Question

Select the person who put forwarded trait theory of personality.

• A. Freud
• B. Jung
• C. Erickson
• D. Allport

Answer 1

Answer:

D. Allport

Gordon Allport's Trait Theory of Personality

• Gordon Willard Allport is widely regarded as the pioneer of the Trait Theory of Personality and is often referred to as one of the founding figures of personality psychology.

• He defined a trait as a generalized and focalized neuropsychic system that guides consistent forms of adaptive and expressive behavior.

• Allport categorized human personality traits into a three-tiered hierarchy:

  1. Cardinal Traits: Highly dominant and pervasive traits that shape a person's entire life and behavior (e.g., Christ-like, Machiavellian, Sadistic). These are relatively rare.

  2. Central Traits: General characteristics that form the basic building blocks of personality (e.g., honesty, kindness, shyness). An individual typically possesses 5 to 10 central traits.

  3. Secondary Traits: Characteristics that appear only in specific situations or circumstances (e.g., food preferences, situational nervousness).

• Sigmund Freud: Proposed the Psychoanalytic theory of personality (Id, Ego, Superego).

• Carl Jung: Developed Analytical psychology, introducing concepts like introversion/extraversion types and the collective unconscious.

• Erik Erikson: Proposed the Psychosocial development theory consisting of eight life stages.