Trait: a stable tendency you can score
A trait is a stable characteristic that makes a person tend to behave a particular way across situations and over time — stable, so not a mood; a tendency, not a rule. Trait theory says personality is made of measurable traits everyone has, differing in how much of each, not which. A type is a box; a trait is a scale, so personality is a matter of degree — which is why it can be scored. The named accounts: Allport (1936) three levels, Cattell (1946) the 16PF.
Allport (1936): cardinal, central, secondary
Allport (1936) sorted traits by how much of the personality each governs — reach, not strength. Cardinal: rare, most have none; it dominates the whole personality, so nearly all a person does traces to it. Central: the five to ten general building blocks everyone has, across most situations. Secondary: many, least consistent, switched on only by particular situations. Order-fixer: cardinal rules a person, central describe them, secondary in one situation.
Cattell (1946): the 16PF scores 16 traits
16PF stands for sixteen personality factor: Cattell's (1946) questionnaire of fixed-response questions on how a person usually behaves, scored on sixteen traits to give a profile. He used factor analysis to reduce thousands of trait words to sixteen. Surface traits are behaviours you see; source traits are the sixteen factors behind them, which the 16PF measures. Each factor is a scale, not a box. Describe it by what it does, not just its name.
Strengths and weaknesses of trait theory
Learn strengths and weaknesses in pairs. Strengths: standardised (same questions, same scoring), so objective and reliable; it gives numbers, so people compare; it has real uses; each trait is a scale, not a box. Weaknesses: self-report, so social desirability threatens validity; it describes without explaining where a trait came from; it ignores the situation, since behaviour shifts by setting; reducing a person to numbers is reductionist.
Drawn from real examiner reports.
An improvement is not another weakness
Asked for an improvement, candidates give a weakness — but a weakness is not an improvement. It is self-report is the weakness; the improvement is a change that fixes it — add a colleague's ratings too, so the score does not rest on self-report alone. An improvement uses a verb like add, gather or change. Naming the fault again answers a different question.
An improvement answered with a weakness is recorded at June 2019 P2 Q3c.
Cardinal trait: not an example, not "strong"
Do not answer cardinal trait by naming an example (honesty) or calling it a strong trait. The mark wants two features: it is rare (most have none) and it dominates the whole personality, so nearly everything traces to it. Cardinal is not the strongest central trait; the difference is reach, not strength. An example only counts if attached to what the trait does.
Recorded on this statement at June 2024 P2 Q16, where naming an example such as honesty was not enough and the answer had to state that cardinal traits are rare and dominate a personality.
Naming the 16PF instead of describing it
Asked to describe a way of measuring personality, writing the 16PF or Cattell's test names it and stops. The mark wants the description: a questionnaire of fixed-response questions about how a person behaves, scored on sixteen traits to produce a profile. A scale is, in the examiner's phrase, a scoring system for different traits — say what is scored and what comes out.
That a measure must be described as questions or a questionnaire, not merely named, is recorded at June 2019 P2 Q17.
Self-report weakness known but not applied
The 16PF is self-report, open to social desirability. Stated accurately it can still score nothing, because AO3 cannot be awarded without AO2. Fix it with a shape: point (self-report), scenario detail (applicants complete it while wanting the job), consequence (the profile may record who they want to appear, so the best test-taker is picked).
That excellent knowledge of the self-report weakness scored zero without application is recorded at June 2024 P2 Q18, and that AO3 cannot be credited without AO2 at June 2023 P2 Q31.
Naming a strength without justifying it
One strength is that it is objective — a label, not an explanation, so it sits in the bottom band. The three-part shape fixes it: point (name it), justification (specific to how the measure works), consequence (what follows for trust). Worked: the 16PF is standardised, because everyone answers the same questions scored the same way, so two profiles compare fairly.
Identification without justification on strength and weakness items is recorded at June 2024 P1 Q11b and Q15b.
Difference answered as two definitions
Asked the difference between central and secondary traits, candidates write two definitions and stop — one mark of two. The second mark needs a connective. Weak: central traits are general; secondary only show in some situations. Creditworthy: central show across most situations, whereas secondary appear only in particular ones. Whereas and unlike do real work here.
Two separate definitions given where a difference was asked, with connectives earning the second mark, is recorded at June 2019 P1 Q6 and June 2022 P1 Q7.
A 16PF profile does not fix behaviour
A measure does not deliver the truth about a person. A trait is a tendency, not a prediction: a high score says likely to speak up, not that they will tomorrow. A high score is about the answers given, not the person: the 16PF is self-report, so social desirability can distort it, a validity problem. And consistent is not correct: a measure can be reliably wrong.
The self-report weakness of the 16PF, and the need to apply it, is recorded at June 2024 P2 Q18.
Reaching the 7-9 band on the Assess
The 9-mark Assess splits AO1 3, AO2 3, AO3 3, and the 7-9 band is missed for lack of AO3 and balance. AO1: a trait, Allport's levels, the 16PF, by what they do. AO2: label the scenario's behaviours at the right level. AO3: a strength and a weakness, developed, then judge.
Match the command word
Match the command word. Cardinal trait (2): rare and dominates — two features, not an example. Describe the 16PF: a questionnaire scored on sixteen traits. Difference (2): a connective. Explain: a point plus its scenario link. Improvement: a change, not another weakness.
Write AO2 before AO3, in prose
Two habits. Write AO2 before AO3: opening with evaluation leaves the application thin, and since AO3 needs AO2, that can forfeit both. Write in continuous prose — bullets are not accepted. A conclusion is a judgement, not a restated result: so her profile is high is a result.
Two named accounts: Allport (1936) three levels of trait, and Cattell (1946) the 16PF.
Trait — a relatively stable characteristic of a person which makes them tend to behave in a particular way across situations and over time. A tendency, not a rule.
Trait theory — personality is made up of measurable traits everyone has, with people differing in how much of each they have.
Full notes, flashcards, Q&A and the topic quiz for every premium subject.
Premium plans are US$8.99/month or US$49.99/year — first month free.
Studying with a parent's blessing? Show them this.
