Personality Flashcards
McCrae and Costa (1999) Big 5
Openness Conscientiousness Extraversion Agreeableness Neuroticism trying to describe and explain combinations of chatacteristics and predicting behaviour reduction of cattell's 16PF
Big Five analysis
high level of agreement that the factors describe personality well
Supported by longitudinal studies, cross cultural studies
universally relevant
NEO PI-R
most widely used personality questionairre assessing the big 5
5 point likert scale
McCrae and Costa (1999) Big 5 theory
Personality traits are stable and enduring, little change through development
Measured by rank-order stability, mean level consistency, personal continuity
Increased conscientiousness between young adult and middle age (Donnellan & Lucas, 2008)
Decreased neuroticism and extraversion over time (Donnellan & Lucas, 2008)
Agreeableness peaks at 50-70 (McCrae, Brant & Costa, 2005)
80% experience stability in traits (Pullman et al., 2006)
Most accurate appromation of core trait dimensions (Funder, 2001)
Openness (McCrae and Cost, 1999)
Appreciation of art, adventure, creativity, varied experience
High levels = creativity, innovation
low levels = routine
Conscientiousness (McCrae and Costa, 1999)
Competence, thoughtfulness, goal-driven behaviour
High levels = planned behaviour, organisation, committment, dependability
Low levels = spontaneous, lax, disorganised
Extraversion (McCrae and Costa, 1999)
High energy, talkative, sociable, assertiveness; seeks stimulation in others company
high levels = attention-seeking, dominance
low levels = reserved, prefers solitude
Agreeableness (McCrae and Costa, 1999)
tendency to be compassionate and cooperative
High levels = acts warmly, unsuspicious, naive, passive
low levels = rudeness, competitiveness, argumentative, untrustworthy
Neuroticism (McCrae and Costa, 1999)
tendency to experience hostility, self-consciousness
high levels = aggression, anxiety, depression (Watson & Clark, 1984)
low levels = calm, even tempered
McCrae and Costa (1999) Big Five - Strengths
Traits relatively stable over 6 year period in adulthood
accurate description of personality
cross-cultural (McCrae and Allik, 2004)
Foundation for developing valid and reliable personality tests
McCrae and Costa (1999) Big Five - Limitations
traits change - decreased neuroticism and extraversion, increased agreeablness with age
May be influential in capturing personality (Ashton and Kibeom, 2007)
Over simplified
Maslow (1943) Humanistic approach
personality develops through efforts to satisfy the innate desire to self-actualise
Heirarchy describes the nature of info one seeks at different developmental stages (Norwood, 1971)
Self-actualisation
the state of fulfilment in which someone is performing at their highest level of capability
Maslow (1943) 8 stage heirarchy
- Biological and physiological needs
- Safety needs
- Belonging and love needs
- Esteem needs
- Cognitive needs
- Aesthetic needs
- Self-actualisation
- transcendence
Rogers (1961) Humanistic theory
Believed people were fundamentally good - genuiness, acceptance, empathy influence growth
Self-actualising - Rogers (1961)
Basic instinct to reach potential; personality develops through reactions to current perceptions, relationships and encounters
Fully functioning person - Rogers (1961)
coherent concept of self, aided by unconditional positive regard
Defined by openness to experience,existential living, instinctual, creativity, fulfilment; wellbeing, well-adjusted, interesting - tend to be high achievers
Unconditional positive regard - Rogers (1961)
absolute acceptance, no preconceived conditions of worth
Conditional positive regard - Rogers (1961)
Hinders development; love and acceptance given under certain circumstances - ideal self is shaped by others, therefore there are greater inconsistancies in the concept of self
Concept of self (Rogers, 1961)
True self - actual behaviour
Self-image - perception of self
Ideal self - who they aim to be
Greater consistencies = better mental health
Greater discrepancies = increased stress and anxiety (Scott and O’Hara, 1993)
Q-Sort test
Humanistic theories state that personalities cannot be measured
Determines the extent of alignment between the concept of self
Humanistic theories - strengths
Offered alternate viewpoint from behaviourism and psychoanalysis
Widely accepted despite lack of empirical evidence (Wahba and Bridgewell, 1976)
Humansitic theories - limitations
vague concepts
western bias
Social cognitive theory
Bandura (1989)
Emphasises the influence of cognitive processes on personal development; concentrates on thought and reactions in social situations
Behaviours are learnt through observation, influenced by environmental and cognitive factors (reciprical triadic relationship)
Reciprocal Determinism - Bandura (1989)
human behaviour results from interactions between behavioural cognitive and environmental factors (Glanz et al., 2002)
Self-efficacy - Bandura (1989)
Self-belief in one’s proficiency at a tas; high self-efficacy = more likely to succeed at task, low self efficacy = failure
Sources of efficacy - Bandura (1989)
Mastery experiences - successfully handling situation/challenges
Social modelling - witnessing someone similar to youself successfully complete a task leads to greater belief that you can do the same
Social persuation - Bandura (1989)
Persuaded to believe they posses the skills (eg encouragement)
Psychological responses - bandura (1989)
reaction to a situation
Social cognitive theory - Mischel (1998)
Traits are cognitive devices utilized to obtain a certain result
Found that traits are stable across varying situations (intellect), others vary dependant on situation (Mischel and Shoda, 1995)
Factors for behaviour - Mischel (1998)
Comeptencies, cognitive strategies, expectancies, subjective values, self regulatory systems
Competencies - Mischel (1998)
Intellectual capabilities, social and problem solving skills; adaption in different circumstances
Cognitive strategies - Mischel (1998)
Subjective interpretation of events - provides consistency in behaviour due to cognitive patterns
Expectancies - Mischel (1998)
Expected result of behaviour based on past experiences (links to self-efficacy)
Subjective values - Mischel (1998)
Value of alternative outcomes
Self-regulatory systems - Mischel (1998)
Rules/standards of behaviour dependant on intrinsic punishment/reinforcement that regulates behaviour
Social cognitive theory - strengths (Mischel, 1998)
Influential, provoked further research in the area
Concepts supported by empirical evidence; correlations between self-efficacy and clinical problems (Marlatt, Baer, & Quigley, 1995)
Social cognitive theory - limitations (Mischel, 1998)
Unconscious influences aren’t accounted for - all behaviour is determined through interrelation between cognitive processes, behaviour and environmental
Results rely on self-reports - bias (Cook and Campbell, 1979)
