Final answer:
Trait theories of personality focus on identifying stable characteristics and ways of behaving. These theories categorize traits into cardinal, central, and secondary traits, and the most widely accepted theory is the Five Factor Model.
Step-by-step explanation:
Trait theories of personality focus on understanding personality through identifying stable characteristics and ways of behaving. Trait theorists believe that all people have certain traits, or characteristic ways of behaving, such as sociability, shyness, optimism, and aggressiveness. One notable trait theorist, Gordon Allport, organized personality traits into three categories: cardinal traits, central traits, and secondary traits.
Cardinal traits dominate a person's entire personality, while central traits make up their personality and secondary traits are not as obvious or consistent. The Five Factor Model is the most widely accepted trait theory today, which identifies five factors of personality: openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
Biological foundations and psychodynamic theories are also discussed in relation to trait theories of personality.