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PSYC 315 Personality > Chapter 5: Personality Dispositions Over Time (stability/coherence/change) > Flashcards

Chapter 5: Personality Dispositions Over Time (stability/coherence/change) Flashcards

1
Q

what is personality development

A

the continuities, consistencies and stabilities in people over time AND the ways in which people change over time –> stability and change

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2
Q

what are the three most important forms of stability

A
  • rank order stability
  • mean level stability
  • personality coherence
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3
Q

what is rank order stability

A

the maintenance of individual position within a group (e.g. maintaining position of extraversion relative to others over time) –> commonly looked at through test-retest correlations

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4
Q

what is rank order change

A

if people fail to maintain their rank order and there is instability

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5
Q

what is mean level stability

A

if the average level of personality stays the same over time (versus mean level change)

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6
Q

describe the concept of personality coherence

A

manifestations of a given trait might change over time –> e.g. disagreeableness as a child might manifest as tantrums, while in adulthood it manifests as short temper

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7
Q

what are the two defining qualities of personality change

A

change is internal to the person and changes are relatively enduring over time

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8
Q

what are the three levels of analysis for looking at personality stability

A
  • population as a hole
  • group differences within the population
  • individual differences within groups
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9
Q

what is a popular theory that looks a personality on the population level

A

Freud’s psychosexual theories –> thought to apply to EVERYONE equally (changes and consequences are all the same)

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10
Q

describe the group differences level of personality

A

some changes over time affect different group of people differently (e.g. depending on sex, cultural/ethnic differences) –> e.g. European Canadians are higher in externalizing behaviours and thus at greater risk of developing ADHD (compared to Asian Canadians)

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11
Q

what is temperament

A

the individual differences that emerge in infancy, are likely to have a heritable basis, and are often involved with emotionality or arousibility

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12
Q

describe Rothbart’s six factors of temperament

A
  • activity level
  • smiling and laughter
  • fear (approach/avoidance)
  • distress to limitations
  • soothability
  • duration of orienting

–> high correlations over time (stable), especially towards the end of infancy (9-12 months)

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13
Q

what are some limitations of the studies showing stability in temperament across infancy

A

caregivers may have developed certain conceptions of their infants (might not actually be behaviours staying consistent)

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14
Q

what four important points are outlined by studies showing consistency in temperament across infancy

A
  • stable individual differences emerge early in life
  • for most temperament variables there are moderate levels of stability over the first year of life
  • stability of temperament tends to be higher over short intervals of time than over long intervals of time
  • level of stability of temperament tends to increase as infants mature
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15
Q

what is an actometer

A
  • recording device attached to the wrists of children during play period –> records motoric movement
  • these remain stable in childhood (between age 3 and 4)
  • high validity coefficients between the actometer and questionnaire measures
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16
Q

what are stability coefficients

A

correlations between the same measures obtained at two different points in time (also called test-retest reliability coefficients) –> the further apart measures are taken, the lower the stability coefficient

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17
Q

what are validity coefficients

A

correlations between different measures of the same trait obtained at the same time

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18
Q

describe the stability of aggression across development

A
  • individual differences in aggression emerge very early in life
  • individuals retain their rank order stability on aggression to a substantial degree over the years
  • similar trends with other personality traits –> children high in a particular trait remain high on it over time
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19
Q

describe the stability in status as a bully and victim in childhood

A

majority of children receive the same classification (of a bully, victim, or neither) a year later at a different school –> people classified as bullies are more likely to become juvenile delinquents in adolescence and criminals in adulthood

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20
Q

what traits do bullies tend to score more highly on

A
  • extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism (on the Eysenck scale)
  • more outgoing/gregarious, emotionally volatile/anxious, impulsive and lacking in empathy
  • linked to conflicts at home
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21
Q

how stable are personality traits in adulthood (rank order stability)

A
  • most big 5 traits show moderate to high levels of stability in adulthood –> self-reported, spouse ratings, peer ratings, etc., shown across different populations and investigators
  • other traits (self-esteem, self-confidence, interpersonal empathy) also seen very consistent over time
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22
Q

what 2 results were found in Roberts & DelVecchaio’s study on when personality trait consistency peaks (rank order stability)

A
  • personality consistency tends to increase with age (.47 in adolescence, .57 in 20s, .62 in 30s)
  • peaks during the fifties (.75)!
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23
Q

how stable are personality traits in adulthood (mean level stability)

A
  • big 5 shows mean level stability over time
  • after age 50, there is little change in average stability in the big 5
  • there are some small but consistent changes in traits
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24
Q

in terms of mean level stability, which personality traits change consistently (in small amounts)

A
  • openness, extraversion and neuroticism gradually declines with increasing age until age 50
  • conscientiousness and agreeableness show a gradual increase until age 50
  • changes are usually in a positive direction (e.g. becoming more emotionally stage when entering midlife, especially between ages 22 and 40)
  • all of these reflect growth in the direction of maturity
25
Q

in whom does personality change more

A

perceptions of personality change (recognition that change has occurred) has a moderate association with actual personality change

26
Q

what facets of conscientiousness appear to increase most with age

A

industriousness (working hard), impulse control, and reliability

27
Q

what is the maturity principle

A

small (but consistent) changes in mean levels of personality traits in improved directions (e.g. decreased impulsivity, neuroticism, etc.)

28
Q

describe how the big 5 personality dispositions may be changeable through therapy

A

outpatient drug rehabilitation program appeared to decrease neuroticism, increase agreeableness and conscientiousness –> these changes were largely maintained 15 months later

29
Q

what did results from the victoria longitudinal study show

A
  • observed evidence of personality change in old age
  • overall structure remained stable over time, but there were significant individual differences in all factors from T1 to T2
  • increases in Neuroticism, decreases in extraversion
  • women showed decreases in neuroticism and increases in agreeableness & openness
  • note the potential influence of critical life events
30
Q

what is the reason behind a relatively lacking knowledge about change in personality

A

“inconsistency” “instability”, etc. seem undesirable and unpredictable –> absence of change is typically seen as positive

31
Q

what is self-esteem

A

the extent to which one perceives oneself as relatively close to being the person one wants to be and/or as relatively distance from being the kind of person one does not want to be

32
Q

how is self esteem measured

A

overall difference between a current self-description and an ideal self-description –> smaller discrepancy = higher self-esteem

33
Q

describe the stability/change in self-esteem from adolescence to adulthood

A
  • for sample overall there was no change
  • men’s self-esteem tended to increase, while women’s tended to decrease
34
Q

what are declines in self-esteem associated with

A

elevated levels of cortisol (stress hormone) –> improving self-esteem might improve health outcomes for seniors

35
Q

what is self-esteem variability

A

magnitude of short-term changes in ongoing self-esteem –> measured by having people keep records of how they feel about themselves every day

36
Q

describe the interaction between level and variability of self-esteem

A
  • level and variability are unrelated but interact to predict life outcomes
  • variability indicates fragility –> person is vulnerable to stress, influenced by events
  • self-esteem level is related to depression, especially in those with high variability –> variability is more of a predictor than overall level
37
Q

describe highly variable self-esteem

A

sensitivity to one’s sense of self-worth –. dependent for their self-worth on the approval of others, sensitive to social feedback, judge themselves through the eyes of others

38
Q

what four things are observable in people with highly variable self-esteem

A
  • enhanced sensitivity to evaluative events
  • increased concern about self-concept
  • over-reliance on social sources for self-evaluation
  • reactions of anger/hostility when things don’t go their way
39
Q

describe changes in overall levels of ambition, autonomy, achievement and dominance in men

A
  • steep declines in ambition during 20s –> steepest for those with postsecondary education (although they started out with more ambition)
  • become more realistic about their limited possibilities for promotion in the company
  • scores on autonomy, leadership motivation, achievement and dominance increased over time
40
Q

describe the four subscales of the sensation-seeking scale (SSS)

A
  • thrill and adventure seeking
  • experience seeking
  • disinhibition
  • boredom susceptibility
41
Q

describe changes in sensation seeking over time

A

increases from childhood to adolescence (peaks at 18-20) and then falls continuously with age

42
Q

what is the difference between impulsivity and sensation-seeking

A
  • impulsivity –> tendency to act on behavioural impulses without planning or considering consequences
  • sensation-seeking –> seek out experiences that are novel, exciting or rewarding
  • both decline from adolescence to adulthood, but decline in impulsivity is steeper and begins earlier, and sensation seeking is pretty low early in adolescence (while impulsivity is high)
43
Q

describe changes in openness/creativity over time

A
  • most show a slight decrease at the mean level with age, but experiences might change this
  • interventions aimed to improve cognitive reasoning shown to increase openness to experience
  • psilocybin (magic mushrooms) increases openness, especially those who had a spiritual experience while on them
  • mindfulness-based meditation might increase openness
44
Q

what are cohort effects

A
  • social times in which people lived –> might influence apparent changes in personality
  • e.g. changes in women’s status have increased/decreased levels of assertiveness depending on the time period
  • e.g. increases in narcissism in young adults
45
Q

how do sociocultural factors shape narcissism

A
  • individualistic vs collectivistic cultures
  • narcissism higher in people who grew up in individualistic cultures
46
Q

describe what has been found on volitional (intentional) personality change

A
  • students who set goals to increase a Big 5 trait tended to experience actual increases in that trait
  • shown on self-report and daily behaviours associated with the trait in question
47
Q

what is personality coherence

A

predictable changes in the manifestations or outcomes of personality factors over time (even if underlying characteristics remain stable)

48
Q

what are the three aspects of personality that seem to be strong predictors of marital dissatisfaction

A
  • neuroticism of the husband
  • lack of impulse control of the husband (linked to extramarital relations)
  • neuroticism of the wife

–> neuroticism is strongest predictor

49
Q

describe how neuroticism influences responses to the death of a spouse

A
  • best predictor of coping well with the death of a spouse is emotional stability
  • less grievance, less depression, quickest psychological recovery
50
Q

describe the relationship between personality characteristics and alcoholism

A
  • high on neuroticism = development of serious emotional problems or alcoholism
  • low impulse control = same outcomes
  • high on sensation seeking and impulsivity, low on agreeableness and conscientiousness –> also linked to substance use more generally
51
Q

describe the relationship between religiosity and personality

A
  • high on conscientiousness & agreeableness in adolescence = more religious later in life
  • openness in adolescence = spirituality later in life
52
Q

describe the role of impulsivity in education and academic achievement

A
  • more impulsive = less education/academic performance
  • less impulsive = more involvement with work, higher occupational attainment, better financial security
53
Q

describe the role of conscientiousness and achievement in school/work

A
  • high conscientiousness = successful academic performance
  • some influence of emotional stability, agreeableness and openness

–> these outcomes also have a relationship on traits (lower anxiousness, more self-confidence)

54
Q

what are the most important traits conducive to living a long life

A
  • high conscientiousness
  • positive emotionality (extraversion)
  • low levels of hostility
  • low levels of neuroticism
55
Q

why do people high in conscientiousness live longer

A
  • engage in more health-promoting practices (good diet, exercise)
  • refrain from engaging in drug use
  • follow doctor orders and adhere to treatment plans
  • less risk-taking/impulsive
56
Q

why do people in in extraversion live longer

A

have lots of friends –> good social support network

57
Q

why do people low in neuroticism live longer

A
  • low hostility puts less stress on the heart/cardiovascular system
  • better health behaviours (less smoking, etc.)
58
Q

describe the outcomes of children with temper tantrums

A
  • severe and frequent tantrums in boys associated with lower levels of education later in life, and lower status of first job, more frequent job changes
  • explosive temper tantrums = lower military rank, higher rates of divorce
59
Q

describe the results on whether choice in marriage partner results in personality stability/change

A
  • similarity between spouses supports personality stability
  • dissimilarity = personality instability

PSYC 315 Personality (16 decks)

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