Week 3 Flashcards
Identical Twins
- Share 100% genetic coding
Fraternal Twins
- Share 50% genetic coding, but are generally raised in the same environment
Trait Approach
Approaches to studying personality that focus on how individuals differ in personality dispositions
Five- Factor Theory
The idea that personality can be described using five factors; openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism
Raymond Cattell
-Used statistical procedures to investigate the basic structures of personality
- Participants filled out questionnaires where traits were grouped i.e. nice, pleasant, co-operative = friendly
- Identified 16 basic dimensions of personality
Jeffrey Gray
Proposed that personality is rooted in two motivational functions; to approach reward and to avoid pain
- Developed into revised reinforcement sensitivity theory
Behavioral Approach Theory
- The “go” system
- Brain structures that lead organisms to approach stimuli in the pursuit of certain rewards
Behavioral Inhibition Theory
- The “slow down” system
- Because it is sensitive to punishment, it cautiously inhibits/ slows behaviour in response to danger/pain
- More related to anxiety than fear
Fight-Flight-Freeze System
-Promotes behaviours that can protect the organism from harm such as remaining motionless or escaping
- “stop or escape” system
Benefits of Grays Theory
Particularly useful for understanding personality differences in impulsive and risk taking behaviour i.e. taking drugs or excessive drinking
Correlation between Gray and Eysenck’s Research
- BAS linked to extraversion as extraverted people tend to be more reward driven
- BIS is linked to neuroticism as people high in neuroticism tend to become anxious in social situations in which they anticipate negative outcomes
Neuroticism
- Calm/ Anxious
- Self Satisfied/ Self Pitying
- Secure/ Insecure
Extraversion
- Sociable/ Retiring
- Affectionate- Reserved
- Most important temperament
Openness to Experience
- Imaginative/ Practical
- Preference to Variety/ Continuity
- Independent/ Conforming
Agreeableness
- Soft- hearted/ Ruthless
- Trusting/ Suspicious
- Helpful/ Un co-operative
Conscientiousness
- Organised/ Disorganised
- Careful/ Careless
- Disciplined/ Impulsive
How Stable is the five factor approach?
- In adulthood, the big five are quite stable, with some tendencies (N,E and O) waning a bit in adulthood, after college and other tendencies i.e. agreeableness and conscientiousness rising
- These changes are almost certainly driven by environmental differences
How heritable are these traits?
- Runs between 30 and 50% across the different dimensions
- Genetic factors influence every aspect of an individual and their personality, either directly i.e. height at 0.8 or indirectly i.e. watching TV 0.3
How does the five factor approach apply to other cultures?
- They describe the personalities of people from other cultures reasonably well
- There are some differences that emerge in traits related to social interaction i.e. interpersonal relatedness i high in China but not in the West
How well do the Big 5 predict other personal attributes
- Highly conscientious people are more likely to be morning people
- More extraverted people are more likely to be evening types
- People with low levels of agreeableness, openness to new experiences and high levels of neuroticism tend to have less marital and sexual satisfaction
The N-E-O-PI-R
- Neuroticism, extraversion, openness to new experiences personality inventive revised
- A hierarchal, structural questionnaire
- Differentiated each factor into 6 more specific facets
- Each facet is measured by eight specific items
- 240 items in total
Strengths of Trait Theory
- Have been researched in depth
- Describe important differences between people
Weaknesses
- Tend not to say much about the psychological processes involved i.e. how malleable is a trait, how will extreme environmental experiences impact your traits
- Heritability estimates suffer from some limitations and conceptual problems
Self Report Measures
- Fill out questionnaire based on yourself
Peer Measure
- A peer records data on you
