trait

(noun)

An identifying characteristic, habit, or trend.

Related Terms

  • Disposition
  • extroversion

Examples of trait in the following topics:

  • Common Traits of Entrepreneurs

  • General Strengths and Limitations of Trait Perspectives

    • One possible proof of this is that several trait theories were developed independently of each other when factor analysis was used to conclude a specific set of traits.
    • While developing their theories independently of each other, trait theorists often arrived at a similar set of traits.
    • Trait perspectives are often criticized for their predictive value: critics argue that traits do a poor job of predicting behavior in every situation.
    • Trait theories provide information about people and about which traits cause which behaviors; however, there is no indication as to why these traits interact in the way that they do.
    • While trait theories provide information about which traits an individual has and how they may behave, they do not explain why they will behave this way.
  • Leadership Traits

    • Researchers have debated the traits of a leader for many decades.
    • Early trait theory proposed that merely a few personality traits have the ability to determine the success of a leader.
    • These models rests on two basic premises about leadership traits.
    • First, leadership emerges from the combined influence of multiple traits, as opposed to coming from various independent traits.
    • This diagram shows one contemporary theory of the essential traits of a leader.
  • The Trait-Theory Approach

    • Following studies of trait leadership, most leader traits can be organized into four groups:
    • Trait leadership also takes into account the distinction between proximal and distal character traits.
    • Proximal characteristics are traits that are malleable and can be developed over time.
    • These include traits such as self-confidence, creativity, and charisma.
    • The model rests on two basic premises about leadership traits.
  • Other Important Trait Theories

    • Gordon Allport's disposition theory includes cardinal traits, central traits, and secondary traits.
    • Cardinal trait: A trait that dominates and shapes a person's behavior.
    • An example of a central trait would be honesty.
    • Hans Eysenck rejected the idea that there are "tiers" of personality traits, theorizing instead that there are just three traits that describe human personality.
    • These traits are extroversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism.
  • Trait Anxiety

    • Trait anxiety is a form of neurosis; it is a long-term anxiety related to the very idea of public speaking.
    • The other is trait anxiety, which refers to a more long-term form of anxiety.
    • Trait anxiety tends to build up over time and may be the result of neurosis.
    • Trait anxiety may be conscious or unconscious.
    • Trait anxiety refers to a long-term form of anxiety, often stemming from neuroticism.
  • Allport's, Cattell's, and Eysenck's Trait Theories of Personality

    • Allport's, Cattell's, and Eysenck's trait theories propose that individuals possess certain personality traits that partially determine their behavior.
    • Trait theorists believe personality can be understood by positing that all people have certain traits, or characteristic ways of behaving.
    • Cardinal traits are powerful, but few people have personalities dominated by a single trait.
    • Central traits come next in the hierarchy.
    • Secondary traits exist at the bottom of the hierarchy and are not quite as obvious or consistent as central traits.
  • The Big Five Personality Traits

    • These five factors are assumed to represent the basic structure behind all personality traits.
    • However, as a result of their broad definitions, the Big Five personality traits are not nearly as powerful in predicting and explaining actual behavior as are the more numerous lower-level, specific traits.
    • Employees are sometimes tested on the Big Five personality traits in collaborative situations to determine what strong personality traits they can add to the group dynamic.
    • The Big Five personality traits are typically examined through surveys and questionnaires.
    • Apply the "Big Five" personality traits identified in psychology to organizational behavior
  • Garden Pea Characteristics Revealed the Basics of Heredity

    • This is called a reciprocal cross: a paired cross in which the respective traits of the male and female in one cross become the respective traits of the female and male in the other cross.
    • He called these, respectively, dominant and recessive traits.
    • Dominant traits are those that are inherited unchanged in a hybridization.
    • An example of a dominant trait is the violet-flower trait.
    • The fact that the recessive trait reappeared in the F2 generation meant that the traits remained separate (not blended) in the plants of the F1 generation.
  • Self-Knowledge and Evaluating the Personality Perspective

    • Central traits are basic to an individual's personality, while secondary traits are less central to one's identity.
    • Cultural factors can also influence which traits are most integral to personality.
    • Although traits are generally considered inborn aspects of personality, the expression of traits can be influenced by the environment.
    • Many trait theories posit that individuals with specific traits would behave in the same manner across a variety of situations.
    • Instead of investigating what traits are associated with certain behaviors, this theory attempts to describe which situations lead to specific traits being expressed.
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