Personality Flashcards
How do we describe personality in modern day?
We use a characteristic/trait model
Personality
Characteristic pattern of thinking, behaving, feeling
Characteristic
You can see it and people around you can see it
Personality=Pattern
Long standing pattern of characteristics
- can alter these to fit certain situations (like funerals) if needed
Who created the first framework for personality?
Freud
Psychodynamic theory
Personality is made up of dynamic interaction between conscious vs. unconscious
- has to be balanced to have good/healthy personality
What happens if personality is unbalanced (according to psychodynamic theory)?
If unbalanced, some sort of personality pathology (mental health issues/personality disorders)
Personality structure according to psychodynamic theory
Tip of the iceberg is conscious and the rest is lurking in the unconscious
ID
Primal desires, energies (animalistic side)
- operates on PLEASURE principle (wants to do own thing, be out of control, highly aggressive, sexual, etc.)
- can’t have in real world or anarchy
- ID is always there and ready
Ego
Operates on REALITY principle and keeps ID in check (“slow down, we can’t do that” said Ego to ID)
Preconscious
not quite below or above surface
- includes the SUPEREGO
Superego
Peacemaker between the other two
- Morals and standards
Horse/rider example for ID and Ego
ID=horse
- Strength, motivation, wild, strong, powerful
Ego=rider
- bringing a sense of control/direction to horse
*If not riding the horse (ID), horse will do what it wants and be free, but if you put rider (ego) on it, you control it/tame it
Does childhood play a significant role in personality development?
Yes
- psychosexual stages of personality development
All kids go through the psychosexual stages of personality development
Success=no issues, so pass to next stage
Failure=pathology
– If failure to deal or resolve conflict in each stage, there is going to be a pathology/issue
Stage 1 of psychosexual stages of personality development
ORAL
- learning things by touching and putting things in mouth
- 0-18 months
Failure=nail biting, smoking/tobacco use, eating disorders, binge eating in adulthood
Ex. have to conquer Oedipus complex (child wants to have sex with mother and kill father)
Defense mechanisms (small percentage)
Ego is a PROTECTOR
- ex. in order to protect from anxiety, it will distort reality so you feel better
What is the number 1 Defense Mechanism?
Repression
- rules all other defense mechanisms (leader and coordinates others to get involved)
What is the goal of repression?
To help banish anxiety
What is the problem with repression?
Often incomplete protection
- there are cracks called FREUDIAN SLIPS
*Symbols
*Dreams
*Slips
Freudian slip
Didn’t mean to say a word but came out that way
Denial
Pretending things are different; refusing to believe something happened a certain way
- pretending or disbelief of reality to cope and feel less anxious
Projection
is also a defense mechanism where you project your feelings onto another person about someone else
Projective tests
1.) Inkblot tests/”Rorschach”
2.) TAT (Thematic Apperception Test)
Inkblot tests/”Rorschach”
- Vague image and asking for interpretation
- no right or wrong answer
- no standard scoring system so how can you compare people’s “scores” to one another (Reliability/validity is extremely poor)
According to Freud, the color you are drawn to first means something…
and the location you are drawn to first also means something
BUT no consistency (sometimes you see something and sometimes you don’t)
Rorschach tests are used to…
interpret unconscious thoughts and motivations and personality
- in competition with objective tests
that are more data driven and more common today
TAT (Thematic Apperception Test)
- depicts a story
- interpret story (vague but more than random dot)
- same as inkblots in terms of validity and reliability being poor
Humanism
Rogers and Maslow
- Self-growth and self-determination
(people have the capacity to reach their maximum potential)
Personality development
- self-concept (you think about yourself in a particular manner)
Also vague in nature but laid the groundwork for positive psych (Selgman born out of idea about humanism)
Is self-concept only restricted to traits?
No; doesn’t have to be traits but can be largely shaped by relationships from the past (characteristics shaped by prior interactions)
Self-concept and characteristics shaped by prior interactions
- Empathy
- Unconditional positive regard
Trait models
Traits are stable and enduring
- late teens, early 20s
Frontal lobe still developing until 25 years old
- partially, personality is housed in frontal lobe
Allport
First person to identify and consider what we now think of as traits
Odbert
Count and identify ALL WORDS that describe a person in the dictionary
- had to come up with a way to condense the information because no one will take such a long questionnaire
Factor analysis with Odbert
(Condenses into 100 clusters ex.)
- statistical technique that condenses large item pools into smaller, more manageable ones (we still do this today)
Eysenck and Eysenck
Personality questionnaire
- 2 dimensions found in every trait model that has ever existed in personality
*Neuroanatomical basis to these traits (everybody with a brain has them)
2 dimensions to every trait model for personality
1.) Introversion-Extroversion scale
2.) Emotional stability vs. instability
Introversion
Timid, calm, quiet
Extroversion
center of attention, outgoing, sociable, personable
Emotional instability
highly anxious, depressed, etc.
Emotional stability
calm, even keel, etc.
2 assessments of personality
1.) Standard personality questionnaire
2.) Personality pathology/mental health
Standard personality questionnaire
Goal is to find level of traits
- research then links them to other outcome variables
Ex. extroverted people being more likely to go into business, etc., where they are dealing with people daily
Personality pathology/mental health
Help with diagnosis and treatment (clinical capacity)
*MMPI-3
*PAI
MMPI-3 personality pathology/mental health test
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-3
- reference points for certain subgroups
- uses true and false items BUT over 500 questions and requires skilled reading level
PAI personality pathology/mental health test
Personality Assessment Inventory
- not true and false questions
- 4 point scale
- 300+ questions
- uses a 4+ reading level
2 major models of personality today
1.) BIG 5
2.) HEXACO
Big 5 (OCEAN)
Well represented in text with lots of research backing; very common model developed in the 80s by Costa and McCrae
- Five large cluster/domains of traits that captures everybody
- spectrum from low to high and everything in between
Big 5 (OCEAN) and one trait from each domain
1.) Openness (to experience)
- imaginative, artistic, likes variety
2.) Conscientiousness
- practical, organized, not sloppy, punctual
3.) Extraversion
- outgoing, talkative, sociable
4.) Agreeableness
- trusting, helpful, cooperative
5.) Neuroticism
- anxiety, fear, depression
They are trying to link personality to outcome variables (what profile would be linked/fit with what traits… what jobs suit a person based on their personality traits
- we should care because we all have personality so it is useful to see what they link to
HEXACO
- not well represented in text
- alternative model that came out in early 2000s by Ashton & Lee
- 6 factor model as opposed to 5 factor model
HEXACO traits
Honesty-Humility
- (does not exist in Big 5 so crown jewel of HEXACO)
- modest, truthful, not seeking out greed
Emotionality
- called Neuroticism in Big 5 BUT focuses on positive side as well (balance)
- negative trait: anxiety, fear
- positive trait: sentimental
eXtraversion
- outgoing
Agreeableness
- trusting, helpful, cooperative
Conscientiousness
- practical, punctual, organized
Openness
- imaginative, artistic
HEXACO advantages
1.) Cross-cultural replicability
- Big 5 has a limitation; has not been found in certain cultures and languages BUT HEXACO has been found in numerous cultures and languages that Big 5 is not
2.) Out-predicted the Big 5 in numerous outcome variables
- statistics show that HEXACO is usually the winner even if 6th factor is removed and it is five on five; the way it is configured still wins
3.) More comprehensive
- H-factor does not line up with any FFM domains
Stability of personality
Personality questionnaire at time 1 and then again at time 2 and then correlate the two to see how personality stabilizes over time
- Children have a .30 correlation (with 1 perfect) so NOT very stable and constantly changing personality
- College have a .55 correlation (strong correlation) so personality is probably where it will be for life
- 30s/40s not a big jump but have a stronger correlation of .65
- 50s/60s not a big jump but have a stronger correlation of .75
Brain injury may cause a weaker correlation and personality may change (Phineas Gage example; stroke to frontal lobe)
Heritability of personality
Roughly 60% of personality comes from biological parents with 40% driven by environment (this is where Freud is right when he says childhood conditions matter)
Cultural differences in personality
Individualistic cultures
- US cares about themselves and more about self-concept
- Also Canada, Italy, etc.
Collectivistic cultures
- care about the group more
- group and group belongingness
- more of a desire for security
- Asian cultures (China, Japan, etc.)
