PERSONALITY TRAITS

AND ITS TYPES

The sum total of ways in which an individual

reacts and interacts with others.
Personality is a pattern of stable states and
characteristics of a person that influences his
or her behavior toward goal achievement

DEFINITION
Personality -A relatively stable
set of characteristics that
influences an individuals
behavior

PERSONALITY DETERMINANTS

Heredity

family relationship forces

friends

Cultural forces

situational factors

PERSONALITY TRAITS
A personality trait is a personality characteristic
that endures (lasts) over time and across
different situations
Trait theories of personality focus on
measuring, identifying and describing
individual differences in personality in terms
of traits
Focus is on what is different- not what is the
same
Can be used to predict behaviour based on traits

THEORIES
Gordon Allports Trait Theory- cardinal,
central and secondary traits
Raymond Cattells Theory of
personality traits
Myers briggs type indicator
Five factor personality model.

PERSONALITY TRAITS
Enduring characteristics that
describe an individuals behavior.

The Myers-Briggs Type

Indicator(MBTI)
A personality test that taps four characteristics and
classifies people into 1 of 16 personality types.
Personality Types
Extroversion vs. Introversion (E or I)
Sensing vs. Intuitive (S or N)
Thinking vs. Feeling (T or F)
Judging vs. Perceiving (P or J)

Favorite world:Do you prefer to focus

on the outer world or on your own
inner world? This is
calledExtraversion (E) or Introversion
(I)
Information:Do you prefer to focus
on the basic information you take in
or do you prefer to interpret and add
meaning? This is calledSensing (S) or
Intuition (N).
Decisions:When making decisions, do
you prefer to first look at logic and
consistency or first look at the people
and special circumstances? This is
calledThinking (T) or Feeling (F).
Structure: In dealing with the outside
world, do you prefer to get things
decided or do you prefer to stay open
to new information and options? This
is calledJudging (J) or Perceiving (P)

Personality Types
TYPE A
1. are always moving, walking,
2.
3.
4.
5.

and eating rapidly;

feel impatient with the rate at
which most events take place;
strive to think or do two or more
things at once;
cannot cope with leisure time;
are obsessed with numbers,
measuring their success in
terms of how many or how
much of everything they
acquire.

TYPE B

1. never suffer from a sense of

2.

3.

4.

time urgency with its

accompanying impatience;
feel no need to display or
discuss either their
achievements or
accomplishments;
play for fun and relaxation,
rather than to exhibit their
superiority at any cost;
can relax without guilt.

Proactive Personality:
Identifies opportunities,
shows initiative, takes
action, and perseveres
until meaningful change
occurs.
Creates positive change
in the environment,
regardless or even in
spite of constraints or
obstacles.

Five factor Personality

model

Extroversion

This trait includes characteristics such as excitability, sociability,

talkativeness, and high amounts of emotional expressiveness.

Sociable and assertive

Agreeableness
This personality dimension includes attributes such as trust,
kindness, affection, and other prosocial behaviours.

Good-natured, cooperative, and trusting.

Conscientiousness
Common features of this dimension include high levels of
thoughtfulness, with good impulse control and goal-directed
behaviours

Responsible, dependable, persistent, and organized.

412

Emotional Stability

Individuals lacking emotional stability tend

to experience emotional instability, anxiety,
moodiness, irritability, and sadness.

calm, self-confident, secure (positive)

versus nervous, depressed, and
insecure (negative).

Openness to Experience
This trait features characteristics such as
imagination and insight, and those high in
this trait also tend to have a broad range of
interests.
Imaginativeness, artistic, sensitivity, and
intellectualism.

Main assumptions of
theories
One: that personality traits are relatively stable
and therefore predictable over time
Two: Personality traits are relatively stable across
different situations
Three: trait theories take into account that
personality consists of a number of different
traits, and that some people have more or less
of each trait than others

 Four: some traits are more closely

interrelated than
other traits and tend to occur
together

Strengths and Limitations of trait

theories
Provide useful descriptions of personality
and its structure
Provided the foundation of valid and
reliable personality devices
Can lead people to accept and use
oversimplified classifications and
descriptions
Under estimate socio-cultural influences
on personality

THANK YOU