Chp 8 - Trait Theories

Question 1

Trait Perspective

Answer 1

Personality Trait:
*A stable dimension of personality
*Quantifiable
*Limited number of personality traits

Question 2

Types vs Traits

Answer 2

Introversion – extroversion as types
-Mutually exclusive

As traits: Is a spectrum
-High introversion to high extraversion
-Like a bell curve

Question 3

Trait as Trait as Internal Cause

Answer 3

Causes of behaviour,
“Personality is something and does something”
(Allport, 1937, p. 48)

Question 4

Trait as Descriptive Summary

Answer 4

Convenient, efficient way to describe a set of behaviours

e.g. “they are extroverted” = “they are talkative, social , outgoing, active, assertive”

Question 5

Gordon Allport

Answer 5

1. Uniqueness of psychologically healthy
   individuals
2. Dispositions/traits

(Research on personality is almost all coming from clinical psychology:

Which meant not all those were healthy, and influenced the way theories were created)

Question 5

Finding Traits: Lexical Analysis
Language: How do we describe each other?

Answer 5

• Allport: did a language analysis, go through dictionary and find words to describe a person
• We describe others using descriptors such as whether the person is friendly, generous, poised, relaxed, outgoing, conscientious
• We create words for things that are important to name

Question 6

Trait Theories: Allport

Answer 6

Emphasized
* Individual differences
*Measurement and description of personality
*Heritable, biological substrate (Some kinds of activity in the brain)
* Experience works on biological substrate;Heredity and environment
* Stability of traits(Due to the genetic makeup does not change in any important way from childhood to adulthood)

Question 7

“Dynamic Organization” of Personality

Answer 7

• All aspects integrated, organized
• Emerges across development
• Active and proactive process

(We choose environments, activities that fit our personalities, we plan and grow

If we reinforce the behaviours, eg extroversion, then the trait will become more stable )

Question 8

Alport: Personality Traits

Answer 8

Common traits:
Shared
- Traits we share because of shared biological and cultural heritage

What makes us the same
Personal dispositions:
Individual
- Unique to the individual
- Responsible for the individual’s behaviour
- The individual’s common traits modified by experience
- What makes us different

Question 9

Alport: Functional Equivalence

Answer 9

Regularities in thought emotion, behaviour emerge because different situation treated as similar

e.g. meeting with co-worker and classmates similar so behave the same

Different stimuli, events, situations functionally equivalent
- evoke similar behaviours

Question 10

Alport: Functionally Autonomous Motives

Answer 10

• Motivation to behave in a particular way changes over time
• Can become independent from original motivation
  e.g. motivation to succeed in school from desire for parental approval,

Over time motivation becomes independent of parental approval

I.e., it becomes functionally autonomous

• The reason why your behaviour is consistent over time, autonomous

Question 11

Raymond Cattell

Answer 11

Personality Traits,
Personality Inventories,
Predicting Behaviour

Question 12

Raymond Cattell’s Definition of Personality

Answer 12

“Personality is that which permits a prediction of what a person will do in a given situation”
(Cattell, 1950, p.2).

Goal is to measure traits to predict behaviour

Question 13

Cattell: Personality Traits

Answer 13

Surface Traits:
*situational
*temporary

Source Traits:
*consistent
*stable
*The underlying elements of personality

Question 14

Finding Personality Factors

Answer 14

• Lexical data (Analysis of language, what words do we have to describe each other and what can be grouped tgt as traits )

Data from
*S-data: Survey (personality inventories)
*O-data: Observational (Behavioural observation)
*L-data: Life (diaries, archives)
Factor analysis

Question 15

16 Personality Factors

Answer 15

• Described as Bipolar Dimensions
• Ask about behaviour in specific situations (e.g.,“Do you enjoy being part of a group?”)
• 3 validity scales (Social Desirability, Acquiescence,
  Infrequency)
• If personality can be described mathematically,
  behaviour can be predicted mathematically.

Question 16

Infrequency

Answer 16

Statements of behaviours that are phrased in a way which sound to be normal, but in reality in extremely rare

Question 17

Acquiescence

Answer 17

Likely to agree with questions

Question 18

Personality Profiles 16PF has been used for:

Answer 18

Olympic Games
Career counseling
Employment
Promotion

Question 19

Hans Eysenck

Answer 19

Trait Theory
Three Personality Traits
Biological Bases of Personality
Eysenck’s Test of Extroversion, Neuroticism, Psychoticism

Question 20

Hans Eysenck: Extroversion

Answer 20

Extroverted vs. Introverted
1.Do you like mixing with people?
2.Do you like plenty of bustle and excitement
around you?

Question 21

Hans Eysenck: Neuroticism

Answer 21

Neurotic vs. Emotional Stability
1.Do you often feel “fed-up”?
2.Does your mood often go up and down?
hose who are high in neuroticism, is less emotionally stable, not mean neurosis

Question 22

Hans Eysenck: Psychoticism

Answer 22

1.Does it worry you if you know that there are
mistakes in your work?
2.Do you like taking risks for fun?

Question 23

Eysenck’s Test of Extroversion, Neuroticism, Psychoticism, what he thought were the most important?

Answer 23

Eysenck argued that Extroversion and Neuroticism most important.

Question 24

Trait Theories: Hans Eysenck

Answer 24

Each dimension is independent, or
orthogonal, to other dimensions
- Scoring high in one aspect does not show relation

Question 25

The Big Five

Answer 25

• Based on lexical data, personality inventories, observer ratings
• Extension of Eysenck

Question 26

What are the 5 factors in Big Five?

Answer 26

Extroversion vs. Introversion
Agreeableness vs. Antagonsim
Emotional Stability vs. Neuroticism
Conscientiousness vs. Undirectedness
Openness vs. Closed

Question 27

The Big 5: Extroversion vs. Introversion

Answer 27

Predicts development of social relationships, leaderships

Question 28

The Big 5: Agreeableness vs. Antagonsim

Answer 28

Based of Eysenck’s psychoticism- self-control

Correlates with prosocial acts, empathy

Question 29

The Big 5: Emotional Stability vs. Neuroticism

Answer 29

From Eysenck

Correlated with health, risk taking, stress coping

Question 30

The Big 5: Conscientiousness vs. Undirectedness

Answer 30

life satifaction, social relationships, health

Question 31

The Big 5: Openness vs. Closed

Answer 31

Correlates with personal growth, creativity, dream recall

Question 32

Heritability Coefficients of the Big 5

Answer 32

• Found that heritability between .4- .6
• Highest for extroversion
• Hard to find above .6
• Clear environmental/experiences factors

Eysenck
- To be meaningful, personality traits must be based on heritable physiological differences
- Would expect consistency across time

Question 33

Stability of the Big Five

Answer 33

• Very stable in adulthood
• Less stable from childhood to adulthood
• But significant correlation for 4 of 5 traits
• Extroversion most stable
• Neuroticism least stable

Cross-linguistic agreement
(espec N, E, A)
Cross-cultural agreement:
- Tend to find agreement in the factors, generally applicable to humans, no specific culture

Question 34

Motive

Answer 34

Motives closely related to traits

Motive= Internal forces that energize, direct and maintain specific patterns of behaviour

*Need for Achievement (n Ach)
*Need for Affiliation (n Aff)
*Need for Power (n Power)
*Need for Exhibition (n Exh)