With reference to the features of trait approaches of personality select the TRUE statements.
A. This approach tries to discover the 'building blocks' of personality.
B. This approach attempts to identify the secondary characteristics of people.
C. This approach focuses on the specific psychological attributes along which people differ in stable ways.
D. This approach follows a bio-psycho-social perspective.
E. According to this approach people are put in a category based on their childhood experiences.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → A, C only
A. This approach tries to discover the ‘building blocks’ of personality. Correct. Trait theories are mainly concerned with describing the basic components of personality; they try to discover its ‘building blocks’.
B. This approach attempts to identify the secondary characteristics of people. Incorrect. The trait approach looks for the basic components of personality, not secondary ones. Secondary traits are only the least generalised level in Allport’s scheme of cardinal, central and secondary traits.
C. This approach focuses on the specific psychological attributes along which people differ in stable ways. Correct. The trait approach focuses on the specific psychological attributes along which individuals tend to differ in consistent and stable ways, such as shyness or friendliness.
D. This approach follows a bio-psycho-social perspective. Incorrect. The bio-psycho-social view explains abnormal behaviour as the joint result of biological, psychological and social factors. It is a way of looking at the causes of psychological disorders, not the trait approach to personality.
E. According to this approach people are put in a category based on their childhood experiences. Incorrect. Placing people into categories is the work of the type approach, which groups people by broad patterns of behaviour; the weight given to childhood experiences belongs to the psychodynamic approach.
NCERT (2025-26): “Major Approaches to the Study of Personality … In contrast, the trait approach focuses on the specific psychological attributes along which individuals tend to differ in consistent and stable ways.…” “Trait Approaches … These theories are mainly concerned with the description or characterisation of basic components of personality. They try to discover the ‘building blocks’ of personality. Human beings display a wide range of variations in psychological attributes, yet it is possible to club them into smaller number of personality traits.…” |