More typical of most individuals is behavior attributable to what Allport called “central dispositions,” which comprise a relatively small number of traits (between 3 and 10) that, as a set, are pervasive for a given person. Allport noted that the characteristics a person would use when writing a letter of recommendation for someone would be illustrative of central dispositions. “Secondary dispositions” are more situationally specific traits
(e.g.,food preferences). Allport argued that each person’s pattern of cardinal (if present), central, and secondary traits is unique, and that one can understand a person only by examining that unique pattern. This, than, is the idiographic approach, which is characterized by the use of a unique set of traits to describe each individual.