Personality Chapter 3-6 Flashcards
EXAM 1
What are traits?
They are internal desires, needs, and wants from one situation to the next
What are the Three Approaches to Identifying Traits
Lexical, Statistical, Theoretical
Theoretical Approach
Theory explains behavior. The behavior suggests internal traits Ex: Theory of Sociosexual Orientation
The purpose is to discuss how early personality psychologists understood what traits we have
Lexical Approach - Synonym Frequency
The more words to describe a trait, the more important
Lexical Approach - Cross Cultural Universality
Which cultures have a word for any specific trait?
Describing differences among people, natural language
What are the Pros & Cons to the Lexical Approach?
Perspectives, but Too many adjectives to describe
Statistical Approach - Factor Analysis
Group ratings of trait adjectives into basic categories, Items that covary ( certain adjectives go together, positive correlation) together are grouped under a factor (Important that they don’t load onto other traits)
Eysenck’s Hierarchical Model of Personality
He believed these traits were heritable and have psychophysiological foundation:
Psychoticism (P)
Extraverstion-Introversion (E)
Neuroticism-Emotional Stability (N)
Wiggins Circumplex
Interactions between people best display their inner interpersonal traits
Interactions are exchanges of love and status ( both adding and removing)
Cattell’s Taxonomy: The 16 PF System
Started with the lexical approach and self reports
Then used the factor analysis - that identified the 16 factors
The criticisms - others failed to replicate the same 16 factors
Three relationships of Circumplex Taxonomies
Adjacency - how close the traits are to each other, positively correlated
Bipolarity - opposite sides of circle, 2 negative correlated
Orthogonal - perpendicularity no relationship
Five Factor Model
Found by dozens of researchers using different samples, replicated in different languages, replicated in every decade for the past half century
The 16 PF System Related Research
347 university students given personality assessment
120 survey items to begin
They used factor analysis to confirm 12 out of the 16 factors
The 12 factors are more closely related to the 5 factor model
Cattell’s model eventually led to the 5 factor model
Five Factor Model Related Research
Over 25K people from 18 different countries surveyed
Researchers were specifically interested in education level
Lower educated adults don’t fit the 5 factor model
Found that those with less education were more likely acquiescent
When correcting for this bias, a model fit was found
Wiggins Cricumplex Related Research
315 participants given Interpersonal Adjectives Scale
Also given to friends and spouse, taken about the participants
Researchers found corroborating evidence of the individuals personality
Complements the 5 factor model and is related to E and A
Five Factor Model OCEAN
Openness Conscientiousness Extraversion Agreeableness Neuroticism
- used the lexical and statistical approaches
- achieved a greater degree of consensus than any other trait taxonomy
- missing positive and negative evaluations
- missing religiosity and spirituality
HEXACO
Honesty Emotionality Extraversion Agreeableness Conscientiousness Openness
Based on research, profitability outcomes with honesty
Assumptions about Personality
There are measurable differences between people
Our personalities largely stay the same as we age
The traits we have remain with us in all situations
Assumptions in Research
52 People were given personality assessment at the age of 26 and again at age 32, They needed to write a personal narrative which was analyzed for communication ability, problem solving ability, and emotional ability
Results then showed the there were growth in all qualities
SAME high to high low to low
marriage mediated the largest gains in all qualities
Person-Situation Interaction
From our internal qualities, we tend to construct our situations
How we see the world, tends to favor us and our needs/interests
Individual Differences Matter
Characteristics of the person moderate their feelings, thoughts, and behaviors (even if the construal is the same) Ex: driving
Selection, Evocation, Manipulation
place ourselves in situations, and our traits then evoke specific responses, how we influence others
Selection Research
Need for achievement : work
Extraversion: recreation
We pick our situations based on our traits
Evocation Research
People who lived in city areas are higher on these qualities and prefer: fast paced lifestyle, increased ability to exploit others for their own gain, financially or sexually
decreased likelihood of getting caught
DARK TRIAD - Manipulation, Machiavellianism, Psychoticism/psychopathology
narcissism/psychopathy
Manipulation Research
59 dating couples, Charm, Silent Treatment, Regression, Coercion, Reason, & Debasement
Sex differences with regression and debasement
Debasement means lowering values
Aggregating Behavior
We can tell someone’s attitude based on several samples of behavior
Adding up or averaging several observations
Results in more reliable assessment Ex: going to church
Participants record daily activity for 6 months: r.08 one day basis
three week segments aggregate activity level r= .66
Prediction for the Workforce
Personnel Selection
Integrity Testing
Concerns over Negligent Hiring
