Personality traits are enduring characteristics that describe and individual's behavior. The more consistent the characteristic and the more frequently it occurs in diverse situations, the more important that trait is in describing the individual.
Several attempts have been made to isolate personality traits and in this process, several thousands of traits have been pointed out. But it would better if the traits are confined to a manageable number to understand their impact. Cattell listed 171 personality traits, but concluded that they were superficial and lacking in descriptive power. What he sought was a reduced set of traits that would identify underlying patterns. The result was the identification of sixteen personality factors, which he called source or primary traits. The sixteen source traits have been presented in table below:
Sixteen primary traits
I. Reserved outgoing
II. Less intelligent more intelligent
III. Affected feelings emotionally more stable
IV. Submissive dominant
V. Serious happy-go-lucky
VI. Expedient conscientious
VII. Timid venturesome
VIII. Tough-minded sensitive
IX. Trusting suspicious
X. Practical imaginative
XI. Forthright shrewd
XII. Self-assured apprehensive
XIII. Conservative experimenting
XIV. Group dependent self-dependent
XV. Uncontrolled controlled
XVI. Relaxed tense