Lecture 22: Changes in Personality

Question 1

What was Pam’s advice in The Office Finale?

Answer 1

• be strong
• trust yourself
• love yourself
• conquer your fears
• just go after what you want

Question 2

Why reaching a threshold of social courage is important?

Answer 2

• Positive affect system
• Self-esteem and social inclusion
• Free trait theory
• Uninhibited expression of motives
• Exploration efforts for identity
• Attachment relationships
• Autonomous self-regulation
• Creates events for Life Story

Question 3

What does social courage involve?

Answer 3

• Extraversion
  
  • Social assertiveness
  • Social dominance

Question 4

According to Kroestner, what aspects of personality are the most important and why?

Answer 4

• Levels 2 and 3 since they are the ones that make us unique

Question 5

What does Kroestner think Level 2 and 3 need?

Answer 5

Social courage

Question 6

According to Kroestner, what is key for a positive affect system?

Answer 6

Extraversion and social courage, since it allows you to speak up.

Question 7

Recall, what is a metaphor for self-esteem?

Answer 7

Sociometer:

Accepted vs rejected

Question 8

How does social courage affect self-esteem?

Answer 8

It allows us to put ourselves in situations where we can be accepted and valued.

Question 9

What is the Free trait theory?

Answer 9

If there is some very valuable goal, we can act outside of our traits.

Question 10

Who came up with the Free trait theory?

Answer 10

Brian Little

Question 11

Do Power Pose work?

Answer 11

No, many people that tried to replicate the study couldn’t replicate the results.

Question 12

What is another approach to help extraversion for introverts?

Answer 12

Introverts can pretend to be extroverts.

Question 13

What are the effects of acting as an extroverted? Introverted?

Answer 13

No interaction with true disposition.

Question 14

In the study where some people were asked to act introverted or extroverted, how did they measure if you used too much energy in the exercise?

Answer 14

They tested the participants with the Stroop test. If the reaction time was slow, then they used too much energy in the social tasks. This is called Ego Depletion.

In the study, if you act outside of your traits, it takes energy.

Question 15

What is the effect of acting extraverted on people?

Answer 15

• Higher positive affect
• higher authenticity

Acting extroverted gave an increase in negative affect and tiredness, decreased authenticity

Question 16

How do our beliefs about aspects of our personality influence our adaptation and growth?

Question 17

What is Dweck’s point of view on personality?

Answer 17

• Personality is flexible
• The most changeable things about people is beleifs

Question 18

How do beliefs relate to personality?

Answer 18

They are independent of traits and probably more changeable

Question 19

What did Dewck put forward?

Answer 19

• Mindset
• Learning vs Performance Goals
• Mastery vs Helpless Pattern of Response

Question 20

How can you measure your Implicit theory (mindset)?

Answer 20

• Q: Which of the two statements do you agree with more strongly?
• A1: Your intelligence is something that you cannot change very much.
• A2: No matter how much intelligence you have, you can always change quite a bit?
• Results:
  
  • A2:
    
    • Open to learn
    • Willingness to confront challenge
    • Bounce back when failure

Question 21

Can we extend the implicit theory to understand social behaviour?

Question 22

What is shyness?

Answer 22

Affective behavioural syndrome characterized by social anxiety and interpersonal inhibition that results from prospects of interpersonal evaluation.

Question 23

What is the percentage of people who are shy and think they can change their shyness?

Answer 23

30%

Question 24

True or False

Shy is a social phobia

Answer 24

• True
• It is conditioned

Question 25

What are avoidance strategies?

Answer 25

• Try to avoid social situations
• Find a task to keep me occupied
• Avoid eye contact
• Smile so I look interested
• Try to shift attention on to the other person

Question 26

What is the effect of avoidance strategies on shyness?

Answer 26

It reinforces the negative conditioning.

Question 27

If you are an “incremental” shy person, (you are open to change) and your friend is an “entity” shy person and a third person would evaluate your levels of shyness, who would score lower?

Answer 27

You, incremental shy person.

Question 28

If you are an “incremental” shy person, (you are open to change) and your friend is an “entity” shy person and each of you would evaluate your levels of shyness, who would score lower?

Answer 28

My friend (entity shy person)

Question 29

What is social anxiety disorder?

Answer 29

• Shyness but to extreme
• Affects your daily life

Question 30

What was the results of Lynn Alden’s Research on interventions for social anxiety?

Answer 30

• Typically: expose people
• Propose: Social safety reduction
  
  • Helps 90% of patients

Question 31

What are safety behaviours?

Answer 31

• Behaviours that allow you to minimize negative outcomes
• Subtle and indirect

Question 32

What is Safety reduction behaviours?

Answer 32

• Key: exposure to feared situations but change from safety to mastery behaviours
  
  • People know their safety behaviours
  • People overestimate the visibility of their anxiety

Question 33

Can you change your other Big 5 traits?

Answer 33

• Adopt a growth mindset
  
  • Then:
    
    • A: positive psychology interventions
      
      • random acts of kindness
    • N: Cognitive Behavioural Theory techniques
      
      • mindfulness
    • C:
      
      • motivational strategies

Question 34

What is the one kind of change attempt Kroestner would recommend?

Answer 34

Social courage