Week 22 Readings Flashcards
What are teh five broad traits across the Five-factor model for personalities?
OCEAN
Openness,
Conscientiousness,
Extraversion,
Agreeableness,
Neuroticism
What are personality traits?
Enduring dispositions in behavior that show differences across individuals, and which tend to characterize the person across varying types of situations.
What does it mean that a feature of personality traits is that they reflect continuous distributions rather than distinct personality types?
Characteristics can go from low to high, with all different intermediate values possible. One does not simply have the trait or not have it, but can possess varying amounts of it.
What are the three criteria that characterize personality traits?
- consistency across situations in their behaviours related to that trait (eg talkative at home, also talkative at work)
- stability over time related to the trait (eg talkative at age 30, also tend to be talkative at 40)
- individual differences on behaviours related to the trait (eg speech is not a personality trait, there are no indiivudal differences. but the frequency of them talking or how active they are are personality traits such as talkativeness and activity level)
What is the lexical hypothesis?
The lexical hypothesis is the idea that the most important differences between people will be encoded in the language that we use to describe people. Therefore, if we want to know which personality traits are most important, we can look to the language that people use to describe themselves and others.
This led to the development of the Big Five personality traits: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism, commonly remembered by the acronym OCEAN.
What is factor analysis (stats)?
A statistical technique for grouping similar things together according to how highly they are associated.
What is openness?
One of the five major factors of personality, this trait is associated with higher curiosity, creativity, emotional breadth, and open-mindedness. People high in openness to experience are more likely to experience interest and awe.
What is conscientiousness?
A personality trait that reflects a person’s tendency to be careful, organized, hardworking, and to follow rules.
What is extraversion?
A personality trait that reflects a person’s tendency to be sociable, outgoing, active, and assertive.
What is agreeableness?
A personality trait that reflects a person’s tendency to be compassionate, cooperative, warm, and caring to others. People low in agreeableness tend to be rude, hostile, and to pursue their own interests over those of others.
What is neurotocism?
A personality trait that reflects the tendency to be interpersonally sensitive and the tendency to experience negative emotions like anxiety, fear, sadness, and anger.
Are scores on the Big Five traits dependent on each other?
NO, mostly independent.
a person’s standing on one trait tells very little about their standing on the other traits of the Big Five
What are facets of personality traits?
Broad personality traits can be broken down into narrower facets or aspects of the trait. For example, extraversion has several facets, such as sociability, dominance, risk-taking and so forth.
What was Hans Eysenck’s alternative to the Five-Factor Model, and how did he explain personality differences?
Eysenck proposed that Extraversion and Neuroticism were the most important traits, suggesting that combining them could explain many personality differences. He linked these traits to biology, arguing that introverts experience too much sensory stimulation, leading them to seek quieter environments. Jeffrey Gray later expanded on this, proposing that Extraversion and Neuroticism relate to brain systems for reward-seeking and avoidance of punishment.
What is the HEXACO model of traits?
The HEXACO model is an alternative to the Five-Factor Model.
The HEXACO model includes six traits, five of which are variants of the traits included in the Big Five (Emotionality [E], Extraversion [X], Agreeableness [A], Conscientiousness [C], and Openness [O]). The sixth factor, Honesty-Humility [H], is unique to this model.
What are the characteristics of someone high/low on the honesty-humility dimension of HEXACO?
High: sincere, fair, modest
Low: manipulative, narcissistic and self-centered
What was the person-situation debate, and how did Walter Mischel challenge the idea of personality traits?
The person-situation debate questioned whether personality traits are real or if behavior is shaped more by situational factors.
Walter Mischel argued in Personality and Assessment (1968) that people are not as consistent across situations as previously thought, suggesting that traits like honesty might be illusions based on observer assumptions rather than actual stable characteristics.
The enduring dispositions that people show across situations are called personality ______.
traits
Richard tends to be a very positive person but Kenny is a rather grumpy person. This contrast reflects one of the three main criteria of a personality trait, which is ______.
persistence.
individual differences.
gender effects.
stability.
internalization
individual differences
What was the basic premise of the lexical hypothesis, introduced by Allport and Odbert?
a) Personality traits change in bilingual people; they act one way when speaking one language and a different way while speaking a second language..
b) Each person goes through eight different “life stages,” and each stage includes a crisis that must be resolved..
c) Early childhood experiences shape adult personalities..
d) Personality traits can change but, over time, they will all regress to an average expression..
e) Personality characteristics should be reflected in the language that we use to describe people.
e)
______ is a statistical technique that allows one to group things together according to how highly they are associated (or how similar they truly are).
factor analysis
In a new revision of the Five-Factor approach to personality traits, called the HEXACO model, a sixth trait has been added. What is that newer trait?
Honesty/Humility.
Carelessness/Carefulness.
Approach/Avoidance.
Confidence/Uncertainty.
Creativity/Detail Orientation
Honesty/Humility
What is heterotypic stability, and why is it challenging to study?
Heterotypic stability refers to the psychological coherence of an individual’s personality traits across development, even though their behavioral expressions change with age.
It is challenging to study because the same trait, like shyness, manifests differently at different life stages—such as clinging behavior in toddlers versus social avoidance in adults. Researchers need a theory to map these changing behaviors over time.
What is homotypic stability, and how does it differ from heterotypic stability?
Homotypic stability refers to the consistency of the same observable personality traits over time, such as stress reactivity remaining stable from age 25 to 45.
It differs from heterotypic stability, which describes the continuity of an underlying trait even when its behavioral expression changes with age.
What is absolute stability in personality psychology?
Absolute stability refers to the consistency of the same personality trait at the same level over time.
It can be measured at the individual level (e.g., a person scoring the same on stress reaction at ages 20 and 40) or at the group level (e.g., comparing average personality scores across different age groups to study developmental trends).
Why is it important to consider absolute stability at both the group and individual levels?
At the group level, absolute stability helps identify overall trends in personality traits across different ages.
At the individual level, people may show different patterns of change, even if the group trend suggests stability or decline.
Understanding these individual differences is crucial, as changes in traits like stress reaction may have implications for long-term health and mortality.
What is differential stability in personality psychology?
Differential stability refers to the consistency of an individual’s rank-ordering on a personality trait over time. Even if average levels of a trait change with age, individuals who are high or low relative to their peers tend to maintain their relative position over time.
For example, someone low in stress reaction at age 20 may still be low compared to peers at age 40.
What are the two common ways to study absolute stability in personality psychology, and what are their pros and cons?
Cross-sectional studies – Compare different age groups at the same time.
- Pros: Quick and easy to conduct.
- Cons: Cannot separate age effects from cohort effects (differences due to historical influences).
Longitudinal studies – Follow the same individuals over time.
= Pros: Better for isolating true age-related personality changes.
- Cons: Time-consuming, expensive, and subject to participant dropout.
What are cohort effects and age effects?
Cohort effects: Differences in personality that are related to historical and social factors unique to individuals born in a particular year.
Age effects: Differences in personality between groups of different ages that are related to maturation and development instead of birth cohort differences.
What is the maturity principle of adult personality development, and what are the typical trends associated with it?
The maturity principle suggests that attributes linked to positive adaptation and successful adult role fulfillment tend to increase during adulthood.
Research shows that extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness generally increase with age, while neuroticism decreases. Openness declines, especially after mid-life.
These changes are associated with positive outcomes such as better health, relationship stability, and reduced risk of mental health issues and criminality.
According to Roberts et al. (2006), when is the most active time for personality development in adulthood, and what might explain this?
The most active time for personality development is young adulthood (ages 18 to late 20s). This period includes significant life changes such as finishing school, starting a career, forming romantic partnerships, and becoming a parent. These transitions may generate pressures that influence personality development, supporting the maturity principle of adult personality development.
How is differential stability evaluated, and what does it typically involve?
Differential stability is evaluated through a longitudinal study, where researchers follow a large sample of participants of the same age and measure their personality attributes at two points in time.
The correlation between the two assessments (called the test-retest or stability coefficient) is calculated to determine how stable personality traits are over time.
- Larger correlations (around .50 or higher) indicate stronger stability, while smaller correlations (around .1 or –.1) suggest weaker stability.
What is the cumulative continuity principle of personality development?
The generalization that personality attributes show increasing stability with age and experience.
What are the key ideas in the module about personality stability, and what are the two major conclusions drawn from the research?
The module highlights different ways to define and measure personality stability:
- Heterotypic stability involves the consistency of underlying psychological traits that may express differently across ages.
- Homotypic stability focuses on the consistency of the same observable personality traits over time.
Two major conclusions from the research:
1. Average levels of personality traits change predictably: Traits associated with positive outcomes (e.g., conscientiousness) tend to increase with age, in line with the maturity principle of personality development.
2. Personality traits become more consistent in adulthood: The cumulative continuity principle suggests that traits become increasingly stable, with more enduring consistency from childhood to adulthood.
The research challenges extreme views: personality doesn’t set by age 30, but it’s not completely determined by situational influences either. There’s stability, but also room for change across the lifespan.
What is personality stability, and what are the three types of person-environment transactions?
Personality stability comes from the interaction between the person and their environment. The three types of person-environment transactions are:
- Active: People seek environments that match their traits (e.g., risk-takers enjoy extreme sports).
- Reactive: People react differently to the same situation based on personality (e.g., extroverts enjoy social gatherings, introverts may not).
- Evocative: People evoke different responses from others due to their personality (e.g., warm people get positive reactions, aloof people don’t).
What is the ASTMA model in personality stability, and how do different mechanisms contribute to it?
The ASTMA model explains how personality stability and change occur:
- Attraction (A): People choose environments that align with their personality (e.g., introverts preferring quiet settings).
- Selection (S): Gatekeepers (e.g., employers) select individuals based on personality traits (e.g., outgoing people in sales).
- Manipulation (M): People actively shape their environments to fit their personality (e.g., extroverts creating more social opportunities).
- Attrition (A): Individuals or environments are dropped when there’s a poor personality fit (e.g., lazy workers leave demanding jobs).
- Transformation (T): Changes in personality happen when external factors alter traits over time.
How do person-environment transactions promote personality continuity?
As individuals gain more autonomy, especially in adulthood, they are better able to select environments that fit their personality.
Reactive and evocative transactions, where personality traits shape reactions and responses from others, reinforce personality stability.
For example, aggressive individuals may interpret ambiguous social cues as threats, which can trigger hostile responses and perpetuate their aggressive tendencies.
How can personality change occur despite stability?
Personality change can happen through exposure to different rewards and punishments in certain environments, such as the military, which limits personal agency and has clear reward structures. Additionally, individuals can actively strive to change their behaviors through therapy or self-improvement efforts.
Research in personality change is growing, and effective interventions may promote attributes like self-control and emotional stability, leading to positive life outcomes.
What is the hostile attribution bias?
The tendency of some individuals to interpret ambiguous social cues and interactions as examples of aggressiveness, disrespect, or antagonism.
________ refers to the psychological coherence of an individual’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors across development.
_________ concerns the amount of similarity in the same observable personality characteristics across time.
Thus, a question about the degree of consistency in underlying personality attributes would concern _________.
_________ concerns consistency of levels of personality attributes across time
heterotypic stability refers to the psychological coherence of an individual’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors across development.
homotypic stability concerns the amount of similarity in the same observable personality characteristics across time.
Thus, a question about the degree of consistency in underlying personality attributes would concern heterotypic ability.
Absolute stability concerns consistency of levels of personality attributes across time
What defines objective tests in personality assessment, and how are they scored?
Objective tests involve administering a standard set of items with limited response options (e.g., true/false or Likert scale). The “objective” aspect refers to the standardized method of scoring, which doesn’t require subjective judgment from the psychologist. Responses are scored based on a predetermined key.
However, the test responses themselves can be subjective and may be influenced by biases, despite the objective scoring method.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of self-report personality measures?
Advantages:
- Self-report measures are cost-effective, easy to administer, and provide access to personal thoughts, feelings, and motives that others may not know.
- They are widely used and can provide valuable insights into personality traits like the Big Five (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness).
- Self-ratings predict various outcomes such as academic performance, job performance, well-being, health, and psychopathology.
Disadvantages:
- Respondents may present themselves in a socially desirable way, leading to biased results (particularly a concern in “high-stakes testing”).
- There can be a self-enhancement bias, where individuals emphasize positive traits and minimize negative ones.
- Self-ratings are influenced by the reference group effect, where individuals compare themselves to others in their social or cultural group, potentially distorting their self-perception.
What is the self-enhancement bias?
The tendency for people to see and/or present themselves in an overly favorable way.
This tendency can take two basic forms:
- defensiveness (when individuals actually believe they are better than they really are)
- and impression management (when people intentionally distort their responses to try to convince others that they are better than they really are).
Informants also can show enhancement biases. The general form of this bias has been called the letter-of-recommendation effect, which is the tendency of informants who like the person they are rating (e.g., friends, relatives, romantic partners) to describe them in an overly favorable way. In the case of newlyweds, this tendency has been termed the honeymoon effect.
What is the reference group effect?
The tendency of people to base their self-concept on comparisons with others. For example, if your friends tend to be very smart and successful, you may come to see yourself as less intelligent and successful than you actually are. Informants also are prone to these types of effects. For instance, the sibling contrast effect refers to the tendency of parents to exaggerate the true extent of differences between their children.
What is the sibling contrast effect?
The tendency of parents to use their perceptions of all of their children as a frame of reference for rating the characteristics of each of them.
For example, suppose that a mother has three children; two of these children are very sociable and outgoing, whereas the third is relatively average in sociability. Because of operation of this effect, the mother will rate this third child as less sociable and outgoing than he/she actually is. More generally, this effect causes parents to exaggerate the true extent of differences between their children. This effect represents a specific manifestation of the more general reference group effect when applied to ratings made by parents.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of informant ratings for assessing personality?
Advantages:
- Informants can observe a wide range of behaviors, offering valuable insights, especially when self-ratings are difficult or unreliable (e.g., for children or cognitively impaired adults).
- Informants are less likely to exhibit the defensiveness that may affect self-ratings and are motivated to provide accurate assessments.
- Informant ratings are often more accurate than self-ratings, particularly for traits that are highly evaluative, like intelligence or creativity. They can predict outcomes like job performance and military discharge more effectively than self-ratings.
Disadvantages:
- Informants may not have access to a person’s private thoughts, feelings, or motives, which limits their perspective.
- Ratings can be biased, particularly if the informant doesn’t know the person well or only observes them in certain contexts.
- Informants, like self-raters, can be influenced by biases such as the reference group effect or the letter of recommendation effect (e.g., overly favorable ratings from romantic partners or family members).
What is the difference between comprehensive and single-attribute personality tests?
Single-Attribute Tests: These assess one core attribute of personality, such as self-esteem or emotional regulation. Examples include the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and Multidimensional Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire.
Comprehensive Tests: These are omnibus inventories designed to assess multiple aspects of personality. Examples include the California Psychological Inventory, Revised HEXACO Personality Inventory (HEXACO-PI-R), NEO Personality Inventory-3 (NEO-PI-3), and Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire.
How do personality tests differ in terms of the breadth of the traits they assess?
Broad Traits: Some tests focus on broad, general traits, like neuroticism and extraversion, which can be further divided into specific, related traits. For example, extraversion includes components such as dominance, sociability, positive emotionality, and adventurousness. The Big Five Inventory is an example of a test that assesses these broad traits.
Specific Traits: Some tests focus on more specific personality traits, such as the NEO-PI-3 and HEXACO-PI-R, which assess both broad traits and specific facets (e.g., gregariousness, assertiveness, and excitement seeking for extraversion).
What is the projective hypothesis?
The theory that when people are confronted with ambiguous stimuli (that is, stimuli that can be interpreted in more than one way), their responses will be influenced by their unconscious thoughts, needs, wishes, and impulses. This, in turn, is based on the Freudian notion of projection, which is the idea that people attribute their own undesirable/unacceptable characteristics to other people or objects.
What are projective tests, and what are the key differences between them and objective tests?
Projective Tests: These tests, such as the Rorschach Inkblot Test and the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), ask individuals to respond to ambiguous stimuli (e.g., inkblots or pictures) in ways that reveal their unconscious thoughts, feelings, and motives. They are based on the projective hypothesis, which suggests that people’s interpretations of these stimuli are influenced by nonconscious needs and experiences.
Differences from Objective Tests:
- Subjectivity: Projective tests require spontaneous, subjective responses, while objective tests use structured questions with predetermined answers.
- Scoring: Projective tests are more labor-intensive to score due to the complexity of responses. For example, the Rorschach uses the Comprehensive System for scoring, while the TAT assesses motives like achievement through story generation.
- Validity: The TAT has demonstrated good validity, especially in predicting achievement-related outcomes, whereas the Rorschach has faced criticism for its incremental validity compared to simpler self-report measures.
What are implicit tests of personality, and how do they differ from explicit self-report measures?
Implicit Tests: These tests assess automatic or unconscious associations between concepts (e.g., “me” and “assertive”). They are based on the idea that people form implicit associations based on past experiences and behavior. For example, if someone strongly associates “me” with “assertive,” they will be able to sort “me” and “assertive” together more quickly than “me” and “shy.”
Differences from Self-Report Measures:
- Automatic vs. Conscious: Implicit tests measure automatic, unconscious associations, while self-report measures ask individuals to consciously reflect on and rate their own behaviors or traits.
- Predictive Power: Implicit measures of traits like the Big Five personality traits have shown predictive power for behavior, even after controlling for explicit self-report measures, suggesting they tap into different aspects of personality.
What are behavioral and performance measures in personality assessment, and what are their advantages and disadvantages?
Behavioral and Performance Measures: These involve assessing personality by directly observing behavior in natural settings or through performance-based tasks. Examples include:
- Funder and Colvin (1988): Observed participants in a “getting acquainted” conversation and rated them on personality traits.
- Mehl, Gosling, and Pennebaker (2006): Used the electronically activated recorder (EAR) to collect ambient sounds from participants’ daily environments, linking behavior to personality traits.
- Gosling et al. (2002): Observed students’ bedrooms and related room characteristics to Big Five traits like conscientiousness and openness.
Advantages:
- Avoids Response Biases: Not affected by biases like self-enhancement or the reference group effect.
- Real-Life Context: Assesses behavior in natural settings, avoiding the artificiality of laboratory tests.
- Direct Assessment of Behavior: Focuses on what people do, rather than what they think or feel.
Disadvantages:
- Cumbersome and Labor-Intensive: Requires extensive data collection and analysis.
- Small Samples of Behavior: Only provides a limited snapshot, which may not fully represent a person’s behavior over time.
- Influenced by External Factors: Behavior can be affected by temporary factors like stress or sleep quality, making it less consistent.
______validity refers to the ability of a given test to predict real world outcomes. For example, a measure of openness to new experiences should be related to one’s desire to engage in unconventional activities.
a) External.
b) Internal.
c) Test-retest.
d) Criterion.
e) Interrater
d) Criterion
The tendency to see or present ourselves in an overly favorable manner is called the ______.
self-enhancement bias
When he plays baseball against less-skilled kids younger than himself, Atohi sees himself as being a particularly good player. When he plays with older kids, Atohi feels that he is not very good at the game. This difference demonstrates the ______effect.
reference group
When our actions are affected by desires or impulses that are outside of our awareness, we would say that they have been impacted by ______motives.
a) regressed.
b) implicit.
c) traumatic.
d) explicit.
e) repressed
b) implicit
The Five-Factor Model (the Big 5) OCEAN was developed using a lexical hypothesis approach. What is this?
The idea that mos important differences between ppl will be encoded in the language that we use to describe people. Therefore, if we want to know which personality traits are most important, we can look to the language that people use to describe themselves and others.
What are the research methods for personality?
Lexical approach: using common words to identify common descriptors
Also other methods like:
- Self-report (an objective test type, where ppl are asked to describe themselves)
- Informant ratings (an objective test type, where someone who knows the person well is asked to rate that person on their personality characteristics)
- Projective tests (a projective test type. ambiguous stimuli is shown, and the person is asked to describe or interpret this ambiguous stimuli.)
- Implicit tests (in this context, a measure of speed when sorting two concepts. If someone can sort two concepts quickly relative to another set of two concepts, it is assumed that they have strong associations between those concepts that are sorted more quickly)
- Behavioural and performance measures (inferring personality from direct samples of behaviour)
