Hello again and welcome back to shorts in Psychology Today we're going to examine 2

theories related to the trait conception of personality, Hands, Eye Thanks, 3

Dimensions of Personality, and Costa and Mcrae's Big 5. This approach to
personality assumes that behavior is determined by relatively stable traits, which
are the fundamental units of one's personality. They are habitual patterns of
behavior, thought, and emotion.
Traits predispose 1 to act in a certain way regardless of the situation. They
remain consistent across situations and over time, but may vary between
individuals. Character traits are often shown with descriptive adjectives like
patient, jealous, or confident. It is presumed that individuals differ in their
traits due to genetic differences. Hans Eising proposed the theory of personality
based on biological factors.
Arguing that individuals inherit a type of nervous system that affects their
ability to learn and adapt to the environment using a technique called factor
analysis, he reduced behavior to a number of factors which he initially grouped
into two dimensions. Each dimension is a continuum where an individual will be at
some point on the scale. These dimensions then combine to form a variety of
personality characteristics.
The first dimension described by Isync was the extroversion introversion scale.
Extroverts are sociable and crave excitement and change, and thus can become bored
easily. They tend to be carefree, talkative, optimistic and impulsive. They are
more likely to take risks and be thrill seekers and feel more at ease in groups.
Extroverts enjoy being the focus of attention and often accumulate a larger social
network of friends and associates.
I think believe that extroversion is linked to levels of brain activity or cortical
arousal. Extroverts experience lower levels of cortical arousal, resulting in them
seeking arousal from external stimuli. Introverts, on the other hand, lie at the
other end of this scale, being quiet and reserved. They are already over aroused
and shun sensation and stimulation. Introverts shy away from large social
gatherings and they may feel uncomfortable engaging with strangers.
Instead, they maintain small groups of close friends and are more likely to enjoy
contemplative exercises like reading. Introverts are reserved, plan their actions
and control their emotions. They tend to be serious, reliable and pessimistic. I
think believe that as introverts are already experienced higher arousal levels,
this leads to them avoiding stimuli which may lead to a further increase in
arousal.
As I mentioned before, extroversion is measured on a continuum ranging from high
extroverted to low introverted. However, rather than being at one extreme or the
other, most individuals will lie somewhere along the middle of the scale. I think
also proposed a second dimension, emotional stability to emotional instability or
neuroticism. I think believe that a person's level of neuroticism is determined by
the reactivity of their sympathetic nervous system.
Individuals scoring highly on neuroticism tend to experience high levels of stress
and anxiety as a result of having an autonomic nervous system that responds quickly
to stress. They worry about relatively insignificant matters, exaggerating their
significance and feeling unable to cope with life stresses. A focus on negative
aspects of the situation rather than the positives can lead a person to adopt A
disproportionately negative outlook.
They may feel envious or jealous of others who they feel are in a more advantaged
position. Neuroticism is also characterized by perfectionism and a tendency to feel
dissatisfied, angry, or frustrated with others when their desires are not fulfilled
or when their expectations are not met. A person with a low neuroticism score will
generally experience more emotional stability due to their nervous system being
generally less reactive to stressful situations.
As a result, they feel more able to cope with stressful events and set less
stringent demands of themselves. Individuals with a low level of neuroticism are
also more tolerant of the failings of others and remain more calm in demanding
situations. Again, most individuals will fall somewhere along the middle of this
continuum rather than being at one end of the scale or the other.
I think later added a third dimension, the psychoticism impulse control dimension.
Individuals with higher psychoticism scores can be lacking in empathy, cruel and
aggressive. They are more likely to engage in irresponsible or miscalculated
behavior. They may also contravene accepted social norms and be motivated by a need
for immediate gratification, regardless of its consequences.
In contrast, higher levels of psychoticism have also been linked to a more advanced
creative ability in individuals. I think suggested that psychoticism was influenced
by biological factors and was correlated with levels of hormones such as
testosterone. The higher the testosterone, the higher the level of psychoticism,
with low levels related to more normal balance behavior.
Individuals with low levels of psychoticism have the ability to be in command of
their behavior, whether it is overt, covert, emotional, or physical, and tend to
have the ability to restrain or inhibit their impulses. They are warm and
empathetic. A middle score on psychoticism might mean that you are a bit eccentric,
or that you take risks that other people aren't as likely to take. One way to
remember Isenc's 3 dimensions is with the pen acronym.
Psychoticism, Extraversion, Neuroticism Many psychologists felt that Isanc's 3
Factor theory was too limited in scope. As a result, the Five Factor theory emerged
to describe the essential traits that serve as the building blocks of personality.
The five broad personality traits described by the theory are extraversion,
agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, and Neuroticism, and this model was one
of the best accepted and commonly used models for describing personality.
As for Isync's 3 dimensions, each of the five personality factors represents a
range between 2 extremes. For example, extroversion represents a continuum between
extreme extroversion and extreme introversion. In the real world, most people lie
somewhere in between the two polar ends of each dimension. Let's look at each of
the five traits in more detail.
Openness is the tendency to appreciate new ideas, values, feelings, and behavior.