Exam 1 Flashcards
Psychological traits
= characteristics that describe ways in which people are similar or different from each other
§ Ex: thoughtful, risk-taking, shy
Personality
the set of psychological traits and mechanisms that influence a person’s adaptations to their environment
□ Adaptations are the solutions to those challenges (ex: gaining social standing, finding a romantic partner)
Mechanisms
= Processes of personality
input+ decision rules= output
® Inputs
◊ Ex: Invitation to a party
® Decision rules
◊ What is considered
◊ Ex: If highly extraverted, then attend the party
◊ Ex: f not extroverted, then stay home
® Outputs
◊ The response
◊ Ex: Extroverted= attend party
◊ Ex: Introverted= stay home
Why do psychological traits matter?
Helps compare & contrast what makes us human
How psychological traits explain differences between people?
The Personality mechanisms in output behavior differ depending on the traits of each person
What are the levels at which personality is analyzed?
§ Human nature
□ Ex: Natural feeling of needing to belong, capacity for love
§ Individual and group differences
□ Ex: Variation in need to belong, men mjore physically aggressive than women
§ Uniqueness
□ Ex: unique way of expressing love
What are the six domains in which personality theories help categorize traits?
§ Dispositional
□ How do people differ?
§ Biological
□ How do genetics, physiology, evolution impact personality?
§ Intrapsychic
□ What are the mental mechanisms of personality?
§ Cognitive-Experiential
□ How do subjective thoughts and experiences affect personality?
§ Social and Cultural
□ How does the social and cultural context affect personality?
§ Adjustment
□ How does personality affect the way we adjust to life events?
What are the different approaches for organizing personality traits?
-Lexical approach
-Theoretical approach
-Statistical approach
Lexical approach
= important personality traits have become encoded with the language
§ Hypothesis 1: important traits will have a lot of synonyms (ex: A lot of words to understand dominance; slightly different but mean one thing) □ Suggests that different shades of dominance are important in social communication § Hypothesis 2: important traits will be found in most or all languages around the world □ If a trait is sufficiently important in all cultures that its members have codified terms to describe the trait, then the trait must be universally important in human affairs □ In contrast, if a trait term exists in only one or a few languages, then it may be of only local or limited relevance (unlikely for universal taxonomy of personality traits) □ Ex: "Unokai"= a man who has achieved manhood by the killing of another man
Theoretical approach
= important personality traits can be predicted or derived using theory; most important personality traits are derived through logic, theories, and assumption
§ Identifying important dimensions of individual differences starts with a theory that determines which variables are important
§ Theory of sociosexual orientation proposes an individual difference in the realm of dating and relationship commitment restricted
§ Scale of restriction or unrestriction
§ If good theory, then this is a powerful approach
§ If weak theory, approach also weaker
Statistical approach
= important personality traits can be derived using statistical analysis on a set of responses; factor analysis to distill patterns within traits
§ Attempts to identifying the major clusters of personality traits by seeing which items tend to go together
§ Factor analysis tells you which traits tend to go with each other
ex: certain offices are closer to one another as they are more related; psych + socio + physicists
What are the Big Five (OCEAN)?
-Openness to Experience
-Conscientiousness
-Extraversion
-Agreeableness
-Neuroticism
Big Five: Openness to Experience
(linked to, possible cause, often more)
Linked to:
® Experimentation with new foods
® A liking for novel experiences
® Even “openness” to extramarital affairs”
Possible cause:
® Individual differences in the processing of information
◊ Difficulty ignoring previously experienced stimuli
◊ Information processing “gates” are literally more “open” to receiving information
(Perceive more things than the average person; Interesting)
Often more:
® Creative
® Less prejudiced toward minority groups
® Tattoos and body piercings
® Tend to be more politically liberal
® Excel in the arts
Big Five: Conscientiousness (high vs low)
High conscientiousness:
® Hardworking, punctual, reliable
® High GPA, job satisfaction
® Delay gratification, save money
(ex: Don’t go out drinking on a night before a test
® Don’t procrastinate
® Tend to be perfectionists
◊ Hard for them to do things sometime because if can’t be perfect, can’t do anything at all
® Industrious
® Stick with good plans for exercise
® Less likely to gain weight with age
◊ Ex: discipline to go to the gym
Low conscientiousness:
® Risky sexual behaviors
® More responsive to other potential partners when already in a relationship
Big Five: Extraversion (high side & downside of it)
□ The most famous example of personality differences
□ It is a spectrum
High extroversion
® Like to be social
® “The more, the merrier”
® Leadership roles
® Extraverted men: bold with women they don’t know
® Happier
◊ Bigger social network/social ties
® Cooperative
◊ Comfortable in social situations
Downsides
® Take more risks
◊ Ex: reckless driving
® Less likely to save for retirement
® Didn’t cope as well as introverts, on average, during pandemic lockdowns
® attention seeking
® importance on social standing
® social battery affecting energy levels
® struggle to cope with
Big Five: Agreeableness (high side)
High in agreeableness
® Uses negotiation (rather than force) to resolve conflict
® Likely to withdraw from social conflict
® Prefers social harmony
® Prosocial, empathetic
® Score highly on empathy
Big Five: Neuroticism
emotional stability
□ Taps into how people deal with life stressors
People high in openness are.. + example
(Creative, imaginative, intellectual); ex: Leonardo de Vinci
People low in openness are… + example
(Close-minded & Routine-oriented); ex: Sheldon from Big Bang Theory
People high in conscientiousness are… + example
Responsible, Organized, Prompt
ex: Hermine Granger from Harry potter
People low in conscientiousness are… + example
Sloppy, Careless, Disorganized
Ex: ?
People high in extraversion are… + example
Assertive, Sociable, Outgoing
ex: Tony Stark, Kevin Hart, Jack Black
People low in extraversion are… + example
Introverted, Quiet, Shy
ex: Scrooge, Squidward
People high in agreeableness are … + example
Kind, Understanding, Sincere
ex: Spongebob
People low in agreeableness are … + example
Mean, Harsh
ex: Dr.House from the doctor show
People High neuroticism are… + sometimes helpful in…
Moody, Anxious, Insecure
® more likely to get knocked off course by everyday stressers
® More fatigue throughout the day
® Feel disconnected from life or other people
® Feel like they have woken up in a strange or unfamiliar place
® Substance abuse problems
® More frequent thoughts of suicide
Sometime helpful:
® More aware of threats in the environment
® May be motivated to work hard at tasks to avoid feelings of anxiety
People Low neuroticism are…
Calm, Relaxed, Stable
-Like boats that remain on course through choppy waters
Myers- Briggs Model
§ Different categories for people
§ Popular but scientist don’t love it
1-Lacks predictive validity
® Not good at actually predicting real life outcomes
(ex: Can’t predict educational attainment, relationship compatibility)
2-Treats personality as categorical, but personality is a spectrum
(ex: Height vs Religion; Height is dimensional while Religion is categorical
® People are complex
3-Poor reliability
® Person’s score can be very different if they take it more than once
§ Makes everything sound good
□ Sound reasonable and not all that bad
□ Want test to be taken and to become popular; financial motive
§ Seem accurate
□ Barnum statements: phrased vaguely and not specifically
□ Easily applicable to a large quantity of people
HEXACO Model
§ Development began with the lexical approach
□ Used large pools of trait adjectives in different languages
□ Cross-cultural endeavor
§ Found a sixth factor: Honesty-Humility
□ High end> honest, sincere, trustworthy, unselfish
□ Low end> arrogant, conceited, greedy, egotistical
□ Similar to the mentioned subcategories:
§ Emotionality, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Openness to Experience
How are personality traits grouped?
Hans Eysenck believed a personality taxonomy are inheritable and have a biological basis
Ex: More irritable because different levels of hormones
○ Hans Eysenck Taxonomy (PEN)
Hans Eysenck Taxonomy (PEN)
§ Psychoticism
□ Aggressive, egocentric, creative, impulsive, lacking empathy, antisocial
§ Extraversion
□ Sensation-seeking, assertive, carefree, sociable, active
§ Neuroticism
□ Irrational, shy, moody, tense, anxious
Vertical orientation of PEN
-Hierarchical (highest to lowest level)
□ Super-trait
® Ex: Extraversion
□ Narrow traits
® Ex: Sociable
□ Habitual acts
® Ex: I am a party-goer
□ Specific acts
® Ex: I danced wildly at a party
What does factor analysis tell us about personality?
○ Factor analysis tells you which traits tend to go with each other, finding common underlying factors
○ Ex: certain offices are closer to one another as they are more related; psych + socio + physicists
Evolutionary psychology
= using the theory of evolution by natural selection to understand human psychology
§ Charles Darwin traveled to islands and identified different types of birds, after analysis noticed majority similarity; discovered process of natural selection (different islands => different requirements of survival => different characteristics for food)
□ Speciation
§ Came from a long and unbroken chain of ancestors who accomplished surviving until reproductive age and reproducing
Evolution by Natural selection
§ Initial genes -> Identical gene (no advantage) -> Randomly created mutant gene (ex: longer neck)for greater access to food & more offspring -> More common in the population
§ Gradual
□ Over many generations (very long relative to our lifespans
§ What is advantageous for the environment
Adaptations
=physiological and psychological mechanisms designed to serve specific functions
§ Solve specific adaptive problems
ex: Giraffes long neck development for reaching food
Generated by evolution
-Adaptive problem: falling off cliffs is dangerous and can happen accidentally
-Adaptive solution: experience fear and anxiety in response to steep drop-offs
Kendrick’s Renovated Pyramid of Needs
-Based off of Maslow’s hierarchy (7)
(Break down of a person’s motivational needs; lowest to highest)
§ Immediate physiological needs
§ Self protection- protecting self from threats
□ Individual differences in prejudice
§ Affiliation- forming cooperative relationships
□ Individual differences in tendency to trust others
§ Status/Esteem- gaining high prestige in your group
□ Individual differences in achievement motivation
§ Mate-acquisition- finding & attracting mates
□ Individual differences in attitudes toward sex
§ Mate retention- keeping mates from cheating on you
□ Individual differences in jealousy
§ Parenting- making sure to invest in your children, so that they flourish and reproduce
□ Individual differences in nurturing behavior
§ Ex: Kin recognition, Jealousy, Envy
Fitness
= an organism’s ability to out-reproduce its peers
§ Increased by adaptations
§ Doesn’t mean strongest
§ Most well-adapted to their environment
§ Producing offspring that reproduce
§ Has many ingredients, diverse array
§ Selection pressure
Selection pressure
= any aspect of the environment that influences whether a particular trait is selected
Proximate explanations
= how the behavior arises; immediate explanations for a trait/behavior
Ultimate explanations
= the functional, evolutionary history of the adaptation; functional explanations for a trait/behavior
Levels of explanation include
-Proximate explanations
-Ultimate explanations
Incest avoidance proximate and ultimate levels of explanation
Proximate explanations:
® Strong disgust reactions
® Against the law in most countries
® Strong social taboos; shunned
-ex: cognition, physiology, aspects of the situation;
-ex: Socialized to be aggressive, more testosterone, more violent thoughts & behaviors
Ultimate explanations:
® Harmful for the individuals reproductive success
® Increases likelihood of harmful recessive mutations in offspring
-ex: adaptive problems, design features
-ex: aggressive men won more intrasexual contests, thus greater access to mates
In-group and out-group psychology involves…
Evolutionary context and Modern mismatch
-Mismatches between current & ancestral environments
Evolutionary context
= humans evolved in small, close-knit groups where cooperation within the group and wariness of outsiders helped protect resources and maintain group cohesion.
§ Fear and anxiety evolved to help humans avoid immediate physical dangers, like predators, natural disasters, or hostile groups.
Modern Mismatch
= today, in an interconnected world, extreme in-group favoritism and out-group suspicion can manifest as xenophobia, prejudice, or difficulty in forming diverse social or professional networks, which are often essential for success in a globalized society.
§ In today’s world, where physical threats are less frequent but chronic stressors (e.g., work pressure, financial concerns) are common, the same fear and anxiety mechanisms can become maladaptive, contributing to generalized anxiety disorders, chronic stress, and other mental health issues.
Napoleon context
= idea that short men compensate for their short stature
-Adler inferiority complex theory
□ Short men competing in ways that pose relatively less risk to make up for their disadvantage in height
□ Short men act more aggressively toward other men when they can do so in an indirect way
□ Think as a mismatch in personality, although important to compete for resources it is not as important today; survival not important on compacity to gather resources; hold over of ancestral past
Adler inferiority complex theory
= If feel inferior in one way, overcompensate in another way
What are the Misunderstandings in Evolutionary Psychology (11)
1-Evolution creates biology, not psychology
2-Evolutionary Psych= genetic determinism
3-The naturalistic fallacy: natural = good
4-People are evolved from chimpanzees
5-Evolution is about survival of the species
6-Evolution always produces behavior that are good for the individual
7-Survival of the fittest refers to the biggest and strongest
8-Evolution is intentional
9-People always have the conscious goal of reproducing
10-People are the “end-product” of evolution
11-Evolutionary psychology replaces other perspectives in psychology
Misunderstandings in Evolutionary Psychology: Evolution creates biology, not psychology
§ False dichotomy
§ Evolution creates the hardware and the software
Misunderstandings in Evolutionary Psychology: Evolutionary Psych= genetic determinism
§ Resolving the nature vs. nurture
□ Not blank slate (behaviorism) or genetic determinism
§ Everyone has a different character and lived experience
Misunderstandings in Evolutionary Psychology: The naturalistic fallacy (natural = good)
§ Just because something is natural, doesn’t mean it’s right
□ “Is” vs “ought”
□ Many behaviors are natural but nevertheless morally reprehensible
□ ex: murder (ancestors- eliminate the competition for mating purposes)
§ Being evolved does not mean something is unchangeable
□ To fight such behaviors, we need to understand them
Misunderstandings in Evolutionary Psychology: People are evolved from chimpanzees
§ Obviously not true (ex: gold retrievers from huskies)
§ Humans and other contemporary primates evolved from a common anccestor
§ Common ancestors faced same types of selection pressures as other primates
□ Adaptations that address these selection pressures are likely shared by our close primate relatives
Misunderstandings in Evolutionary Psychology: Evolution is about survival of the species
§ It’s about survival of the individual
§ Ultimately about reproduction of one’s genes
Misunderstandings in Evolutionary Psychology: Evolution always produces behavior that are good for the individual
§ Sometimes what’s good for the genes is bad for the individual
§ ex: sexual cannibalism with spiders
□ Evolutionary adaptive for the species
□ Smaller male offers self as nutrition to the female after copulation
Misunderstandings in Evolutionary Psychology: Survival of the fittest refers to the biggest and strongest
§ If hunters showed up killing the biggest and the strongest, they are longer it
§ Fitness refers to an organism’s capacity for reproductive success
Misunderstandings in Evolutionary Psychology: Evolution is intentional
§ Random mutations occur by chance (selection doesn’t)
§ Evolution is like a tinkerer, it works with what is has to change the design
ex: different eye structure mutations due to different environments
Misunderstandings in Evolutionary Psychology: People always have the conscious goal of reproducing
§ People often just have the goal of having sex; feels good
§ Reproductive physiology takes care of the rest
Misunderstandings in Evolutionary Psychology: People are the “end-product” of evolution
§ Organisms evolve to face selection pressures
§ As pressures change so does evolution of the organism
□ People are still evolving
□ Ex: Lactose tolerance
§ Other species are highly evolved with respect to their selection pressures
□ Ex: Cochoroaches fit for their environment
Misunderstandings in Evolutionary Psychology: Evolutionary psychology replaces other perspectives in psychology
§ Evolutionary psychology incorporates both ultimate explanations and proximate explanations
□ Most other fields in psychology (and social sciences) concentrate exclusively on proximate explanations
§ Complements other perspective
ex: Incest
□ Taboo, against law, disgusting
□ People often have severe genetic defects
Preparedness theory
= organisms are biologically prepared to learn certain things very efficiently
Epigenetics
= when developmental experiences turn certain genes on or off
Why do men and women sometimes behave differently in partner selection?
○ Women’s reproduction is limited to how many eggs they can produce
§ In humans and many other species, fertilized eggs must then be gestated for months
§ Men’s reproduction is limited only by how many females they can fertilize
§ Different adaptive problems leading to different adaptive solutions
○ Women must invest more time and energy in mating
§ Optimal strategy is to be choosy
○ Men compete with each other for mating access
What are the different adaptive problems faced by women vs men
§ Women:
□ Childbirth
□ Child support
§ Men:
□ Paternity uncertainty
Why do men and women sometimes behave differently in aggression?
○ Most violent acts are committed by males
○ Compete for reproductive activities; passing on genes
□ Ex: If women prefer aggressive men, sexual pressure for men to be aggressive
○ Intrasexual competition
§ Males compete for mating privileges
○ Greater difference in the reproductive variability in one sex = more competition within that sex
○ This theory partially explains physical traits and behaviors
○ Traits that provide mating benefits are passed on
○ Strength, intelligence, attractiveness, aggression
○ Ex: strength- females choose males who will be able to protect their offspring
○ For males, aggression was on average a successful intrasexual competition strategy
Sexual selection
= process for which men or women differential reproduce based off how fit they are in the eyes of the opposite sex
Attachment anxiety (definition + female/male difference)
= feeling that someone you trust or care about; feeling that they don’t want to be as close with you as you are or want with them; fear of abandonment and feel they don’t love or like you
○ Higher in women
○ Women invested more heavily in offspring than men
○ Maintaining supportive relationships VERY important
○ Friendship patterns as well as romantic relationships
Individual differences
□ Challenging to study from an evolutionary perspective
□ Compared to sex differences
□ Less of a conceptual and empirical foundation
□ The adaptiveness of me having one trait is contingent on me having (or not having) another trait.
□ Aggressiveness is a better strategy if you are also strong, for example.
What are the several sources of Individual differences?
□ Universal adaptations expressed selectively as a consequence of different environments
□ Contingencies with other traits
□ Frequency-dependent selection
Frequency-dependent selection
◊ Trait success varies with population frequency
◊ Common traits may decrease in advantage
◊ Rare traits can offer competitive benefits
◊ Balances alternative strategies within populations
◊ Ex: Women’s mating strategies
□ On average, women lean more towards long term mating
□ Secure resources and commitment
□ But imagine if all pursue long term, and now one is short terms
□ Offering something no one else is offering, advantage
□ As more choose short term, advantage goes down
Individual differences source: Universal adaptations expressed selectively as a consequence of different environments
◊ An adaptation that does occur but not the same for everyone
◊ From universal adaptation to behave a certain way based on certain experiences
◊ Environment
} Individual differences= human nature + environment differences
} ex: May be more jealous if a lot of attractive people around your partner
} Sexual strategies theory
◊ Can come from:
□ Environmental differences
◊ Ex: More independent if you had very distant parents
□ Contingencies among traits
◊ Ex: If small and weak, not adaptive for me to have a strong temper
Human nature
= the primary product of the evolutionary process
□ Ex: sweating to regulate body temperature
Sexual Strategies theory
= pattern of behavior as a consequence of father’s parental investment in the child
– Expectation that resources aren’t reliable and relationships aren’t lasting
– Results in short-term mating strategy and relationships
– Sexually active earlier and have more short-term partners
– Average
Individual differences source: Contingencies with other traits
◊ Ex: difference in personality according to height
◊ How will you get resources & social status
□ If you’re intelligent and likeable:
□ Cooperation with others may work well
□ If not:
□ An aggressive strategy may work better
◊ How will you find a mate?
□ If you’re young and attractive: might pursue a lot of sexual partners
□ If not: might look for just one
How might the need to belong evolved to solve specific problems related to survival and social interaction?
§ We are a social species
□ Adaptive problems
® Food
® Protection
® Mates
□ Important to be a part of the group (avoid being ostracized)
§ Social anxiety
§ Species-typical adaptation that prevents exclusion
§ Ex: Study on WW2 veterans
□ Closest social bonds were their fellow veterans
§ Physical pain and social exclusion affect similar brain regions
How might pride evolved to solve specific problems related to survival and social interaction?
§ Think of adaptations
§ Emotions are like little guides that point you toward goals that would have been useful in ancestral times
§ ex: pride > puff out chest > seem to have something others should pay attention to
§ Only makes sense if emotions are universally recognized the same way
□ Certain emotions are
□ Fear, surprise, anger, happiness, sadness, contempt, disgust
□ Also nonverbally
(Same between sighted versus blind)
How might disgust evolved to solve specific problems related to survival and social interaction?
= an emotion that involves feelings of revulsion and sometimes nausea
§ People around the world are disgusted by contaminated food and diseased substances
§ Showing people pictures of contaminated food increases body temperature (activating immune system)
How might jealousy evolved to solve specific problems related to survival and social interaction?
§ Men:
□ While a female can be sure a child is hers, a male cannot be sure a child is his
□ If your partner has a child with another male, you aren’t passing on your genes
□ Should become more jealous when they suspect sexual infidelity
□ “Did you have sex with him?”
§ Women:
□ Want to keep your partner’s resources and protection for yourself and your children
□ Should become more jealous when they suspect emotional involvement
□ “Do you love her?”
§ Emotional infidelity
§ Sexual infidelity
How might mate preferences evolved to solve specific problems related to survival and social interaction?
§ Women must invest more in children
□ Value male’s financial resources and social status
§ Men need a fertile female to bear children
□ Value a female’s physical appearance
□ Youth & health= fertility
§ These sex differences are as strong as differences in height and muscle strength
Sex Similarities Hypothesis
§ Meta-analysis showed that on average males and females are actually very similar
Meta-analysis
= takes the average from many different studies
Emotional infidelity
= deep emotional bond
Sexual infidelity
= being sexually disloyal
Social anxiety
= distress or worry about being negatively evaluated in social situations
How do personality traits change over time, both within individuals and across groups?
Two types of personality change:
-Mean level change
-Rank order change
Mean level change
= the average level of the personality trait changing within a group
□ Ex: this class’s extraversion
® Class average today vs. everyone years later
Low mean level change
= the order of individuals changed, but the mean level change stayed the stay
High mean level change
= the order of individuals may or may not change, decrease or increased mean level change
The Maturity Principle
= Mean level changes trending as a person gets older (especially after age 50)
® Openness, extraversion, and neuroticism decreases
® Conscientiousness and agreeableness increases
Rank order change
= Change in relative trait level/position within a group
Low rank order change
= when both tests with time in between have the same rank order
® Ex: Bayla is most extraverted while Michael is least extraverted now
Years later, remain the same in ranking
High rank order change
= when both tests with time in between have different rank orders
Personality coherence
= the same trait could manifest in different ways over the life span
-temperament
Temperament
= individual differences that arise early in life
□ Involved with emotionality and arousability
® Emotionality – happy baby or unhappy baby
® Arousability – easily frightened? easily angered?
□ Heritable (meaning, genetic basis)
How do male and female personalities change differently on average?
especially during adolescence
§ Women:
□ Self-esteem decreases with age
® From childhood to adolescence
□ Become more assertive, independent
® From adulthood onward
§ Men:
□ Self-esteem increases
® From childhood to adolescence
□ Ambition decreases
-Become more realistic about what is attainable
Cohort effect
= an effect that is due to the social times in which a person
ex: Women in different time periods (self-sufficient -> house-wife -> enter college & workforce)
