Describe the aspects of trait approaches to personality. Briefly describe either Raymond Cattell's or Hans Eysenck's trait theories of personality.
What will be an ideal response?
Students' answers may vary.
The answer should include the following elements:
Trait theory is the personality approach that seeks to identify the basic traits necessary to describe personality. Trait theorists do not assume that some people have a particular trait while others do not. Instead, they propose that all people possess a set of traits, but the degree to which a particular trait applies to a specific person varies and can be quantified.
Using factor analysis, personality psychologist Raymond Cattell (1965) suggested that 16 pairs of source traits represent the basic dimensions of personality. Using those source traits, he developed the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire, or 16 PF, a measure that provides scores for each of the source traits.
Psychologist Hans Eysenck (1995) used factor analysis to identify patterns of traits and found that personality could best be described in terms of just three major dimensions: extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism. The extraversion dimension relates to the degree of sociability, whereas the neurotic dimension encompasses emotional stability. Finally, psychoticism refers to the degree to which reality is distorted. By evaluating people along these three dimensions, Eysenck was able to predict behavior accurately in a variety of situations.
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