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
Official answer
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
- 1.1 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.
Common mistakes
- 1.Confusing central traits (5-10 common core characteristics) with cardinal traits (a single, all-pervasive dominant trait).
- 2.Selecting 'Source Trait' without realising it belongs to Cattell's theory, not Allport's.
Analysis and 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.
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.
Question details
Q5 of 33 questions
- Board
- CBSE
- Class
- Class 12
- Subject
- Psychology
- Year
- 2026
- Section
- Section A
- Marks
- 1
- Type
- MCQ
- Chapter
- Self and Personality
- Topic
- Allport's Trait Theory — Cardinal Trait
- Bloom's level
- apply
- Syllabus topic
- Unit 2: Self and Personality — Trait Approach (Allport's Trait Theory)
- Author
- CBSE
- Reviewed by
- Padhantu Academic Team
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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).