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Personality and Individual Differences > Personality Traits > Flashcards

Personality Traits Flashcards

1
Q

What is Allport (1961) definition of personality traits?

A

A dynamic organisation inside the person, of psychophysical systems that create a person’s characteristic patterns of behaviour, thought and feelings

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2
Q

What is Burger’s (1997) definition of personality trait?

A

A dimension of personality used to categorise people according to the degree to which they manifest a particular characteristic

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3
Q

What are the two assumptions of trait theory?

A

Personality characteristics are relatively stable over time
Traits show stability across situations

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4
Q

What are personality traits spilt into according to Allport?

A

Cardinal, central and secondary traits

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5
Q

What are cardinal traits?

A

Single traits that dominate the personality and influence behaviour (obsessions)

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6
Q

What are central traits?

A

5-10 traits that best describe the individual’s personality

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7
Q

What are secondary traits

A

Individuals’ preferences that become apparent in certain situations

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8
Q

What are the limitations of the trait approach?

A

Impossible to use personality traits to predict behaviour in certain situations

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9
Q

What are the assumptions of Lexical Hypothesis?

A

The most meaningful traits will be used in language as single terms
The number of words in a language that refer to the trait correspond to the importance when describing personality
If the lexical hypothesis is valid it should apply across different cultures and languages

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10
Q

What did Allport identify for the lexical hypothesis?

A

18000 words, 4500 describing personality

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11
Q

What is the limitation of the lexical hypothesis?

A

The list of 4500 words is too long for assessing personality

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12
Q

Who built on lexical hypothesis theory?

A

Costa & McCrae (1992)

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13
Q

What did Costa and McCrae do?

A

Statements that the pp agreed or disagreed with can better access components of personality
Analysed the data

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14
Q

What did Costa & McCrae find?

A

There are 5 factors
Openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism

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15
Q

What is openness and how is it beneficial?

A

Intellectual curiosity which is good for jobs that require creativity

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16
Q

What is conscientiousness and how is it beneficial?

A

Self-discipline, control, order which is linked to job performance and organisation

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17
Q

What is extraversion and how is it beneficial?

A

Warmth and excitement-seeking which is important for customer interaction

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18
Q

What is agreeableness?

A

Trusting, sympathy which is good for roles in teamwork and conflict resolution

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19
Q

What is neuroticism and how is it beneficial?

A

Emotional stability which is preferred in high stress jobs

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20
Q

Who supported the 5 factor model?

A

Norman (1964) & Boyle (1989)

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21
Q

What did Norman find?

A

Reproduced the same 5 factor structure with personality ratings from peers

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22
Q

What did Boyle (1989) find?

A

5 factor is compatible with Cattrell’s 14 factor measure and Eysenck’s 3 factor measure

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23
Q

Who looked at application of OCEAN model?

A

Woods et al

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24
Q

What did Woods et al find?

A

Neuroticism= less ‘emotional exhaustion’ but ‘conscientiouness’ has the opposite effect due to neuroticism causing them to withdraw
Conscientiousness was found to relate to performance (Stewart, 1999)
Openness correlating with ‘artistic and conventional (negative) occupations, agreeableness with social… extraversion’ p.10
‘high conscientiousness and low neuroticism are related to job performance’ p.10 Hurtz and Donovan, 2000 ‘ and career success’ Judge et al 1999

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25
What is factor analysis?
A way of reducing data from many variables to their underlying dimensions. Variables that correlate with each other can form one factor
26
What did Cattell define as personality?
The characteristics of the individual that allow prediction of how they will behave in a given situation
27
What is an assumption of factor analysis?
Traits are stable and long lasting blocks of personality
28
What is the distinction between traits?
Genetic- constitutional traits Environmental- environmental-mold traits
29
What did Cattrell do to distinguish between personality traits that are genetic vs environmental?
Made the MAVA
30
What are the three types of traits according to Cattrell?
Ability, temperament and dynamic
31
What are ability traits?
Traits that determines how well we deal with particular situations and how well we reach the goal of the situation
32
What are temperamental traits?
Individual differences when pursuing goals
33
What are dynamic traits?
Traits that motivate behaviour and are organised
34
What are the three types of dynamic traits?
Attitudes, sentiments and ergs
35
What are attitudes (dynamic traits)?
Hypothetical contracts that express interest in things in certain situations and helps predict how we will behave
36
What are sentiments (dynamic traits)?
Complex attitudes such as opinions, determines how we fee
37
What are ergs (dynamic traits)?
Innate motivators and drives, cause attending to stimuli readily and seeks satisfaction
38
What traits identify with factor analysis?
Source and surface traits
39
What are surface traits?
Collection of trait descriptions that cluster in individuals and situations and correlate together and are overt
40
What are source traits?
Differences in personality traits which accounted for observed behaviour, identified with factor analysis, represent the structure of the personality
41
Who looked at surface traits?
Cattrell & KIine, 1977
42
What did Cattrell & Kline find?
46 surface traits are sufficient when describing ID in personality
43
How was the 16 PF developed?
The 46 were factor analysed from large samples, use of data collection (data from ratings of individuals from people who knew them) and rate behaviour on a likert scale and found 16 major factors that represent personality
44
What are examples from the 16PF?
Factor A- outgoing-reserved Factor B- intelligence (high 8-low 8) Factor C- stable-emotional (high ego-low ego strength) emotional stability and impulse control
45
What did factor analysis provide?
16 personality factors from the list of 4500 trait names that Allport and Odbert identified
46
Who looked at global factors and what did they find?
Conn & Rieke There are 5 global factors: Extraversion, anxiety, tough-mindedness, independence, self control
47
Who supported 16 PF?
Barton (1971)
48
What did Barton find?
It is a good predictor of success
49
Who found issues with 16PF?
Conn and Rieke, 1994
50
What is an issue with the 16 PF?
Cultural Sensitivity: While the 16PF has been shown to work across various cultures, some critics argue that certain traits may be culturally biased, especially in non-Western contexts. Factor Overlap: Some researchers have raised concerns about the potential overlap between certain primary factors, which may compromise the distinctiveness of the traits measured.
51
Who found the 3 factor approach?
Eysenck
52
What does Eysenck say about personality?
Personality is an individual's character, temperament, intelligence + physique Traits are stable and have long lasting characteristic
53
What is the 3 factor approach?
We have different responses to specific situations, which leads to a habitual response so certain traits will emerge
54
What are the 3 supertraits from Eysenck?
Extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism
55
What is E, P + N?
E= sociability and outgoing N= emotional stability P= aggression + lack of empathy
56
What did Eysenck's 3 basic traits lead to?
The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Measures E, P, N, has a lie scale, self report Provided insight clinical psychology, educational settings
57
What are the limitations of the EPQ?
Cultural bias= doesn't account for cultural differences Reliability of the P scale has been questioned (Ray & Bozek) The yes/no format oversimplified personality
58
What are the criticism of Eysenck's 3 trait approach of personality?
Biological reductionism= overlooks environmental factors Oversimplification as they are too little factors Ambiguity in definition of P as it covers a range of behaviours Relied on self-report
59
Who found research evidence for Eysenck's?
Amirkham et al (1995) + longitudinal studies + twin studies
60
What was found with longitudinal studies for Eysenck?
There is a genetic basis for primary personality types
61
What was found with twin studies for Eysenck's?
Studies of MZ and DZ twins raised together and apart found there are similar personality structures Limitation: environmental determinism
62
What Amirkham et al find?
Extraverts are more likely to attract and maintain a network of friends and approach others during crisis as opposed to introvert Limitation= context dependent (doesn't account for what crisis), self report bias
63
Who looked at lie scales?
Jackson & Francis 1997
64
What did Jackson & Francis find?
Lie scales are questions that assess behaviour that is 'socially desirable but infrequently practiced' and 'frequently practiced but socially undesirable' p.59
65
Who made the HEXACO model?
Ashton & Lee 2007
66
How was the HEXACO model made?
Studying the USA, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Korea and Poland
67
What is the HEXACO model?
Adjective contribute to the sixth factor (building on OCEAN)
68
What are the 6 factors of the HEXACO model?
Honesty Emotionality Openness Extraversion Conscientiousness Agreeableness
69
What does honesty, agreeableness & emotionality contribute to?
Altruism
70
What does extraversion, conscientiousness and openness relate to?
Biological separate areas of behaviour
71
What does emotionality link to?
Kin selection due to empathy
72
What are the gains and losses in HEXACO?
Being exploited in relationships Investing too much in others due to potential personal gain (emotionality)
73
What is a journal article for HEXACO?
Adeosun et al 2022
74
What are the key points for Adeosun?
Highest traits for high achieving students are O (curiosity and engagement with activities), high in emotionality, high in H-H (pref for fairness) Moderate for extraversion, C + A Females scored much higher in H-H Limitations= self-report bias, selection bias, limited contextual factors
75
Who criticised the HEXACO?
Saucier (2000), Hahn et al (1999)
76
What did Saucier (2000) say?
Definitive models of personality must be independent factors
77
What did Hahn et al say?
In the Korean sample, H-H correlated with agreeableness
78
How is personality measured?
Self-report, behaviour observation, physiology (hormones, brain activity, genetics)
79
Who found the general factor of personality?
Musek, 2007
80
What is the general factor of personality?
A blend of positively valued aspects of personality dimensions which measures the factors valued cross culturally
81
What was found when testing the factors (general factor of personality)?
When someone scored high on one of the factors they were likely to score high on one of the others There must be a key trait underlying the measures
82
What did Ferguson, 2011, say about the general factor of personality?
It is emerging due to the result of how people answer questionnaires such as social desirability
83
What did Musek's factor analysis of the 5 factor model of personality?
There are 2 main factors, stability and plasticity
84
What is stability in Musek's factor analysis?
Conformity
85
What is plasticity in Musek's factor analysis?
Non-conformity
86
What is stability in Musek's factor analysis according to OCEAN?
Low neuroticism, high conscientiousness and high agreeableness
87
What is plasticity in Musek's factor analysis according to OCEAN?
High extraversion and high openness
88
What are the advantages of self reports for measuring personality?
Quick Easy Cheap
89
What are the disadvantages of self-report?
Biases in responding such as social desirability Doesn't measure the biological basis such as neuroticism may be masked
90
What are the advantages of other reports?
Quick Easy Close peer has good insight Convergent perspective
91
What are the disadvantages of other report?
Peer has no access to inner thoughts (no access to intimate aspects) Some traits are harder to judge externally such as neuroticism
92
Who evaluated trait approaches?
Mischel, 1968 & Funder, 2007
93
What did Mischel find?
Trait models are descriptive but do not predict behavior Problems arise when looking for cross-situational consistency of behaviour that can be predicted on the basis of traits
94
What did Funder find?
Any measurement of a person's personality is only a modest predictor of what they may do (<0.30-0.40) Situations are more important than traits for behaviour
95
What are the responses to Funder and Mischel?
Inconsistency is the result of a measurement error 0.3-4 is not a small predictor as basing a decision on 0.3 means you will be right in 65% of cases Behaviour has never clained to be the product of a single trait and may be many traits working in unison
96
What is inside the person (from personality system)
Basic tendencies, self concept, characteristic adaptation
97
Who speaks of personality and assessment?
Mischel
98
What are the key points from Mischel?
Personality is a system of cognitive-affective units Personality assessment should focus on predicting behaviour depending on the context rather trait rating Individual differences are from the way situations are processed Social cognitive variables such as beliefs activate in certain situations People make meaning from certain situations and will change behaviour according to it

Personality and Individual Differences (7 decks)

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