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PSY246 - Social > Personality > Flashcards

Personality Flashcards

1
Q

Why do we care about personality?

A

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)

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2
Q

Why do we study personality?

A

To understand individual differences in particular personality characteristics
To understand how the various parts of a person come together as a whole

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3
Q

Oxford English Dictionary definition of personality

A

The combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual’s distinctive character

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4
Q

APA definition of personality

A

Individual differences in characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving

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5
Q

Temperament vs personality

A

Personality is not stable during childhood and adolescence

We should refer to temperament in younger people and personality in adulthood

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6
Q

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

A

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)

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7
Q

Problems in measurement of personality

A

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

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8
Q

Factor analysis

A

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

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9
Q

Types are assumed to be ____

A

Changeable

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10
Q

Traits are assumed to be _____

A

Immutable

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11
Q

Types

A

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

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12
Q

Ragland & Brand (1988), Rosenmann et al (1976)

A

Type A men are more likely to develop cardiac problems than type B, but the difference is not found among women

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13
Q

Types with less evidence of utility

A

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

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14
Q

Cattell 16PF

A

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

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15
Q

Eysenck’s three-factor model

A

Suggests that there are only 3 factors
Suggested to be linked to brain function very closely

Extroversion/introversion

Neuroticism/stability

Psychoticism/socialisation

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16
Q

Myers-Briggs

A

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

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17
Q

What does a personality model need to be?

A

Robust
Replicable
Not driven by our own views

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18
Q

Mischel (1968)

A

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

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19
Q

Goldberg et al. (1980); Saville & Holdsworth (1984)

A

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

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20
Q

Tupes & Christal (1961)

A

First proposed the Five Factor Model

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21
Q

Five Factor Model

A 
Openness to experience 
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness 
Neuroticism
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22
Q

Openness to experience

A 
Intellectual curiosity 
Emotionally open 
Creative 
Aware of feelings 
Hold unconventional beliefs
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23
Q

Conscientiousness

A

Self-discipline
Strive for externally-validated achievement
Regulate impulses
Planful rather than spontaneous
(Rises in young adulthood and declines in later years)

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24
Q

Extraversion

A 
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)
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25
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) ```
26
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)
27
Factors vs facets
McCrae & Costa (2003) Example - factor: extraversion; facets: warmth, gregariousness, assertiveness, activity Six facets per factor
28
Facets of openness to experience
``` Fantasy Aesthetics Feelings Actions Ideas Values ```
29
Facets of conscientiousness
``` Competence Order Dutifulness Achievement striving Self-discipline Deliberation ```
30
Facets of extraversion
``` Warmth Gregariousness Assertiveness Activity Excitement-seeking Positive emotions ```
31
Facets of agreeableness
``` Trust Straightforwardness Altruism Compliance Modesty Tender-mindedness ```
32
Facets of neuroticism
``` Anxiety Hostility Depression Self-consciousness Impulsiveness Vulnerability ```
33
What predicts behaviour better, factors of facets?
Facets
34
Practical consequence of using Big Five which includes facets?
There are a lot more items than those that just focus on the factors
35
NEO-PI-R
Facets and factors Widely used and widely cross-culturally validated Factors have better psychometric properties than the facets 243 items
36
Big Five Inventory
Facets and factors John & Srivastava (1999) 44 items Also exists in a ten-item version (no facets)
37
IPIP Big-Five Factor Markers
Factors only Good psychometric properties (Goldberg & Lewis, 1992) 50 items
38
TIPI
``` Factors only Gosling et al. (2003) 10 items Correlates well with longer measures Also developed a 5 item version but this is less robust ```
39
Controversies with the Big Five
Phenomenological, rather than theory-based Limited availability of the big five to predict behaviour Does not cover all traits (masculinity/femininity, sensation-seeking, honesty)
40
Is there a sixth factor?
Ashton et al (2004) Suggested factor honesty-humility Facets include: sincerity, modesty, fairness
41
What are the origins of personality - background considerations
It is unlikely something so complex and interactive could be due to a single cause Need to consider: evolution, genetics, environment, interaction of biology and environment
42
The evolution of personality
Buss (1991) Role of natural selection in personality development over time Sometimes forced more quickly due to a change in circumstance
43
Phineas Gage case
Frontal damage resulted in loss of self-control and executive functions
44
The Christchurch experience
After earthquake 1, lots of people moved out Then earthquake 2 and even more people moved out Will there one day be a whole city of non-neurotic people? (as all the neurotic people move out) NOT A REAL STUDY, ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE
45
What characteristics might we assume will thrive?
Agreeableness/sociability Emotional stability Conscientiousness Openness to experience
46
Genetic influence on personality
Assumed that personality is genetic x environment factors
47
Most convincing evidence for genetic influence on personality
Comes from twin studies Looking for evidence that MZ twins are more alike than DZ twins, and that both are more alike than non-twins Not perfect as MZ twins may be treated more alike than MZ twins Assumptions about how much shared environmental experience is allocated to models
48
Loehlin & Nicholas (1976)
Investigated some of the Big Five characteristics across several countries (neuroticism and extraversion) MZ twins = .50 correlation (25% of shared variance) DZ twins = .20 correlation (4% of shared variance)
49
Loehlin & Nicholas (1976) discussion
One of the first big twin studies - 850 pairs MZ twins are more similar than DZ twins in their general abilities e.g. intelligence Less different in terms of big goals, interests etc i.e. the stuff that is environmentally influenced No where near 100% concordance for anything psychological
50
What is the assumption for the survival of characteristics?
The world remains a constant social environment
51
Goldberg (1990)
Argued that the interaction of genes and experience explains personality
52
Who were strong gene advocates and believed that most of our personality comes from genetics
Cattell and Eysenck
53
Psychoanalytic theories
Id - the desire for immediate gratification of desires Ego - imposing reality on those desires Superego - the conscience (develops later, out of experience and parenting)
54
Humanist theories
Focused on growth and self-actualisation Less governed by fatalistic mechanisms, more governed by interactions with the world Theory is under evidenced and difficult to test or disprove
55
Behaviourist theories
Characteristic patterns of behaviour, feeling and thinking that are influenced by the environment and other people Classical and operant conditioning
56
Operant conditioning
Reinforcement of conscientious of agreeable behaviour
57
Classical conditioning
Children come to expect bad things and so develop characteristics such as neuroticism
58
Social-cognitive theories
Modelling of behaviours and attitudes | Cognitive styles that influence how we see the world
59
Bandura
Bobo doll experiment | If children saw adults be aggressive to the doll, they were more likely to be aggressive
60
Cognitive styles
Attributional styles influence how we see the world Negative/positive Stable/unstable Global/local
61
Positive attributional bias
If a good thing happens, it is because of us | If something bad happens it is either chance or someone else's fault
62
Negative attributional bias
If something bad happens, it is my fault | If something good happens it is chance or because of someone else
63
Controversies in personality
What are the origins of personality? Is personality a life-long phenomenon, or can it change naturally? Can we change personality using therapy approaches?
64
Psychosocial theories
Psychoanalytic Humanist Behaviourist Social cognitive
65
Edmonds et al (2013); Hampson & Goldberg (2006)
Suggests stability from adolescence up to middle age
66
Harris et al (2016)
Followed up on sample of adults who were rated on their personality characteristics at age 14 Now aged 77
67
Weaknesses of Harris et al (2016)
Recruitment rate - Found 635/1208, only 174 completed follow up - Completers were brighter than average at the beginning Method of assessment - Originally teacher-rated, now self-rated (teachers probably dead) Not quite big 5 because it didn't exist at the start
68
Harris et al (2016) results
Poor correlations | None were significant
69
Soto et al (2011)
``` Cross-sectional study Used a web based survey, using big 5 measures Over a million ppts Age 10-65 Males and females ```
70
Soto et al (2011) weakness
Cohort study, people who are currently 20 may not turn into people who are currently 30
71
Soto et al (2011) results
Conscientiousness - drop during adolescence, then growth, and women and higher than men Agreeableness - females become and remain more agreeable post-adolescence Neuroticism - females become more neurotic from adolescence and stay that way, males get less neurotic Extraversion - drop during adolescence, then stable, males more introvert than females Openness - males less open in childhood, then more open, females less open at about 18, and then grow in openness
72
Soto et al (2011) facets
Gender differences less clear
73
Personality is not .... but is a .... which is affected by context
Deterministic, steer
74
Personality-level interventions
Surgical - lobotomy or leucotomy Electro-conulsive therapy Aversion therapy to 'cure' aggression, homosexuality etc Psychological therapy to target personality disorders
75
Morey & Hopwood (2013)
10 year symptom stability of some personality disorders is less pronounced Antisocial PD - .65 stability Dependent PD - .29 stability Histrionic PD - .15 stability Target disorders which have high stability, therefore need active changing
76
Dissociative identity disorder (DID)
Multiple personality disorder
77
Beck's (1981) model
All have personality models Function smoothly because they communicate clearly (how we act around out mum differs to how we act around our friends) Becomes a problem when those personalities dissociate

PSY246 - Social (6 decks)

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