Her friends would describe Sophy as friendly, cheerful, and creative but not very reliable. These are the traits that stand out when people meet Sophy, but they are not an extremely pervasive part of her life. As discussed in lecture, according to Gordon Allport's organization of personality, these traits would be described as Sophy's _______________.

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The question asks us to classify how Sophy’s described traits would be organized according to Gordon Allport's framework.
Option 1: cardinal traits. These are rare but dominating traits that define almost all behavior across many situations. Since the prompt notes that these traits are not an extremely pervasive part of her life, calling them cardinal traits would be inappropriate.
Option 2: secondary dispositions. These are more situational preferences or less influential tendencies that appear only in specific contexts. The description emphasizes traits that are noticeable when meeting Sophy in general, not only in particular circumstances, so labeling them as secondary dispositions would understate their typical influence.
Option 3: nomothetic traits. This term is used in psychology to refer to general laws or universal traits across people, often contrasted with idiographic approaches focusing on the individual. The question is about Allport’s organization of one person’s traits, not about universal trait dimensions, so nomothetic traits are not the correct label here.
Option 4: central dispositions. Allport described central (or core) dispositions as basic traits that are moderately to strongly influential and shape behavior across many situations, more representative of how others would summarize a person. The description—friendly, cheerful, and creative as salient traits observed by others—fits this category well, while noting they are not all-encompassing like cardinal traits.
In summary, the traits described are best characterized as central dispositions because they are noticeable and influential across many situations without being all-dominant; the other options either overstate the pervasiveness (cardinal), minimize their influence (secondary), or misuse a methodological concept (nomothetic).

PSY 1001 (001) Final Exam/Exam 4

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