2. define factor analysis and how it relates to the trait perspective.
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-psychology/chapter/trait-perspectives-on-personality/
Factor analysis is a statistical technique used to identify patterns in data by grouping variables that are highly correlated with each other. In the context of psychology, factor analysis is often employed to understand the underlying factors or dimensions that contribute to human behavior or characteristics.
In the trait perspective of psychology, factor analysis plays a crucial role in identifying and understanding the basic dimensions of personality traits. Traits are relatively stable patterns of behavior, thoughts, and emotions that are characteristic of an individual. Traits can vary across different people, and the trait perspective seeks to understand and categorize these individual differences.
Factor analysis helps in this process by analyzing a large set of personality characteristics or behaviors and identifying the underlying factors that contribute to these traits. By examining the correlations between different traits, factor analysis can group together those that tend to co-occur, suggesting that they are influenced by a common underlying factor. For example, traits like extraversion, assertiveness, and sociability might be found to have a high correlation with each other, indicating that they are all influenced by a common factor, such as the extroversion factor.
Through factor analysis, researchers can determine the fundamental dimensions of personality traits, which can then be used to better understand and predict individual differences in behavior, thoughts, and emotions. This helps in categorizing and understanding personality traits and contributes to the overall study of human psychology.