topic 7 - the use of trait theory as a measure of personality

Question 1

define factor analysis

Answer 1

it is the use of statistical analysis to find overarching/ larger patterns.

Researchers use factor analysis to predict behaviour from the outward characteristics that people.

Question 2

who has a theory about certain personality traits ie cardinal?

Answer 2

Gordon Allport (1936)

Question 3

briefly describe Allport’s theory of personality

Answer 3

Allport’s theory focuses on three levels of traits being: cardinal, central and secondary. He identified traits to characterise in the different types of traits. Cardinal traits are rare traits which influence us strongly, central traits are less strong but more common and secondary traits are traits we have but don’t tend to show.

Question 4

define cardinal traits

Answer 4

rare traits that govern us strongly and they tend to dominate our lives

Question 5

define central traits

Answer 5

traits that are more common and less strong in dominating us.

Question 6

define secondary traits

Answer 6

traits that we have but don’t always show and it may depend on the situation we are in, underlying traits.

Question 7

who aimed to reduce Allport’s list of almost 4000 traits?

Answer 7

Raymond Cattell’s (1946)

Question 8

what did Cattell suggest about a personality being summarised?

Answer 8

He suggested that someones personality could be summarised more usefully by showing how far they displayed a certain trait.

Question 9

how did Cattell measure the personality he looked at?

Answer 9

> he looked at life data which covered someones usual behaviours
he gathered data from experiments to assess people’s reactions to standardised situations
he gathered data from questionnaires to get people’s self-ratings about their behaviour and feelings.

Question 10

Once Cattell gathered all his data what did he do/ use?

Answer 10

he used factor analysis on his data to find which traits went hand in hand so he could reduce the list of 171 traits further.

Question 11

What did Cattell find?

Answer 11

He found 16 dimensions on the 16PF measuring personality using continuums.

Question 12

briefly describe Cattell’s theory of personality, including the use of the words dimension and continuum.

Answer 12

Cattell’s theory of personality aims to measure personality and summarise it by how far people displayed certain traits. He used factor analysis in his data to combine traits together finding 16 dimensions on the 16PF measure personality based on continuums.

Question 13

what is unique about Cattell’s theory?

Answer 13

> Suggests people’s personality varies along the same continuums
Developed a questionnaire to measure personality
Relies on collecting information through self-reports which can be prone to response bias and requires self-awareness

Question 14

what is unique about Allport’s theory?

Answer 14

> Accounts for how behaviour can be flexible according to the situation
Suggests that individuals have more distinct traits
Does not suggest how personality develops

Question 15

what is similar between Cattell and Allport’s theories?

Answer 15

both theories of personality

Question 16

define self-rating

Answer 16

it is our own ideas about our traits rated by us on a personality scale, for example

Question 17

define 16PF

Answer 17

a personality test based on people’s judgement of themselves on 16 factors/ dimensions.

Question 18

what are strengths of trait theory as a measure of personality?

Answer 18

1. One strength of trait theory is that Allport chose traits that were observable. Other trait theories such as Cattell evolved from Allport’s traits. This suggests that someones traits can be measured, through them doing a self-rating on certain dimensions and their scores can be compared and their personality labelled.
2. Another strength is the use of self-rating scales so that there is no external interpretation which adds validity to the findings. Their personality is being measured using their own criteria so their is an element of realism.
3. The last strength is that different theorists have come up with similar traits even while working independently. This improves the reliability of the claims that these traits are what form a persons personality.

Question 19

what are weaknesses of trait theory as a measure of personality?

Answer 19

1. One weakness is the difficulty to predict someones behaviour from their traits as they may behave differently depending on the situation. Someone can be given the label as friendly but this may not be the case in certain situations.
2. Another weakness is that people have to be self-aware in order to give self-ratings that represent their own characteristics. We might think of ourselves in a certain way but others may not agree.
3. the last weakness is that trait theory does not explain why we have our certain characteristics and this limits the theory. It does not help explain personality development or help to address changes someone might want to make given their traits.