Exam Study 2 Flashcards
If a certain personality trait is very stable, what sort of test-retest correlation might you find? Provide a specific number that you might find if you had a stable trait.
.8 or higher
If a certain personality feature is not very stable, what sort oof test-retest correlation might you find? Provide a specific number that you might find if you had a trait that was not very stable?
.2 or lower
Wilt & Revelle. (2015)
A= affect
B= behavior
C= cognition
D= desire
ABCD analysis of big five
Ex.
Extraversion described by behavior
Conscientiousness described by behavior
Neuroticism described by affect
Openness to experience described by cognition
Chapter 5 focuses on…
Personality dispositions over time
Caspi (1987)
Temper Tantrums
- 8-11 aged children
Mothers rated the kids occurring behavior
(Kicking, biting, screaming, throwing things, etc. 38% boys, 29% girls)
Later in adulthood predictions:
- Lower educational achievement
- Lower work status, more erratic work
- More likely to divorce (2x)
3 types of stability
- Rank Order stability (vs. change)
- Ones position along a dimension
- can be high even with much mean change
- Examined by test-retest correlations
- Same people at time 1 need to be retested at time 2, same people at both times. All about individual differences.
- Mean Level Stability
- Whether mean changes by time, compares young to old.
- As we develop, we might change in different respects.
- Can be different people, but provides indicating that age affects individuals.
- Personality Coherence
- More complex. As people age, their behaviors change.
- Traits are stable overtime even though activities change. Behavior expression is different.
- Similar to rank order stability. Same jerky person, just different jerky things.
Costa & McCrae, SR & O Rating
- 3 to 30 years test-retest with an average r= .65.
O rating:
- 6 year longitudinal
- Spousal ratings of personality
- Neuroticism = .83
- Extraversion = .77
- Openness = .80
Rick Robins Self Esteem
- .5 - .7 across as long as 50 years. Most liked to neuroticism
Roberts & DelVecchio (2000)
When does personality become the most stable research
- Teenager r = .47
- 20 Years Old r = .57
- 30 Years Old r = .62
- 50 Years Old r = .75
So by 50, personality becomes most rigid
Swan: Self Verification
- People are very consistent across time. Why? Habits, genes, temperament.
- Kathy scenario
Why might people have negative self views seek negative social feedback?
- Epistemic reasons
- To know themselves
- Discrepant social feedback is confusing and not familiar
- Therefore, we feel most “ourselves’
- Pragmatic reasons
- Other views self = as self views self
- No need for feigning, being someone other than oneself
- Easier to get along with others
- Easier to interact
Choosing Interaction Partners
- Self enhancement
- to be viewed favorable, therefore choosing person A.
- Self verification
- Motivated to verify your self concept. We seek confirmatory feedback.
Jim twins/ genetics and personality
- identical (100% shared genes)
-Separated at birth, raised separately - Both met at age 39.
- Both 180 pounds and 6 feet tall
- Both married twice; Lindas and Betty
Taste
- Salem cigarettes and Miller Lite Beer
- Same headaches, biting fingernails, love notes around the house
Human genome
June 26, 2000 first draft of entire genome
- 30-40k genes
- heretical from mother and father
Most genes are identical
- Indeed 80% w/ sea squirts and 98% with chimps
- Unique (non-shared) genes in part responsible for these differences.
Height: 90% genes, 10% envi
Heritability
- % of variance
- Of a phenotypic (Observed and manifested) trait
.5 = 50% genetic influence
.2 = 20% genetic influence
Height is .9
Weight is .5
Mate characteristics pref. Is .1
Heritability Misconceptions
- Population level stat
- Height is 90% heritable = okay
- Michaels height is 90% = ? - Heritabilities are not fixed
- Height in Middle Ages vs. today
- Perhaps differences by culture (poor countries and height)
what are behavior genetic methods?
- Selectrive breeding
- Family studies
- Twin studies
- Adoption studies
Selective Breeding
If you breed certain members of the population to increase those characteristics, it will work.
Most commonly dogs
* Pit bulls = aggression
* Labrodors = sociability
* Chesapeake Bay retriever = fetch
Family Studies
Traits should be more similar, for more similar family members
Shared genes:
- Parents = 0%
- Each parent w/ a child = 50%
- Siblings = 50%
- Grandparents = 25%
Potential Problems:
* Closer family live together
* Confound of genes and environment.
Twin Studies
- Identical twins are more similar than fraternal.
Adoption Method
If envt has effect, children should be similar to adoptive parents.
If genes have effect, children should be similar to biological parents
Genetic heritability findings
- E & N: Heritability ~ .5
- 50% of E,N predicted by genes
- Typical finding
- Mz = .51
*Dz = .21 - Heritability= 2*(.51-.21) = .6
Temperament like variables
- Activity level: is found heritability of movement = .40
-Other temperament: Emotionality, sociability, and persistence = .5
Heritability in personality
- Almost any trait ~ .5
- Both inborn and socialized (Activity level/morality) - Genes major contributor
- Stability or lack of Change for personality
Big 5 Results
- Goldberg
- 10 items per big 5 = 50 items.
1-5 scale - 1 being very inaccurate
-5 being very accurate
Were scales reliable? Means?
- Cornbach’s alpha, internal consistency
E = .90, mean= 3.37
A = .87, mean= 4.27
C = .88, mean= 3.63
N = .86, mean= 2.72
O = .77, mean = 3.80
Pretty good for 10 item scales
Common phys measures
- Involving playing electrodes on skin
- Sweat response
- Blood flow
- Heart rate
- Brain activity
- Muscle tension
Forms of sexual selection
- Intrasexual
* Males would have dispositions and attributes that allow it to compete with other individuals of its own sex.
Ex. Elephant seals protecting the beach with aggression, access to females. - Intrasexual
* Gental. There are certain attributes that you could possess that makes the other gender choose you.
Ex. Male ducks having bright colors to attract mates.
Male Sex Differences
- Lots of sperm
- Don’t gestate, nurse young
- No limit of reproduction potential
- Pressures for many partners.
Female Sex Differences
- Limited # of eggs
- Gestation & nursing of young
- Limit to reproduction potential
- Pressures for responsible partners
Parental Investment Thierry (Darwin 1871; Trivers 1972)
- The sex that invests more in parenting becomes more choosy. Because parenting is costly, quality over quantity.
- The sex that invests less in parenting becomes more horny. Because the sheer number of conquest matters, quantity over quality.
