Traits and Trait Taxonomies

Question 1

2 basic formulations of what a trait is

Answer 1

1. Internal causal properties

2. Purely descriptive summaries

Question 2

Internal causal properties

Answer 2

Internal traits that explain the behaviors of the individual

Needs, wants, and desires

Question 3

Purely descriptive summaries

Answer 3

Make no assumptions about internality and causality is not assumed

Question 4

Trait-descriptive adjectives

Answer 4

Words that describe traits, attributes of a person that are characteristic of a person and perhaps enduring over time

Question 5

3 fundamental questions that guide those who study personality

Answer 5

1. How should we conceptualize traits?
2. How can we identify which traits are the most important traits among the many ways that individuals differ?
3. How can we formulate a comprehensive taxonomy of traits- a system that includes within it all the major traits of personality?

Question 6

Act frequency research program elements (3)

Answer 6

1. Act nominations
2. Prototypicality judgements
3. Monitoring act performance

Question 7

Act nominations

Answer 7

Designed to identify which acts belong in which trait categories

Question 8

Prototypicality judgements

Answer 8

Involves which acts are most central or prototypical of each trait category

Things most people would think of

Question 9

Monitoring act performance

Answer 9

Securing info on actual performance of individuals in their daily lives

I.e. Scale

Question 10

Evaluation of act frequency formulation

Answer 10

Critique:

• does not specify context
• does not address failures to act or convert acts (haven’t had the chance or experience)
• may not successfully capture complex traits

Accomplishments:

• makes explicit the behaviors associated with traits
• identifies behavior regularities
• helps explore the meaning of traits that are difficult to study (impulsivity and creativity)

Question 11

Identification of the most important traits: 3 approaches

Answer 11

• lexical approach
• statistical approach
• theoretical approach

Question 12

Lexical approach

Answer 12

• starts with lexical hypothesis: all important individual differences have become encoded within the natural language over time
• trait terms are important for people in communicating with others
• two criteria for identifying important traits:
  1. Synonym frequency
  2. Cross-cultural universality

(THINK LIST OF ALL TRAITS)

Question 13

Problems with lexical approach

Answer 13

• personality is conveyed though different parts of speech including adjectives, nouns and adverbs
• lexical approach is a good starting point for identifying important individual differences, but should not be the exclusive approach used

Question 14

Statistical approach

Answer 14

• starts with large, diverse pool of personality items (from lexical)
• from lexical approach turn to statistical approach to distill ratings of trait adjectives into basic categories of traits
• goal of statistical approach is to identify major dimensions of personality
• skipped the factor analysis

(TAKE LIST OF TRAITS FROM LEXICAL AND PUT THEM INTO CATEGORIES/GROUPS)

Question 15

Theoretical approach

Answer 15

• starts with a theory, which then determines which variables are important
• strengths coincide with strengths of a theory, and weaknesses coincide with the weaknesses of a theory (whatever that means)

(THE THEORY DETERMINES WHICH VARIABLES ARE IMPORTANT)

Question 16

Taxonomies of personality

Notable ones

Answer 16

• eysenck’a hierarchical model of personality
• cattell’s taxonomy: 16 personality factor system
• circumplex taxonomies of personality: the Wiggins circumplex (1979)
• five-factor model (big five)

Question 17

Five-factor model (big five)

Answer 17

Openness
Conscientiousness 
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism 
(O.C.E.A.N.)

• originally based on the combination of lexical and statistical approach
• high triangulation (peer/self ratings)

Question 18

Trouble with 5th factor of big five

Answer 18

• some disagreement remains about the content and replicability of factor: openness
• focuses on adjectives
• personality-descriptive nouns not included

Question 19

Eysenck’s hierarchical model of personality

Answer 19

-model of personality based on traits that Eysenck believed were highly heritable and had psycho physiological foundation
-three traits met criteria: psychoticism (P), extroversion (E), neuroticism (N)
(P.E.N.)
-hierarchical structure of system:
1. Super traits (PEN) at the top
2. Narrower traits at second level
3. Subsumed by each narrower trait is the 3rd level - habitual acts

Question 20

Cattell’s taxonomy: the 16 personality factor system

Answer 20

• Identified 16 factors
• Major criticisms:
  1. Some personality researchers have failed to replicate the 16 factors
  2. Many argue that a smaller number of factors captures important ways in which individuals differ