12 - lecture Flashcards
Personality
collection of an individuals behavioural traits
Psychological Traits –
descriptive characteristics that demonstrate how people are distinct from one another or average tendencies
What three techniques do personality psychologists use to identify important traits:
- Lexical Approach
- Statistical Approach
- Theoretical Approach
Lexical Approach
- Trait terms help us describe differences that exist across individuals.
- Two criteria for identifying important traits:
Synonym frequency (i.e., there are multiple ways to describe the trait)
Cross-cultural universality (i.e., many languages have a word for the trait)
Statistical Approach
- Starts with a large, diverse pool of personality items (i.e., a questionnaire with many questions).
- Goal is to identify major dimensions of personality.
Theoretical Approach
- Factor analysis
- Identifies groups of questions that covary or go together, but are not likely to covary with other groups of questions.
- Useful in reducing the large array of diverse traits into smaller, more useful set of underlying factors.
Factor loading:
Index of how much of a variation in an item is “explained” by a factor.
Cautionary note:
You only get out of factor analysis what you put in.
What is a Taxonomy?
- A means of categorizing personality with the goal of an organized structure of personality.
main taxonomies:
- Eysenck’s Hierarchical Model of Personality
- Five-Factor Model, Hexaco
Eysenck’s Hierarchical Model of Personality
Eysenck believed that traits were highly heritable and had psychophysiological foundation.
What traits met Eysenck’s Hierarchical Model of Personality?
- Extraversion-Introversion (E)
- Neuroticism-Emotional Stability (N)
- Psychoticism (P)
Extraversion
High scorers like partiers, have many friends, require people around to talk too, like playing practical jokes on others, display carefree, easy manner, and have a high activity level.
Neuroticism
High scorers are worriers, anxious, depressed, have trouble sleeping, experience array of psychosomatic symptoms, and over-reactivity of negative emotions.
Psychoticism
High scorers are solitary, lack empathy, often cruel and inhumane, insensitivity to pain and suffering of others, aggressive, penchant for strange and unusual, impulsive, and has antisocial tendencies
Big 5 - Extraversion/introversion
talkative, friendly, assertive, outgoing/ quiet, reserved, introspective, thoughtful.
Who argues that personality traits consist of 5 broad factors?
Costa and McCrea
Big 5 - Agreeableness/disagreeable
sympathetic, trusting, modest, cooperative / selfish, rude, sarcastic, inconsiderate.
Big 5 - conscientious/low conscientious
disciplined, organized, punctual, persistent / procrastinator, impulsive, disorganized, not punctual.
