TRAIT THEORY

• Allport categorized these traits into three levels:

  1. Cardinal Trait
  2. Central Trait
  3. Secondary Trait
• CARDINAL TRAIT are the dominant traits of one's personality
• CARDINAL TRAIT stand at the top of Allport's trait hierarchy
• CARDINAL TRAITS are the master controller of one's personality
• CARDINAL TRAITS may dominate one's personality to such an extent that the person becomes known for those traits only
• ALLPORT suggested that cardinal traits are rare in nature, usually developing later in life
• CARDINAL TRAITS tend to define a person to such an extent that their names become synonymous with their personality
• Mahatma Gandhi known for Honesty and Mother Teresa known for Altruism is an example of?

  CARDINAL TRAIT
• CENTRAL TRAITS comes second in the trait hierarchy
• CENTRAL TRAITS are also called the building blocks of personality
• CENTRAL TRAITS are those tendencies that a person often expresses
• According to ALLPORT, every person possesses 5 - 10 CENTRAL TRAITS in VARYING DEGRESS
• CENTRAL TRAITS are general characteristics that form basic personality foundations
• CENTRAL TRAITS are not as dominating as CARDINAL TRAITS but they describe the major characteristics you might use to describe another person
• INTELLIGENT, HONEST, SHY, and ANXIOUS are considered as CENTRAL TRAITS
• SECONDARY TRAITS are less generalized, less consistent, and less relevant as compared to CARDINAL or CENTRAL TRAITS
• SECONDARY TRAITS are sometimes related to attitudes or preferences
• SECONDARY TRAITS often appear only in certain situations or under specific circumstances
• you are an introvert but you belong to a friend group that go to clubs, you went with your friends in the club and it would be a bummer to not go with the social cues there, so you show your unrestricted or “wild” side. This is an example of?

  SECONDARY TRAIT
• SECONDARY TRAITS are less consistent but when trait becomes more consistent, it can turn to be Central or Cardinal. True or False?

  TRUE