Trait Approach to Personality

The thinkers such as Hippocrates, Sheldon, Jung, etc. have proposed types or traits to explain
personality and classify people. Behavioral science uses types and traits to explain the
differences in individual behaviors (Mischel, W et al. 2007). Types are discrete and
discontinuous set of qualities for classifying people; and the science and art of categorizing
people is called typology. Traits are basic propensities of an individual to behave in a consistent
manner in a given situation, and have continuous dimension or degrees of intensity for a given
quality. For example, Friendliness can be used to compare two individuals in terms of the
intensities of friendliness they express, i.e. one of the individual may be friendlier than the other.
The trait theorists conceptualize it as the underlying psychological processes that exist in
individuals. Traits are enduring and stable influencers of behaviors of an individual, the
behavioral consistencies among persons and are innate predispositions to respond in a consistent
manner (Mischel, W et al. 2007).
Trait theory has two important applications in our lives. One is to find underlying dispositions of
an individual. Second is to construct psychometric tools or tests to profile a person and to map
the individual differences in a population (Vecchione, M et al, 2016).
There are many psychometric tools for trait based assessments such as Raymond Catells 16 PF,
Big Five Personality Factors, etc. The basic assumptions of these tests are traits causes a
persons behaviors, it can be operationalized through observable behaviors or self reports of the
test taker, the scores of the trait tests follow a normal statistical curve, and the comparison of
individuals scores are valid and reliable (Vecchione, M et al, 2016).
The Big Five Personality Factors
The psychologists have formed a consensus on factors that influences most normal behaviors, i.e.
The five big personality traits (Mischel, W et al. 2007). They are extraversion,
conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness and neuroticism. These factors represent a
continuum between two extremes. For example, in one extreme it is neuroticism and other side is
emotional stability. Many researchers confirmed the role of the five primary traits in our lives
Goldberg (1990), McCrae & Costa (1987), etc.
An Example of Neuroticism

Mr.X, known to the researcher has a tendency to express negative emotions, such as fear,
sadness, sulkiness, guilt, embarrassment, etc. Though everyone experiences these emotions in
some degree, for Mr. X, they are observable frequently and intensely. It has been observed often
that Mr. X reacts strongly to events and situations such as criticisms, disapproval, etc. that
normally can provoke negative emotions. The person often feels threatened by negative
comments, unfavorable responses, etc., in everyday situations.
When Mr. X encounters rejection and disapproval, he tends to develop maladaptive and
ineffective defense mechanisms such as denial, repression, and reaction formation. The person
keeps the episodes as the anchors for rankling and often refers to them for expressing the misery
experienced. In spite of various support and suggestions from the friends and other significant
people around, Mr. X often refuses to abandon the distressing thoughts.
Mr. X frequently gets into interpersonal conflicts, and leads a gloomy and dull life. Rarely, there
are things to cheer him; mostly every aspect of life causes agony and distress to him. During
genuinely stressful circumstances such as class test or performance evaluations, he succumbs to
exorbitant fear, and when things are normal, he often find life as hard, hopeless and joyless.
Another, dominant character of Mr. X is, he feels personally responsible for bad events , and
display a sense of shame when matters do not turn out as expected. Because of the
hypersensitivity of Mr. X, he seems to be undefended. The person is excessively alert to threats
and imagines every possible misfortune. He narrates horrendous prophesies about himself and
people around. Because he has the ability to think in creative ways, he frequently is troubled by
eccentric imagination.
Though, neuroticism is considered as a liability, there are positive points in Mr. X. He does not
overlook the dangers in life; mostly give realistic interpretations of the problems. Mr. X is aware
of the neurotic problems he has, because of which he takes steps to overcome the negative
factors with achievements in personal endeavors. Also, Mr. X tends to be more resilient than the
ordinary people and always have higher intensity of motivation.
The high sense of achievement motivation to overcome the neurotic mindset, Mr. X spends great
deal of time to prepare his work and improve his performance. Second, because of the over

concern, he has developed a healthy diet and eats only healthy food recommended by the
nutritionists. Mr. X has learned to channel his negativity into preparing for positive behaviors
and outcomes. For example, Mr. X is actively participating in local community services and
social work. With the awareness and insight into ones own behavior, Mr. X has consciously
developed behaviors such as appreciating others and expressing gratitude.
Conclusion
The trait approach is a useful theory to explain the individual differences, help to predict peoples
behavior in limited terms and guide the people to adjust with their environment. Though trait
approach is useful to explain the behaviors of the individuals, there are challenges, limitations,
and criticisms on it. .

REFERENCES
Goldberg, L.R, 1990. An alternative description of personality"; the big-five factor structure,
Journal of personality and social psychology, 59(6), p.1216.
McCrae, R.R. and Costa, P.T., 1987.Validation of the five-factor model of personality across
instruments and observers, Journal of personality and social psychology, 52(1), p.81.
Mischel, W, Shoda, Y & Ayduk, O 2007. Introduction to Personality: Toward an Integrative
Science of the Person, 8th edn, John Wiley & Sons.
Vecchione, M, Dentale, F, Alessandri, G, Imbesi, M.T, Barbaranelli, C and Schnabel, K,
2016.On the Applicability of the Big Five Implicit Association Test in Organizational
Settings, Current Psychology, pp.1-10.