chapter 2

Question 1

are there traits outside of the big 5 and what three will we be looking at

Answer 1

yes there are lots of them

religiosity, intelligence and sexuality

Question 2

is intelligence a personality trait

Answer 2

no, overall intelligence is separate from personality

Question 3

explain intelligence overlapping with big 5

Answer 3

traditionally intelligence is considered a cognitive ability
-it does overlap with openness to some extent, but intellect in openness has more to do with education and culture (experiencing and learning more)

it also overlaps slightly with conscientiousness
-but in conscientiousness it refers to hardworking organized, motivated, etc. but some people mistakingly define intelligence as this

there is actually a small negative correlation with intelligence and conscientiousness

Question 4

is religiosity a personality trait

Answer 4

evidence this is a trait separate from the big 5

Question 5

explain religiosity

Answer 5

no mention in big 5 but many consider it a part of personality

spiritual transcendence is a personal search for greater connection

• this may be important part of personality
• found it relates to quality of life and social connection

Question 6

is sexuality a personality trait

Answer 6

found 80% overlap between sexy 7 and big 5 (openness did best job of explaining sexuality)

Question 7

explain sexuality

Answer 7

people known as sex symbols, sexuality is a part of personality

• big 5 purposefully left out traits related to sexuality (done lexically)
• the sexy seven traits were made to describe sexuality ( sexual attractiveness, loyalty, gender orientation, etc)

Question 8

are the five factors comprehensive across cultures (and give examples)

Answer 8

no, unique indigenous personality traits

filial piety in China (taking responsibility for all of family including ancestors)
Amae in Japan (relationships between people of different power)
Philotimo in Greece (encompasses being polite, generous, respectful and funny)

Question 9

explain culture and the big five (world tests)

Answer 9

personality profiles of culture project examined the big 5’s ability to hold up in different cultures

• the FFM (after translation) has been validated in over 50 countries (factor analysis still found evidence)
• big 5 replicates well, but openness varies the most
• culture may play large role in what openness means
• maybe openness is shaped by culture

Question 10

how was criterion validity when the big 5 was given across cultures

Answer 10

was also strong (expected relationships between big 5 and external criteria)
ex. extraversion high score -> having lots of friendships

Question 11

what are aesthetic chills (frisson) and research about them

Answer 11

maybe a universal indicator of openness?
-goosebumps people get in response to emotional stimuli

research finds the extent to which people indicate aesthetic chills matches their level of openness

Question 12

explain the aesthetic chills study

Answer 12

looked at getting aesthetic chills from music
-looked at aesthetic chills as an individual differences variable (some people experience them more than others, does not mean that everyone has them)

goal: test relationship between openness and experience of aesthetic chills in response to music

method: assess Big 5 and listen to music (5 songs), measured in two ways
1) physiologically (measured galvonic skin response-sweat gland activity)
2) self-report of chills

design: correlational

results: compared to openness and individual facets of openness
- aesthetic cills correlated with openness and the individual facets (except openness of action because of a low Chronbach’s alpha)

can say if you have aesthetic chills you might be more open

Question 13

explain Tsimane culture and how it pertains to big 5

Answer 13

some cultures may need more or less than 5 factors to explain personality (indigenous traits)
-in Tsimane culture 90% of food comes from farming and foraging, large families, low literacy rates

Question 14

explain the goal and method of the Tsimane study

Answer 14

goal: explore reliability and validity of big 5 among Tsimane

method: big 5 inventory translated and administered to 632 Tismane adults from 28 villages (spanish)
- 430 adults rated spouses on Big 5

Question 15

explain results of the Tsimane study

Answer 15

• when looking at Cronbach’s alpha, none over .7 for big 5 traits (conscientiousness was closest)
• when they removed certain items that might not have translated well, there was no clear improvement
• spouse report alphas get worse

scree plot
-the five factors did not hold up, self report indicated one factor, spouse report indicated 2

Eigen values
-5 factors did not hold up, had 11 factors over 1.0

Question 16

what did the researchers do with the results of the Tsimane study

Answer 16

pursued the two factor solution and found Tsimane best represented by Big 2 (mixture of big five)

1) prosociality (general prosocial disposition, helping others)
- extraversion and agreeableness
- some openness

2) industriousness (has to do with work ethic but also energetic and inventiveness)
- conscientousness
- some extraversion and openness

implications:
5 factor model not supported in this culture
-undermines universality
-speaks to importance of environment in terms of shaping personality

Question 17

how do environmental conditions result different combos of traits

Answer 17

• we all have the same genes, environment does play role
• varies from forager farmer culture ————– WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic) culture
• evolutionary traits (perspective) for people to survive and reproduce in their specific culture different traits might be the most important