Cattell defined traits as relatively permanent parts of the personality. Difference Between State and Trait: Traits are characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving that generalize across similar situations, differ systematically between individuals, and remain rather stable across time. States are characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving in a concrete situation at a specific moment in time. • Common Trait: A common trait is one that is possessed by everyone to some degree. Intelligence, extraversion, and gregariousness are examples of common traits. • Unique Traits: Traits possessed by one or a few persons. Unique traits are particularly apparent in our interests and attitudes. For example, one person may have a consuming interest in genealogy, whereas another may be passionately interested in Civil War battles or baseball or Chinese martial arts. • Ability Traits: Traits that describe our skills and how efficiently we will be able to work toward our goals. Intelligence is an ability trait; our level of intelligence will affect the ways in which we strive for our goals. • Temperament Traits: Traits that describe our general behavioral style in responding to our environment. for example, how assertive, easygoing, or irritable we are. • dynamic traits: Traits that describe our motivations and interests. Dynamic traits are the driving forces of behavior. They define our motivations, interests, and ambitions. • Surface Traits: Stable, permanent traits that are the basic factors of personality. Each source trait gives rise to some aspect of behavior. • Environmental-Mold Traits: Source traits that are learned from social and environmental interactions. • Constitutional Traits: Source traits that depend on our physiological characteristics. These originate in biological conditions but are not necessarily innate.