1. Raymond
Cattell
(1905 – 1998)
Gordon
Allport
(1897 –
1967)
Personality Traits …
Allport & Catell
The Concept of the Self (aka proprium)
• crucial to the development of identity and
individuality
• multi-dimensional construct that relates to
characteristics a person has
• collection of beliefs we have about ourselves
• gradually developed
• in time we become aware of the separation between
ourselves and others
• Self esteem produced by experiences , integration
into family and wider society
• it’s got several component parts
• key in trait theories in personality research.
The factor analysis
approach was first
introduced by Charles
Spearman in 1907.
Factor analysis is a
statistical technique
used to find major
trends in a large
amount of data by
identifying underlying
connections within
the variables.
Factor analysis allows
researchers to reliably
simplify the
relationships amongst
variables by
identifying common
patterns of association
that underlie
relationships.
Born in
Montezuma,
Indiana
Education:
Harvard
University
Born in
Bromwich,
England
Education:
University of
London
Cardinal: dominant
personality trait. E.g.
Mother Teresa her
cardinal trait would be
her altruism
Central: foundations of
personality e.g. Adele
Smart, Hard working,
talented
Secondary traits: these are
situation dependant. On
stage Michael Macintyre is
funny, behind the scenes he
may not be like this
(A) Outgoing-
Reserved considered
by Cattell to be the
most important
factor in personality
(B) Intelligence to be
the second best
predictor of behaviour
(E) Assertive – Humble
this includes vigour and
boastfulness at one end,
modesty and unsureness
on the other
(I) Tender minded – Tough
minded
gentle, demanding and
imaginative vs. mature,
independent and realistic
(L) Suspicious –
Trusting composed &
understanding
individuals score low
on factor L.
(N) Shrewd –
Forthright shrewd
person is astute &
smart, a forthright
person is
unpretentious &
naïve.
(Q2) Self-
sufficiency –
Group tied
(Q3) Controlled –
Casual preference
for predictability or
disorganisation
(Q4) Tense -
Relaxed
In order to utilise factor analysis,
Allport first identified a list of over
4,000 terms describing personality.
A large number of individuals were
then asked to rate the degree to
which each trait applied to them.
Cattell then employed factor
analysis to identify traits that
consistently clustered together.
Ultimately, he located 16 factors
that accounted for the most
variance in descriptions of
personality.
(H) Shy – Venturesome
venturesome people
remain calm under
threatening
circumstances.
abusive - adoring -
ambitious – anti-social -
argumentative - arrogant
– belligerent - bold -
clever - concerned -
condescending -
confident - conniving -
conscientious -
conservative -
considerate - consoling -
cynical - daring -
deceitful - defiant -
dependent - desperate -
despondent -
determined - docile -
dutiful - enthusiastic -
exuberant - fawning -
foolish - friendly -
generous - grateful - -
greedy - gullible -
hardworking - hateful -
hesitant - honest -
hopeful - hostile -
humble - mannered - ill -
impatient - inquisitive -
insensitive - intolerant -
intrusive - irreverent -
jealous - judgmental -
lazy - liberal - loyal -
lustful - malicious -
melancholy - miserly -
mysterious - nervous -
obedient - observant -
opportunistic - optimistic
- passionate - patient -
perceptive - persistent -
pessimistic - playful -
polite - pompous -
remorseful - resourceful
- reverent - scatter -
brained - scholarly -
scornful - centred – self -
selfish - sensitive - short
- tempered - solemn -
spiteful - stingy -
suspicious - timid -
tolerant - traitorous -
trusting - unfriendly -
ungrateful - unreliable -
vengeful - vigilant -
violent - wary - witty -
zealous
Allport looked into
the importance of
the self and had
an ideographic
view on
personality. An
ideographic view
focuses on the
individual and
sees the person as
being unique (
including their
personality traits).
It describes
personality
variables within
that individual
It’s like making a
cake.
You put a lot of
different
ingredients in, but
you are left with
one, yummy cake.
I am secure & happy with myself, but... Life is meant
for 2!! I enjoy travel, camping by a lake, gardening,
home decorating, Comedy Clubs & Dinner Theatre,
music, my dog, & celebrating special occasions. I am
self-sufficient, independent, honest, I have a great
sense of humoru, & family & friends are very
important to me.
You can see the traits important to the individual.
What would your dating add say?
The idea from both Allport and Cattell can be seen
everywhere. Look at the example of a dating add.