M2- lecture 5 (guest) Flashcards
what is a trait
attributes which seem generally characteristic of an individual, usually describing the personal/internal rather than external self
ie: shy, happy, organized, talkative
what arent traits
temporary, attitudes, cognitive ability (i.e. IQ), physical attributes (tall, fat), social categories
What are the 2 important ways of measuring trait taxonomies?
PEN and the BIG 5 (oceans)
what are the 3 traits of PEN?
- Psychoticism
(testosterone levels) - Extraversion
(low psychological arousal) - Neuroticism
(fluctuations in Autonomic NS)
criticism of psychoticism dimension
questionable label accuracy… some argue it should be called antisocial personality
also relevance of sub-traits
criticisms of PEN
not all-inclusive– there are other factors
other traits show heritability, not just PEN (ie conscientiousness)
other taxonomies developed to address these issues (The Big 5 & Wiggins theory of interpersonal traits)
Who was Hans Eysenick and what was his Theoretical Approach?
he believed personal taxonomy should be rooted in biology and create a 2 dimensional (stable/unstable & introverted/extroverted) model
traits further together = more opposite, closer means similar
what is the 5-factor authentication model/the big 5?
OCEAN
openness
conscientiousness
extraversion
neuroticism
associations of the FFM
(grades, substance abuse, earnings)
conscientiousness & neuroticism
good grades -> high conscientiousness, low neuroticism
substance abuse -> low conscientiousness, high neuroticism
hgih earnings -> low neuroticism, high openness, high conscientiousness
whats missing from the big 5?
honest/humility as accounted for in HEXACO
religiosity & spiritualist typically emerge as separate
describe the plaster hypothesis and the contextualist perspective and which standpoint they take on (stable or plastic)
plaster hypothesis: personality traits are set in stone by 30
contextualist hypothesis: personality emerges from multiple sources; person-environment interactions
Mischeles Critique
on traits and predictability
knowing a person’s level on a specific trait doesn’t allow us to predict their behaviour in any specific situation
personality doesn’t predict behaviour & ppl act differently in different situations
what was the rise of social psyc?
less emphasis on personality traits and more on the situation’s effect on a person
freud, Jung, Maslow, Murray more skepticism and focused now on more doman specific things
Lewins Interactionalism
Behaviour is a function of a person and situation
Festingers Situationalism
personality = error variance, irrelevant
Emphasis of the power of the situation
situationalism
emphasized the power of the situation
- Milgrims obedience study (shock obedience)
- Asch’s conformity study: intentionally gave the wrong length online to see if ppl confirmed
- Zimbardos prison study: assigned guard or prisoner
Empiricle support for FFM
cross-cultural replication
replication with dif measures
genetic links
cross-species replication (ie chimps)
Traits of Openness
Fantasy, Aesthetics, Feelings, Ideas
open ppl remember dreams better,m more creative, enjoy novel experiences
agreeableness
trust
altrusim
modesty
compliance
resolve conflicts, are generous, are well-liked
neuroticism
anxiety
depression
vunerability
impulsiveness
highly emotional, mood swings and instability in relationships, are more fatigued
*result of mischeles critique
personality psyc suffered
fewer grad programs, fewer researchers & fewer jobs
social psyc blossomed
- lg area of research, grad programs, jobs, researchers… over time personality psyc made a comeback
*how personality psyc fought back
- personality traits predict behaviour over the long term!
- I like batting average rather than plans this weekend - broad traits predict broad behaviours and narrow traits predict narrow behaviours
- ppl may differ in how they behave across situations but are consistent relative to other ppl
aka Rank-order consistency! (same slope) - personality traits are stable over long periods of time
- shyness consistent from week, year, lifespan
which factors predict behavior best? (situational characteristics or eprsonality traits?
Situational Characteristics when the situation is strong with high constraint (church)
Personality traits when situation is weak with low level of constraint (ie own room, football game)
mean-level shift/change
in a population, compare the average level of a trait at different ages
find significant average shifts over time in tandem with changes (CHANGES)
Rank-Order Stability
consistency of individual differences on traits found greater rank-order stability with age
esp between 1-12 & 50-59
relative personality levels remain generally stable, and increasingly so with age (STABLE)
Change and consistency is dictated by ____ transactions
Person-evnironment
(who we are leads us to take on certain roles which shapes who wea re which leads us to…)
mean level shift findings for Extraversion
agreeableness
conscientiousness
neuroticism
extraversion
- Starts off high in childhood, but gradually decreases and stabilizes over time.
- Small gradual decline in middle adulthood
Agreeableness
- Declines in adolescence but rapidly increases from young adulthood onwards
- Agreeableness becomes especially adaptive past age 30
Conscientiousness
- Similar pattern to agreeableness with more pronounced increase in adolescence
- Adaptive for young adults starting college, entering the workforce, etc.
Neuroticism
- Generally decreases over time from young adulthood
- Gender differences early on that narrow over time
Openness
- Shows modest increase over time from adolescence, flatlines in middle adulthood
Mixed findings: other research finds an overall decrease from ~30 onwards
Personality Change in College
maturity principle: ppl increase in traits that promote optimal behavior in adult social roles & decrease in less socially desirable traits
- ^ agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness
- decrease neuroticism
*where do trait taxonomies come from?
The lexical approach says that trait taxonomies are compiled cross-cultural universally
how can we know which traits are most important?
If a trait is important it will have Synonym Frequency (there will be many words for it)
*what is a trait taxonomy?
a hierarchical systematic way of organizing traits with the most important/basic at the top
Lexucal approach to studying pride
Step 1: Research procedure (have ppl list assiciated traits with pride)
2: figure out how the words group together
Statistical/Experimental Approach to studyin Pride
statistical analysis (clusters, etc)
step 1: have ppl rate the extent to which the trait describes them (1-5 scale)
2: enter data into the factor analysis program to see which traits “hold together” in people’s experiences
Theoretical approach to trait taxonomy
Think about how many traits should matter, based on some pre-articulated theory
Two Facet Theory
Authentic pride
– Promotes social investments – Fosters genuine self-esteem
- Hubristic pride
– Arrogance, egotism – Fosters narcissism
iffindingsfromconceptualstudyand factor analysis study converge with theoretical perspective, then we’ve probably found the structure of pride
is the replicibility crisis occuring in social or personality psyc?
social psyc and its demonstrating the poser of the situation
what does this mean for personality psyc?
It is equipped with the resources to heal with this, so it is on the rise again
what are the 3 basic assumptions of personality traits (bio)
– Reflect physiological differences between people
– Are largely genetically determined
– Are rooted in our evolutionary history
what is Phrenology and what is the modern view?
a pre-scientific approach to personality where regions of the head were associated with different traits (ie courage)
Modern view:
1) it’si nthebrain ,not the
head
2) it’s not that specific
What were Galens 4 humors?
yellow bile
black bile
phlem
blood
if one fluid was dominant, that would be the personality observed
now we know its neurotransmitters and hormones
modern approach:
genes as the building blocks of personality
- inherited evolutionarily
- shape personality and behaviour thru physiological reactions
modern approach: behavioral Genes
the study of how genes shape behavior
are behaviors (ie eprsonality) shaped by nature or nurture?
BOTH- gene & environment
Basic approaches (define)
Gene-envrionment interactionalism
Genetic determination
gene-environment: If gene and a particular environment, then a particular phenotype
Genetic determination: If gene then a particular phenotype (ie huntingtons)
Genotype vs phenotype
genotype = potentialities
phenotype= what we see
define heritibility; what is it not?
Heritability: is the extent to which individual differences in a trait, within a group of people, are due to differences in genes
only in groups and on differing genes
is NOT how much of a trait in a person is dep on genes
how does environment contribute to IQ?
it s a misconception that races are genetically different in IQ. Its actually the opportunities and environments
i.e. overachievers don’t have to go as high in a low-achieving school where they’re already the best as high achievers in a well-funded school
what is the methodoligy for anylizing differences in identical (MZ), DZ and MZ raised apart stins and which is best?
Twin Studies: compare concordance (similarity) of trait in MZ vs. DZ twins
– If MZ twins are more similar than DZ twins, that means trait is partly heritable
* Adoption Studies: compare concordance of trait between parents and biological vs. adopted kids
– If bio kids are more similar to parents than adoptive kids, trait is partly heritable
* MZ Twins Raised Apart
– Best Design: Simply look at the concordance of
the trait -> that’s its heritabilityw
what are some problems with behavior genetics methods
Math requires that DZ and MZ twins, and adoptive kids and bio kids, have same amount of shared environment
* Twin Studies
– Equal Environments Assumption
more so for MZ than DZ
Adoption Studies
– Representativeness (
– Selective placement (with similar parents)
what are the 3 important influences on personality (genes)
Geneticinfluences:Genesindividualsinherit from their parents
* Shared Environment: Environmental effects shared by family members (parenting style, family environment, schools, neighborhood, material resources)
* Non-sharedEnvironment:Environmentaleffects unique to the individual – NOT shared by family members (illnesses, friends, teachers, being treated differently by your parents)
whats the difference between gene-effects and environmental effects?
DZ vs MZ
gene-effects are what parents pass to their kids
DZ- 50% shared
MZ- 100% shared
Environmental effects can be shared or differing- family or environmental effects which affect MZ/DZ either similarly or differently
parents attitudes toward each child is considered a ___ envrionment
non-shared
which is the largest impactor of personality? (genes, shared-environment, non-shared environment)
non-shared environment
do genes contribute to the Big 5?
yes and the differences ont he big 5 we see between twisn are the biggest predictors of personality
which traits are most heritable?
Imagination, Neuroticism, Aggression (in that order)
how do we explain heritibility of personality
genes -> neurotransmitters & hormones -> physiological reactivity -> thoughts & feelings -> personality
also predicts divorce
is the conviction of a felony heritible?
yep!
which adult traits are most related to temperament?
Extraversion & neuroticism
what is temperament and what are some?
biologically based traits present at birth
- excitability
- sociability
- activity level
what do these temperments relate to in adulthood?
excitability (neuroticism)
sociability (extraversion)
activity level
what is Eyesncks theory of personality?
is there evidence?
what drugs does he say introverts vs extraverts use?
extraverts are under aroused and seek out social interactions for arousal
introverts are overaroused & avoid excessive stimulation
- doesnt mean shy beause they can do it but they dont want to
yes shown in music levels, study spots, drug choice (i= sedatives, e= stimulants)
What is Jeffrey Grays Theory and how does it relate to psychopaths
Believed it was bevcause of different sensitivities to reinforcement
BAS- sensitivity to reward
- activation -> dopamine release
- impulsive, poor gratification delay
BIS- sensitivity to punishment
- activation -> lower serotonin lvl’s
- nsecure, hyper cautious
Psychopaths = high BAS, low BIS
is someone has high serotonin do they have high or low BIS?
low BIS- theyre negatively related!
related to depression & anxiety
what are the 3 neurotransmitters/hormones related to personality?
Seritonin, dopamine, testosterone
how does dopamine relate to personality? and which system is it related to?
linked to BAS
genetic basis for sensation seeking
D4DR
- long = sensation seeking (less efficient t binding w/ dop?)
- short = low sensation seeking
is dopamine/sensation seeking heritable?
highly heritable- about 50%
how does seritonin relate to personality
low seritonin -> depression & anxiety
MDMA helps by lowering inhibitions
what trait is testosterone linked to? and what is some evidence?
aggression
Eyesenics PEN model
men in all cultures are higher in both testosterone and aggression
higher testosterone in violent crimes incarcerated
also linked to crime in low income men
where is BIS/BAS/fear in the brain
RPFC- BIS (withdrawl)
LPFC- BAS (approach)
OFPFC- BIS & BAS (anticipation of Reward & punishment)
MPFC- the self
Amygdala- fear & emotion recognition
define hte 2 focuses of evolutionary selection, and describe natural selection
- survival
- reproduction
natural selection- adaptive behaviors are passed on
what are the selection types associated with the following
^ self-survival
^ mate/reproducing
^ survival of relatives
natural selection
sexual selection
inclusive fitness
what is inclusive fitness and how does it suggest the “gay gene”
inclusive fitness explains seemingly maladaptive traits like altruism(selflessness) & self-sacrifice
esp towards kin
gay gene adaptive so there are more ppl to care for babies if overpopulation
what is the reason for the universality of emotion expression and what is an example of it
natural selection
seen in isolated tribes expressed happiness, sadness, disgust, fear, surprise, anger– Papa New Guinea
also PRIDE!– burkina faso
see pride in blind judo too
what is the sexual hypothesis and what is some evidence for it
how is it evolutionary?
Sexual Selection
Buss hypothesis
that external fertilization -> sexual jealousy
internal fertilization -> emotional jealousy
men have higher physiological reactions when imagining sexual infedility and women for emotional infideility
same found with memory
what is the double-shot effect?
things assumed by each gender
ie women assume in love also means sexual
men assume that is sexual also in love
but Buss also found held true even when told no love sex
what did the Cognative Load Study Find?
when under cog load women reacted just like men
found sexual infidelity more problematic
what did the Emotional aspect find?
men find anger more problematic and sexual infidelity -> ^ anger
Women find sadness more problematic and emotional infidelity -> ^ sadness
what differenteshat sex differents are observable between men and women– sexual partners, sex acceptance, etc
women wanted avg 2.5-5 partners in lifetime
men wanted 13-18 partners in lifetime
most men accepted sex when just met eprson while women most didnt
Evolutionary drive or is it that men are less desirable/more dangerous?
what were the results when asking bi ppl
both men and women more likely to accept offers from women (men still more liekly to accept oerall tho)
what was the trend with men vs women traits values in partner
women care more abt financial status, and all other measures (ie kindness, health, intelligence)
men care more abt physical attractiveness
how does the big 5 play a role in evolution?
big 5= innate psychological mechanisms and behavioural strategies that developed to help us solve problems of survival and reproduction
being able to perceive each in ppl has the most evolutionary value
what is the trade-off Perspective (Nettle)
that all levels of each trait have costs and benifits
Frequency Dependent Hypothesis
certain traits are only adaptive if there are also opposites
environmental triggers in the big 5
certain traits are activated in a given envronment
gene-environment interaction
behaviourism and personality
personality is a group of learned responses to the environment
can only be studied by observable behaviour
Classical and Operant Conditioning
social learning and behaviorism
- extraversion
if your extraverted thats because you were rewarded for extraverted behaviors by the ppl who raised u
classical conditioning in a clockwork orange (film)
would it work irl?
injected with nausea (made ill) then exposed to violence -> feel sick whne see violence
no because ppl driven to do their own thing
views of skinner
not great
its good to study mental states
behaviorism still helpful in psyc today bc cant rely on self-reports
importance of O and T Data!
what are some types of cognitive approach
behavioralism,
what is social learning
- observe behaviors ogf others being rewarded
- use mind to connest the two
- beside to behave similarly
what are 3 examples of social learning?
babies, violence in media, shaming rime
babies eager to help out even w.o reward is an example of what
seemingly innate altruism but could also be…
direct reinforcement
observational reinforcemet
vicarious reinforcement
describe violent medias affect on violence thru classical conditioning, operant conditioning and obeservational learning
classical = positive emotions while playing -> pleasurable feelings associated with violence
operant= rewarded with points for being violent
observational= role models rewarded for being violent
which films lead to violence?
Gregarious, old western, horror, comedy
gregarious (unnecessary) and realistic -> violence
Old West- minimally violent
horror- usually fake seeming
shaming crime leads to what?
may defer crime thru observational learning and anticipated punishment… but it also leads to internalization and deflection while guild focused on what you did
it matters who the ‘shamers’ are
George Kelly Personal Construct Theory
suggests that people perceive the world through their own mental framework, or personal constructs, which are used to interpret experiences and information
personality -> process info certain way -> representations (filte) of world/self/ppl
Rotters Locus on Control
internal- ones own abilities determines what happens
external- its up to fate,the universe, etc
which locus of control is best? internall or external and what are they linked with?
internal linked to
- increased academic performance
- more effective health-prevention behaviours (ie immunization)
- social/political activism
but may not cope as well with things outside of control (disease, illness, loss)
External
- learned helplessness in dogs & shock
- depression
what are the different explanitory styles?
the ways ppl habitually explain causes of neg events
locus (internal/external)
- its me or its the environment
stability (unstable/stable)
- last forever or go away
global (global or specific)
- is it in one domain or everything
pessimistic style exhibits what?
internal, stable, global (worst kind!)
-> depression and health problems
what is the best kind of explanitory style
internalize, unstable, specific attributions
ie i didn’t study hard enough this time so ill do better next time
what did catastraphizing relate to?
= global attribution and led to mortality
what is cognitive therapy?
encourages ppl to reflect on their own cognitions and work on reshaping the negative ones
change negative schemas and explanatory style
failure = opportunity to learn
what are emotions?
discrete- momentary in specific situation
traits- dispositional tendencies to chronically experience certain feelings
- mood, temperment, emotional disorder
what is an emotion composd of?
thoughts, feelings, cognition, brain activation, non-verbal expression
what is the process of an emotion
event -> cog appraisal -> emotional feeling (physiology) -> emotional expression (rxn)
what personality traits regulate happiness
which -> happiness?
extraversion and neuroticism
- have dif emotional responses
extraverts- happier when see pleasant pics
neurotics- more upset from unpleasant pics
debete between subject -> situations with ^ happiness vs situation -> subject ^ happiness
what are the differing definitions of happiness- Aristotle, Rousseau, James
Aristotle- being good and self-virtue
Rousseau- being bad/pleasure – hedonism
James- accomplishment
which theories are supported today?
Siglman says its based on living a life filled with purpose and meaning
Kahneman: its because of experiencing more positive emotions and less negative ones so should self-indulge (hedonism)
are people generally happy? Where does canada fall?
yes, ppl happy ~65% time, neg ~20, neutral ~15
Canada is in the upper mid region f happiness in comparison to other places
what leads to happiness?
The cognitive-Affective approach says its experiencing happiness more than sad and having life satisfaction
whoch predicts happiness best? culture or wealth?
culture! more individualistic cultures = happier!
why are poorer countries less happy and do wage gaps predict happiness?
less access tohealthcare, food, etc
yes they do, the higher the wage gap the happier wealthy people were
is there a relationship between inequality and happiness?
Found a negative correlation between happiness and societal inequality
because of precieved unfairness among poorest 60%
Hedonism vs Eudemonia
hedonism: the sum of pleasant moments
Eudemonia: life-well lived; meaning and purpose
what leads to happiness?
individualistic countries
equality
daily hedonism (boost pos affect)
life – eudemonia; purpose (emotions don’t matter), social networks
what is a happiness/emotional set point?
the baseline of our happiness. it changes in response to big life events but eventually goes back to baseline
avg = more happy than neutral
which theories of happiness are supported today?
Siglman says it’s based on living a life filled with purpose and meaning
Kahneman: its because of experiencing more positive emotions and less negative ones so should self-indulge (hedonism)
what did Deiner find in his daily/life satisfaction study
daily satisfaction is strongly correlated with life satisfaction
high pleasent emotions
low unpleasant emotions
and daily interest
all strongest factors
what are traits of neuroticism and how can you test someone for it?
moody, complaining, touchy, irritible
easily upset
bio - stable across lifespan, cross-cultural, ore active BIS
possible cognative basis - remember more neg events & may get sick mre
Stroop test (colours and words)
- struggle to read anxiety-provoking words
Sadness/depression
* Diathesis-stress model
* Beck’s Cognitive theory
diathesis-stress model: some ppl genetically prone to sadness/depression & it can be activated
becks cognitive theory:
- Cognitive Triad: depressing view of the self, the world, and the future
catastrophizing (stable)
overgeneralization (Global)
personal attributions (internal)
Anger-proneness & hostility
tendency to respond to everyday events with anger and aggression
resentment
Type A personality – discovered by cardiologists (coronary heart disease patients)
what has rescent research found in regards to anger proneness and type A
its nothte overachieving part, its the hostility that leads to risk factrs
heart disease, depression, obesity, smoking, SES
authentic vs hubristic pride
authentic- social investments, feel good abt self
- high self-esteem
- agreeable
- good relationships
hubristic pride- hostility, maladaptive traits
- narcissistic, low self-esteem
- shame prone
is there vidence for distinct expressions between hubristic and authentic pride
no, context is important
