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Psyc 332 > Textbook Chapter 7 > Flashcards

Textbook Chapter 7 Flashcards

1
Q

trait theorists focus on…

A

identifying relatively stable features of personality

that distinguish you from other people

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2
Q

trait theory started off with…

A

typology systems

ie. Greek typology system

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3
Q

Greek typology system

A

divided all people into 4 types

  1. sanguine (happy)
  2. melancholic (unhappy)
  3. choleric (temperamental)
  4. phlegmatic (apathetic)
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4
Q

physique-based typology

A

diffs in physical appearance translated into diffs in personality

  1. endomorphic (obese)
  2. mesomorphic (muscular)
  3. ectomorphic (fragile)
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5
Q

typology systems have…

A

largely been abandoned

faulty assumptions:

  • assume everyone fits into one personality category
  • and that each category member is basically alike
  • and that the behaviour of all people in one category is distinct from those in another category
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6
Q

3 arguments of trait psychologists

A
  1. any personality trait can be illustrated on a continuum (from extremely low in trait to extremely high in trait)
  2. any person can be placed somewhere along the continuum for every trait
  3. if we measure a large number of people and place their scores on the continuum, would find all scores create a normal distribution
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7
Q

trait

A

dimension of personality used to categorize people according to degree to which they manifest a particular characteristic

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8
Q

2 important assumptions of trait approach

A
  1. personality traits are relatively STABLE OVER TIME

(not to say that personalities don’t change - research has found they develop from adulthood through to old age, but changes are gradual)

  1. personality traits are relatively STABLE ACROSS SITUATIONS
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9
Q

trait researchers aren’t interested in what? what do they look at instead?

A

aren’t interested in PREDICTING behaviour in GIVEN SITUATIONS

they focus instead on predicting how people who score within a certain segment of the continuum TYPICALLY BEHAVE

rather than singling out individuals, they try to find out how the AVERAGE PERSON on EACH SCORE of the continuum would behave

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10
Q

significance of person’s score on trait measure lies in…

A

how it compares with other people

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11
Q

have schools of psychotherapy emerged from trait approach to personality?

A

no (unlike the psychoanalytic, cognitive, behaviourist approaches)

its findings are more useful to therapists making diagnoses and charting therapy progress

more ACADEMIC than therapeutic implications

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12
Q

Gordon Allport quote on dispositions

A

“dispositions are never wholly consistent. what a bore it would be if they were - and what chaos if they were not at all consistent”

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13
Q

book published by Gordon and Floyd Allport

A

Personality Traits: Their Classification and Measurement

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14
Q

Gordon Allport

A

he developed the first recognized work on traits

taught first college course on personality in the US

he acknowledged the limitations of trait concept from the beginning

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15
Q

Gordon Allport: from beginning, he acknowledged…

A

limitations of the trait concept

  1. accepted that behaviour is influenced by variety of ENVIRONMENTAL factors
  2. recognized that traits AREN’T USEFUL in PREDICTING what a single individual will do
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16
Q

Allport’s 2 research strategies when investigating personality

A
  1. nomothetic approach
  2. idiographic approach
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17
Q

nomothetic approach

A

assumes all people can be described along SINGLE DIMENSION according to their LEVEL of a trait

each person is tested to see how their score for a given trait COMPARES with scores of other participants

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18
Q

nomothetic approach tests what kind of traits?

A

COMMON traits

^ those that presumably apply to everyone

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19
Q

Allport thoughts on nomothetic approach

A

that it’s INDISPENSABLE for understanding human personality

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20
Q

idiographic approach

A

identify the UNIQUE COMBO of traits that BEST ACCOUNTS for personality of a single individual

5-10 traits that best describe one’s personality are called CENTRAL TRAITS

also CARDINAL TRAITS

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21
Q

central traits

A

in the idiographic approach, the 5-10 traits that BEST DESCRIBE someone’s personality

number of central traits varies from person to person

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22
Q

cardinal trait

A

rare individuals have personalities dominated by a SINGLE TRAIT

when a behaviour becomes synonymous with an individual

ie. Machiavellian, Homeric, Don Juans

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23
Q

advantage of idiographic approach

A

the PERSON, not the researcher, DETERMINES what traits to examine

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24
Q

con of nomothetic approach

A

traits selected by the investigator might be central for some people, but only SECONDARY for others

test score of someone’s sociability isn’t of great value when sociability isn’t a central trait of a person

won’t result in a great assessment of their personality

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25
Q

Allport was also interested in the concept of…

A

the “self”

particularly the process by which children develop a sense of themselves

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26
Q

Gordon Allport life dates

A

1897-1967

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27
Q

Gordon Allport early life

A

born in Montezuma, Indiana

3 older brothers

didn’t fit in as a kid

“I was quick with words, poor at games”

followed his older bro to Harvard, and studied psychology just like him

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28
Q

Gordon Allport achievements

A

pioneered field of trait psychology - although faced criticism and opposition at first

elected president of the American Psychological Association

received the prestigious Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award

editor of the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology

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29
Q

Henry Murray’s approach to personality was a blend of…

A

psychoanalytic and trait concepts

interacted with Jung early on in his career - so his work mentions the unconscious a lot

came up with the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

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30
Q

Murray called his approach…

A

personology

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31
Q

Murray identified what as the basis of personality?

A

NEEDS

psychogenic needs, especially

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32
Q

psychogenic needs

A

what Murray considered the basic elements of personality

a “readiness to respond in a certain way under certain given conditions”

postulated to be UNCONSCIOUS

27 of these needs

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33
Q

examples of psychogenic needs

A

need for order

need for dominance

need for achievement

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34
Q

according to Murray, each of us can be described…

A

in terms of a PERSONAL HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

ie. if you have a strong need for lots of close friends, you are high in need for affiliation

importance of your needs aren’t so much how they compare to needs of other people, but HOW INTENSE it is compared to YOUR OTHER NEEDS

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35
Q

achievement vs affiliation needs example

A

say you have a big test tmrw, but your friends are having a party

if your achievement need is higher than your affiliation need, you’ll probably hit the books instead of the party

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36
Q

the press

A

the situation that determines whether or not a need is activated

needs are only activated in certain situations

ie. need for order will only be activated if your room is really messy

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37
Q

Murray’s principle contributions to field of psychology

A
  1. TAT
  2. the research stimulated by his theory (ie. his psychogenic needs)
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38
Q

Henry Murray life dates

A

1893-1988

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39
Q

Henry Murray background

A

walked out of his first psych lecture because he was bored

got a medical degree from Columbia

then went to Cambridge to study biochem

then exposed to Carl Jung’s writings

received formal psychoanalytic training at Harvard and taught there until retirement

he was a stutterer

also worked for the Office of Strategic Services (forerunner to the CIA) - applied personality in selection of undercover agents

also a literary scholar

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40
Q

Raymond Cattell

A

another pioneer of the trait approach

had yet another approach to personality

borrowed approach from the sciences (his first degree was in chemistry) - FACTOR ANALYSIS

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41
Q

much of Cattell’s work was dedicated to…

A

determining just HOW MANY basic personality traits there are

there are hundreds, but some of them are certainly related

ie. being sociable and extraverted aren’t entirely separate

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42
Q

factor analysis

A

Cattell’s approach

statistical technique

compares scores of traits from many people

you might find that friendliness and tenderness scores are highly correlated

if a person scores high on one test, you can predict with some confidence that the person also will score high on the other test

looking at pattern of correlation coefficients, might discover that tests tend to CLUSTER into groups

ie. five of the traits may correlate with one another, but not with the five other tests

although you measured 10 traits, reasonable to say you really measured 2 LARGER PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS

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43
Q

factor analysis: example of 2 groups with correlated traitst

A

group 1:
- aspiration
- determination
- endurance
- persistence
- productivity

group 2:
- compassion
- cooperativeness
- friendliness
- kindliness
- tenderness

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44
Q

Cattell, by using factor analysis, did what?

A

by analyzing data from various sources with factor analyses

he attempted to determine HOW MANY of these basic personality elements (source traits) exist

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45
Q

source traits

A

basic traits that make up human personality

what Cattell was after

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46
Q

seriously limitation of factor analysis

A

the procedure is confined by the TYPE of data chosen for analysis

ie. what traits are chosen, can be endless combinations which result in endless correlations/dimensions

47
Q

in response to factor analysis limitation regarding the type of data chosen for analysis, what did Cattell do?

A

got info from many diff sources

  1. records (report cards, employer’s ratings)
  2. data about how people act when placed in lifelike situations
  3. data from personality questionnaires

called these three L-data, T-data and Q-data

48
Q

how many basic traits did Cattell identify?

A

16

in 1949, he published the first version of the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire to measure these traits

49
Q

Donald Fiske 1947 personality study SETUP

A

conducted extensive personality assessment of 128 men admitted into the Veteran Administration’s clinical psychology program

  • standard trait measures
  • projective tests
  • biographical data
  • interviews
  • peer ratings
50
Q

Donald Fiske 1947 personality study FINDINGS

A

identified 5 basic personality factors

  1. social adaptability
  2. emotional control
  3. conformity
  4. the inquiring intellect
  5. confident self-expression
51
Q

Fiske’s social adaptability

A

talkative

makes good company

52
Q

Fiske’s emotional control

A

easily upset

has sustained anxieties

53
Q

Fiske’s conformity

A

ready to cooperate

conscientious

54
Q

Fiske’s the inquiring intellect

A

intellectual curiosity

an exploring mind

55
Q

Fiske’s confident self expression

A

cheerful

not selfish

56
Q

is there support for the 5 basic dimensions of personality, still today?

A

yes there is

although there may never be complete agreement, different teams of investigators using many diff kinds of data repeatedly find evidence for these 5 traits

57
Q

the big 5

A

openness

conscientiousness

extraversion

agreeableness

neuroticism

58
Q

neuroticism dimension

A

places people along continuum according to their EMOTIONAL STABILITY and PERSONAL ADJUSTMENT

59
Q

high neuroticism

A

frequent mood swings, emotional distress, anxiety, depression

frequently find that people prone to one kind of negative emotional state often experience others

60
Q

low neuroticism

A

calm, well adjusted, not prone to extreme emotional reactions

61
Q

extraversion dimension

A

extraverts on one end, introverts on the other

62
Q

extraverts

A

tend to be energetic, optimistic, friendly, assertive

have more friends and spend more time in social situations than introverts do

63
Q

introverts

A

they aren’t asocial or without energy

they’re “RESERVED rather than unfriendly”

“INDEPENDENT rather than followers”

“EVEN-PACED rather than sluggish”

64
Q

openness dimension

A

refers to openness to EXPERIENCE rather than openness in an interpersonal sense

characteristics: active imagination, willingness to consider new ideas, divergent thinking, intellectual curiosity

65
Q

high openness versus low openness

A

HIGH: unconventional and independent thinkers

^ innovative scientists and creative artists tend to be high in openness

LOW: prefer the familiar over seeking new things

66
Q

some researchers refer to the openness dimension as…

A

intellect

(although it’s certainly not the same thing as intelligence)

67
Q

high agreeableness versus low agreeableness

A

HIGH: helpful, trusting, sympathetic

a) have more pleasant social interactions and fewer quarrelsome exchanges

b) are more willing to help those in need

LOW: like to fight for their interests and beliefs

68
Q

other evidence for Big 5 in things other than self report trait inventories

A

terms people use to describe their friends and acquaintances

ways teachers describe students

69
Q

some debate about what the 5 factors MEAN

A

these factors may simply represent five dimensions BUILT INTO OUR LANGUAGE

although personality may in reality have a VERY DIFF STRUCTURE, our ABILITY TO DESCRIBE personality traits = limited to the adjectives available to us

70
Q

debate about the 5 factors: cognitive ability

A

maybe we only have the cognitive ability to organize info about ourselves/others into five dimensions

71
Q

debate about 5 factors resolution (kinda)

A

debate over language’s nature and cognitive ability and how these affect the 5 factors

has been largely resolved through conducting 5 trait studies in other places/other languages

the 5-factor model seems to hold up - seems like a UNIVERSAL PATTERN for describing personality

72
Q

disagreement about the structure of the 5 factor model

A

some factor analytic studies find patterns that DON’T FIT WELL within the 5 factor structure

sometimes find evidence for SEVEN, SIX, THREE, TWO and even ONE basic factor(s)

73
Q

a few personality descriptors simply don’t fit well within the 5 factor model…

A

religiousness

youthfulness

frugality

humour

cunning

74
Q

do our personalities change as we age?

A

yes and no

personalities become relatively stable during 20s, and show little sign of change after 30

BUT sometimes find general trends in Big Five scores over the lifespan

75
Q

general trends in Big Five scores over the lifespan

A
  1. OLDER ADULTS tend to be higher in CONSCIENTIOUSNESS & AGREEABLENESS
  2. tend to become LOWER IN NEUROTICISM as you move through adulthood
76
Q

no consistent patterns for age-related changes in which traits?

A

extraversion and openness

77
Q

what’s best to examine when trying to predict relevant behaviour?

A

specific trait scales are better than big five

ie. big five scales combine anxiety and depression as part of global dimension of neuroticism

but the big five is still very useful - for diagnosing clinical disorders, working with therapy patients, identifying problem health behaviours

78
Q

criticisms of trait approach

A
  1. trait measures don’t PREDICT behaviour as well as many psychologists claim
  2. there’s little evidence for CONSISTENCY of behaviour across situations
79
Q

do you act the way you do because of…

A

1) the situation

2) the type of person you are

80
Q

measuring how well personality scores and situations predict people’s behaviour

A

research finds that BOTH situation and person = related to behaviour

knowing about BOTH was BETTER than having info about only one

but these studies = limited by type of situation and personality variable examined because there are many situations where EVERYONE WOULD ACT THE SAME

meaning the situation would account for ALL THE VARIANCE - but it’s also incorrect to conclude that traits diffs are unrelated to behaviour

81
Q

person-by-situation approach

A

looks at:

  1. the relevant SITUATION
  2. the individual’s TRAITS
  3. the individual’s BEHAVIOURS

when predicting behaviour

82
Q

what percentage of behaviour does the “personality coefficient” account for?

A

only about 10% of the variance in behaviour

personality trait scores rarely correlate with measures above .30 and .40 r

considerable amount of behaviour remains that single trait scores can’t explain

83
Q

honesty in school children study setup

A

several years looking at HONESTY in 8000 school children

measured honesty in 23 DIFF WAYS (lying, stealing, cheating etc)

84
Q

honesty in school children study results and implications

A

between the 23 diff ways they measured honesty…

found an AVERAGE INTERCORRELATION of only 0.23

because personality trait consistency across situations is a major tenet of the trait approach, this was a big deal

ie. knowing a child is honest in one situation (ie. telling truth to parent) would reveal little about whether they would cheat on a text

85
Q

Mischel referred to cross-situational consistency in traits as…

A

“more apparent than real”

for many reasons, we tend to see consistent behaviour that upon closer examination ISN’T REALLY THERE

  1. people often see what they EXPECT to see
  2. tend to only see people in ONE TYPE of situation/role

^fair to fully account for fact that the situation over the person’s disposition is prob accounting for a lot of their behaviour

86
Q

trait psychologists argue that researchers often fail to produce strong links between personality traits and behaviour because…

A

they don’t measure behaviour correctly

often use trait scores to PREDICT ONLY ONE MEASURE OF BEHAVIOUR

VIOLATES basic concept in psychological testing - SO LOW IN RELIABILITY

so maybe psychologists simply aren’t measuring traits/behaviours reliably

87
Q

alternative to one-item measurement

A

researchers can AGGREGATE data

ie. instead of looking at behaviour from only one day, look at a whole 2-week time span

ie. instead of only examining yelling as a measure of aggression, look at all sorts of manifestations of aggressive behaviour

will likely result in higher correlations between trait measures and subsequent behaviours

88
Q

another reason personality trait measures usually fail to break the .3 or .4 barrier…

A

researchers may be looking at the WRONG TRAITS

distinction between CENTRAL and SECONDARY traits

by looking at traits across people, for some the trait will be of central importance, while for others it will only be of secondary importance

these people with secondary importance will DILUTE THE CORRELATION between the trait score and behaviour

89
Q

traited versus untraited people

A

TRAITED people: trait being measured is significant to them

^ yield MORE CONSISTENT measures of behaviour - higher correlations

UNTRAITED people: trait being measured is not

^ yield LESS CONSISTENT measures of behaviour - lower correlations

90
Q

the importance of the 10% variance

A

how high does a correlation have to be to be considered important?

0.36-0.42 have been cited in other work as “important”

91
Q

comparing the variance accounted for in personality research with results from other fields

A

ie. medical field

headlines about aspiring significantly reducing risk of heart attacks

this correlation was only 0.03, accounting for less than 1% of the variance

IMPORTANCE IS SUBJECTIVE - in medical field, reliably saving a relatively small number of lives is important

92
Q

personality measures and hiring - what changed with the Big Five?

A

BEFORE the Big Five - criticism that there were low correlations between specific trait scores and job performance

AFTER the Big Five - now had five larger personality dimensions that encompassed a bunch of specific traits

FINDINGS: using Big Five resulted in much STRONGER EVIDENCE for relationship between personality and job performance than previously

93
Q

which of the Big Five factors is most important in determining a good employee?

A

CONSCIENTIOUSNESS - careful, thorough, dependable

^ don’t rush, take time to do jobs thoughtfully, correctly, completely

^ organized and lay out plans before a big project

^ hardworking, persistent, achievement orientation

94
Q

why did conscientious appliance salespeople make more sales?

A

conscientious scores were fairly good predictors of how many appliances employees sold

CLOSER EXAMINATION helps to explain their success

  1. set HIGHER GOALS than other employees
  2. were MORE COMMITTED to their goals than other employees

^ spent more time/effort working too hit them

95
Q

highly conscientious workers typically…

A

receive higher evaluations from supervisors

least likely to lose their jobs when company forced to lay off employees

do better in their careers and in college

96
Q

is conscientiousness the only Big Five dimension related to job performance?

A

no

so is AGREEABLENESS (trusting, cooperative, helpful, pleasant)

and EXTRAVERSION has an edge in the business world

97
Q

why are self report inventories popular among professional psychologists?

A
  1. can be given in GROUPS or ONLINE
  2. administered QUICKLY and EASILY by someone with little training
  3. easy and objective to SCORE
  4. usually have GREATER FACE VALIDITY than other instruments
98
Q

MMPI

A

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

the prototypic self-report inventory

99
Q

when was MMPI first developed?

A

1930s

revised to the MMPI-2 in 1989 - this is what is used now

100
Q

MMPI-2

A

567 true-false items

generate SEVERAL SCALE SCORES which are combined to form OVERALL PROFILE of the test taker

ie. depression, hysteria, paranoia, schizophrenia

101
Q

what do psychologists focus on when examining MMPI-2 results?

A
  1. overall PATTERN of scores (rather than one specific scale)
  2. scores that are particularly HIGHER or LOWER than average
102
Q

3 problems with self-report inventories

A
  1. faking
  2. carelessness and sabotage
  3. response tendencies
103
Q

faking: problems with self-report inventories

A
  1. some people “FAKE GOOD” intentionally when taking a test

not uncommon when scales are used to make EMPLOYMENT DECISIONS

  1. also might “FAKE BAD”

ie. someone who wants to escape to a “safe” hospital environment might try to come across as someone with psych problems

104
Q

carelessness and sabotage: problems with self-report inventories

A
  1. participants can GET BORED with long tests - not bother to read test items carefully
  2. sometimes don’t admit their POOR READING SKILLS or FAILURE TO FULLY UNDERSTAND the instructions
  3. provide frivolously or INTENTIONALLY incorrect info to SABOTAGE project or diagnosis
105
Q

response tendencies: problems with self-report inventories

A

social desirability: extent to which people present themselves in a favourable light

UNINTENTIONALLY presenting themselves in slightly more favourable way than is true

106
Q

ways to get around faking as a problem with self-report inventories

A
  1. important decisions shouldn’t be made on test data alone
  2. build SAFEGUARDS into tests to reduce faking

(purpose of a test can be made less obvious, filler items can be added to throw test taker off track)

  1. TEST for faking DIRECTLY

(MMPI contains scales designed to detect faking - ie. people trying to look schizophrenic tend to check certain items which real schizophrenics do not)

107
Q

ways to get around carelessness as a problem with self-report inventories

A
  1. EXPLAIN instructions thoroughly
  2. stress IMPORTANCE of test
  3. maintain some kind of SURVEILLANCE throughout the testing session
  4. construct tests to DETECT CARELESSNESS

^ (ie. some tests present certain items more than once - if person selects two diff answers for the same repeated Q then may be sabotaging the test)

108
Q

ways to get around social desirability as a problem with self-report inventories

A
  1. measuring social desirability tendencies DIRECTLY - and adjust interpretation of other scores accordingly
  2. when social desirability scores are particularly high, DROP those participants from the study
109
Q

why do test makers often compare scores on a new inventory with scores on a social desirability measure?

A

if the two measures are highly correlated, test makers have no way to know which of the two traits (a person’s actual trait or their desire to appear like they have that trait) the measure is getting at

if the scores on new inventory DON’T CORRELATE HIGHLY with social desirability scores, have MORE CONFIDENCE that high scorers are genuinely high in the trait

110
Q

are some people more likely to agree with test questions?

A

yes

some are higher in ACQUIESCENCE responses

translates into a problem on some self-report scales

TO BE SAFE - many test makers word half the items as “agree” and the other half as “disagree” - then the tendency to agree or disagree with statements shouldn’t affect the final score

111
Q

how does the empirical nature of the trait theorists set them apart from the founders of most personality theories?

A

rather than relying on INTUITION and SUBJECTIVE JUDGMENT like Freud and neo-Freudians…

they used OBJECTIVE MEASURES to examine their constructs

ie. Cattell allowed DATA to determine theory

reduces BIASES and SUBJECTIVITY that plague other approaches

112
Q

strengths of trait approach

A
  1. empirical study, objective measures
  2. practical applications

(mental health workers, educational psychologists, HR personnel, career planners use trait measures)

  1. generated lots of research
113
Q

criticisms of the trait approach

A
  1. leaves out a lot of stuff - describe people in terms of traits, but often DON’T EXPLAIN:

a) HOW TRAITS DEVELOP

b) what can be done to HELP PEOPLE who suffer from extreme scores

  1. ^ no PSYCHOTHERAPY schools have developed
  2. LACK of agreed upon FRAMEWORK

ie. Murray’s 27 psychogenic needs vs Cattell’s 16 basic elements of personality vs the Big Five

Psyc 332 (19 decks)

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