Chapter 2 - Personality Research Methods Flashcards
What is psychology’s emphasis placed on?
Seeking new knowledge
- learn how to explore the unknown (through research)
What is Funder’s second law?
There are no perfect indicators of personality (the psychological triad can give us clues)
What is Funder’s third law?
Something beats nothing
What is S-Data?
self report or self-judgements
Describe S-Data
- questionnaires or surveys
- most frequent data source (quick and easy)
- high face validity (it measures what it says it will measure)
What are the advantages to S-Data?
- based on a large amount of information
- you have access to all your thoughts, feelings and intentions
- definitional truth (i.e. self-esteem…by definition you are getting what you ask for)
- causal force (self-verification - what you report is what you show…ex. getting a high self esteem score will cause you to have a high self esteem
- simple to collect
What are the disadvantages of S-Data?
- maybe people won’t be honest
- maybe people can’t tell you (sometimes we miss the most obvious things about themselves)
- active distortion of memory
- lack of self-insight - overused
What is I-Data?
informant reports
Describe what I-Data is?
- acquaintances, coworkers, clinical psychologists (anyone who knows you to a certain extent)
- no training or experience needed to provide I-Data
- based on observing people in whatever context they know them in
- used frequently in daily life (ex. letter of recommendation)
What are the advantages of using I-Data?
- based on a large amount of information
- many behaviours in many situations
- judgements from multiple informants is possible - real world behaviour
- more likely to be relevant to important outcomes - takes context into account
- definitional truth (ex. likability - how much do you like ____?)
- causal force: expectancy effects AKA behavioural confirmation - wanting to confirm their reports by changing their behaviour to match the report…like a self-fulfilling prophecy)
What are the disadvantages of using I-Data?
- limited contexts
- lack of access to private experience
- errors: extreme/unusual behaviour most reported
- bias: due to prejudices
What is L-Data?
Life outcomes
Describe what L-Data is
- obtained from archival records
- the results or residue of personality
What are the advantages of using L-Data?
- objective and verifiable
- intrinsic importance (relevant)
- affected by personality (relevant)h
What are the disadvantages of using L-Data?
multidetermination - could have more than one determining variable (confounding variable)
