News tagged with personality traits

Hope for those with a depressive disposition

Good news for the 13 per cent of the population with depressive personality traits: their negative outlook does not have to be permanent. This has been shown by psychologist Rachel Maddux in new research from Lund University ...

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Jan 30, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Are you a happy shopper? Research website helps you find out

Psychologists have found that buying life experiences makes people happier than buying possessions, but who spends more of their spare cash on experiences? New findings published this week in the Journal of ...

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Jan 26, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Expensive egos: Narcissism has a higher health cost for men

The personality trait narcissism may have an especially negative effect on the health of men, according to a recent study published in PLoS ONE.

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Jan 23, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 7 | with audio podcast

Enhancing cognition in older adults also changes personality

A program designed to boost cognition in older adults also increased their openness to new experiences, researchers report, demonstrating for the first time that a non-drug intervention in older adults can ...

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Jan 18, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Humble people are more likely to lend a helping hand, study finds

Humble people are more likely to offer time to someone in need than arrogant people are, according to findings by Baylor University researchers published online in the Journal of Positive Psychology.

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Jan 02, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 6 | with audio podcast

One trait has huge impact on whether alcohol makes you aggressive

Drinking enough alcohol to become intoxicated increases aggression significantly in people who have one particular personality trait, according to new research.

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Dec 19, 2011 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Alcohol can lead to unsafe sex: It's official

A new study has found that alcohol consumption directly impacts a person's intention to have unsafe sex. In other words, the more you drink, the stronger becomes your intention to engage in unsafe sex.

Medicine & Health / Health

created Dec 12, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 8

Psychopathy: A misunderstood personality disorder

Psychopathic personalities are some of the most memorable characters portrayed in popular media today. These characters, like Patrick Bateman from American Psycho, Frank Abagnale Jr. from Catch Me If You Can and Alex from ...

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Dec 07, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (6) | comments 37

Study IDs new genetic links to impulsivity, alcohol problems in men

Being impulsive can lead us to say things we regret, buy things we really don't need, engage in behaviors that are risky and even develop troublesome addictions. But are different kinds of hastiness and rashness embedded ...

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Nov 16, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Research shows we all experience fantasy differently, which determines how much we enjoy it

Whether you love the "Harry Potter" series or despise it, there may be a psychological explanation behind your opinion.

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Nov 08, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Both sexism and racism are similar mental processes

Prejudiced attitudes are based on generalised suppositions about certain social groups and could well be a personality trait. Researchers at the University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU) have confirmed the ...

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Nov 08, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 3

Don't panic: The animal's guide to hitchhiking

New research suggests that hitch-hiking, once believed to be the exclusive domain of beat poets and wanderers, is in fact an activity that daring members of the animal kingdom engage in. And it may lead to a serious ecological ...

Biology / Ecology

created Oct 20, 2011 | popularity 3 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Fishy behaviour

A fish's personality may determine how it is captured. This association between personality difference and capture-technique could have significant evolutionary and ecological consequences for affected fish populations, as ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Oct 04, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Study shows humans still evolving

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences provides evidence of human evolution and rapid genetic changes suggesting that, contrary to modern claims, technological and cu ...

Biology / Evolution

created Oct 04, 2011 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (21) | comments 57 | with audio podcast report

Study shows keys to why people start and stop smoking

Mike Johnston has no idea what he was thinking when he took up cigarettes at age 15.

Medicine & Health / Health

created Sep 26, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Trait theory

In psychology, Trait theory is a major approach to the study of human personality. Trait theorists are primarily interested in the measurement of traits, which can be defined as habitual patterns of behavior, thought, and emotion. According to this perspective, traits are relatively stable over time, differ among individuals (e.g. some people are outgoing whereas others are shy), and influence behavior.

Gordon Allport was an early pioneer in the study of traits, which he sometimes referred to as dispositions. In his approach, central traits are basic to an individual's personality, whereas secondary traits are more peripheral. Common traits are those recognized within a culture and may vary between cultures. Cardinal traits are those by which an individual may be strongly recognized. Since Allport's time, trait theorists have focused more on group statistics than on single individuals. Allport called these two emphases "nomothetic" and "idiographic," respectively.

There is a nearly unlimited number of potential traits that could be used to describe personality. The statistical technique of factor analysis, however, has demonstrated that particular clusters of traits reliably correlate together. Hans Eysenck has suggested that personality is reducible to three major traits. Other researchers argue that more factors are needed to adequately describe human personality. Many psychologists currently believe that five factors are sufficient.

Virtually all trait models, and even ancient Greek philosophy, include extraversion vs. introversion as a central dimension of human personality. Another prominent trait that is found in nearly all models is Neuroticism, or emotional instability.

For more information about Trait theory, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.