Trait Approaches Flashcards
Four approaches
Single trait, many trait, essential trait, typological approach.
Single trait
Identify all behaviors and life outcomes for one personality trait.
Ex: narcissism, self monitoring 
Many trait approach
Attempts to identify all of the personality traits that predict a particular behavior or life outcome
Ex. Preschool personality traits, conservative adult
Delinquent children ~> what traits
California Q set
Forced normal distribution
The essential trait approach
Identify the set of traits that are generally most important for describing and predicting behavior
Ex: cattells 16 essential traits, eysencks giant 3, big 5 
Eysencks giant 3
PEN
Psychoticism- aggressive, impulsive, self indulgent
Extroversion
Neuroticism
Big 5
OCEAN
The typological approach
Identifies groups of people with distinct combinations of personality characteristics. Qualitative rather than quantitative differences.
Ex. Myers brigs 
Factor, facet, habit
Factor- extroversion
Facet- sociability
Habit- smiling or telling a joke
Neo
Divides each of big five into six facets
Meta traits
Stability and plasticity
Stability
Conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism 
How much impulse control and self control you have.
Linked to serotonin
Plasticity
Extroversion and openness
Engagement with the world and open to new experiences.
Linked to dopamine.
State levels of personality
South East higher agreeableness
North east higher neuroticism
Openness higher in major cities bc there’s more diversity and openness is facilitated
Appearance and big five
Agreeableness extroversion and openness
Valid and invalid cue
Invalid- how stale a room seemed and neuroticism
Valid- variety of CDs and openness
Pros of big five
Most traits conceptualized.
Quick and easy way to describe others.
Cons of big five
Are they most essential? (HEXACO)
Descriptive not explanatory.
Empirically derived not theory based.
Oversimplified.
Plaster hypothesis
Personality doesn’t change after 30
Mean level change
Average score on a trait, increases or decreases with age
Longitudinal or cross sectional
Rank order change
When ordering of individuals on a trait changes with age
Only use longitudinal 
Maturity principle
Adults are changing, mostly positively
Retest correlation
Rank order changes, if it stays the same rank order stability will be 1. If correlation is less than one then there has been a change
Cumulative continuity principle
Rank order stability increases with age
Volitional personality change
Many want to do something about parts of our personality, seeking to invoke change
Five assumptions
1) parts of the mind
2) levels of consciousness
3) mental conflict
4) mental energy
5) mental determinism 
Three parts of mind
ID, EGO, superego
Mental conflict
Id impulses, super ego demands, and reality often conflict with another.
Mental energy
All mental processes require mental energy (libido) 
Mental determinism
All behavior has specific causes in the mind. No accidental behavior.
Freudian slips = accidentally saying something but it is what you rly mean 
Anxiety sources
Psychological anxiety: unmet demands and unresolved mental conflicts
Realistic anxiety: actual threats in real world
Defense mechanisms
Ego processes used to keep anxiety out of consciousness
Denial repression intellectualization sublimation
Denial
Refusing to acknowledge or accept new threatening info
Repression
Forcefully, blocking, and anxiety provoking, thought from consciousness
Intellectualization
Thinking about a threatening impulses or situation in a detached analytical way
Sublimation
Transforming unacceptable impulses into a constructive behavior
Oral
Infant is all ID. Dependent. Focus on mouth and pleasure.
Anal
Toddler develops ego. Tries to control potty impulses. Control and obedience.
Phallic
Gender identification. Superego. Morality. Penis and vagina
Latency
No major psych issue
Genital
Maturity. Genitals. Creation and enhancement of life.
Eriksons stages
1)Trust v mistrust
2)autonomy v shame and doubt
3)initiative v guilt
4) industry v inferiority
5)identity v confusion
6)intimacy v isolation
7) generativity v stagnation
8) integrity v despair
Psychic determinism
Accidents not actually accidents
Limitations of Freud
Motives based entirely on physiological drives.
We have other needs than sex and aggression.
Difficulty to quantify and falsify. 
REP test
Constructs revealed by how are you discriminate among things. Looking for things relevant to you when you look at people
Flow
Complete absorption in an activity for its own sake. 
Self actualization
The process of improving towards one’s maximum potential 
Conditions of worth (Rogers)
Do this well, why ppl like you. Encourage personal growth. Unconditional positive regard. 
Maslow hierarchy of needs
Needing to focus on other more basic concerns.
Food, safety, belonging, esteem, self actualization. 
Hedonia
Maximize pleasure, minimize pain
Eudalmonia
Universal needs
1) autonomy
2) competence
3)relatedness
Paths to happiness
Life of pleasure
Life of engagement
Life of meaning
Hedonic adaptation
Ability to quickly adapt to changes