Personality Traits

Traits are the building blocks of personality. So what is a trait? In short, it’s a relatively stable way of thinking and behaving that can be used to describe a person and compare and contrast that person with others.

Traits can be cast in very broad terms, such as how positively disposed a person generally is toward other people, or in more specific ones, such as how much that person tends to trust other people. These more specific aspects of personality are sometimes referred to as “facets.” Personality traits are usually considered distinct from mental abilities (including general intelligence) that are assessed based on how well one responds to problems or questions.

Psychologists have developed a variety of ways to define and organize the span of personality traits. They are often bundled together based on broad personality factors, as in the commonly used Big Five trait taxonomy. But personality can be sliced in many different ways, and some traits are frequently measured and studied by psychologists on their own.

Here are some of the scientifically studied groups of personality traits. Importantly, people generally do not simply have these traits or not have them—they can rate high, low, or somewhere in the middle on each one, compared to other people.