Human Traits: If someone asked you to describe the personality of a close friend, what kinds of things would you say? A few things that might come to mind are descriptive terms such as outgoing, kind, and even temperate. All of these represent traits. What exactly does this term mean? A trait can be thought of as a relatively stable characteristic that causes individuals to behave in a certain way. The personality trait approach is one of the main theoretical areas in the study of personality. Trait theory suggests that individual personalities are made up of these broad dispositions. Unlike many other personality theories, such as psychoanalytic or humanistic theories, the personality trait approach focuses on differences between individuals. The combination and interaction of various traits forms a personality unique to each individual. Personality trait theory focuses on identifying and measuring these individual personality characteristics. Gordon Allport's Trait Theory In 1936, psychologist Gordon Allport discovered that an English language dictionary alone contained more than 4,000 words describing different personality traits. He classified these traits into three levels: • Cardinal traits: These are traits that dominate an individual's entire life, often to the point that the person becomes specifically known for these traits. People with such personalities are often so well known for these traits that their names are often synonymous with these qualities. Consider the origin and meaning of the following descriptive terms: Freudian, Machiavellian, narcissistic, Don Juan, Christ-like, etc. Allport suggested that cardinal traits are rare and tend to develop later in life. • Central traits: these are the general traits. ..... middle of paper ......bels for each dimension, the following elements are described most often:1. Extraversion2. Agreeableness3. Consciousness4. Neuroticism5. Openness Evaluating the Personality Traits Approach Although most agree that people can be described based on their personality traits, theorists continue to debate how many basic traits make up human personality. While trait theory has an objectivity that some personality theories lack (such as Freud's psychoanalytic theory), it also has weaknesses. Some of the most common criticisms of trait theory are that traits are often poor predictors of behavior. Even though an individual may score high when assessing a specific trait, they do not always behave that way in all situations. Another problem is that trait theories do not address how or why individual differences in personality develop or emerge...