Week 1 Lecture 2 - personality Flashcards
Where does the word personality come from?
Persona –> mask worn to portray a character
What is personality as a general term?
The role/ character one plays in life’s drama
- comes from the real causes of behaviour
What do psychological definitions of personality all have in common?
- all refer to an underlying mechanism
- all refer to thought, emotion and behaviour components
- all refer to characteristics –> suggests personality is predictable and knowable
What are the 4 overarching approaches to personality?
- nomothetic
- idiographic
- dispositional
- situational
What is the nomothetic approach to personality?
Individual differences can be described and explained in terms of predefined attributed
- A continuum in which we can all be placed
- linked to a common underlying mechanism e.g., brain area x
What is the idiographic approach to personality?
Individuals are so unique that two different people cannot be described using the same concepts
- must describe what is relevant to each individual
What is the dispositional approach to personality?
Personality seen as consistent, internal dispositions to think/act/feel in similar ways, largely independent of situation
- predictable
What is the situational approach to personality?
Personality is a series of largely unrelated states, primarily determined by situational factors.
No core essence, just distinct behavioural signatures
Many “if, then” rules
Which approach is often taken to personality research?
Nomothetic and dispositional
Do dispositional theorists deny a role of context/situation in moderating behaviour?
No
Do dispositional theorists argue for a correlation?
Yes
- Significant correlation between traits and behaviour –> r = .40 (Funder)
- Traits also influence the types of situations encountered
What was early theories of personality rooted in?
physical and mental disturbances
What is Hippocrates describe physical illness as?
as arising from the balance of bodily fluids (humours)
What did Galen do?
Applied Hippocrates theory to describe temperament
What was Galen’s theory of the 4 temperaments?
4 temperaments:
- phlegmatic (calm)
- choleric (angry)
- sanguine (happy)
- melancholic (depressed)
- balance of bodily fluids determines balance of temperament
What has Galen’s theory of the 4 temperaments contributed to?
- notion of personality “types”
- temperament descriptors have influenced modern theories of personality
- specifies links between biology and temperament
What was Eysenck’s initial PEN theory?
Two dimensions of personality: Extraversion and Neuroticism
- dimensions on which everyone can be placed
- dimensions independent to each other
- normal distribution for each dimension
- “super traits” that provide complete description
- biological underpinning
What was Eysenck’s PEN theory inspired by?
Galen’s four temperament model
Can be directly mapped onto this
In the 1970s, what did Eysenck observe?
Individuals who were:
- emotionally unstable but with lower levels of fear and anxiety
- lack of remorse or conscience
- lack of appreciation of consequences of actions
What did Eysenck name the individuals that he observed in the 1970s?
psychopaths
What dimension did Eysenck & Eysenck later add to his PEN theory?
“Psychoticism” dimension added
- Not normally distributed
- Not independent of N
What is high and low Extraversion?
High E:
- social, talkative, outgoing, lively, energetic
Low E (introversion):
- asocial, passive, slow, reflective, quiet
What is high and low Neuroticism?
High N:
- anxious, moody, depressed, pessimistic, tense, shy
Low E (emotional stability):
- stable, positive, calm, optimistic, confident, relaxed
What was Eysenck’s biological explanation for extraversion-intraversion?
- explained by differential activity levels in the reticulo-cortical system
- Ascending Reticular Activation System (ARAS) in brain stem modulates the amount of electrical activity in the cortex
- moderate levels of cortical activity are preferred
What did Eysenck believe about extravert and introvert cortical activity levels?
Extraverts:
- lower levels of cortical arousal
- seek out external stimulation
Introverts:
- Higher levels of cortical arousal
- avoid external stimulation
What do EEG traces suggest about cortical arousal?
- lower frequency, higher amplitude EEG traces = lower cortical arousal (E)
- Higher frequency, lower amplitude EEG traces = higher cortical arousal (I)
Gale reviewed studies that tested the hypothesis that extraverts have lower levels of cortical arousal than introverts.
What did he find?
Mixed evidence –> mainly supported
A number of methodological issues identified
- unsystematic use of personality measures
- very high/low arousal level of task –> E or I then adapts to preferred level of cortical arousal –> obscures differences
Tran, Craig and McIsaac tried to address some of the methodological issues raised by Gale.
How did they do this?
- activity measured from frontal regions of brain –> areas most linked with personality so more focussed
- Older ppts yes (22-60) –> personality only stables later on
- Used “moderaltely demanding” task of opening and closing eyes –> equally suitable for both extraverts and introverts
Tran, Craig and McIsaac compared mean amplitude of EEG activity between extraverts and introverts.
What did they find?
Extraverts had higher mean peak amplitude than introverts.
Suggests support for Eysenck
What was Eysenck’s biological explanation for neuroticism - stability?
explained by differential activity levels in the reticulo-limbic system
What is the limbic system?
involved with emotional processing
What did Eysenck proposed about arousal levels for Neuroticism and Psychoticism?
- Neuroticism due to greater arousal in the reticulo-limbic system
- Psychoticism linked to male hormones or dopamine levels
What are the pros and cons of Eysenck’s PEN theory?
pros:
- cross-cultural evidence for E and N factors
- Major contribution to trait and biological theories of personality
- development of several personality questionnaires inc. EPI, MMQ, EPQ-R, EPP
cons:
- P factor less accepted
- neurobiology of emotional processing more complex than originally thought
- too much focus on biology / genetics ?
Who developed an alternative theory to Eysenck?
Gray
Based on work with non-human animals (applied to all mammals)
What did Gray believe that personality was ultimately due to?
individual differences in strengths of BAS and BIS
as well as differential strengths of which system is stronger
Which components did Gray believe made up both the BAS and BIS?
- amygdala
- ventromedial hypothalamus
- midbrain grey matter
What is the Behavioural Activation System (BAS) (Gray)?
- activates “approach” behaviour towards goal
- motivated to seek reward
- based on conditioned response associated with positive events
What is the Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS) (Gray)?
- focuses attention on potential costs
- inhibits behaviours associated with negative events
- motivated to avoid harm and punishment
When measuring BAS / BIS strength, what are higher scores associated with?
higher strength
Is Gray’s theory similar to Eysenck’s?
Yes can be mapped similarly but Gray’s dimensions are more tilted
Does Gray BAS / BIS (reinforcement sensitivity) theory include the dimension of Psychoticism?
no, considered important but separate to the BIS and BAS systems
Gray’s reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST) was revised to become r-RST
In what ways was it revised
- revised in line with advances in neuroscience
- Walker et al (2017) –> development of additional Fight/Flight/Freezing System (FFFS)
- BIS as an evaluative comparator of response conflict
