Trait Theory Approach

Question 1

What are trait features in psychology?

Answer 1

• A trait is relatively enduring and should be stable and not change chaotically or rapidly.
• A trait is a disposition or a probabilistic way of acting a certain way in a certain situation.
• A trait represents a pattern of behaviour, thinking and feeling and are relatively consistent across all situations.
• Traits vary in their generality, where some traits are narrowed to a specific period in life while others are more relevant in everyday life.
  Traits exist on a continuum where they vary by degree and not just whether this trait exists in a person or not.
• Traits are in a hierarchy, psychologists assume that some specific traits fall under larger traits.

Question 2

What is a lexical hypothesis?

Answer 2

It’s when individual differences that are more salient and more socially relevant in people’s lives become encoded in their language.
-words used more frequently - more important
- more synonyms - more important

Question 3

What is the limitation of Raymond Cattless’s approach?

Answer 3

• The 16 factors were arbitrary, relying subjective judgment
• Independent researchers and Cattell had trouble replicating the 16 factors.
• The theory lacked parsimony (very hard to apply for practical use)

Question 4

What are the big 5?

Answer 4

• Openness
• Conscientiousness
  -Extraversion
• Agreeableness
  Neuroticism