Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

440 CHAPTER 10 Personalitysurface traitsPersonality characteristics or attributes thatcan easily be inferred from observablebehavior.source traitsThe most fundamental dimensions ofpersonality; the broad, basic traits that arehypothesized to be universal and relativelyfew in number.of their personality traits. For example, Julian was described as impulsive, cocky, andadventurous, while Kenneth was serious, intense, and responsible.People possess traits to different degrees. For example, a person might be extremelyshy, somewhat shy, or not shy at all. Hence, a trait is typically described in terms of arange from one extreme to its opposite. Most people fall in the middle of the range(average shyness), while fewer people fall at opposite poles (extremely shy or extremelyoutgoing).Surface Traits and Source TraitsMost of the terms that we use to describe people are surface traits—traits that lieon “the surface” and can be easily inferred from observable behaviors. Examples ofsurface traits include attributes like “happy,” “exuberant,” “spacey,” and “gloomy.”The list of potential surface traits is extremely long. Personality researcher GordonAllport combed through an English-language dictionary and discovered more than4,000 words that described specific personality traits (Allport & Odbert, 1936).Source traits are thought to be more fundamental than surface traits. As the mostbasic dimension of personality, a source trait can potentially give rise to a vast numberof surface traits. Trait theorists believe that there are relatively few source traits.Thus, one goal of trait theorists has been to identify the most basic set of universalsource traits that can be used to describe all individual differences (Pervin, 1994).Table 10.3Cattell’s 16 Personality Factors1 Reserved, unsociable Outgoing, sociable2 Less intelligent, concrete More intelligent, abstract3 Affected by feelings Emotionally stable4 Submissive, humble Dominant, assertive5 Serious Happy-go-lucky6 Expedient Conscientious7 Timid Venturesome8 Tough-minded Sensitive9 Trusting Suspicious10 Practical Imaginative11 Forthright Shrewd, calculating12 Self-assured Apprehensive13 Conservative Experimenting14 Group-dependent Self-sufficient15 Undisciplined Controlled16 Relaxed TenseSource: Adapted from Cattell (1973).Raymond Cattell believed that personalitycould be described in terms of 16 sourcetraits, or basic personality factors. Eachfactor represents a dimension that rangesbetween two extremes.Two Representative Trait TheoriesRaymond Cattell and Hans EysenckHow many source traits are there? Not surprisingly, trait theorists differ in their answers.Pioneer trait theorist Raymond Cattell reduced Allport’s list of 4,000 termsto about 171 characteristics by eliminating terms that seemedto be redundant or uncommon (see John, 1990). Cattell collecteddata on a large sample of people, who were rated oneach of the 171 terms. He then used a statistical techniquecalled factor analysis to identify the traits that were mostclosely related to one another. After further research, Cattelleventually reduced his list to 16 key personality factors, whichare listed in Table 10.3.Cattell (1994) believed that these 16 personality factorsrepresent the essential source traits of human personality. Tomeasure these traits, Cattell developed what has become oneof the most widely used personality tests, the Sixteen PersonalityFactor Questionnaire (abbreviated 16PF). We’ll discuss the16PF in more detail later in the chapter.An even simpler model of universal source traits was proposedby British psychologist Hans Eysenck (1916–1997).Eysenck’s methods were similar to Cattell’s, but his conceptionof personality includes just three dimensions. The firstdimension is introversion–extraversion, which is the degree towhich a person directs his energies outward toward the environmentand other people versus inward toward his innerand self-focused experiences. A person who is high on the dimensionof introversion might be quiet, solitary, and reserved,avoiding new experiences. A person high on the extraversionscale would be out going and sociable, enjoying new experiences andstimulating environments.Eysenck’s second major dimension is neuroticism–emotional stability. Neuroticismrefers to a person’s predisposition to become emotionally upset, while stabilityreflects a person’s predisposition to be emotionally even. Surface traits associated