PSYC 2150 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Gordon Allport, Trait Theory, Nomothetic
Trait 1
Trait theory
Trait: A dimension of personality used to categorize people according to the degree they
manifest particular characteristics
Almost any personality characteristic you can think of - optimism, self-esteem, achievement
motivation - can be illustrated along a continuum
Trait psychologists maintain that anybody can be places along this continuum as a given trait
The trait approach: 2 assumptions
The trait approach is built on two important assumptions
oPersonality characteristics are relatively stable over time
Our personalities continue to develop in adulthood but according to trait
psychologists, these changes are gradual and typically occur over many years
oPersonality characteristics are stable across situations
Gordon Allport (1897-1967)
Following his meeting with Freud, Gordon Allport concluded that " psychologists would do well
to give full recognition to manifest motive (more obvious motives) before probing the
unconscious
He acknowledged the limitations of trait theory from the beginning
He knew that behaviour is influenced by multiple environmental factors and that trait theory is
not useful for predicting a particular individual's behaviour
Gordon Allport CNT
Traits were divided into different category levels
1. Central traits: the traits that people self-identify (e.g., say if you were asked to list 5 or 10 traits
that describe yourself)
2. Cardinal trait: the number of central traits varies from person to person, but Allport proposed
that occasionally a single trait will dominate a personality and he called this single important
trait cardinal trait
Idiographic approach: subjective self-report and self-identification of traits that define us: e.g., "
I am conscientious, caring" -the study of the individual as unique
Nomothetic approach: statistical study of groups of people following the presumption that all
people can be scored based on the degree to which they have common traits
Henry Murray (1893-1988)
Significant contributions: focused on personality being shaped by a person's NEEDS
Proposed human nature involved a set of universal basic needs, with individual differences on
these needs leading to uniqueness of personality
Though that need frustration central causation of psychological pain
Murray recognized that whether a needs is activated depends on the situation-something he
called the press
For example, your need for order will not affect you behaviours without an appropriate press,
such as a messy room
oNeed for power
oNeed for affiliation
oNeed for achievement
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