fei75766_ch13_408-434.indd 410  02/06/20 01:05 PM
Part IV    Dispositional Theories410
However, Allport’s major contribution totraittheory mayhavebeen hisidentifica -
tionofnearly 18,000 traitnames inanunabridged English language dictionary. These 
traitnames werethebasis forCattell’s original work, andtheycontinue toprovide 
thefoundation forrecent factor analytic studies. 
TheFive-Factor Theory (often called theBigFive) includes neuroticism and
extraversion; butitaddsopenness toexperience, agreeableness, andconscientious -
ness. These terms differ slightly from research team toresearch team, buttheunderly -
ingtraits arequite similar. 
The Pioneering Work  
of Raymond B. Cattell
Animportant figure intheearly years ofpsychometrics wasRaymond B.Cattell 
(1905–1998), whowasborninEngland butwhospent most ofhiscareer inthe
United States. Cattell hadonlyanindirect influence onMcCrae andCosta. They 
did,however, share techniques andideas, eveniftheirapproaches alsohadsome real
differences. Because some familiarity withCattell’s traittheory enhances theunder -
standing ofMcCrae andCosta’s five-factor theory, webriefly discuss Cattell’s work 
andcompare andcontrast itwiththatofMcCrae andCosta.
First, Cattell andMcCrae andCosta bothusedaninductive method ofgath-
ering data; thatis,theybegan withnopreconceived biasconcerning thenumber 
orname oftraits ortypes. Other factor theorists, however, haveusedthedeductive 
method, thatis,theyhavepreconceived hypotheses inmind before theybegin tocol-
lectdata.
Second, Cattell usedthree different media ofobservation toexamine people 
from asmany angles aspossible. Thethree sources ofdataincluded aperson’s life
record (Ldata) derived from observations made byother people; self-reports (Q
data) obtained from questionnaires andother techniques designed toallow people to
make subjective descriptions ofthemselves; andobjective tests(Tdata), which mea-
sureperformance suchasintelligence, speed ofresponding, andother suchactivities 
designed tochallenge people’s maximum performance. Incontrast, eachofMcCrae 
andCosta’s fivebipolar factors islimited toresponses onquestionnaires. These self-
reports confine McCrae andCosta’s procedures topersonality factors.
Third, Cattell divided traits intocommon traits (shared bymany) andunique 
traits (peculiar tooneindividual). Healsodistinguished source traits from traitindi-
cators, orsurface traits. Cattell further classified traits intotemperament, motivation, 
andability. Traits oftemperament areconcerned withhowaperson behaves, moti-
vation deals withwhyonebehaves, andability refers tohow far orhow fast onecan
perform. 
Fourth, Cattell’s multifaceted approach yielded 35primary, orfirst-order, 
traits, which measure mostly thetemperament dimension ofpersonality. Ofthese 
factors, 23characterize thenormal population and12measure thepathological 
dimension. Thelargest andmost frequently studied ofthenormal traits arethe16
personality factors found onCattell’s (1949) Sixteen Personality Factors Question -
naire (16PFScale). Bycomparison, theNEO Personality Inventory ofCosta and
McCrae yields scores ononlyfivepersonality factors.Final PDF to printer