Trait approaches Flashcards
What are traits?
Tendencies to think, feel, and act in certain ways
What are the four approaches to trait?
Single, many, essential and typological.
What is the single trait approach?
It’s an approach where one trait is selected and studied for its effects on a variety of outcomes. Behaviours that come from a single trait.
What is self-monitoring?
It’s the discrepancy between the inner and outer self. The higher in this trait you are, the bigger the discrepancy, the more adaptable you are to situations.
What are some behaviours associated with self-monitoring?
Perform better in job interviews
More central in social networks
Make more new friends
Use more strategies to influence co-workers
More willing to lie to get a date
Masturbate more often than not
What is narcissism? What are good and bad sides to the trait?
It’s excessive self love, strong sense of superiority and a need for admiration.
Charming, good first impression, like leadership positions and take risks
Manipulative, overbearing, entitled, arrogant, exhibitionistic.
What are the subtypes of narcissism and their characteristics?
Grandiose: superiority over others, inflated view of self, exploit others, defensive when self is criticized, high, unstable self-esteem
Vulnerable: oscillate between inadequate and a desire for admiration, has more feeling of shame and envy, defensive and insecure when self is criticized and low and unstable self-esteem.
Where do the two subtypes of narcissism come from?
Grandiose: early experiences of excessive praise without accountability and social values of self-promotion
Vulnerable: early childhood experiences of criticism, neglect and inconsistent caregiving.
What is the many trait approach?
It’s an approach that focuses on specific behavior. It determines the traits most closely associated with the behavior.
What are two examples of many-traits approach?
Talking: the way you talk, the certainty you have when you talk expresses your traits
Political beliefs: political beliefs relate to one’s personality when a child, anxious kids that don’t like unpredictable environments turn into conservatives.
What is the California Q-set?
A personality assessment that collect S or I data. It works by forcing the participant into sorting personality traits into a normal distribution.
What are the traits correlated to political beliefs? (6)
Moral values
Preference for order and structure
Preference for predictability
Disgust sensitivity
Susceptibility to threat
Authoritarianism
What is the essential trait approach?
It’s an approach that aims to narrow down and identify important traits. Aims to explain the most behaviours with the fewest traits.
What are the three methods for essential trait approach?
Theoretical approach
Lexical approach
Factor analytical or statistical
What are theoretical approaches? What are two examples of test built with this?
It’s an approach where psychologists choose traits based on a theory developed.
TAT test and Jung’s archetypes
What is the lexical approach? Who are the two researchers to do this most famously?
It’s an approach that involves coming up with items based on the dictionary, it’s evoked from the theory that if a quality or trait is important, it will have words to describe it.
Allport and Odbert.
What are four theories that utilize the theoretical and/or the lexical approach followed by factor analysis?
Cattell’s 16 trait model
Eysenck’s Big 3
Big 5
HEXACO
What is Cattell’s 16 factor model? What are the critiques on this model?
A model built on Allport’s lexical approach by reducing the traits , having people rate themselves and then factor analyzing it BY HAND BASICALLY. Came up with 16 primary personality traits.
Over extraction of factors and statistical error.
What is Eysenck’s big 3 model?
It’s a model based on theory with a biological basis. He used factor analysis to confirm the traits and came up with the final third.
Psychoticism (vs superego control): how much one disregards social convention, testosterone
Extraversion (vs introversion)
had a theory that extroverts had a lower baseline stimulation, so seek more outside stimulus
Neuroticism (vs emotional stability)
greater reaction to stress
What are the two big groups and the five categories of the Big5?
Stability: Conscientiousness, Agreebleaness and Neuroticism
Plasticity: Extraversion and Oppeness
What are the two theories associated with extraversion?
Eysenck’s and the Big 5 (extroverts are sensitive to rewards)
What are the cons and the pro of the Big 5?
Pro: universality?
Cons: atheoretical (doesn’t explain), not comprehensive (might be missing Honesty), broad traits or facets and doesn’t take into account values, goals and motives.
What is the typological approach?
An approach that attempts to understand and classify people qualitatively instead of quantitatively. Assume differences are qualitative, people are different kinds not different levels.
What is the MBTI?
The most famous personality assessment, Myers-Briggs Type Indicators, it’s loosely based in Carl Jung’s archetypes.
What are the limitations that come with the typological approach?
Lack of reliability and predictive validity
Technical limitations at determining the cutoff score, as any will result in a divide that paints a misleading picture.
Why do we keep using the MBTI if it’s so bad?
It gives you positive, interesting answers, no bad scores
Positive, self-consistent feedback
People love to be defined and categorized as it’s easier to define oneself then
Simplicity of assessment
LOTS OF MONEY IN THE FIELD
