University Name: Trait Approach and Letters of Recommendation Report

This report examines the trait approach and its significance in the context of letters of recommendation. It begins by defining the trait approach, emphasizing the focus on individual behavioral traits and their impact on personality assessments. The report then delves into the key factors of the trait approach, including openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. It highlights how these factors are used to analyze and describe individuals. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of the trait approach for supervisors, managers, and academic authorities when writing letters of recommendation, offering insights into how to effectively incorporate these traits into the assessment of an individual's suitability for a role or opportunity.

Running head: TRAIT APPROACH AND LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION
Trait Approach and Letters of Recommendation
Name of the University:
Name of the Student:
Author Note:

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Trait Approach and Letters of Recommendation
A letter of Recommendation is a memorandum or a letter that includes the habits,
qualities, skills and achievements of an employee or a student, who wishes to join another
organization or wants to purse higher studies or for some other professional position. This is
essentially to be written by the person practicing a supervisory role. The letter of
recommendation is also called a letter of reference.
The trait approach is the method of studying the personality of an individual, and puts
emphasis on the individuals as they are the markers of their personality. Traits are regarded as
the behavioral traits of the people and the thoughts that they practice (Larson, 2013). Traits
are also regarded as the description of the others by the people, and the perspectives that one
has regarding the other.
Therefore, in the letter of recommendation, the trait approaches are majorly used. The
trait approach focuses on the individual differences and the unique behavioral traits that the
individuals show. Therefore, while writing a letter of recommendation, the trait approach
helps the supervisors or the managers or the school or college authorities to analyze the
behavior of the employees or the students and therefore, ass per their understanding, write the
letter of recommendation, and since the letter of recommendation mainly includes the
behavioral traits and habits, therefore, it is important for the supervisors to include the trait
approach in the letter of recommendation (Larson, 2013).
Key Factors of Trait Approach:
There are big five factor of the Trait Theory. These are,
Openness: This includes the behavioral aspects having vast interests, having insight and
being innovative.

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Trait Approach and Letters of Recommendation
Conscientiousness: This refers to scrupulous, principled and meticulous behaviour of the
people guided by one’s own conscience.
Extraversion: This refers to the character so being sociable, outgoing, outward and
gregarious.
Agreeableness: this refers to the traits of being trusting and empathic.
Neuroticism: This refers to the proneness of psychological distress present among the people
(Lynam & Miller, 2015).

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Trait Approach and Letters of Recommendation
References:
Larson, J. D. (2013). School psychology. Boston, MA.
Lynam, D. R., & Miller, J. D. (2015). Psychopathy from a basic trait perspective: The utility
of a five‐factor model approach. Journal of Personality, 83(6), 611-626.