Personality Flashcards
Why do we care about personality and why do we label people?
- Predictability: We’re trying to impose predictability on the world
- Variability: We apply consistency to the person across all domains and form ideas about peoples personality all the time.
How do we form personality and stereotype views?
We tend to go with our overall judgement and make assumptions about causes rather than change our overall judgement because we like consistency.
What is personality?
Individual differences in our characteristics and qualities.
They form an individuals distinctive character
Theory: Different modes of personality
We have different modes which are different ways of interacting with the world.
It changes with the situation that we’re in but can become problematic when “two worlds collide” / inconsistency
Temperament vs Personality
We don’t generally settle until between 21 and 25, so before this point we refer to temperament.
How do you measure personality?
MMPR - 567 of questions for optimum data but usually shorter.
Very out of date but still used.
Statistical factor analysis.
What are the issues with MMPR
Fatigue
Socially desirable answers
Misleading answers
Interpretation: what does it mean? Do we disregard results that don’t meet our own opinions? Can you be different in person to on paper?
Adult measures don’t work well with children due to being prone to change.
What is the Major models of personality?
Type A or B
A: Competitive, outgoing, ambitious
B: Relaxed, Calm
C - emotionally cut off
D - negative out-look on life but not liked to mental health
What are the multi-dimensional models of personality?
MMPI
Cattell’s 16 personality factors
Eysenck’s 3 factor model
Myers Briggs
What is MMPI?
Inventory of questions used to test personality.
What is Cattell’s 16 personality factors?
There are 16 personality factors used to assess personality however this has never been replicated and you cannot get the same numbers out of the same data set
What is Eysenck’s 3 factor model?
Three key factors that are linked to brain function and temperament.
- extra/introvert
- psychotic-ism (aggression)/socialism
- neuroticism/stability
However, he wouldn’t accept that he was wrong and wouldn’t allow anything to the contrary to be published.
Different personality = different biology.
Explain Myers Briggs 4 components.
- intrusion/sensing
- intro/extrovert
- feeling/thinking
- perception/judging
Presented to sum up to a personality type and the combinations are presented as one of the 16 personality types.
Bert
Created correlation coefficients that showed biological aspects were overwhelmingly responsible.
Made up people and results to back up his theory. White male superiority.
Moral? We can’t adapt science to meet your own social beliefs or expectations.
Goldberg
We don’t know enough but it is likely to be a combination of biology and the environment.
Best method?
MZ twins compared with DZ twins.
Bert then developed this to MZ twins that are raised separately (Same biology, different environment).