Essay on The Trait Theory of Personality

Cherry, K. (2011). Trait Theory of Personality. In About. Retrieved October 2, 2011, from http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/trait-theory.htm

Burger (2008), says that there are many theories of personality and psychologists try to explain it with their own approaches. Discussed here will be the psychoanalytic approach, the trait approach, the biological approach the humanistic approach, the behavioural/social learning approach and the cognitive approach. They were devised to search for specific patterns in behaviour and ways of thinking about these

The Biological and Psychological Trait Theories are theories that are used to try and explain deviance. Biological Trait Theory stems from the Italian School of Criminology (mid-nineteenth century), head by criminologist Cesare Lombroso. Lombroso argued that criminality was a biological trait found in humans. Lombroso’s idea of atavism connected an individual’s appearance and their biological inclination to criminal activity. The Psychological Trait Theory focused on the mental aspects of explaining criminal activity by evaluating their intelligence, personality, and learning behavior. There are three subunits of the Psychological Trait Theory, which are the psychodynamic theory, behavioral theory, and cognitive theory. Sigmund Freud developed the psychodynamic theory with his research of the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious functions of the mind. The behavioral theory is about developing human actions through learning experiences. It explains that crime is learned from life situations. People aren’t born with violent tendencies, rather it’s learned from life experiences. Three sources of this behavior are family, the media, and the environment. Cognitive theory focuses on how people perceive and mentally represent the world around them and solve problems. In the case of Jared Loughner, the psychological trait theory is the most applicable. With his diagnosis of being a paranoid schizophrenic, that connects him to both the psychodynamic perspective and

Guilford (1959) defines personality traits as being ‘any distinguishable, relatively enduring way in which one individual varies from another’. Subsequently, trait theory can be identified as an approach to the study of human personality. The aim of psychologists, specifically trait theorists, is to explain similarities and differences between individuals based on traits. Although numerous psychologists differ on the amount of traits that are significant, each theorist categorizes personality traits along several broad type spectrums. This assignment will focus on comparing and contrasting Eysenck’s Hierarchical Theory of Personality and Costa and McRae’s Five Factor Model (FFM), two different trait theories of personality.

However with advantages come disadvantages. For example, with correlational studies there is no background information obtained. Therefore, the reliability of the correlational studies is questioned.

Everybody has his or her own type of personality. We all act in a certain way that makes us who we are. It is believed that our parents, peers and, the environment we grow up in, shape us. Personality is describes as a combination of emotions, attitude, and behavioral patterns of an individual. There is a reason that we are the way we are and there are many theories that go along with that. Different theorist present their own definitions of the word personality based on their own theoretical positions. Which brings us to discussing Carl Jung’s theory of analytical psychology and Harry

Allport defines personality as ‘the dynamic organisation within the individual of those psychological systems that determine his unique adjustment to his environment’ (Allport, 1937). An individual’s unique personality traits and attributes are a powerful indicator of how he/she will interact with the work environment. The difference between average and outstanding employees can often be solely personality related. As the employee is the most valuable asset to the company, ‘selecting the right employee during the process is critical’ (Carbery and Cross, 2013, pp. 41-53)

To understand personality there are three main aspects that must be looked at: LArsen and Buss Definition of personality, The Six Domains of knowledge of personality, and Costa and McCrae's Five Factor Theory. In this essay I will first break down larsen and Buss definition and connect it to the domains, then connect the domains to the five factor thoery (FFT).

Personality is deeply complexing subject that cannot be easily summed up. There is no concrete right answer, or only one way to evaluate any given subject, as every aspect of personality has more than one view point or angle. Famous psychologists such as Freud, Adler, Jung, Erickson, Eysenck, and Skinner all shaped and conducted the research that would come together and be taught to generations as the foundations of personality and the theory of personality. To better understand the idea of personality, we are going to examine the six different cornerstones of personality. They consist of Nature versus Nurture, The Unconscious, You of the Self, Development, Motivation and Maturation. In this, no one theory is more valid than the other, and no one research has more validity than the other. In this paper each cornerstone will be examined using scholarly research.

A major strength of this theory is the order it brings to the measurement of a human personality. Previously a number of different traits were measured, all of which can be classified under some of the 5 Factor theory. It has also been shown that the theory predicted results are very stable for the lifetime of the individual. It has also been found to be applicable to individuals of different age groups and with cultural differences. Some disadvantages are that the theory cannot accurately predict any single specific behavior. Human behavior is based on many factors, not on personality alone. In addition, the theory is limited by its broad universalism. It does not help us understand culturally specific, gender-specific, and age-specific personality

Two different approaches have their theory about personality: trait theory by Eysenck (1965) which has origins from the psychometric tradition of measurement based on the experimental approach and Kelly’s (1995) personal construct

Leigh Anne Touhy is the fictional representation of the real life Leigh Anne, famed adoptive mother of Michael Oher from the 2009 film The Blind Side. Leigh Anne is a white interior designer, living in the south with her husband and two children. The family is considered to be part of the upper class, and made their money from owning a string of fast food chains. Leigh Anne and her family take in a black homeless boy, Michael, and throughout the film experience a growing love and bond. They eventually adopt Michael and the Leigh Anne becomes a fiercely protective mother. Very little is revealed about her upbringing

Humanistic psychology has led to the development of several different psychotherapies. All are based on the idea that people possess the resources for growth and healing and that the goal of therapy is to help remove the barriers that block this growth and achievement. Although, several theorists have contributed to Humanistic Psychology, one of the most renowned is, Abraham Maslow. Humanistic psychology is defined as:

For psychologists, one of the more popular theories espoused is the trait approach to personality, or “the idea that people have consistent personality characteristics that can be measured and studied” (Kalat, 2002, 512). However there are several problems that arise. First, there are significant cross-cultural differences, so one set of personality traits for one culture may differ considerably for another. The next problem would concern the creation of a test that could accurately measure these traits. While psychologists have for the most part addressed these issues, I will focus on the latter of the two. There has been a

The first major theory of personality is the Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality and was created by Sigmund Freud. Freud’s observations lead him to conclude that many mental disorders were caused by psychological factors. This was what lead him to create the Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality. This theory is very different from the other theories and it is based on three assumptions. The first assumption is that all psychological events have a cause which is known as psychic determinism. He believed that child experiences, like parenting, have a major influence on adult personality. He believed that dreams, and “Freudian Slips” reflected what people truly thought and felt. The second assumption is that all actions are meaningful. Simple things that you do not think about as having meaning are considered symbolic of something else. The third assumption, which is known as unconscious motivation, explains that we rarely ever understand why we do what we do. We still attempt to make up an explanation for this act even though we do not understand why we did it. Freud’s view of the mind is often thought of as an ice berg. The ego makes up the conscious mind. The ego also known as the boss is the main decision maker. The ego’s decisions are determined by the reality principle. The reality principle waits to express certain emotions, thoughts, or actions until it can find an appropriate outlet. The id is completely submerged under water. The id holds our most crude thoughts. Most