Trait Taxonomies Flashcards
trait
adjectiv that describes the way some people are
key elements of traits
internal rather rather than external
consistent across similar situations
stable across time
has individual differences that are on a continuum
descriptive, not explanatory
how does extraversion vary depending on differences in people?
more extroverted people will always be more extraverted in any situation than a more introverted person
how does extraversion vary depending on different situations?
an extraverted person may be less extraverted in some situations (home) and more in others (party)
what are NOT traits?
temporary states
attitudes
cognitive ability
physical attributes
social categories
what approach is used to determine which traits are more important
the lexical approach
what is the lexical approach
learn about personality through it’s appearance in language
what is a signal that a trait is more important
will be cross-culturally universal
Will have high synonym frequency
what is cross-cultural universality?
a concept or word (e.g. trait) that has language dedicated to it in all cultures
what is a trait taxonomy?
comprehensive system that includes all major traits of personality
what is a characteristic of trait taxonomies?
hierarchical system
what is the research procedure for the ‘Lexical Approach to Pride’ study
participants listed words that describe how they think, feel, and do when they feel prideful
researchers figured out how words grouped together
what is the statistical procedure for the ‘Lexical Approach to Pride’ study
ask participants to rate extent to which each trait describes them
enter ratings into factor anaysis, showing how traits hold together
how many words were listed by 2% of the participants in the Lexical Approach to Pride study?
65
what is the theoretical procedure for the ‘Lexical Approach to Pride’ study
researchers thought about how many traits should matter based on a pre-articulated theory
what was the results of the ‘Lexical Approach to Pride’ study
Two-Facet theory
what is the two-facet theory
there are two versions of pride
authentic pride
hubristic pride
what is authentic pride
pride that promotes social investments and fosters genuine self-esteem
what is hubristic pride
pride related to aggression, hostility, and narcissism
what were the changes in the field of personality in 1968
mega-theories era ends
middle-level theories emerge
the rise of social psychology
what are characteristics of middle-level theories
domain-specific
traits are used to describe/predict types of behaviours
behaviour is a function of personality
what social psychology theories rose to popularity in 1968
Interactionism
situationism
who founded interactionism
Lewin
who founded situationism
festinger
what is the characteristic of interactionism
behaviour is a function of personality and situation
what are the characteristics of situationism
behaviour is a function of situation
personality is only error variance and therefore irrelevant
what studies are examples of situationism
Asch’s conformity study
Milgram’s obedience study
Zimbardo’s prison study
what is Asch’s conformity study?
fake paticipants all agree that one line is the most like an example when it clearly isn’t
participant usually conforms to the group
what was mischel’s critique of personality psychology in 1968?
personality could not predict behaviour
people will act differently in different situations
what happened to personality psych after Mischel’s critique
personality psych field suffered
social psych blossomed
what points did the personality psych field make after it was critiqued?
- personality traits can predict behaviour over the long-term
- broad traits predict broad behaviours and vice-versa
- people’s behaviour is consistent relative to others
- personality traits are stable over long periods
what do we need to do to predict a behaviour in an individual?
aggregation of traits
what does aggregating behaviours mean?
averaging/summing behaviours together for an individual
what is an example of a narrow trait that predicts a narrow behaviour
punctuality -> showing up to class on time
example of a broad trait that predicts a broad behaviour
conscientiousness -> good academic performance
what is something that is linked to adult personality
child temperament
what theory is accepted today as the predictor of behaviour
interactionism
when is a situation a better predictor of behaviour
when the situation is strong/has a high level of constraint
when is personality a better predictor of behaviour
when the situation is weak/has a low level of constraint
what are the 3 major traits of interest to Eysenck
PEN
what does PEN stand for
psychoticism
extraversion
neuroticism
what is psychoticism related to
testosterone level
what are characteristics of psychoticism
aggression
cold
egocentric
impersonal
what is extraversion related to
physiological arousal
what are characteristics of extraversion
sociability
activity
liveliness
what is neuroticism related to
fluctuations in autonomic nervous system
what are characteristics of neuroticism
anxiety
depression
tension (tense)
what are some criticisms of the psychoticism dimension in Eysenck’s theory
label accuracy
relevance of sub-traits
what is Eysenck’s theory?
personality taxonomy should be rooted in biology
what are circumplex taxonomies
broad level factors that are independent fom each other
we can fall anywhere along either factor
what are problems with PEN?
not all inclusive in it’s factors
not just PEN shows heritability
what other taxonomies developed to address issues with PEN?
Wiggin’s theory of interpersonal traits
five factor model
what are the big five?
openness
conscientiousness
extraversion
agreeableness
neuroticism
how was the big 5 made
through factor analysis that identified meaningful groups of traits
what things give the big 5 strong empirical support
cross-cultural replication
genetic links
cross-species replication
what are open people more likely to do
remember dreams better
more creative
enjoy new experiences
what are conscientious people more likely to do
successful in work/school
more stable romantic relationships
what are extraverts more likely to do
love social attention/leadership
happier
what are agreeable people more likely to do
resolve conflicts
generous
well-liked
what are neurotic people more likely to do
highly emotional
mood swings
instability in relationships
more fatigued
what traits are missing from the Big 5
positive/negative evaluation
religiosity
honesty/humility
what model includes the traits of the Big 5 + honesty/humility?
HEXACO
what is the replicability crisis in social psychology
the numerous findings that failed replication
what caused social psychology to be in crisis?
small samples
maximizing apparent difference between conditions in experiments
not learn from the mistakes of personality psych
what happened when social psych went through the replication crisis?
personality psych research came back stronger
what is the plaster hypothesis
personality traits become stable by age 30
what is the contextualist perspective
personality emerges from multiple sources
ex. person-environment interactions
what are two metrics for stability/change in traits
mean-level stability
mean level change
what is mean-level stability
ppl’s average level of a trait at different ages (in a population) stays the same
describe Soto’s study
lifespan personality cross-sectional study
with online participants
what was Soto et al’s (2011) study about?
mean level change in traits across lifespan
what was measured in Soto’s study
associations between age and personality
gender differences in personality change
what were the lifespan trait changes for extraversion
high in childhood
decline and plateau later
small decline in middle adulthood
what were the lifespan trait changes for agreeableness
declines in adolescence
rapidly increased again in young adulthood and continues
becomes adaptive after 30
what were the lifespan trait changes for conscientiousness
sharp decline in adolescence with sharp increase later
increases across lifespan
what were the lifespan trait changes for neuroticism
decreases throughout lifespan
early on gender differences; women start off higher up
what were the lifespan trait changes for openness
conflicting;
modest increase over time
OR
overall decrease from 30 onwards
what was Robins et al. (2001) study?
personality change in college
describe Robins et al’s study
assessed and compared personality in first year and fourth year
what were the results of Robins et al’s study
extraversion stays stable
agreeableness increases
conscientiousness increases
openness increases
neuroticism decreases
what is the maturity principle
people tend to increase on traits that promote optimal behaviour in adult social roles, and vice versa
who’s study informed the maturity principle?
Robins et al. (2001)
what are the two types of stability
mean level
rank order
what is mean level change
significant average shifts in personality over time
what is rank order stability
relative personality levels stability stays the same, and increases with age
what type of stability was proved through a study looking at personality consistency over time
rank-order stability
what causes change or stability
person-environment transactions
what are person-environment transactions
people select situations based on their personalities which then influences the personality back
what was Zimmerman & Neyer’s (2013) study about?
studying abroad and personality change
what were the results of Zimmerman & Neyer’s (2013) study?
extraverts are more likely to study abroad
studying abroad increases O + A, decreases N
