Personality And Individual Differences

Question 1

According to Allport, 1961, what is the definition of personality?

Answer 1

the dynamic organisation within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his (sic) characteristic behaviour and thought

Question 2

According to Lazarus and Monat, 1979, what is the definition of personality?

Answer 2

the underlying, relatively stable, psychological structure and processes that organise human experience and shape a persons activities and reactions to the enviro

Question 3

According to Hollander, 1971, what is the definition of personality?

Answer 3

the sum total of an individuals characteristics which make him (sic) unique

Question 4

According to Carlson, Martin and Buskist, 2004, what is the definition of personality?

Answer 4

a particular pattern of behaviour and thinking that prevails across time and situations and differentiates one person from another

Question 5

What is the trait approach?

Answer 5

personality is compromised of a collection of characteristics or traits
traits determine our behaviour in situations
traits can be quantified and measured- psychometric instruments
traits evolve over time

Question 6

What is an ambervert?

Answer 6

in between extrovert and introvert

Question 7

What is Cattells trait theory and when was it made?

Answer 7

1945
personality sphere- total domain of personality traits
lexical hypothesis- attach words to every type of personality through questionnaire
every aspect of human personality is presented by words
35 observable surface traits
after doing factor analysis concluded that there are 16 basic traits
underlying 4 surface traits

Question 8

What are the 4 surface traits discovered by Cattell?

Answer 8

extroversion
anxiety
independence
tough poise- how we present ourselves in a social enviro

Question 9

What is Eysencks trait theory and when was it produced?

Answer 9

1944
those who are high in neuroticism ( emotionally unstable) score high in depression and are anxious
extroverts- sociable, impulsive

physiological basis
introverts have high level of cortical arousal therefore dont need to seek stimulation from enviro
indiv with high neuroticism- greater activity in visceral brain

Question 10

What are the 2 personality factors that Eysenck came up with and what was the third one he came up with later on?

Answer 10

introvert, extrovert 1952
neuroticism (unstable), stability 1952

1978- psychoticism, socialisation- predisposition to suffer
psychotic break down includes- aggression and anti social tendencies

Question 11

How did Cattell measure personality traits, 1969?

Answer 11

16 personality factors test
105 questions
16 first order factors- yellow slide
4 second order factors - extroversion, anxiety, independence, tough poise

Question 12

How did Eysenck measure personality traits, 1957?

Answer 12

Eysenck personality inventory
57 questions
2 dimensions- extrovert, introvert, stable, unstable
lie scale- assess consistency of answers
4 personality types
(stable ex, stable in, unstable ex, unstable in)

Question 13

Who produced the five factor model and what other researchers supported it?

Answer 13

Norman 1963
5 personality factors

openness- curiosity
conscientiousness- disciplined
extraversion 
agreeableness
neuroticism

Goldberg 1990, 1993

Question 14

What are the 5 traits and their states (transient) of measure in sport?

Answer 14

personality- moo and emotion
a trait (anxiety)- a state (how anxious we feel in different situations)
self confidence- self efficacy
attentional style- attentional focus
need for achievement/ feed of failure- intensity of behaviour (how hard we try)

Question 15

How can we identify superior athletes?

Answer 15

using Morgans 1980 iceberg profile
Brunel university mood scale
looks at level of tension, depression, anger, vigour, fatigue, confusion
this model suggests that successful athletes score high for vigour

Question 16

What are the limitations of Morgans mood approach?

Answer 16

limited to short duration sports, longer sports, mood has time to fluctuate
its not just about vigour being high, if depression is high aswell, there will be bad performance even if vigour is high
sometimes in physical sports like boxing, its not all about having good mood

Question 17

What are the pros of the trait approach?

Answer 17

progress in identifying major factors of personality
strong evidence that heredity (passing characteristic from parent to offspring) plays a role in producing individual differences
trait approach has scientific methodology and has testable hypotheses

Question 18

What evidence suggests that heredity plays a role in producing individual differences in personality?

Answer 18

Eysenck and Prell 1951
measured neuroticism
corrolation between identical twins-0.85
dizygotic- only 0.22
80% individual differences in neuoticisim are due to heredity

Question 19

What are the limitations of the trait approach?

Answer 19

cant use trait approach to explain behaviour
personality changes overtime- researchers have not considered the process responsible for the change
Mischel 1968- stated that a weakness of the trait approach stems from cross situational consistency- that any given person should behave in a similar fashion in different situations
he concluded that the correlation of personality and behaviour rarely exceeds 0.3

Question 20

What research was conducted by Potgieter and Venter 1995 about sport psychology?

Answer 20

116 ppts
adherers and dropouts
exercise on campus for over 1 year
used Eysencks personality inventory
adherers did not differ from drop outs in extroversion scores
drop outs scored high in neuroticism
neuroticism cant be the cause as other factors could have caused them to drop out

Question 21

What research was conducted by Schuur, Ashley and Joy 1977 into sports psychology?

Answer 21

males
Cattells 16 personality traits
compared uni athletes and non athletes
no difference in personality between the 2

Question 22

What research was conducted by Williams 1980 into sports psychology?

Answer 22

16 personality trait
looked at differences in personalities between female athletes and non athletes

found female athletes are more achievement orientated, independent, aggressive, emotionally stable, assertive

Question 23

What did Daus, Wilson, and Freeman 1986 propose?

Answer 23

selected professional football players on the basis of 16 personality traits and POMS profile

Question 24

What did Breivik discover 1996?

Answer 24

everest climbers report extreme high scores for drive and stability factors than other climbers

Question 25

What did Tucker 1984 discover?

Answer 25

142 males
those who had muscular strength had shown the following personality traits
neuroticism
extraversion

Question 26

What are the limitations of the trait research studies?

Answer 26

atheoretical designs- not based on theory
tests show low test retest reliability
state measure more predictive of behaviour
tests are generalised and not sport specific
some tests served as purpose to authors ( Ogilvie and Tutko 1968, used to make money)
tests are transparent- ppts can answer in the way coaches look for
small sample
only extreme personalities are typed
what is the ideal level of each attribute/- hard to know as within each sport, personalities are so contrasting