Evaluation: Addictive Personality Traits

Question 1

Research into the relationship between addictio and personality is mainly (blank).
(difficulty establishing cause and effect)

Answer 1

• Correlational.

Question 2

Why isn’t it possible to establish a cause and effect relationship between addiction and personality?
(difficulty establishing cause and effect)

Answer 2

• Personality tests usually given once addiction had already been developed.
• Could be that addiction has made the person more stressed and not the other way round.

Question 3

Prospective studies have provided support for the idea of an addictive personalty causing addictive behaviour. Describe Guangheng Dong et al’s 2013 research and its findings.

Answer 3

• Study on Chinese uni students.
• EPQ after entering uni.
• Internet addiction assessed 2 years later.
• Higher N + P scores.
• Prospective design = cause rather than effect.

Question 4

What did Ruth McNamara et al (2010) find regarding rats and impulsivity when administering cocaine and heroin?
(role of personality depends on the addictive behaviour)

Answer 4

• More likely to self-administer cocaine but not heroin.

Question 5

Paul Rozin and Caryn Stoess (1993) looked at individuals’ tendency to become addicted to a range of different activities. What did they find?
(role of personality depends on the addictive behaviour)

Answer 5

• There wasn’t a common pattern which suggests the type of personality involved might depend on the specific addictive behaviour being investigated.

Question 6

Why is it difficult to reach a definitive conclusion about what is meant by an addictive personality?
(the myth of the addictive personality)

Answer 6

• Numerous traits have been linked to an addictive personality, and many traits are not unique to addiction; Eysenck also found high N + P scores in criminals.

Question 7

Why did John Kerr (1996) refer to the idea of an addictive personality as one of the ‘myths of addiction’?

Answer 7

• There are so many traits listed that these would be typical of most individuals to some degree.
• Too simple to refer to addictive personality as a simple set of traits making someone prone to addiction - picture may in reality be more complex.