TRAITS APPROACH Haslinda Sutan Ahmad Nawi Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology Universiti Selangor, Selangor, Malaysia
Scenario You ve just been assigned a new roommate whom you don t know How do you describe your personality? Do you: Both of you introduce one another What are the questions you might ask? Present yourself by describing the type of person you are? Quiet type, Independent type, Outgoing type Present yourself by describing your characteristics? Studious? Shy? Friendly? In essence, you would be using the trait approach to personality in answering the questions.
The Type (Typology) Approach People has tried to describe personality for ages Gordon Allport is one of the original trait theorists counted more than 4,000 adjectives in the English language used for this purpose First attempt to identify and describe these characteristics were typology systems. The ancient Greeks divided people into four types: Sanguine (Happy) Melancholic (Unhappy) Choleric (temperamental) Phlegmatic (apathetic) indifferent, unconcerned, lazy, bored
The Type (Typology) Approach (cont..) Another effort identified three basic personality types based on general physique: Endomorphic (obese) Mesomorphic (muscular) Ectomorphic (fragile) However, this approach is strict and assumptions made are not easily justified In this approach, a person is judged to be strictly the type, meaning, if you are Type A, you cannot be half A, half B, you are all the while A. Type approach has been replaced with the Trait Approach
Trait Approach A trait is a dimension of personality used to categorize people according to the degree to which they manifest a particular characteristic Built on 2 assumptions Assume that personality characteristics are relatively stable over time Personality characteristics are stable across situations
Gordon Allport Born in Montezuma, Indiana, USA (1897) Went to Harvard, together with his older brother Floyd Took up psychology and mostly interested in finding the best way to understand human behavior Accepted that behavior is influenced by a variety of environmental factors and recognized that traits alone cannot predict what a single individual will do Believed that traits have physical components in the nervous systems Identified two general strategies to use when investigating personality Nomothetic approach Idiographic approach
Gordon Allport (cont..) Nomothetic: Assume that all people can be describe along a single dimension according to level of assertiveness or anxiety Same traits among many people = common traits Idiographic: Identify the unique combination of traits that best accounts for the personality of a single individual
Proving a point Choose 2 people in your team dominates a personality cardinal trait Have each of them take a few minutes to list 10 traits to There have been historical describe their behavior figures whose behavior was so DO IT NOW! Quietly dominated by a single trait until Compare the traits between it became synonymous with the the two individual hence the coined Question: words. Are the traits the same? Allport referred to these 5 to 10 traits that best describe an individual s personality as central traits Occasionally, a single trait
Personality Model: Big Five Many researches have been done to describe the basic dimensions of personality Different teams of investigators used many different kinds of data In any case, mostly they found evidence for five basic dimensions of personality, The Big Five Different researchers sometimes used different names, but the commonly used: Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness
Personality Model: Big Five Openness: willingness to try new things and be open to new experiences Conscientiousness: person s organization and motivation (eg. doing what supposed to do or concerned with doing something correctly) Extraversion: people are divided into two: extraverts (outgoing & sociable) and introverts (more solitary & dislike being the center of attention) Agreeableness: basic emotional style of a person (eg. easygoing or hard to get along) Neuroticism: emotional instability or stability (eg. moody, excessive worriers or calm)
The Big Five: Openness Openness to experience rather than openness in an interpersonal sense They have active imagination, willing to consider new ideas, divergent thinking and intellectual curiosity Unconventional and independent thinkers Low in openness tend to prefer the familiar rather than seeking out something new Some researchers refer to openness as intellect and not the same as intelligence
The Big Five: Conscientiousness Controlled and self disciplined Organized, plan oriented and determined Low end apt to be careless, easily distracted from tasks, and undependable. Might have more automobile accidents
The Big Five: Extraversion Extreme at one end extrovert or extreme at the other end introvert Extroverts are very sociable people who also tend to be energetic, optimistic, friendly and assertive Not to say introverts do not typically express these characteristic, but incorrect to say they are asocial or without energy Introverts are just reserved, rather than unfriendly, independent rather than followers, paced rather than sluggish However, extroverts usually have more friends and spend more time in social situations
The Big Five: Agreeableness Helpful, trusting, sympathetic Low on agreeableness antagonistic and skeptical, like to fight for their interests and beliefs Prefer cooperation over competition, have more pleasant social interactions and fewer quarrelsome exchanges
The Big Five: Neuroticism Places people along a continuum (range) according to their emotional stability and personal adjustment People with frequent emotional distress and wide emotional swings scores high on this measure Tend to become more upset over daily stressors Many types of negative emotions sadness, anger, anxiety, guilt People who score low tend to be calm, well adjusted, not prone to extreme emotional reactions
The verdict A great deal of research indicates that of the Big Five factors, CONSCIENTIOUSNESS may be the best predictor of job performance Why? The characteristics careful, thorough, dependable They don t rush through the job take time to do it correctly and completely Highly conscientious people tend to be organized and to lay out plans before starting a big project Hardworking, persistent and achievement oriented Set higher goals for themselves
The other 4 Agreeableness Trusting, cooperative and helpful Pleasant to have around the office and especially well in jobs calling for teamwork Extraverts Have an edge in the business world Openness Beneficial in some job settings Low in Neuroticism Calm and collected, not easily panicked