Lecture 7 - Why are sibling's personality so diff - September 24

Question 1

which of the big 5 is deemed the most confusing

Answer 1

openness to experience

Question 2

what is O associated with

Answer 2

Assoc. w but not equal to IQ and cognitive abilities.

Question 3

what does O focus on

Answer 3

More about cognition than social-emotional behaviors.

Question 4

what does O relate to

Answer 4

Relates in powerful ways to motivation, values and life narratives – the personal as motivated agent and autobiographical author.

Question 5

is O related to IQ

Answer 5

yes, it is the only trait related to IQ/education

Question 6

Heritability of height = what

Answer 6

90%

Question 7

An estimate of the proportion of variability in a given characteristic that can be attributed to what

Answer 7

genetic differences between people.

Question 8

what are the Methods to explore heritability estimates for personality traits

Answer 8

Twin Studies

Adoption studies

Question 9

Fraternal twins (DZ) share how many genes

Answer 9

50%

Question 10

Identical twins (MZ) share how many genes

Answer 10

100%

Question 11

Biological sibs share how many genes

Answer 11

50%

Question 12

If genetic endowment is important, you would expect:

Answer 12

r’s of mz twins > r of dz twins

Question 13

what is ‘r’

Answer 13

“r” is symbol for correlation;

Question 14

Major Studies Comparing Extraversion of MZ and DZ Twins show how much heritability

Answer 14

about 50%

Question 15

the big 5 is how heritable in general according to studies

Answer 15

50%

Question 16

Can we explain MZ advantage environmentally?

Answer 16

Perhaps MZ twins are treated more similarly than DZ twins?

Question 17

is there proof that MZ twins might act the same because they are raised the same

Answer 17

Shared environment only accounts for a small amount of variance.
Essentially, no– lots of separated twins with adoption and they still act the same

Question 18

what is another personality variable (aside from the big 5)

Answer 18

locus of control

Question 19

what is locus of control

Answer 19

belongs in level 2 (motivation, beliefs about how you can act in the world)

Question 20

what is locus of control divided into

Answer 20

internal and external

Question 21

what is internal locus of control

Answer 21

healthy end, believes if positive or negative actions happen to you it is part of your control

Question 22

what is external locus of control

Answer 22

belief that things are random/chaotic! “even if I study I won’t do well at the exam….”

Question 23

If 50% of the variation is genetic does that mean the remainder is the result of the environment, specifically parenting?

Answer 23

Not true, that would be too simplistic of an explanation;

2 different kings of environmental effect– shared and not shared

Question 24

what is shared environmental effect

Answer 24

everything you share similar

influences that operate to make family members alike

Question 25

what is not shared environmental effect

Answer 25

illnesses, accidents, birth order

influences that operate to make family members unalike

Question 26

is the big 5 influenced by shared environment

Answer 26

Shared environment accounts for only a small amount of variance.

2-5% max

Question 27

what is the ratio of genes:shared environment

Answer 27

10:1

“In teaching personality psychology for 25 years, my experience has been that students (and many colleagues) simply do not believe these results!”

Question 28

is there an exception to the genes: shared environment

Answer 28

Exception: (Sandra Scarr)
Extreme Negative Environments
Abusive, neglectful

Question 29

Is your birth order related to you Big 5 personality traits?

Answer 29

IQ is about 3 posts higher average

nothing about birth order is related to birth order

Question 30

explain Life Events and Selective Impact on Big 5 traits (twin study)

Answer 30

Riese et al 2014
Tracked impact of stressful life events on levels of neuroticism in Finnish Twin Cohort (n = 20,000) over 6 years.

Stability of N high, r = .60.
but if looked at life events, if someone had difficult ones, it would increase their N for the twin that experienced the tough life events

Question 31

But don’t genes and environment interact?

Answer 31

non-shared environment: peer groups

personality dictates what kind of group someone selects (it is not a random thing)

Question 32

Why are siblings so different in their personality?

Answer 32

really only identical twins who are so similar

Question 33

What role do genetics play in the development of personality traits?

Answer 33

large

Question 34

What aspects of the environment are important in the development of personality traits?

Answer 34

not parenting,

parenting might have an influence on locus of control but that is not as fundamental as the big 5

Question 35

Is your birth order related to you Big 5 personality traits?

Answer 35

no