Trait theory
Trait theory was conceived by Gordon Allport. Since then the theory has been heavily developed by others.
In 1936, Allport categorised personality traits into three levels:
In 1936, Allport categorised personality traits into three levels:
| Level 1 | Cardinal traits | A cardinal trait is one so pervasive that most of the persons behaviour and activities can be traced to this particular trait. Only few people possess a cardinal trait but for the ones who do, this trait may be the ruling of their personality. Such traits are usually evident to most people who know the individual |
|---|---|---|
| Level 2 | Central traits | Central traits are easily detected characteristics within a person, traits that all people have a certain number of, five to ten on average |
| Level 3 | Secondary traits | Less evident and only manifest in select circumstances |
