Personality Psychology Flashcards
The Dispositional/Trait Approach
- Aims to identify the major components of personality that influence behaviour
∙ Tests/questionnaires
∙ Psychometrics
∙ Statistical techniques e.g. factor analysis
What are traits/dispositions?
- Descriptive statements about personality ‘core’ characteristics
- The relatively stable and enduring qualities of a person. Typical. Assumed to be durable so that behaviour will be the same whatever the time or situation
- Differences between individuals arise from differences in the strength, amount and number of dispositions each person has
Goals of the dispositional approach
- Identify the underlying dimensions of personality
∙ Main traits, and number of them, helps to do this - To discover how people differ
∙ how we can measure the differences in traits using personality tests - Influence/predict behaviour
Type and trait theories
- We use the word ‘type’
- Type theory of personality = Discrete categories view of personality
Galen’s type theory
- Phlegmatic, Sanguine, Melancholic, Choleric
Type theories
- Types are useful to make a quick summary
- But:
∙ How valid is it to think of a person as a type?
∙ Is a person always one type rather than another?
∙ Can our judgements be at fault?
✳︎ Stereotypes can be incorrect - Can be at fault
- “A major complaint about ‘type’ theories is that human personality is so varied it won’t fit into a few discrete categories. Most people are a mixture of types, not one or the other, and can’t be assigned to a discrete category” (Hufferman, 1990).
Traits – a continuum
- The theory that recognises and answers this is the TRAIT approach.
- The continuum approach to personality e.g. height, friendliness
Traits v types
- In practice the trait v type distinction is often blurred
Allport (1897-1967)
- Aimed to identify the key traits of personality
- Allport and Odbert (1936)
∙ 18,000 human traits
✳︎ some physical e.g. short, tall, blonde
✳︎ some behavioural e.g. shy, loud
✳︎ some moral e.g. honest, trustworthy
∙ 4,500 main personality traits
∙ 160
Allport
Allport divided traits into 2 different groups
1. Common traits
shared by members of a culture
2. Individual traits
a person’s unique qualities
∙ Allport said these individual traits take 3 forms
Allport: Individual traits - 1. Cardinal traits
∙ a dominant, powerful trait that characterises & influences nearly all of a person’s behaviour. Rare.
Allport: Individual traits - 2. Central traits
∙ core’ behavioural tendencies that are highly characteristic of an individual
∙ influential but don’t dominate behaviour
∙ we each have 5 – 10 central traits
∙ what others see. Guide us to behave consistently.
Allport: Individual traits - 3. Secondary traits
∙ all other traits in a person.
∙ show in some situations but not others.
Idiographic v Nomothetic
- Each person’s blend of traits is UNIQUE to them.
- Idiographic - individuals
- Nomothetic – groups
∙ how are people similar or different?
✳︎ Cattell
✳︎ Eysenck
Cattell and Eysenck
- Both developed their theories based on information about personality such as from questionnaires
- They used a statistical technique called Factor Analysis to help them determine the number of traits and the important ones.
- Each found a different answer.
Factor analysis
- FA is a mathematical technique, based on correlations that allows you to investigate and determine which particular items tend to be answered in the same way by a particular person.
- This allows you to infer what things go together
Different methods of Factor analysis
- The ORTHOGONAL METHOD - Results in: ∙ a small number of powerful factors ∙ independent of each other ∙ Used by Eysenck - The OBLIQUE METHOD - Results in: ∙ a large number of less powerful factors ∙ correlated to some extent ∙ Used by Cattell
Cattell
- 4500 – 171 - 35
- He distinguished between 2 types of trait
- SURFACE TRAITS
∙ visible aspects of personality (35)
∙ did a factor analysis - SOURCE TRAITS
∙ the underlying personality traits from which surface traits are derived
∙ he said there are 16 source traits (the 16PF)
∙ Major personality traits – can predict behaviour
Personality information - multivariate
- Data about personality gathered from 3 sources:
- Q DATA: questionnaire and interview data
- L DATA: gathered from life records (school report, work history etc)
- T DATA: gathered from objective testing
Eysenck
- Eysenck’s initial theory was based on 2 principal traits (types) ∙ introversion / extraversion ∙ stable / unstable (neuroticism) - Later added ∙ psychoticism (self-control)
Introversion: a type characterised by
- prefer solitary activities
- quiet and reserved
- cautious
- reading and study
- has few but close friends
- plans ahead
- reliable
- has high ethical standards
- feelings under control
- deals easily with concepts and ideas
Extraversion: a typer characterised by tendencies to be
- socially outgoing
- to express feelings and impulses freely
- a high level of activity.
- sociable with many friends
- impulsive
- sensation seeking
- risk taker
- enjoys parties
- carefree
- aggressive
- feelings not under tight control
- unreliable
- needs to have first hand experience of things
Neuroticism
- Emotional stability / instability
∙ a type characterised by:
✳︎ instability: a nature full of anxiety, worries and guilt
✳︎ stability: refers to a nature that is relaxed and at peace with oneself. - ‘are you inclined to be moody’
- ‘do ideas run through your head so that you cannot sleep?’
Normal distribution
- “Bell Curve”
Psychoticism
- Antisocial tendencies: ∙ Solitary, do not care for people ∙ Disregard danger ∙ Troublesome, do not fit in ∙ Like to make fools of others ∙ Cruel, inhumane, lack feeling, are sensitive ∙ Opposes accepted social customs ∙ Sensation seeking, under aroused ∙ Impersonal (sex) ∙ Hostile and aggressive ∙ Like odd or unusual things
Skewed distribution
- Low - High scores on psychoticism
EPQ
- Eysenck’s types are measured by the EPQ
- E
- N
- P
- L
- PEN
Hierarchical model of personality
- Type level → trait level → habitual response level → specific response levels
Dispositional approach: Traits
- Traits are basic components of personality
- Descriptive terms
- They influence a person’s behaviour
The five factor model of personality
- Tupes and Christal (1961)
- Norman (1963)
►Analysis of trait terms used by people to describe personality
►Led to 5 factor model - Goldberg (1981)
- Costa and McCrae (1985) arrived at the most common terms used
The 5 factor model: factors
- Openness
- Conscientiousness
- Extraversion
- Agreeableness
- Neuroticism
Openness: (to experience) (Culture, Intellect)
- A tendency to enjoy new experiences especially intellectual experiences, the arts, culture and anything that exposes the person to new ideas.
- Closed = insensitive to art, rigid, bored, dogmatic, conventional, down-to-earth
Conscientiousness: (Responsibility)
- Hardworking, reliable, ambitious, energetic, careful, thorough, responsible, self-disciplined.
- Opposite = irresponsible, careless and undependable.
Extraversion
- A tendency to seek new experiences.
- Associated with warmth, assertiveness and excitement seeking.
- Enjoy meeting new people and having the company of other people
- A stable positive mood under most circumstances (Williams, 1990).
- Opposite = reserved, sober, quiet.
Agreeableness: (Conformity, Likeability)
- Sympathetic, co-operative, good-natured, trusting
- A tendency to be compassionate toward others
- A concern for the welfare of other people.
- Opposite = Antagonism (mistrustful, sceptical, stubborn, rude).
Neuroticism
- a tendency to experience unpleasant and negative emotions easily.
- Worrying, anxiety, insecure, self-conscious, temperamental. Depression
- Opposite is stability, calm, relaxed, secure, unemotional.
The 5 factor model
Thought to represent the personality traits that people consider are most important.
Fundamental lexical (language) hypothesis (Goldberg (1990)
Useful for prediction of behaviour.
Measuring the 5 factors
- Costa and McCrae (1988)
►The NEO Personality Inventory (Revised 1992)
►NEO-PI-R
►Each of the 5 big factors is subdivided into 6 or more FACETS (specific traits that make up the larger factor)
Evaluation of the 5 factor model
- It’s good if we want a practical way to describe a lot of the variation in personality in a small number of terms.
- But if we want a complete theoretical understanding of personality; then 5 factors is probably not a good enough ‘theory‘.
Why do we have the traits we have? - A criticism of trait theories
- Descriptive
- No explanation of what might influence development of traits/where they come from.
- Criticism meant some explanation for existence of traits was needed.