M1 types and traits Flashcards
what are the two types of dispositions?
types/traits
needs/motives
what do TT theories summarize
observable behavioral tendencies (traits indicate personality –> can use personality to predict behavior)
describe what people do
what do NM theories summarize
basic motives underlying observable behavior
why people behave the way they do
type vs trait theories
type: discrete categories; discontinuous
trait: continuous dimensions
what are the major type theories
Galen’s humors
Sheldon’s somatotypes
Type A/B
Myers-Briggs, enneagram
Galen’s humors
from hippocrates’ humors
1) Sanguine: excess blood - forceful, courageous, direct
2) melancholic: black bile - moody, withdrawn, depressed
3) yellow bile: irritable, bitter, resentful
4) phlegmatic: phlegm - weak, fragile, indecisive
every person fits into one of the 4
sheldon’s somatotypes
modern typology theory based on body type
1) endomorphy: plump - relaxed, enjoy comfort, sociable
2) mesomorphy: muscular - adventurous, courageous, competitive
3) ectomorphy: frail - introvert, mentally intense, emotionally restrained, self conscious
rate on scale of 1-7 for each of the 3 categories –> assigned to category with highest rating
is there evidence to support somatotype theories
yes - small positive relationship between body type and personality characteristics because the way we think influences the way we look and feel (and vice versa)
limitations of sheldon’s stereotypes
based on stereotypes
“atlas of men” - never did women
unethical - told participants the images were to study posture
what is the type A/B approach - is it credible?
type A: feel like they always need to do work, feel like they’re always behind, “go getters”
type B: lazy
it’s the best known and most scientifically grounded of all typology personalities
modern version of somatotypes
give body diagrams and ask people to describe what characteristics that person would have
what’s the problem with type theories
most dispositions are normally distributed –> type approaches lose a lot of information by dividing the population into clear-cut types
while they can be helpful, they are not really scientific (colloquial - based on stereotypes/anecdotes)
major trait theories (4)
allport’s (Mr. Trait) 3 types of traits (cardinal, central, secondary)
cattell’s 16 traits/16 PF
eysenck’s big 2 (extraversion/neuroticism)
big 5 (OCEAN)
allport’s 2 important aspects of traits
1) traits are real; there are differences in peoples; nervous system physiology
2) traits account for consistency in behavior across time and situations
what did allport say was the function of traits
to render many stimuli functionally equivalent (organize behavior so that many stimuli can lead to the same behavior/response)
allport’s 3 types of traits
1) cardinal: one trait dominates and captures the person’s entire personality (allport believed each person only had a few of these)
2) central: personality determined by a few traits (people have more of these)
3) secondary: idiosyncratic; only influence behavior in certain situations
nomothetic vs idiographic studies
nomothetic: study a large group of people - compare on same dimensions
idiographic: in-depth study of one person or a small group - study every dimension relevant to them
what is patterned individuality
the idea that everyone’s personality is different - we all have a unique combination of personality dimensions (snowflake)
what was one of Allport’s few research studies?
was it idiographic or nomothetic?
what did he study and how?
what kind of traits did she have?
letters from jenny
idiographic (in-depth on one person)
study patterned individuality from letters she wrote
realized she did not have a cardinal trait - identified her central traits
what criticisms did raymon cattell point out with Allport?
studies were too idiographic (didn’t look at enough people) and he relied too heavily on intuition, no statistics
what kind of approach did cattell use? nomothetic or idiographic?
nomothetic
4 components to cattell’s nomothetic approach
1) traits = the building blocks of personality
2) searched for the basic traits
3) sought a periodic table of elements that make up personality
4) used factor analysis to statistically identify basic traits
4 steps in cattell’s search for the basic traits
1) identified 4500 terms and organized by lexical criterion (group terms that mean the same thing/related to same dimension)
2) collected data from multiple sources (L - life record data; Q - questionnaire data; T - test data) and required all sources to converge within an individual for a quality to be a basic trait
3) found 16 dimensions/basic traits
4) made the 16PF (personality questionnaire to rate an individual on the 16 basic traits)
what is factor analysis/the purpose
observe the correlation between variables to group them –> cattell used it to find the most basic traits (ex - boiling 100 colors down to the 3 primary)
