Theoretical and Measurement Issues in Trait Psychology

Question 1

Theoretical issues: three assumptions about traits

Answer 1

• meaningful differences between individuals
• consistency overtime
• consistency across situations

Question 2

Meaningful differences between individuals

Answer 2

• there are meaningful differences between individuals(traits psychology is also called differential psychology)
• the trait approach is the most mathematically and statistically oriented fur to its emphasis on amount
• according to trait psychologists, every personality is the product of a combination of a few basic, primary traits

Question 3

Consistency over time

Answer 3

• there is a degree of consistency in personality over time
• how can there be consistency if it is know. To change with age (impulsivity)? Focus on the rank order differences between people
• although consistent over time, how a trait is manifested in behavior might change over time

Question 4

Consistency across situations

Answer 4

• trait psychologists have traditionally believed that people’s personalities show consistency from situation to situation
• if situations mainly control how people behave, the the existence or relevance of traits is questionable
• Hartshorne and May: Lowe cross-situation consistency is in honesty, helpfulness, and self-control
• –may suggest certain traits prone to cross-situation consistency
• Mischel: personality psychologists should abandon their efforts to explain behavior with traits, focusing instead on situations
• situationism (defined on different card)
• debate lead to two lasting changes. Focus on person-situation interaction and practice of aggregation

Question 5

Situationism (def.)

Answer 5

Situational differences, rather than underlying personality traits, determine behavior

Example: how friendly someone is could depend on situation instead of traits of personality

Question 6

Person-situation interaction

Answer 6

• two possible explanations of behavior (separate card):
  1. Behavior is a function of personality traits
  2. Behavior is a function of situation
• both situation and personality interact to cause behavior
• differences between people make a difference only under certain circumstances:
  1. Situational specificity (defined on different card)
  2. Strong situation (defined on different card)
  3. When situations are weak or ambiguous, personality has its strongest influence
• three additional ways in which personality and situation interact to produce behavior (separate card):
  1. Situational selection
  2. Evocation
  3. Manipulation

Question 7

Two possible explanations for behavior

In person-situation interaction

Answer 7

1. Behavior is a function of personality traits

2. Behavior is a function of situation

Question 8

Situational specificity (def)

Answer 8

The view that behavior is determined by aspects of the situation, such as reward contingencies

Question 9

Strong situation (def)

Answer 9

Certain situations that prompt similar behavior from everyone

Question 10

Three additional ways in which personality and situation interact to produce behavior

(In person-situation interaction)

Answer 10

1. Situational selection: tendency to choose or select situations in which one finds oneself, as a function of personality
2. Evocation: certain personality traits may evoke specific responses from others
3. Manipulation: various means by which people influence the behavior of others; tactics of manipulation vary with personality

Question 11

Measurement issues

Answer 11

• trait approach relies on self-report survey to measure personality
• personality psychologist assume that people differ in the amounts of various traits, and a key measurement issue is determining how much of a trait a person has
• carelessness
• faking on questionnaires
• response sets
• integrity

Question 12

Measurement issues: carelessness

Answer 12

• method for detecting such problems is an infrequency scale embedded in test
• –contains items that almost all people will answer in a particular way
• another method is to include duplicate items spaced for part in the survey
• –if the person answers the same item differently, this suggests carelessness

Question 13

Measurement issues: response sets

Answer 13

• acquiescence: tendency to agree with items, regardless of content; psychologists counteract by reverse-keying some items
• extreme responding: a response set that refers to the tendency to give endpoint “strongly agree/disagree” and avoid middle part of response scale
• central tendency: NOT IN BOOK but usually refers to mean, median and mode…?
• social desirability: tendency to answer items in such a way so that one comes across as socially attractive or likable