Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow:
Preeti is a hardworking and sincere social worker, who is famous amongst the community she works with as ‘Sakhi Saheli’ because of her empathetic and warm personality. Her friends often call this phenomena ‘Preetism’, a label that denotes her loving generous and friendly nature. She is always seen in ethnic clothes and a khadi shoulder bag. For her self-less service towards the less privileged, Preeti was recognised by several organisations and the government.
Which theory of personality could best be used for understanding Preeti’s personality?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Allport’s trait theory
Option (1) Eysenck’s theory — Incorrect. Eysenck reduced personality to two broad dimensions, neuroticism vs. emotional stability and extraversion vs. introversion, which are biologically and genetically based. The passage does not place Preeti on such dimensions; it describes her through a label and through particular habits.
Option (2) Allport’s trait theory — Correct. Allport categorised traits into cardinal, central and secondary. A cardinal trait gets associated so strongly with a person that it takes the person’s name (‘Gandhian’), as ‘Preetism’ does; warm and sincere are central traits; and ‘prefers ethnic clothes’ is a standard example of a secondary trait. Every detail of Preeti’s description fits Allport’s three kinds of traits.
Option (3) Psychodynamic approach — Incorrect. Freud’s psychodynamic approach explains personality through unconscious conflicts among the id, ego and superego. The passage says nothing about inner conflicts; it lists Preeti’s observable qualities.
Option (4) Five factor model of personality — Incorrect. Costa and McCrae’s model describes everyone on five broad factors: openness to experience, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism and conscientiousness. These are broad dimensions on which everyone is placed; the model does not sort traits into cardinal, central and secondary, which is how the passage describes Preeti.
NCERT (2025-26): “Allport’s Trait Theory … Gordon Allport is considered the pioneer of trait approach. He proposed that individuals possess a number of traits, which are dynamic in nature. They determine behaviour in such a manner that an individual approaches different situations with similar plans. The traits integrate stimuli and responses which otherwise look dissimilar. Allport argued that the words people use to describe themselves and others provide a basis for understanding human personality. He analysed the words of English language to look for traits which describe a person. 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. Traits such as ‘likes mangoes’ or ‘prefers ethnic clothes’ are examples of secondary traits.…” “Eysenck’s Theory … H.J. Eysenck proposed that personality could be reduced into two broad dimensions. These are biologically and genetically based.…” |