Personality — Psychology STD 12 Commerce / Arts — Question

The word personality is derived from the Latin word ‘persona’. According to Gordon Allport, “Personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determines his unique adjustments to the environment.”

A trait is a relatively enduring and consistent way of thinking, feeling and acting. It is some distinctive characteristic of the person that leads him/her to behave in more or less consistent ways across situations and over a period of time. Allport categorised traits as Cardinal traits, Central traits and Secondary traits.
(i) Cardinal Traits – It is a single trait that dominates the individual’s personality. Every action of the person can be traced to the influence of this trait, for e.g., in case of Gandhiji honesty is the cardinal trait, in case of Napoleon, the cardinal trait was ambition.

(ii) Central Traits – These traits are ‘core’ traits or ‘basic’ characteristics that form the building blocks of personality. There are about 5-10 traits such as sensitivity, sociability, diligence, etc., that can best describe an individual’s personality.

(iii) Secondary Traits – These traits play a minor role in personality as they appear only in specific situations or under specific circumstances. They are sometimes related to preferences or attitudes.