Personality 2/3 Flashcards
what factors may contribute to how personality develops?
- early childhood influences
- evolutionary pressures
- genetics
- brain functioning
- brain structure
how do we measure trait procrastination?
GPS-20 scale
what determines whether someone is prone to procrastination?
developmental influences (parenting style), genetic/evolutionary/brain structure perspectives (self control)
why might children who have overly critical demanding parents procrastinate?
learn to avoid tasks rather than risking failure so they aren’t evaluated on it
what did Pschyl et al (2002) hypothesise?
that parenting style would be related to self concept which would be related to a tendency to procrastinate
what did Psychyl et al explore?
gender differences in parents
low self concept =
high procrastination
responsive + demanding = _______, unresponsive + demanding = _______
authoritative, authoritarian
responsive + undemanding = ________, unresponsive + undemanding = ________
indulgent, neglectful
what type of study was Psychyl et al’s?
cross sectional study
did authoritative parenting cause procrastination in both males and females?
no > negative correlation. females = -0.52 for mothers and -0.38 for fathers > less of a tendency to procrastinate than authoritarian parents
what were the results for daughters in Psychyl et al’s study?
mothers parenting style predicted self worth which predicted procrastination, fathers parenting style had a DIRECT effect on procrastination even after controlling for self worth
what were the results for sons in Psychyl et al’s study?
no significant relationship between parenting styles, self concept and procrastination. may not effect boys in the same way
unobservable inherited genetic potential =
genotype
observable behavioural expression of the genotype in the environment =
phenotype
proportion of phenotypic variance in a sample explained by genetic factors =
heritability
how is the role of genetic vs. environmental influences assessed?
using twin studies (MZ and DZ twins) to compare concordance rates
the extent to which twins express the same trait =
concordance rate
method that determines the degree of shared characteristics between adopted children and their biological vs. adoptive parents =
adoptee method
implicit assumption that MZ and DZ twins are treated equally by others =
equal environment assumption
why is it important in behavioural genetic studies to determine the role of shared vs. non shared environments?
they give good evidence of where personality traits come from
what is personality known to be linked to?
impulsivity
describe the evolutionary account of how procrastination has evolved because it had evolutionary value
in early times, thinking about the future wasn’t advantageous and if plans/goals were set they would be put off (procrastinated) in the moment to survive, forage for food and act impulsively in dangerous environments. This lead to survival > pass on genes of impulsivity and procrastination
account that suggest procrastination arose as a by-product of impulsivity =
evolutionary account
if procrastination is a by-product of impulsivity then these 2 traits should be ______ and share some ______ _____ related to goal management
heritable, genetic variation
Gustavson et al (2014) conducted a behavioural genetics analysis of 347 MZ twins and 166 DZ twins. what were the findings?
procrastination was distinguishable from impulsivity at the phenotypic level (behaviour) not genotypic level. Shared genetic variation was explained by variations in goal management abilities
__% of procrastination can be found to be heritable (Gustavson et al, 2014)
46%
impulsivity was __% heritable (Gustavson et al, 2014)
49%
is is definite that procrastination is a by-product of impulsivity?
maybe both show + correlations because procrastination may lead to impulsive responding after the long delay
poor goal management is linked to poor _______ which is linked to poor _______ so this is linked to __________
self control, executive functions, procrastination
set of general control mechanisms that are involved in many types of goal related abilities =
Executive functions
how is EF assessed?
objective tasks (stroop, set-shifting tasks)
Gustavson et al conducted a behavioural analysis looking at where procrastination and EF ability. what were the results?
procrastination related to worse EF ability and both the genotypic and phenotypic level. association explained by self report measures of everyday goal management failures. correlation was due to genetic influences rather than environmental influences
why does it make sense that the correlation between procrastination and worse EF was due to genetic influences over non-shared environmental influences?
EF functions are at brain level so more likely to be a bigger effect with genetics
who made up 2 hypotheses to address whether personality is stable or changing?
William James
personality is changeable like plastic =
plasticity hypothesis
personality is enduring like plaster =
plaster hypothesis
which hypothesis did James support?
the plaster hypothesis stating that personality is set by 20-30 but before that its more changeable
what did Soto et al, 2011 study?
whether personality can change over time (used cross sectional samples of whether individuals expressed different traits at different stages across lifespan)
what trait in Soto et al’s study dips in teens (more impulsive/selfish) but then increases with age?
conscientiousness
what trait in Soto et al’s study increases during anxious teen years and then declines?
neuroticism
what trait in Soto et al’s study dips around the age of 20 and then increases?
openness
what does interactionism suggest about life experiences and personality stability?
personality is shaped by environmental and social pressures it is exposed to
what factors are involved with personality stability?
life experiences
genetic factors
Specht et al (2011) conducted a 3 year longitudinal study looking at the big 5 traits in relation to age and life events. What were the life events assessed?
relationship changes
death of family member
household changes
occupational changes
Specht et al (2011) conducted a 3 year longitudinal study looking at the big 5 traits in relation to age and life events. what were the measures?
mean level and rank order changes in personality
test-retest correlations measured
what were the general findings from Specht et al (2011) study?
wasn’t huge changes in personality but changes seen made sense with personality trait and type of life event (levels changed depending on whether someone did or didn’t experience a certain life event)
extraversion ______ after marriage as more time spent in a relationship
decreased
agreeableness ______ after separation
decreased
changes in conscientiousness showed ________ effects
socialisation
divorce shows an ______ in conscientiousness
increase
childbirth shows a ______ in conscientiousness
decrease
retirement shows a ________ in conscientiousness
decrease
new job shows an _________ in conscientiousness
increase
longitudinal stability is ___ in childhood but increases substantially into ________
low, adulthood
genetic and environmental influences both _______ in stability with age
increase
Genetic influences exert a relatively ______ influence on stability across the lifespan and fully explain _______ stability at young ages.
constant, phenotypic
do environmental contributions to stability exist in childhood?
no (virtually non existent) so any stability in childhood personality is due to genetic influence
what does LOOPR project stand for?
Life Outcomes of Personality Replication
how many studies did Soto successfully replicate?
87/88% of the hypothesised effects
how strong were the effects replicated as the original effects?
77% > associations were robust
what is the recent psychology replication crisis?
only 36% of studies have been found to be replicated (crisis state) > literature not accurate
what did Soto examine when looking at the big 5 traits and how they are related to important life outcomes?
size and significance of correlations from original research (78 previously published studies) and new data collected > wanted to see if there was a replication crisis in personality research
