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The psychologist now does a sum to see if there is any relationship and how
much between trait 1 and trait 2—in our case between honesty and assertiveness.
He does another sum for trait 1 and trait 3, another for trait 1 and trait 4,
and so on for the whole table. Then he repeats the process for the relationship
between trait 2 and trait 3, then trait 2 with trait 4 and so on until every possible
relationship in the whole table has been ascertained. He has now obtained a
table of correlations. From such a table it is possible to find what common
factors there are in the various pieces of behaviour which have been assessed.
Cattell has found 16 of these factors which he regards as the root or basic traits
of personality. The factors are, so to speak, the foundation stones on which the
superstructure of personality is built. An abbreviated list is as follows:—
Personality Factors
Factor
number With a great deal of the With very little of the
and letter factor a person is factor a person is
1. A. Good-natured, co-operative. Hard-hearted, obstructive.
2. B. Intelligent, clear thinking. Mentally slow, stupid.
3. C. Emotionally calm. Very emotional, intolerant.
4. E. Dominating, assertive. Submissive, dependent.
5. F. Cheerful, frank. Depressed, silent.
6. G. Persevering, conscientious. Gives up easily, unreliable.
7. H. Adventurous, sociable. Cautious, shy.
8. I. Very sensitive, fastidious. Hard, set and smug.
9. L. Suspicious, jealous. Composed, not jealous.
10. M. Unconventional, eccentric. Conventional, narrowly correct.
11. N. Polished, sophisticated. Clumsy, awkward.
12. O. Worrying, anxious, brooding. Placid, trustful.
13. Ql. Deep thinking, experimenter. Conservative, accepts explanation.
14. Q2. Independent, self-sufficient. Lacks resolution.
15. Q3. Strong control of behaviour. Weak control of behaviour.
16. Q4. Much nervous tension, restless. Little nervous tension, steady.
The person who is high in factor 1 (A), is good-natured, easy-going, ready
to co-operate, attentive to people, soft-hearted, kindly, trustful and adaptable;
at the opposite end of the scale is the person who is spiteful, grasping, critical,
obstructive, cool, aloof, hard, suspicious, rigid and cold. We can all recognise
in our minds persons who fit these extremes.
Factor 2 (B), is the one best known in schools. It is the factor of intelligence
or general mental capacity as opposed to dullness or mental defect. The
intelligent person is clear thinking, systematic, precise, thoughtful and has
wide interests; he usually has other special abilities such as literary, mathematical,
mechanical or musical. The opposite is the person who is mentally
slow, simple or stupid and unimaginative; he has very few abilities and
interests. In this factor of intelligence there is also a certain amount of goodness
of character in persons of good intelligence and the opposite—weakness of
character—in the mentally dull. It is not surprising that the greatest amount
of delinquency occurs amongst both children and adults who are mentally
below average.
As a further example we may take factor 6 (G) which is sound character
as opposed to immature dependent character. A person high in the factor is
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