Written by the Fiveable Content Team โข Last updated September 2025
Verified for the 2026 exam
Verified for the 2026 examโขWritten by the Fiveable Content Team โข Last updated September 2025
Definition
Trait theorists are psychologists who attempt to describe personality in terms of a person's traits, which are habitual patterns of behavior, thought, and emotion.
This is a theory that suggests there are five broad dimensions of personality: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism (OCEAN).