Personality Flashcards
Why do we care about personality?
Predictability - allows us to plan and commit resources
But we like some variability within predictable limits in the right context
So we apply cognitive consistency to how we understand the individual
We attribute people’s beliefs/moods/behaviours to personality or to the situation (or a combination)
Why do we study personality?
To understand individual differences in particular personality characteristics
To understand how the various parts of a person come together as a whole
Oxford English Dictionary definition of personality
The combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual’s distinctive character
APA definition of personality
Individual differences in characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving
Temperament vs personality
Personality is not stable during childhood and adolescence
We should refer to temperament in younger people and personality in adulthood
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
Originally designed to allow us to label people with psychological problems (leans towards difficulties rather than strengths)
15 dimensions
567 questions
Widely used without always being clear why (some insurance companies in US demand MMPI is done before treatment can be approved for payment)
Problems in measurement of personality
Fatigue - later responses become blander
Social desirability bias
Misleading answers in context (job application)
Most adult measures do not work well with children
Interpretation - what does it mean if someone has a particular characteristic/set of characteristics
Factor analysis
How different characteristics correlate into bigger groups
Can bias the findings by only asking about characteristics which interest us, and interpreting them according to our own personalities
Types are assumed to be ____
Changeable
Traits are assumed to be _____
Immutable
Types
Usually derived from experience, and with clinical or practical implications in a limited field
Type A personality - competitive, outgoing, ambitious, impatient, aggressive
Type B - relaxed, calm, unflagging
Ragland & Brand (1988), Rosenmann et al (1976)
Type A men are more likely to develop cardiac problems than type B, but the difference is not found among women
Types with less evidence of utility
Type C personality - detail orientated, unassertive, suppresses wants, needs and desires, appears unemotional but suppresses this, suggested link to cancers
Type D - negative outlook on life, fear of rejection, prone to depression, not clear of health implication
Cattell 16PF
Less linked to psychological problems
Similar approach to MMPI - lots of items, subjected to factor analysis
16 personality factors (warmth, reasoning, conscientiousness, sensitivity etc) (have never been replicated)
Further analysis shows there is a better 5-factor model
Eysenck’s three-factor model
Suggests that there are only 3 factors
Suggested to be linked to brain function very closely
Extroversion/introversion
Neuroticism/stability
Psychoticism/socialisation
Myers-Briggs
Four components, presented as dichotomies that sum up to four personality types
Intuition/Sensing
Introversion/Extroversion
Feeling/Thinking
Perception/Judging
Presented as one of 16 personality types e.g. ESFP
What does a personality model need to be?
Robust
Replicable
Not driven by our own views
Mischel (1968)
Personality measures were only very weakly associated with behaviours and outcomes
Argued that the notion of personality is unhelpful, and we are better to focus on the impact of the situation that we are in
Goldberg et al. (1980); Saville & Holdsworth (1984)
Re-considered the factors in personality, driven by data rather than theory
Came up with five factors
Good correlations with patterns of behaviour
Good correlations with individual behaviours when under stress
Tupes & Christal (1961)
First proposed the Five Factor Model
Five Factor Model
Openness to experience Conscientiousness Extraversion Agreeableness Neuroticism
Openness to experience
Intellectual curiosity Emotionally open Creative Aware of feelings Hold unconventional beliefs
Conscientiousness
Self-discipline
Strive for externally-validated achievement
Regulate impulses
Planful rather than spontaneous
(Rises in young adulthood and declines in later years)
Extraversion
Lots of activities Engages with outside world Lots of interaction with others Action-oriented Talkative Assertive (Those who are more extroverted are likely to be happier, possibly because they do more activities and mix more - more positive reinforcement)
Agreeableness
Focus on social harmony Considerate Trusting and trustworthy Optimistic Make compromises (Agreeable people are more likely to get on with team members, seen as transformational leaders)
Neuroticism
Experience of negative emotions
Low stress tolerance
Reactive to emotion
Perceive threat and frustration
Higher levels of biological reactivity (skin conductance)
(Strong links to psychological distress and work stress)
Factors vs facets
McCrae & Costa (2003)
Example - factor: extraversion; facets: warmth, gregariousness, assertiveness, activity
Six facets per factor
Facets of openness to experience
Fantasy Aesthetics Feelings Actions Ideas Values
Facets of conscientiousness
Competence Order Dutifulness Achievement striving Self-discipline Deliberation
Facets of extraversion
Warmth Gregariousness Assertiveness Activity Excitement-seeking Positive emotions
