Week 4 (Trait theories of Personality and Biological Influences) Flashcards
Definition of traits
Higher levels description of people’s thoughts, attitudes, and behaviours, that remain relatively stable across the lifespan.
Definition of facets
Components of traits that tend to be more specific than traits that tend to become more of less relevant depending on the situation.
Definition of characteristics
Temporal moments of facets that tend to be associated with the physical acts of facets.
Idiographic Vs Nomothetic
Idiographic
-Focuses on recognition of uniqueness
-Uses subjective experiences
-Based on the study of uniqueness of the individual
Nomothetic
-Attempts to generalise people
-Uses objective knowledge
-Based on numerical data or data that can be categorised
Definition of Idiographic approach
The study of one individual without comparing them with any other
Definition of Nomothetic approach
Describes personality in terms of sets of dimensions (traits) that can be applied to other people (via quantitative methods)
What did Hippocrates and Galen theorise about personality?
That there are different classifications of human “temperaments”, or personality, linked to the elements (and bodily fluids)
What does the Choleric classification of personality mean (Hippocrates and Galen)
Yellow bile
-Determined, quick to act, fiery, energetic, passionate
What does the Sanguine classification of personality mean (Hippocrates and Galen)
Blood
-Warm hearted, outgoing, volatile, optimistic, cheerful
What does the Phlegmatic classification of personality mean (Hippocrates and Galen)
Phlegm
-Slow, patient, calm, quiet, shy, rational, consistent
What does the Melancholic classification of personality mean (Hippocrates and Galen)
Black Bile
-Serious, anxious, quiet, fearful, depressed, poetic, artistic, sad.
What did Persian polymath Avicenna add to Hippocrates and Galen’s classification of personality.
-emotional aspects
-mental capacity
-moral attitudes
-self-awareness, movements and dreams
What did William Sheldon theorise about personality
Somatotypes (types of physique)
What are the traits of the endomorph somatotype
-Sociable
-Peaceful
-Tolerant
-Large body
What are the traits of the mesomorph somatotype
-Assertive
-Proactive
-Vigorous
-Muscular
What are the traits of the ectomorph somatotype
-Insecure
-Sensitive
-Delicate
-Weak muscles
What did Gordon Allport theorise about personality
-Suggested that people who were raised within similar cultures would most likely have the same, or similar common traits.
Cardinal traits:
-Traits that dominate/ Shape behaviour
Central traits:
-Basic building blocks of your personality
Secondary traits
-Variable traits such as the likes and dislikes
What were the different types of data that Raymond Cattell collected?
-L-data: life records
-Q-data: questionnaires
-T-data: lab observations and testing
What questionnaire did Raymond Cattell develop?
The 16 personality factor (16PF) questionnaire
Source traits and Surface traits (Raymond Cattell)
Surface traits: collections of trait descriptors that cluster together
Source traits: identified via factor analysis and refers to underlying trait that is responsible for the variance in these observable surface traits.
Hans Eysenck, three basic personality dimensions
- Extroversion - Introversion
- Neuroticism - Stability
- Aggressiveness/ egocentricity - self control (Psychopathy)
Extroversion to Introversion dimension (Eysenck)
-Interactivity with others
-Extraverts seen as sociable and impulsive who love excitement
-Introverts seen as quiet, introspective individual who prefer well-ordered life
Neuroticism to Stability dimension (Eysenck)
-Measure of emotional behaviours
-Neurotics were seen as emotionally unstable individuals with unreasonable fears and obsessional symptoms.
Biological bases of extraversion trait
-Lower level of cortisol arousal
-Highly-extraverted people are naturally less stimulated, so they seek it out
Biological bases of Neuroticism trait
-More reactive limbic (nervous) system
-Highly N individuals are more sensitive to environmental stimuli
Biological bases of psychoticism
-Low levels of dopamine
-Vulnerability to inhibit irrelevant stimuli and impaired learning of societal rules
What are the three dimensions to temperaments
-Emotionality
-Activity
-Sociability
What are the 5 components of “The Big Five”
-Openness to experience
-Conscientiousness
-Extraversion
-Agreeableness
-Neuroticism
What is “openness to experience” in the big five
-Involves characteristics of showing intellectual curiosity, divergent thinking and a willingness to consider new ideas and an active imagination
High scorers:
-Unconventional
-Independent
-Imaginative
-Prefer variety
Low scorers:
-Conventional
-Conforming
-Down to earth
-Prefer familiarity
What is “conscientiousness” in the big five
-This dimension describes the degree of self-discipline, control and the active process of planning, organising, and carry out tasks.
High scorers
-Well-organised
-Careful
-Self-disciplined
-Determined
Low scorers:
-Disorganised
-Careless
-Weak-willed
-Easily distracted
What is “extraversion” in the big five
-This factor represents a measure of individuals sociability , assertiveness, and activity
High scorers:
-Sociable
-Fun-loving
-Affectionate
-Energetic
-Optimistic
-Assertive
Low scorers:
-Retiring
-Sover
-Reserved
-Even-paced
-Independent
What is “agreeableness” in the big five
-This dimension indicates characteristics that are relevant for social interactions, such as traits for altruism and cooperativeness
High scorers
-Soft-hearted
-Trusting
-Helpful
-Sympathetic
Low scorers
-Antagonistic
-Suspicious
-Unhelpful
-Uncooperative
What is “neuroticism” in the big five
-This dimension measure’s individual’s emotional stability and personal adjustment and tendency to experience negative affect, such as fear, sadness, embarrassment, anger, guilt and disgust.
High scorers
-Worried
-Insecure
-Self-pitying
-Anxious
Low scorers
-Calm
-Well-adjusted
-Less reactive
-Emotionally stable
What is the easy way to remember the big five
OCEAN
How is the big five measured
NEO-PI-R
What did Vukasovic and Bratko’s 2015 study report about genetic inheritance of big five characteristics
That 40% of individual’s differences in personality were due to genetic, while 60% are due to environmental influences.
Three approaches to identifying traits
- Analysis of natural language (the lexical approach)
- Using statistical techniques (e.g. factor analysis) to identify patterns in data.
- Theorising –> deducing fundamental traits.
What impact does life-changing events have on personality?
-A surprisingly small effect.
-Obtaining a job increased emotional stability
-Emotional stability increased in the period before childbirth and then dropped again.
Stengths of the trait approaches
-Empirical investigation
-Questionnaires developed
-Not bound to theoretical assumptions
-Scientifically sound area of psychological research
-Cross-cultural consistency in 5 factors
Limitations of the trait approaches
-Heavy reliance on self-reports
-Derived from everyday language
-Factor analysis only as good as the items included
-Descriptive but not explanatory
-Factors may not mean the same thing across cultures.
