According to Allport, a single trait that dominates an individual's entire personality is known as _________.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Cardinal trait
Option (1) Source trait — Incorrect. Source traits come from Raymond Cattell, not Allport. They are the stable building blocks of personality (16 primary or source traits) that Cattell found by factor analysis.
Option (2) Cardinal trait — Correct. Allport categorised traits into cardinal, central and secondary. Cardinal traits are highly generalised dispositions; they indicate the goal around which a person’s entire life seems to revolve. Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violence and Hitler’s Nazism are examples, so strong that they give rise to the ‘Gandhian’ or ‘Hitlerian’ trait.
Option (3) Central trait — Incorrect. Central traits are Allport’s too, but they are less pervasive in effect, though still quite generalised: warm, sincere, diligent, the words used in a testimonial. They do not dominate the whole personality.
Option (4) Surface trait — Incorrect. Surface traits are again Cattell’s: the traits that result from the interaction of source traits and can be seen on the surface of behaviour.
Note: A similar question was also asked in CUET (UG) 2022 on 05-08-2022 (Slot 2).
NCERT (2025-26): “Trait Approaches … Allport, based on this, categorised traits into cardinal, central, and secondary. Cardinal traits are highly generalised dispositions. They indicate the goal around which a person’s entire life seems to revolve. Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violence and Hitler’s Nazism are examples of cardinal traits. Such traits often get associated with the name of the person so strongly that they derive such identities as the ‘Gandhian’ or ‘Hitlerian’ trait. Less pervasive in effect, but still quite generalised dispositions, are called central traits. These traits (e.g., warm, sincere, diligent, etc.) are often used in writing a testimonial or job recommendation for a person. The least generalised characteristics of a person are called secondary traits.…” “Trait Approaches … Raymond Cattell believed that there is a common structure on which people differ from each other. This structure could be determined empirically. He tried to identify the primary traits from a huge array of descriptive adjectives found in language. He applied a statistical technique, called factor analysis, to discover the common structures. He found 16 primary or source traits. The source traits are stable, and are considered as the building blocks of personality. Besides these, there are also a number of surface traits that result out of the interaction of source traits.…” |