ABSTRACT
Multi-trait theories are designed to describe the entire personality. The multi-trait approach, in contrast to single-trait approaches, has a characteristic methodology which remains fundamentally the same from theorist to theorist. Multi-trait theories are all attempts to represent the whole personality, they all originate from similar databases, and they all use the same method of statistical analysis. Personality is inferred from behaviour, and multi-trait theorists have developed three techniques of data collection, each of which measures a different form of behaviour: questionnaires, ratings and objective tests. H J. Eysenck’s application of factor analysis to personality data has led him to propose that personality is adequately described by three factors: extraversion-introversion, neuroticism-stability and psychoticism-normality. The hypothesised physiological basis of neuroticism is the autonomic nervous system. The psychophysiological structures implicated in extra-version and neuroticism are said to explain most of the observed differences between introverts, extraverts, neurotics, and stable individuals.
