Personality Flashcards
Type theory
Original personality theory
Hippocrates
Based on physical appearance
Mostly given way to trait theories
Phrenology
Head/skull shape to discern personality
Franz Gall
Developed phrenology
William Sheldon
Devised a system based on somatotypes (body types)
Enomorph
Short, plump
Pleasure-seeking, social
Mesomorph
Athletic, muscular
Energetic, aggressive
Ectomorph
Skinny, fragile
Inhibited, intellectual
Adler
Personality typology
Trait theories
Relatively stable characteristics
Gordon Allport
Emphasized ideographic approach
Conscious motives-proprium
Ideographic approach
Attempts to capture an individual’s unique, defining characteristics
Nomothetic approach
Uses large numbers of people to study commonalities of personality
Proprium
Allport’s version of ego
He believes acted mostly consistently based on developed traits through experience
Lexical approach
Picking all possible traits out of dictionary, allport gathered about 5,000 traits this way
Trait hierarchy
Allport hypothesized this as reason for people acting differently in different situations
Cardinal trait at top, then secondary
States
Temporary feelings/characteristics not to be confused with traits
Taxonomies
Organized categorical systems for personality
Raymond Cattell
Data reduction for Allport’s traits into 16 personality factors
Big Five
Superfactors, developed by modern theorists Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism
Dispositionists
Emphasized internal determinants of behavior, original theory
Situationists
Such as behaviorists, argued only circumstances determine behavior
Interactionists
Forefront now, combination of internal and circumstance
Seymour Epstein Walter Mischel
Problem with trait and type theories is they assume behavior is stable
Consistency paradox
Consistency paradox
The possibility that a person may behave inconsistently, problematic for labeling people with one internal disposition
Mischel with Nancy Cantor
Proposed the cognitive prototype approach
Thought consistency of behavior is a result of cognitive processes than personality traits
Cognitive prototype approach
Cognitive behavior is examined in social situations
Kay Deaux
Found women’s successes in male tasks were attributed to luck whereas males successes to skill
Even for themselves, indicating women have lower self-esteem
Sandra Bem
Studied androgyny
Created Bem Sex Role Inventory
Androgynous individuals
Higher self-esteem, lower anxiety, and more adaptability
Matina Horner
Women feared success and negative repercussions, such as resentment and rejection
Alice Eagly
Interaction between gender and social status, how easily can be influenced
Maccoby and Jacklin
Scrutinized studies of sex differences, found few existed that couldn’t be explained from social learning
Consistent Gender differences
Females- verbal
Males- visual/spatial
Still hotly debated
Depression gender differences
Women are twice as likely to become depressed as men
Meyer Friedman
Ray Rosenman
Studied type A personality
Type A personality
Competitiveness, tension, hostility, drive, most common in middle and upper class men
Grant Dahlstrom
Linked type A personality to heart disease and other health issues
Authoritarianism
Disposition to view the world as full of power relationships
Conventional, aggressive, stereotyping, anti-introspective
Highly domineering if top dog
Highly submissive if more powerful
Fascism Scale (F scale)
Measures authoritarianism personality traits
Hans Eysenck
Identify underlying traits of introversion/extraversion and neuroticism stable/unstable
Four quadrants of introversion/neuroticism
Phlegmatic, melancholic, choleric and Sanguine
Phlegmatic
Relaxed, peaceful
Melancholic
Analytical, quiet
Choleric
Short tempered, irritable
Sanguine
Optimistic, social
George Kelley
Personal Constructs, ideas about self, others, and situations, determine personality and behavior
Seymour Epstein
Critical of trait theory
External locus of control
Events as the result of luck or fate
Too much-> helplessness
Internal locus of of control
Events are outcomes of own actions
Too much= self blame
Julian Rotter
Developed internal/external locus of control
Implicit theories
Assumptions about dispositions based on actions
Dispositional attribution
Tendency to think actions are caused by personality over situation
AKA fundamental attribution error
Barnum effect
Tendency to accept personality interpretations provided
Phenomenological view
Focuses on the individuals unique self and experiences
Self-awareness
State- temporary condition
Mirrors
Large mirrors ake people more self aware
Self- monitoring
Act appropriately rather than honestly
Self- consciousness
A trait, paying a lot of attention to yourself, self-aware
Self esteem
50 percent of people accurate, 35 narcissistically
