Editing Trait theory (section)

==History==
American psychologist [[Gordon Allport]] was an early pioneer in the study of traits. This early work was viewed as the beginning of the modern psychological study of personality.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Long|first=Lewis M. K.|url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/8bf99aa9b92cd48af4a112ceb7a01078/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1816607|url-access=subscription|title=Alfred Adler and Gordon W. Allport: A Comparison on Certain Topics in Personality Theory|journal=American Journal of Individual Psychology|location=Chicago, Ill.|volume=10|number=1|year=1952|language=en|access-date=2018-03-23|name-list-style=vanc}}</ref> He also referred to traits within his work as dispositions. In his approach, "cardinal" traits are those that dominate and shape a person's behavior; their ruling passions/obsessions, such as a need for money, fame etc. By contrast, "central" traits such as honesty are characteristics found in some degree in every person – and finally "secondary" traits are those seen only in certain circumstances (such as particular likes or dislikes that a very close friend may know), which are included to provide a complete picture of human complexity.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Allport |first1=Gordon W. |title=Pattern and growth in personality |url=https://archive.org/details/patterngrowthinp00allprich |url-access=registration |date=1961 |publisher=Holt, Rinehart and Winston |location=New York |isbn=978-0030108105 |edition=14 print.|name-list-style=vanc}}</ref>

A wide variety of alternative theories and scales were later developed, including:
* [[Raymond Cattell]]'s [[16PF Questionnaire]]
* [[J. P. Guilford]]'s [[Structure of Intellect]]
* [[Henry Murray]]'s [[Murray's system of needs|System of Needs]]
* [[Timothy Leary]]'s [[Interpersonal circumplex]]
* [[Myers–Briggs Type Indicator]]
* [[Jeffrey Alan Gray|Gray]]'s [[Gray's biopsychological theory of personality|Biopsychological theory of personality]]

Currently, two general approaches are the most popular:{{Citation needed|date=October 2015}}
* [[Eysenck Personality Questionnaire]], (EPQ) ("the three-factor model"). Using [[factor analysis]], [[Hans Eysenck]] suggested that personality is reducible to three major traits: [[neuroticism]], extraversion, and psychoticism.<ref>{{multiref2
|1={{cite book|author-link=Hans Eysenck|first=Hans|last=Eysenck|year=1967|title=The biological basis of personality|location=Springfield, Ill.|publisher=Thomas|name-list-style=vanc}}
|2={{cite journal | last1 = Eysenck | first1 = Hans | author-link = Hans Eysenck | year = 1991 | title = Dimensions of personality: 16: 5 or 3? Criteria for a taxonomic paradigm | journal = Personality and Individual Differences | volume = 12 | issue = 8| pages = 773–790 | doi=10.1016/0191-8869(91)90144-z|name-list-style=vanc}}
}}</ref>
* [[Big Five personality traits]], ("the five-factor model"). Many psychologists currently believe that five factors are sufficient: neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = McCrae | first1 = R. R. | last2 = Costa | first2 = P. C. Jr. | year = 1987 | title = Validation of the five-factor model across instruments and observers | journal = Journal of Personality and Social Psychology | volume = 52 | issue = 1| pages = 81–90 | doi=10.1037/0022-3514.52.1.81 | pmid=3820081| s2cid = 7893185 |name-list-style=vanc}}</ref><ref name="Costa1992">{{cite journal | last1 = Costa | first1 = P. T. | last2 = McCrae | first2 = R. R. | year = 1992 | title = Four ways five factors are basic | journal = Personality and Individual Differences | volume = 13 | issue = 6| pages = 653–665 | doi=10.1016/0191-8869(92)90236-i| s2cid = 86867568 |name-list-style=vanc}}</ref>