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Personality

Chapter 12

…like all others Human nature level

…like some others Individual/Group Differences

…like no others Individual Uniqueness Level

Personality

Every human being is…

Worriers Risk takersHappy

PersonalityPerson's general style of interaction with the worldPeople differ from one another in their style of behavior, in ways that are relatively consistent across time and situationsThe study of personality focuses on differences between peopleAnd consistencies within people

Personality questionnaires

Why take personality tests?Preferences with regard to personality

Learn about yourself

Be able to predict future behaviorsBased on belief that basic differences in behavior are related to how person perceives, judges, makes decisions, etc.

There is no “good” or “bad”– just different stylesFind out about yourself:

Keirsey: full test at www.keirsey.com

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Answer the following…

Describe your perfect weekend. What would you do?Describe a bowl of M&Ms.You are in charge of a group, but you can only take ½ of them to finals. How do you resolve the situation?Describe a plan for a two week trip. You can go anywhere, do anything, spend as much money as you want!

Myers-Briggs DichotomiesE/I: Extroversion/Introversion

How you get energy and where you focus your attentionExtroversion: energy from outside-world, actionIntroversion: energy from inside-world, reflection

S/N: Sensing/IntuitionHow do you take in information and find out about thingsSensing: precise and exact manner, trust concreteIntuition: novel or abstract manner, trust abstract

T/F: Thinking/FeelingHow you make decisionsThinking: general truths and objectivity, logicalFeeling: seek interpersonal harmony, empathetic

J/P: Judging/PerceivingHow you live your life (lifestyle)Judging: like closure and planningPerceiving: open-ended and adapt to novelty

Temperament preferenceDescribe your perfect weekend. What would you do?

Extroversion: more people involvedIntroversion: quieter activities

Describe a bowl of M&Ms.Sensing: technical descriptionIntuitive: more creative description

You are in charge of a group, but you can only take ½ of them to finals. How do you resolve the situation?

Thinking: more logical approach (merit)Feeling: harder to come to decision, multiple sides

Describe a plan for a two week trip. You can go anywhere, do anything, spend as much money as you want!

Judging: list of activities/itineraryPerceiving: rough plan, nothing detailed

Personality testshttp://www.2h.com/personality-tests.html

Self-report structured testsStandardized questionnairesExamples

Myers-BriggsMMPI

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MMPIPersonality testshttp://www.2h.com/personality-tests.html

Self-report structured testsStandardized questionnairesExamples

Myers-BriggsMMPI

Projective personality testsInterpretation of ambiguous informationExamples

Rorschach inkblot techniqueThematic Apperception Test

Thematic Apperception Test

Provide a story for this picture.

Why study personality psychology?

Why the person is the way he/she is?To predict behaviorTo summarize a person

PsychopathologyCareer choiceOther uses?

Find romantic partner: eharmony.comSports (draft picks)Understand learning style/improve study skillsUnderstand clients / employees

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Corporate personality test

Select the statement you most agree with and least agree with from options below.

Spend money to get power and control, or else save it.If you think so, you can make things work out well.Details frustrate me, I’d rather do other things.Don’t speak unnecessarily, let others do the talking, but think as you like.

American Express trainingWhat kind of job would each “type” have?

Personal relationships important

Personal relationships not important

Important to complete job

Not important to complete job

Amiable Expressive

DriverAnalytic

Pro/Con: Personality tests

Support for personality testsPreference – not absolutesUnderstand strengths/weaknessesSelf-report tests predict behavior (r=.30)

Problems/issues with personality testsTypes of questionsPersonality dimensionsPast behavior predicts future behavior best!Stability of traitsBarnum effect (selection bias)

Personality theories

Chapter 12

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Perspectives on personality

Trait theories

Psychodynamic theory

Humanistic approach

Social-cognitive approach

Trait theories

Describe differences among individuals using a standard set of attributes

Traits: relatively stable predisposition to behave in a certain way

Factor-analytic approachGrouping of questionsHow many personality dimensions are there?

Cattell (1957): 16 traitsNorman (1963): 5 traitsEysenck (1952): 3 traits

Thought paper

Write 5-10 terms to describe your own personality.Write 5-10 terms to describe a friend’s personality.

What are the primary traits or fundamental dimensions of personality?How would you measure these traits? Examples?

Cattell’s source traits

Reserved

Trusting

Relaxed

Less intelligent

Stable

Assertive

Happy-go-lucky

Conscientious

Venturesome

Tender-minded

Imaginative

Shrewd

Apprehensive

Experimenting

Self-sufficient

Controlled

Outgoing

Suspicious

Tense

More intelligent

Emotional

Humble

Sober

Expedient

Shy

Tough-minded

Practical

Forthright

Placid

Conservative

Group-tied

Casual

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Eysenck’s superfactorsExtroversion: How outgoing and social Neuroticism: How emotional (stable/unstable)Psychoticism: How sensitive toward others

Norman’s Big Five

ExtroversionSociable/reclusive

NeuroticismCalm/anxious

AgreeablenessGood-natured/irritable

ConscientiousnessResponsible/undependable

Openness to experienceRefined/crude

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Sort the following adjectives and label the group with a “factor” name

OrganizedCuriousActiveGenerousOutgoingTenseAnxiousAssertiveOriginalForgivingEfficient

UnstableTalkativeAppreciativeResponsibleArtisticEnthusiasticSympatheticDeliberateSelf-defeatingVulnerableImaginative

Adjectives sorted…

OrganizedCuriousActiveGenerousOutgoingTenseAnxiousAssertiveOriginalForgivingEfficient

UnstableTalkativeAppreciativeResponsibleArtisticEnthusiasticSympatheticDeliberateSelf-defeatingVulnerableImaginative

ExtraversionNeuroticismAgreeablenessConscientious-nessOpenness

Allport’s trait theory

Focus on individualHow we are all unique

Cardinal traitsDominating passion in life (rare)

Central traits5-10 descriptive terms

Secondary traitsOther terms (less important, situation specific)

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The genetics of personality Schaie, Willis, & Caskie (2004)The Seattle Longitudinal Study (NEO)

How personality develops

Psychodynamic theoryCaused by forces originating in unconscious, struggling for control

Humanistic approachCaused by the unique way we grow and understand self

Social-cognitive approachCaused by experiences and interpretation of those experiences

Freud’s Psychodynamic TheoryUnconscious irrational forces competing to control behavior3 layers of consciousness

ConsciousPreconsciousUnconscious

3 personality structures: shaped by childhood

Id = pleasure principleEgo = reality principleSuperego = idealistic principle

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Ego’s Defense mechanismsUnconscious processes used by ego to ward off anxiety due to confrontations with id:

e.g.: You missed an examDenial (I didn’t miss it, honestly)Displacement (Get mad at roommate)Projection (It’s the teacher’s fault)Rationalization (I would have failed anyway)Reaction formation (I love exams)Repression (I don’t remember)Regression (Please, pretty please)Sublimation (Play a violent video game)

Freud’s Psychosexual Development

Born with unconscious urges and drivesMove through stages (or get fixated)

Oral stage: 0-1yrAnal stage: 1-3yrPhallic stage: 3-5yr

Oedipus complex or Electra complexLatency period: 5-12yrGenital stage: 12+

Personality reflects interactions with adultsPsychological problems reflect when specific experiences occurred

Humanistic approachPositive view of human capacity

Focus on growth and potentialDrive toward self-actualization

Develop one’s unique potentialRogers: Develop self-concept

Develop through social interactionsNeed unconditional positive regardConditions of worth tends to come from approvalIncongruence: self-concept vs. experiences

Maslow’s Hierarchy of needsNeed to satisfy physical to emotional needsPersonality reflects position in hierarchy

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Peak experiences

Self-actualization

Aesthetic needs: symmetry, order, beauty

Cognitive needs: knowledge, understanding

Esteem needs: recognition, approval

Belongingness and love needs: acceptance

Safety needs: comfort, security, freedom from fear

Physiological needs: food, water, oxygen

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Maslow: “Toward a Psychology of Being”

The person in peak-experiences feels himself, more than other times, to be the responsible, active, creating center of his activities and of his perceptions. He feels more like a prime-mover, more self-determined (rather than caused, determined, helpless, dependent, passive, weak, bossed). He feels himself to be his own boss, fully responsible, fully volitional, with more “free-will” than at other times, master of his fate, an agent.

Social-cognitive approach

Social side: emphasis on experiencesCognitive side: emphasis on interpretationBehaviorism:

Classical conditioning, operant conditioning, modeling

Personality partly based on locus of controlBelief about control over environment

Self-efficacyBeliefs about own abilities

Self-regulatory systemsDelay of gratification studieshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amsqeYOk--w&feature=related

Bandura’s Reciprocal Determinism

Behavior Cognitions

Environment

Personality is shaped by this complex interaction

Birth order and personalityHow has your birth order affected your personality?Your siblings’ personality?What traits do you possess that can be attributed in part to your birth order?Would you be different if your birth order was changed?If yes, how so?

What does this tell you about your beliefs about nature vs. nurture in regards to personality?http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/06/10/earlyshow/living/parenting/main511694.shtml

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Birth orderhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth_order

Summary of the findings of Belmont and Marolla. Scores on Raven's Progressive Matrices relate to birth order and family size.

Nature or Nurture: Traits

Nature: GeneticsTwin studies on Eysenck’s PI or MMPI (pp 422)Identical twins: .50Fraternal twins: .21-.23

Nurture: EnvironmentFor positive emotion: (pp 423)

Identical twins together: .63Identical twins apart: .34Fraternal twins together: .18Fraternal twins apart: -.07

Interaction of nature and nurture

Thought paper:Compare and contrast theories

Trait theoriesPsychodynamic theoryHumanistic theorySocial-cognitive approach

In what ways are the theories similar? Different?What would each say about birth order?

Compare and contrast the theories

Similarities:All strive to explain adult personalityPsychodynamic, humanistic, soc-cog: agree environment plays a role in personality development

Differences:Trait theories: personality dimensions from birthPsychodynamic: personality developed by unconscious forcesHumanistic: personality due to unique view of the world; strive for self-actualizationSocial-cognitive: personality solely due to experiences and how we interpret experiences

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Extra slides Personality topics

What are basic personality traits?How do we measure personality?Why use personality questionnaires?How does personality develop?Nature or nurture?

Personality Review

What are the 2 types of personality tests?Why do we use personality tests?What are the pros and cons of personality tests?What are the 4 personality theories?What is their stance on nature vs. nurture?

E/I: Extroversion/IntroversionHow you get energy and where you focus your attention

Extroversion – directs and receives energy from outside worldPrefer action over reflectionTalk things over in order to understandPrefer oral communicationShare thoughts freelyAct and respond quicklyExtend yourself into the environmentEnjoy working in groups

Introversion – directs and receives energy from inner worldPrefer reflection over actionThink things through in order to understandPrefer written communicationGuard your thoughts until they are completeReflect and think deeplyDefend yourself against external demandsEnjoy working alone or with only one or two others

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S/N: Sensing/IntuitionHow do you take in information and find out about things

Sensing – prefers to gather information in a precise and exact mannerLike specific examplesPrefer following an agendaEmphasize the pragmaticSeek predictabilityFocus on immediate applications of a situationWant to know what is

Intuition – prefers to gather information in a novel or abstract mannerLike general conceptsDepart from the agenda if necessaryEmphasize the theoreticalDesire changeFocus on future possibilities of a situationWant to know what could be

T/F: Thinking/FeelingHow do you make decisions

Thinking – seek general truths and objectivity when making decisionsQuestions firstKnow when reason is neededWant things to be logicalHave a cool and impersonal demeanorRemain detached when making decisionsControl the expression of your feelings

Feeling – seek individual and interpersonal harmony when making decisionsAccept firstKnow when support is neededWant things to be pleasantHave a warm and personal demeanorRemain personally involved when making decisionsExpress feelings with enthusiasm

J/P: Judging/PerceivingHow do you live your life

Judging – like to come to closure and act with a planLike things to be settled and orderedFinish tasks before the deadlineFocus on goals, results, achievementsEstablish deadlinesPrefer no surprisesPrefer to be conclusiveQuickly commit to plans or decisions

Perceiving – prefers to remain open and adapt to new informationLike things to be flexible and openFinish tasks at the deadlineFocus on processes, options, and openingsDislike deadlinesEnjoy surprisesPrefer to be tentativeReserve the right to change plans or decisions

Temperament preferenceNT’s: Rationals: Use

time wisely – forget others

Albert Einstein (INTP)

Dwight Eisenhower (INTJ)

Walt Disney (ENTP)

Bill Gates (ENTJ)

NF’s: Idealists: Sensitive to people – can’t say no

Mohandas Gandhi (INFJ)

Albert Schweitzer (INFP)

Molly Brown (ENFP)

Margaret Mead (ENFJ)

SP’s: Artisans: Respond quickly – scatter efforts

Barbara Streisand (ISFP)

Clint Eastwood (ISTP)

Elvis Presley (ESFP)

Madonna (ESTP)

SJ’s: Guardians: Best organized – rigid/can’t relax

George Washington (ESFJ)

Harry Truman (ISTJ)

Mother Teresa (ISFJ)

Colin Powell (ESTJ)

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Consistency controversyTrait: stable and enduringSituation: fleeting and changes behaviorMischel: behavior is inconsistent (due to environment)Longitudinal studies (Big 5)

Tested 2x: correlations .59 - .87Even with time spans between the first and second test of 30 to 40 years

Harshorne & May (1928): kids have opportunity to be dishonest

High correlations for same situationLow correlations across different situations

Interaction of situation and traitsConsistency is a trait