Facts, basics, statistics, tests

particular ways.
While personality is a psychological concept, biological
processes have a large influence and impact on it.
Behavior is not the only thing that displays personality.
Personality can be seen in interactions with other people,
relationships, thoughts, and emotions.
TRAIT THEORIES
There are several theories and schools of thought that try to
understand how personality develops, and many have already been
discussed in depth. These include humanist theories (such as
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs), which emphasize the role of free will
and the experience of the individual; psychoanalytic theories (like
the work of Sigmund Freud) that emphasize early experiences and
the unconscious); behavioral theories (like classical and operant
conditioning), which suggest that the individual and his or her
interaction with the environment lead to the development of

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personality; and trait theories, which are particularly noteworthy
because of their emphasis on the differences among people. Trait
theories suggest personality is unique to an individual and made up
of a combination of characteristics responsible for making a person
behave in a particular way. These characteristics are known as
traits. Trait theories, then, focus on finding and measuring the
personality traits that comprise each individual. Throughout the
history of psychology, there have been several trait theories. Among
the most important are:
Allport’s Trait Theory
In 1936, Harvard psychologist Gordon Allport, who also taught
the very first personality psychology class in the United States,
developed his trait theory of personality. Allport went through the
dictionary and searched for every term he felt described a
personality trait. With a list of over 4,500 words, Allport organized
these traits into three categories:
1. 
Cardinal traits:
Traits that control and define the entire
personality of an individual. As a result, these types of traits
are often synonymous with the individual, and are very rare.
These traits include Christ-like, Narcissistic, and
Machiavellian.
2. 
Central traits:
Traits that are common. These include traits
like friendliness, kindness, honesty, etc.
3. 
Secondary traits:
Traits that appear under particular
conditions and circumstances. For example, becoming
nervous prior to giving a speech in public.
Cattell’s Sixteen Personality Factors
Working off of Gordon Allport’s theory, psychologist Raymond
Cattell took Allport’s list of more than 4,200 personality traits and
dwindled it down to 171 traits, by combining those that were similar
to one another and removing traits that were uncommon. Cattell
then created questionnaires that used these traits and tested a large
population sample.

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Once Cattell had the results from the questionnaires, he identified
any terms that were closely related and used a statistical process
known as factor analysis to decrease the number of main
personality traits even further. He concluded that a total of sixteen
personality traits were the source of all personalities, and that every
single person had these traits to some degree. The sixteen
personality factors Cattell identified are:
Abstractedness:
Being imaginative and abstract versus being
grounded and practical
Apprehension:
Being worried and insecure versus being
confident and secure
Dominance:
Being forceful and assertive versus being
submissive and obedient
Emotional stability:
Being calm versus being emotionally
unstable and high-strung
Liveliness:
Being enthusiastic and spontaneous versus being
restrained and serious
Openness to change:
Being flexible and open versus being
traditional and attached to the familiar
Perfectionism:
Being self-disciplined and controlling versus
being undisciplined and flexible
Privateness:
Being discreet and shrewd versus being open
and unpretentious
Reasoning:
Thinking abstractly and being more intelligent
versus thinking concretely and being less intelligent
Rule consciousness:
Being conscientious and conforming
versus being nonconforming and disregarding rules
Self-reliance:
Being self-sufficient and individualistic versus
being dependent
Sensitivity:
Being sentimental and tender-hearted versus
being unsentimental and tough-minded
Social boldness:
Being uninhibited and venturesome versus
being shy and timid
Tension:
Being impatient and frustrated versus being relaxed

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and placid
Vigilance:
Being suspicious and skeptical versus being
trusting and accepting
Warmth:
Being outgoing and attentive to people versus being
distant and reserved
EYSENCK’S THREE DIMENSIONS
Psychologist Hans Eysenck created a personality model in 1947
independent of other trait theories, and he updated the model in the
late 1970s. His model was based on the notion that all people shared
three universal traits:
1. 
Introversion versus extraversion:
Introversion is when an
individual directs his or her attention on inner experiences,
which results in the individual being quieter and more
reserved. Extraversion is when an individual directs his or
her attention outward to people around them and to the
environment. Someone who is high in extraversion will be
more outgoing and sociable.
2. 
Neuroticism versus emotional stability:
According to
Eysenck, neuroticism relates to one’s propensity to get
emotional or become upset, while emotional stability relates
to one’s propensity to stay emotionally constant.
3. 
Psychoticism:
Individuals high in psychoticism will have
hostile, antisocial, manipulative, and apathetic tendencies
and will find dealing with reality to be difficult.
THE BIG FIVE PERSONALITY TRAITS
Personality theorists today believe that there were too many
personality traits in Cattell’s theory, and not enough personality
traits in Eysenck’s theory. Instead, many believe a theory known as
the “Big Five.” This model claims that the basis of personality comes
from the interaction of five main traits. These traits are:

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1. 
Extraversion:
The level of an individual’s sociability.
2. 
Agreeableness:
The level of an individual’s friendliness,
affection, trust, and positive social behavior.
3. 
Conscientiousness:
The level of an individual’s
organization, thoughtfulness, and impulse control.
4. 
Neuroticism:
The level of an individual’s emotional
stability.
5. 
Openness:
The level of an individual’s imagination,
creativity, and range of interests.
While there are many different theories that approach the subject
of personality in very different ways, one thing is certain among
them all: Personality is an extremely important topic. It generally
remains consistent throughout one’s life, and is responsible for
making every single individual think, behave, and feel in a unique
and individualized way.

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LEADERSHIP THEORIES
What does it take to become a leader?
In the early twentieth century, interest in theories about leadership
began to flourish in the world of psychology as the Great Depression
and World War II made people start to wonder what it took to be a
good leader. While early theories focused on the qualities that make
up a leader versus the qualities that make up a follower, later
leadership theories focused on levels of skill and situational factors.
While there are many different theories regarding leadership,
there are eight major types that these theories can be classified as:
GREAT MAN THEORIES
The main idea behind the great man theories of leadership is that
the ability to become a leader is inherent, and that there are certain
people that are naturally born to be leaders.
The great man theory was originally proposed by historian
Thomas Carlyle. During the nineteenth century, when this theory
was most popular, some argued that the existence of such men as
Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Alexander the Great, and Julius
Caesar provided support for the validity of this argument—it just
seemed like the right man emerged from nowhere to lead.
CONTINGENCY THEORIES
Contingency theories claim the ability to lead is dependent upon
situational factors. These factors include, but are not limited to, the
favored style of the leader and the behaviors and abilities of the
people following the leader.
Contingency theories claim that there is no single style of
leadership that is universally effective, and that one style of
leadership may work better under particular circumstances than
other styles of leadership. This means that leaders that are very

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effective in one environment may be completely unsuccessful if
placed in another environment.
TRAIT THEORIES
Trait theories, like the great man theories, are based on the
assumption that people are born with particular traits that make
them well-suited to become a leader. Trait theories attempt to
identify and compare key personality and behavioral traits that
leaders share.
One of the difficulties that arises in discussing the trait theory of
leadership is the problem of how two individuals with otherwise
similar traits end up in completely divergent leadership positions.
One may become a great leader and one may remain a follower, or
even become a failed leader, despite sharing many of the same
outward traits.
SITUATIONAL THEORIES
Situational theories are based on the idea that leaders choose the
best course of action to take depending upon the situational factors.
Situational theories claim that leaders should not utilize just one
single style of leading; but rather, leaders should take all situational
factors into account. The situational factors include the capability of
individuals who are followers and the motivation of the leader.
Among other factors, it is the perception that the leader has of the
situation and his or her followers, as well as the leader’s mood and
perception of him or herself, that affects what the leader will
eventually do.