Personality part 1 Flashcards
What are psychological traits?
Traits are the consistent ways you behave that make you different from others.
Example: Being friendly is a trait, but that doesn’t mean you’re friendly 100% of the time—just on average.
What are the Big Five Personality Traits?
The Big Five Personality Traits describe different aspects of personality:
Extraversion (E) – Social and energetic
Example (High): Enjoys parties and talking to new people.
Example (Low): Prefers staying home and avoids large gatherings.
Agreeableness (A) – Kindness and cooperation
Example (High): Helps friends without expecting anything in return.
Example (Low): Argumentative and competitive, values winning over relationships.
Conscientiousness (C) – Organization and responsibility
Example (High): Plans tasks ahead, keeps a tidy workspace.
Example (Low): Often forgets deadlines, messy and disorganized.
Neuroticism (N) – Emotional stability vs. anxiety
Example (High): Worries a lot, gets nervous before tests.
Example (Low): Stays calm under pressure, handles stress well.
Openness to Experience (O) – Creativity and curiosity
Example (High): Loves exploring new hobbies, enjoys trying new foods.
Example (Low): Prefers routine, dislikes change and unfamiliar experiences
What are psychological mechanisms?
Mechanisms are the processes that guide how you act.
Input: Something triggers your attention.
Decision: You think about what to do.
Output: You act based on that decision.
Example: You see someone struggling with their bags (input), you decide to help (decision), and you carry their bags (output).
What does “within the individual” mean in personality?
Your personality is part of you, and you carry it with you from situation to situation.
Example: You might be calm at home and at school because your personality travels with you like your backpack.
What does it mean for traits to be “relatively enduring”?
Traits stay pretty stable over time but can adapt a little in new situations.
Example: If you’re generally optimistic, you won’t become a pessimist overnight, but you may have moments of doubt during tough times.
What are the three environments where personality helps you adapt?
Physical: How you react to danger or obstacles.
Example: If you fear heights, you’ll avoid tall buildings.
Social: How you manage relationships and social challenges.
Example: Competing for a job or making new friends.
Intrapsychic: Your inner thoughts, dreams, and memories.
Example: Your self-esteem might go up after remembering a past success.
What are the four ways personality interacts with the environment?
Perception: How you see a situation.
Example: One person might see a party as fun, another sees it as stressful.
Selection: The situations you choose to be in.
Example: Choosing to hang out with friends instead of staying home.
Evocation: How your personality makes others react to you.
Example: Friendly people often get smiles in return.
Manipulation: How you influence others.
Example: Convincing a friend to try your favorite hobby.
What’s the difference between traits and states?
Traits are long-term and stable (e.g., being generous).
States are temporary feelings or behaviors (e.g., feeling angry in the moment).
Example: A generous person (trait) may not always be giving (state), especially when stressed.
What are influential traits, and how do they affect life?
Traits can shape your decisions, feelings, and actions in life.
Example: If you’re adventurous, you might try new activities, make bold decisions, and prefer exciting jobs.
What’s an example of adaptation in personality?
Personality helps you adjust to challenges or opportunities.
Example: If you’re afraid of snakes, your fear helps you avoid dangerous situations (physical adaptation). If you’re competitive, it might push you to work hard in your career (social adaptation).
What’s an example of perception in personality?
How you interpret a situation depends on your personality.
Example: Seeing a new challenge as exciting (for an optimistic person) or scary (for a cautious person).
Why isn’t personality a random set of traits?
Traits are organized and work together in meaningful ways.
Example: Your desire for food and desire for intimacy affect different areas of life, but they are part of a structured personality.
Why is consistency important in personality?
Even though personality allows for flexibility, it’s mostly stable and predictable.
Example: A friendly person might have bad days, but overall, they’re still seen as kind.
How do personality traits interact with the social environment?
Your personality can help you select environments and adapt to them.
Example: An extroverted person is likely to thrive in social gatherings, whereas an introvert might choose quieter settings like book clubs.
What are the three levels of of Personality Analys
What we all share as humans (human nature).
How people or groups differ (individual and group differences).
What makes each person unique (individual uniqueness).
Give an example of a human nature trait.
The desire to belong and live with others.
Basic emotions like fear, happiness, and anger.
Example: Almost everyone feels fear in the face of danger (like seeing a snake). This is a shared survival mechanism.
What is the second level of personality analysis?
Individual and group differences: Traits that differentiate some people from others or make them similar (like some other people).
Example: Some people are extroverted, thriving in social settings, while others are introverted and prefer quiet spaces.
Group example: Men are generally more physically aggressive than women.
Analogy: Like different smartphone models—some have better cameras, while others prioritize speed.
What’s an example of individual differences?
Example: Some people are more extroverted, seeking energy from social situations, while others are introverted and recharge by being alone.
Another example: Some people are naturally optimistic, while others are more cautious.
What’s an example of group differences?
Example: Men are generally more physically aggressive than women.
Another example: Collectivist cultures (e.g., Japan) value group harmony, while individualist cultures (e.g., the U.S.) value personal success and independence.
What is the third level of personality analysis?
Uniqueness of the individual: The traits and personal qualities that make someone unique (like no other person).
Example: John has a special way of coping with stress by listening to jazz and meditating, while others may go for a run or vent to a friend.
Analogy: Like a custom painting—each person’s personality is uniquely “painted” with their own mix of traits and experiences.
Why is the uniqueness of the individual important?
It explains why no two people are exactly the same, even if they share traits. Their unique mix of experiences and characteristics shapes who they are.
Example: Two siblings raised in the same household can still have very different personalities due to individual experiences.
What is the purpose of personality theories?
Personality theories help explain how and why people behave differently and provide frameworks to predict behavior.
Example: The Big Five personality theory explains differences in traits like openness and conscientiousness.
What is the “fissure in the field” of personality theories?
The fissure refers to between two major ways of studying personality:
Grand theories: These focus on general, universal aspects of human personality (e.g., explaining human nature).
Contemporary research: This focuses on measurable differences between individuals and groups (e.g., personality traits like extroversion).
Why the gap exists: Grand theories aim to explain broad, fundamental aspects of personality (e.g., unconscious motives), but they often lack the precision or methods needed to study individual differences that modern research focuses on.
Example: Freud’s grand theory explains personality through unconscious desires and development, while modern trait-based approaches, like the Big Five, measure specific behaviors and traits.
What are “Grand Theories of Personality”?
Grand theories are broad, overarching frameworks that try to explain the structure and development of personality across all people. They focus on fundamental, universal aspects of personality but are often less focused on measurable differences between individuals.
Characteristics:
Explain human nature and the general development of personality.
Often based on abstract concepts like unconscious motives or stages of development.
They try to provide a “one-size-fits-all” explanation.
Example: Freud’s theory of psychosexual development explains personality through universal stages, such as the oral, anal, and phallic stages. These stages are meant to apply to all individuals but may not capture differences between people like introverts and extroverts.
Why are grand theories criticized?
Grand theories are often too broad and can’t always explain specific individual differences or predict behavior accurately.
Example: Freud’s theory works well for general concepts of childhood development but struggles to explain why one child grows up to be outgoing while another is shy.
What are the three things a good personality theory should do?
Provide a guide for researchers: Help them know what to study.
Organize and explain existing knowledge: Make sense of what we know.
Make predictions: Help predict behavior.
Example: The Big Five theory predicts that highly conscientious people are likely to be dependable and organized.
What are the five standards for evaluating a personality theory?
Comprehensiveness: Explains a wide range of facts.
Heuristic value: Leads to new research and discoveries.
Testability: Can be tested scientifically.
Parsimony: Avoids unnecessary complexity.
Compatibility: Fits with other scientific knowledge.
What does comprehensiveness mean in evaluating a theory?
The theory should explain as many observations and behaviors as possible.
Example: A comprehensive theory explains not only personality traits but how they relate to emotions, actions, and relationship
What is heuristic value?
A theory has heuristic value if it leads to new discoveries and guides research.
Example: Freud’s idea of defense mechanisms led to modern research on coping strategies.
What is testability in personality theories?
A theory should make predictions that can be tested scientifically.
Example: The Big Five theory makes testable predictions about how traits like agreeableness can predict behavior in social settings.
What is parsimony in a personality theory?
The theory should be simple and avoid unnecessary complexity while still explaining important behaviors.
Example: The Big Five theory is parsimonious because it explains a wide range of behaviors with just five key traits.
What does compatibility mean when evaluating a personality theory?
The theory should not contradict known scientific laws or facts from related fields like biology or psychology.
Example: A good theory will integrate psychological research with what is known about brain function and development.
What are the four main sources of personality data?
Self-report data (S data)
Observer-report data (O data)
Test data (T data)
Life-outcome data (L data)
What is self-report data (S data)?
Individuals report their own traits, feelings, or behaviors.
Structured: Questionnaires with fixed options.
Example: “I like noisy parties” (Agree/Disagree).
Unstructured: Open-ended questions.
Example: “How do you feel at parties?”
Weakness: People may lie to present themselves positivel
What is observer-report data (O data)?
Information provided by others observing someone’s behavior (e.g., friends, teachers).
Natural settings: Home, school.
Artificial settings: Lab tests.
Example: A teacher describes a student as shy.
Weakness: Observer bias is possible.
What is test data (T data)?
Data from standardized tests or experiments in controlled environments.
Example: Measuring competitiveness through a task.
Types:
Mechanical recordings (e.g., actometers).
Physiological data (e.g., heart rate).
Projective tests (e.g., Rorschach test).
Weakness: People may change behavior when observed.
What is life-outcome data (L data)?
Data from real-world outcomes (e.g., marriage, job success, criminal records).
Example: Predicting future job performance based on childhood tantrums.
Strength: Reflects long-term behavior.
Why don’t different data sources always agree?
Each source measures different aspects of a trait.
Example: Someone may report being shy (S data), but coworkers see them as outgoing (O data).
Solution: Triangulation (combining sources).
What is reliability in personality measures?
Consistency of test results over time or across conditions.
Types:
Test-retest: Consistency over time.
Internal consistency: Items within a test should agree (e.g., all extraversion questions should measure extraversion)
Inter-rater: Different observers should give similar ratings.
What affects reliability?
Response biases:
Acquiescence: Agreeing with everything.
Extreme responses: Choosing extremes (e.g., “strongly agree”).
Social desirability: Answering to look good.
What is validity in personality assessment?
Whether the test measures what it’s supposed to measure.
Types:
Content validity: Does it cover the trait fully?
Criterion validity: Does it predict outcomes (e.g., IQ → academic success)?
Construct validity: Is the test accurate in measuring the trait?
Content Validity – Does it cover all aspects of the concept? (e.g., a depression test should cover emotions, energy levels, and sleep patterns).
Criterion Validity -
Predictive Validity: Does it predict future outcomes? (e.g., IQ → academic success).
Concurrent Validity: Does it match other established measures?
Construct Validity - Does it measure the intended trait?
Convergent Validity: Does it correlate with related measures? (e.g., anxiety and stress).
Discriminant Validity: Does it not correlate with unrelated traits?
Apparent Validity: Does it look like it measures what it claims?
What is generalizability?
Can test results apply to different people and contexts?
Example: A test for students should also apply to older adults and people in other countries.
What are the three main research designs in personality?
Experimental methods
Correlational studies
Case studies
What is the experimental method?
Researchers manipulate a variable (IV) to observe its effect on another (DV).
Example: Does positive feedback (IV) increase self-esteem (DV)?
Strength: Shows cause and effect.
Weakness: Can be artificial.
What are correlational studies?
Measure the relationship between two variables without manipulating them.
Types of correlation:
Positive: Both increase (e.g., study time and grades).
Negative: One increases, the other decreases (e.g., stress and sleep).
Zero: No relationship.
Weakness: Correlation ≠ causation.
What are case studies?
In-depth studies of one person or a small group.
Example: Studying a person with a rare disorder.
Strength: Detailed, qualitative insights.
Weakness: May not generalize to others.
