Ananya is known in school for honesty. No matter the situation, she always speaks the truth. According to Allport, this trait can be classified as :
Ananya is known in school for honesty. No matter the situation, she always speaks the truth. According to Allport, this trait can be classified as :
Options
Correct option: (B) Cardinal Trait.
Ananya's honesty is so pervasive that it dominates her behaviour in every situation and defines how she is known by everyone — Allport calls such a single, highly dominant and pervasive trait a cardinal trait.
Marking Scheme
- 11 mark for correctly marking option (B) Cardinal Trait.
Hint
Focus on the phrase 'no matter the situation' — it signals the MOST dominant, pervasive trait category in Allport's scheme.
Quick Oral Answer
Ananya's honesty, being pervasive across every situation and defining how she is known, is a cardinal trait in Allport's trait theory — the rarest, most dominant category of trait.
Analysis & Explanation
Gordon Allport classified personality traits into three categories, based on how pervasive and dominant each trait is in a person's life.
Why (B) is correct
- Cardinal traits are rare, highly dominant traits that influence virtually all of a person's behaviour, so much so that the person becomes known and identified by that single characteristic.
- Ananya is 'known in school for honesty' and behaves honestly 'no matter the situation' — this cross-situational dominance and defining quality is the hallmark of a cardinal trait.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Central Traits are the 5-10 general characteristics (like sociable, kind) that form the basic building blocks of most people's personality but do not dominate ALL behaviour the way a cardinal trait does.
- (C) Secondary Traits appear only in specific situations or under particular conditions (e.g., getting anxious specifically before exams), the opposite of Ananya's consistent, situation-independent honesty.
- (D) Source Trait is Raymond Cattell's term (from factor-analysis-based trait theory), not part of Allport's trait classification, so it is conceptually mismatched here.
Common Mistakes
- 1Confusing central traits (5-10 common core characteristics) with cardinal traits (a single, all-pervasive dominant trait).
- 2Selecting 'Source Trait' without realising it belongs to Cattell's theory, not Allport's.
Interesting Facts
Allport identified nearly 4,500 trait-related words in the English dictionary in his early research on personality description with Odbert (1936).
Cardinal traits are rare — Allport suggested very few people actually possess one; most personalities are better described by a handful of central traits.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is a cardinal trait in Allport's theory?
A cardinal trait is a rare, highly dominant trait that influences almost all of a person's behaviour, to the extent that the person becomes identified by that single characteristic.
How many types of traits did Allport propose?
Allport proposed three types: cardinal traits (rare, dominant), central traits (5-10 core characteristics found in most people), and secondary traits (situation-specific, less consistent preferences).