Chapter 8 Flashcards
Raymond Cattell: Life
1905-1998
Born in England
Parents: High standards, permissive
Happy childhood
Psychology difficult in England
Moved to US – high productivity
Raymond Cattell’s Approach to Traits
Traits
Reaction tendencies, relatively permanent
Temperament Traits
Temperament Traits:
Behavioral style in response to environment
Cattell’s Approach to Traits (3)
Source Traits Stable, permanent Constitutional Traits Source traits dependent on physiology. Environmental-mold Traits Source traits learned from social/ environmental interactions.
Cattell: Source Traits
Cattell identified 16 source traits
Used in 16 Personality Factor (16 PF) Questionnaire
Presented in bipolar form (two ends of continuum)
Cattell: Influences of Heredity and Environment
Interest in relative influences
Similarities in twins reared apart to estimate extent of genetic and environmental influence of traits
Intelligence & timidity highly heritable
Cattel: Stages of Personality Development–Infancy to Adolescence
Stage: Infancy
Age: Birth-6
Development: weaning; toilet training; ego; superego; attitudes
Stage: Childhood
Age: 6-14
Development: independence from parents; identification with peers
Stage: Adolescence
Development: 14-23
Development: sex, independence
Cattell: Stages of Personality Development–Maturity-Old Age
Stage: Maturity
Age: 23-50
Development: career, marriage, family
Stage:Late Maturity
Age: 50-65
Development: response to change
Stage: Old Age
Age: 65+
Development: Loss of friends, career, status
Cattell: Questions about Human Nature
- more toward determinism
- nature and nurture focus
- past and present experiences
- uniqueness and universality emphasized
- optimistic
Assessment in Cattell’s Theory
L-Data:
-life record ratings of behaviours observed in real-life situations
Q-Data:
-self-report questionnaire data
T-data:
- data derived from personality tests resistant to faking
- 16PF test
Reflections on Cattell’s Theory
Contributions
- widely respected, seldom read
- more popular in europe
- trait approach continutes to fascinate
Criticims:
- subjectivity in Factor-analytic approach
- difficult to replicate
- complexity–lack of acceptance
- defended apprach as the only one
Behavioural Genetics
- stufy of relationship between genetic or heredity factors and personality traits
- Allport and Cattell among first to suggest role of inherited factors in personality
Life of Hans Eysenck
1916-1997
Born in Germany
- Immigrated to england from germany when Hitler came to power in 1934
- not academically qulaified for physics; psychology a fall-back
- long, productive career
Eysenck: Dimensions of Personality
Superfactors:
- combinations of traits or factors
- stable from child to adult
Dimensions
- extraversion vs. introvesion
- neuroticism vs. emotional stability
- Psychoticism vs. Impulse Control
Eysenck: Extraversion
-sociable, impulsive, adventurous, dominant, assertive
Eysenck: Cortical arousal
Extraverts: Lower base level, seek excitement
Introverts: Higher base level
avoid excitement
**mixed research results; some genetic basis
Eysenck: Neuroticism
anxious, depressed, tense, irrational, moody
Sympathetic Nervous System:
- tends to be overreactive
- largely inherited
- research suggests neurotics work better under stress
Eysenck: Psychoticism
aggressive, antisocial, tough-minded, cold, egocentric
parents:
- authoritarian and controlling parents
- mixed gender findings, some support criminality
Eysenck: Primary role of Heredity
- compared identical (monozygotic) to fraternal (dizygotic) twins
- identical twins more similar
- adoption studies show more similarity with biological parents
Costa and McCrae: Five-Factor Model
research revealed five factors:
- Neuroticism
- Extraversion
- openness
- agreeableness
- conscientiousness
- Self-observer ratings, objective tests
- -NEO Personality Inventory
-All but agreeableness show heritability
Cross-Cultural Consistency and Stability
- Five factors in eastern and western cultures
- differences by culture
stability:
- childhood to adulthood
- early to mid-adulthood
Decreases in neuroticism
- adolescence to adulthood
- 40s to 60s
Emotional Correlates
Well-being: High extraversion low neuroticism high aggreeableness high conscientiousness
extraversion:
social support
positive emotions
neuroticism:
negative outcomes
Behavioural Correlates
Conscuentiousness:
- better grades an work
- increased health
Aggreeableness
-fewer behaviour problems
General:
- high predictive value of traits
- some controversy about number of factors
Ashton and Lee: HEXACO Six-Factor Model
Honesty-Humility
-sincere, honest, faithful
Emotionality:
-emotional, oversensitive, faithful, anxious
Extraversion:
-outgoing, lively, sociable, cheerful
Agreeableness:
-tolerant, peaceful, gentle, agreeable
Conscientiousness:
-disciplined, diligent, thorough, precise
Openness to Experience
-creative, innovative, unconvential
Personality Traits and Internet
Neuroticism:
- internet addiction
- post more photos on facebook
- women more likely to blog
Extraversion:
-use social media sites more
Psychoticism:
-substitute internet for face to face realtionships
Conscientiousness:
-more facebook friends
Reflections on Behaviour and Personality
- behavioral genetics findings may require research restructuring
- caution to avoid rushing to extreme views
Personality
-genetics and environment
common traits
Common Traits: possessed by all
unique traits
Unique Traits: possessed by few.
ability traits
Ability Traits: skills & work toward goals
Dynamic traits
Dynamic Traits:
Describe motivations and interests
surface traits
Surface Traits:
Correlated traits without common factor/source
