such as smoking or brushing one’s

teeth, that are performed automatically and that are not
crucial to the person’s sense of self.
The Study of the Individual
• Allport repeatedly advocated the development and use of
research methods that study the individual.

• To balance the predominant normative or group approach, he

suggested that psychologists employ methods that study the
motivational and stylistic behaviors of one person.
Cont.
• Personal dispositions that initiate actions are called
motivational traits.

• Personal dispositions that guide actions are called stylistic

traits.
Critique of Allport
• His theory of personality more on philosophical speculation
and common sense than on scientific investigations.

• He never intended his theory to be completely new or

comprehensive, but rather he was eclectic, carefully
borrowing from older theories and recognizing that his
detractors could have important things to say.

• Allport (1968) acknowledged that his advisories may have

been at least partially right.
Eysenck, McCrae, and Costa’s Trait
and Factor Theories
Eysenck’s Factor Theory
• Criteria for Identifying Factors
• First, psychometric evidence for the factor’s existence must be
established. A result to this criterion is that the factor must be
reliable and replicable.

• A second criterion is that the factor must also possess

heritability and must fit an established genetic model.

• This criterion eliminates learned characteristics, such as the

ability to mimic the voices of well-known people or a religious
or political belief.
Cont.
• Third, the factor must make sense from a theoretical view.
• Eysenck employed the deductive method of investigation,
beginning with a theory and then gathering data that are
logically consistent with that theory.

• The final criterion is that it must possess social relevance.

• It must be demonstrated that mathematically derived factors

have a relationship (not necessarily causal) with such socially
relevant variables as drug addiction, psychotic behavior,
criminality, and so on.
Dimensions of Personality
• Eysenck used a hypothetico-deductive approach to extract
three bipolar factors—extraversion/introversion,
neuroticism/stability, and psychoticism/superego.

• Extraverts are characterized by sociability and impulsiveness;

introverts, by passivity and thoughtfulness.

• Neuroticism indicates anxiety, hysteria, obsessive-compulsive

disorders, or criminality; low scores tend to predict emotional
stability.

• Psychoticism indicates hostility, self-centeredness, suspicion,

nonconformity, and antisocial behavior; low scores indicate a
strong superego, empathy, and cooperation.
Eysenck’s three-
factor theory structure
Scale Development
Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EQP) –
measured extroversion, neuroticism, and
psychoticism.
McCrae, and Costa’s Trait and Factor
Theories
• Already studied