Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books Saylor.org
Trait DescriptionExamples of behaviors exhibited by
people who have the trait(Zuckerman, 2007) behaviors engage in risky behaviors such as
extreme and risky sports, substance
abuse, unsafe sex, and crime.
Sources: Adorno, T. W., Frenkel-Brunswik, E., Levinson, D. J., & Sanford, R. N. (1950). The authoritarian
personality. New York, NY: Harper; Triandis, H. (1989). The self and social behavior in differing cultural
contexts. Psychological Review, 93, 506–520; Rotter, J. (1966). Generalized expectancies of internal versus external
locus of control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs, 80; McClelland, D. C. (1958). Methods of measuring
human motivation. In John W. Atkinson (Ed.), Motives in fantasy, action and society. Princeton, NJ: D. Van
Nostrand; Cacioppo, J. T., & Petty, R. E. (1982). The need for cognition. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 42, 116–131; Shah, J., Higgins, T., & Friedman, R. S. (1998). Performance incentives and means: How
regulatory focus influences goal attainment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(2), 285–293;
Fenigstein, A., Scheier, M. F., & Buss, A. H. (1975). Public and private self-consciousness: Assessment and
theory. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 43, 522–527; Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the
adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press; Zuckerman, M. (2007). Sensation seeking and
risky behavior. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Example of a Trait Measure
You can try completing a self-report measure of personality (a short form of the Five-Factor Personality Test) here.
There are 120 questions and it should take you about 15–20 minutes to complete. You will receive feedback about
your personality after you have finished the test.
http://www.personalitytest.net/ipip/ipipneo120.htm
As with intelligence tests, the utility of self-report measures of personality depends on
their reliability and construct validity. Some popular measures of personality are not useful
because they are unreliable or invalid. Perhaps you have heard of a personality test known as the
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). If so, you are not alone, because the MBTI is the most
widely administered personality test in the world, given millions of times a year to employees in
thousands of companies. The MBTI categorizes people into one of four categories on each of
four