Personality

PsychologyMs. Currey

By the end of this lesson…..

1. What is personality? 2. What are traits? 3. Is my perception of my

personality different from others’? 4. Are personality tests ONLY

measuring BAD traits? 5. According to the MMPI-2, what

levels of the 5 traits do I have?

Do Now:

In your journal: Describe your personality with at

least 4 descriptive words.

What is Personality?

My definition: How each individual person feels, thinks, and acts

Why do people care about Personality?

Helps us to achieve goal #3: Predict how different people will act in different life situations.

-If we understand a bit about peoples’ personalities, we can get along better with them.

HOW do people study personality?

http://www.patricialin.com/images/confused.bmp

4 different approaches:

1. Trait theory 2. Psychoanalytic theory 3. Humanistic Theory 4. Social Cognitive Theory

TODAY….

We are going to focus on the Trait Theory

http://www.fpsrantings.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/no-personality.jpg

What is a trait?

Trait Part of your personality that doesn’t really change. Example: I’m very loud and annoying all the time so that would be a personality trait for me.

Problem

Are traits really unchanging? Maybe I’m ONLY loud and annoying in psychology classes!

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Where do traits come from?

A few different ideas about this

Hippocrates- a Greek dr.

Thought that traits came from body fluids:

Yellow Potty: Quick temper

Red Blood: Warmth and cheerfulness

Yellow Mucus: Sluggish and cool

Black bile (poo poo): thoughtful

http://legyozod.freeblog.hu/files/Mr_Hankey_the_Christmas_Poo_by_StaceyW.jpg

According to Hippocrates, all of the fluids needed to be balanced

Some sicknesses were thought to be a result of a lack of balance

http://www.cctexas.com/images/g17/GlassesOfWater.jpg

How do you fix lack of balance in fluids?

Throw up! Or bleed!

NO scientific evidence to back this up

http://www.ac-nancy-metz.fr/enseign/anglais/Henry/throw_up.jpg

Today things are a bit different

Now psychologists give tests and ask people questions to figure out what traits a person has.

http://www.junkscience.com/JSJ_Course/jsjudocourse/test3.jpg

Do traits define a person

Yes according to believers of the trait theory

“A person’s behavior is a product of a person’s combination of traits which are the building blocks of personality” (Gordon Allport).

5 Factor Model

Recently, psychologists have developed a theory that there are 5 basic personality traits: CANOE!

1. Conscientiousness 2. Agreeableness 3. Neuroticism: Emotional Stability 4. Openness to Experience 5. Extroversion

1. Extroversion

Are you talkative, assertive and active?

OR are you quiet, passive and reserved?

http://www.frumster.com/img/Forum/ExtrovertIntrovert.jpg

2. Agreeableness

Are you kind, honest, and like-able?

OR are you mean, selfish, and un-trustworthy?

http://ursispaltenstein.ch/blog/images/uploads_img/kindness_day.jpg

3. Conscientiousness

Are you organized, reliable and hardworking?

OR are you careless, neglectful and unrealiable?

http://www.organizingla.com/organizingla_blog/images/2007/09/30/get_organized.jpg

4.Neuroticism: Emotional Stability-Instability

Can you cope with difficult situations well?

OR do you get nervous, moody, and deal poorly with bad events?

http://www.tc.gc.ca/TDC/publication/tp13959e/images/coping.jpg

5. Openness to Experience

Are you imaginative, curious and creative

OR are you shallow, only thinking about yourself and unable to see or try anything new?

http://images.google.co.th/images?hl=en&q=Curious%20George&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

Different Levels of the 5 factors

You won’t always be able to define yourself as completely having one trait, such as Extroversion.

There are different degrees of the factors.

For example:

I think that I am pretty emotionally stable, but SOMETIMES I don’t deal well with difficult situations.

So psychologists ask people to rate how much people can identify with certain traits

By circling the trait they identify most with and then drawing a point on a line to show HOW much they identify with it:

Example:

NOT agreeable__________X_Agreeable

So what makes you have certain levels of each of the 5 factors?

Why are some people extroverted, agreeable, and open to new things while others are close minded, mean, and selfish?

Believers of the 5 traits say:

Traits are with you when you are born. They mature as we grow up.

NOT really a product of our environment but the way we express our traits may be affected by our culture. Example: Someone who is an extrovert may keep quiet in a lecture setting.

Why should we care about the 5 factor model?

What is it used for?

It helps psychologists to diagnose psychological problems that need to be fixed.

More research

Is being done on how the 5 factors are connected with the way people interact with their friends and family.

http://images.google.co.th/images?hl=en&q=Curious%20George&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

Research also being done

On the links between the 5 factors and psychological disorders like anxiety, depression, and thoughts of suicide.

http://www.drmcbee.com/images/disorders_eye.jpg

Problems with the Trait Theory

Doesn’t explain exactly where traits come from

Or investigate how people with “bad” traits can change for the better

http://images.google.co.th/imgres?imgurl=http://forpd.ucf.edu/strategies/QUESTION.jpg&imgrefurl=http://forpd.ucf.edu/strategies/stratsq4r.html&h=874&w=750&sz=196&hl=en&start=7&um=1&usg=__c2NZ9Z0hGnaQ-UCRU-HV4eumn3s=&tbnid=Bu_MUiY0O2zW5M:&tbnh=146&tbnw=125&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dquestion%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den

How do we measure our traits?

Projective Tests: people project unconscious motives onto an image by telling a story.

Objective Test (more valid and reliable)

Most common: MMPI-2 (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory) version 2.

You get to take it! Yay!

http://www.hypnoticmp3.com/articles/mmpr2-online-test.shtml

Analyze your score! Record your T-score results for the following

traits:

1. Social Introversion 2. Need for Affection 3. Hypocondriasis 4. Anxiety 5. Amorality 6. Hostility 7. Low Motivation 8. Explosive Behavior 9. Multiple Fears 10. ShynessBefore you leave, show your scores to Ms. Currey

and she will tell you where you fit according to the big 5 traits. SAVE YOUR RESULTS!!!!!!

Homework:

Read pp 343-350 in your textbook.

As you read, think about the following: What are some of the flaws of the trait theory?

Review:

1. What is personality? 2. What are traits? 3. Is my perception of my

personality different from others’? 4. Are personality tests ONLY

measuring BAD traits? 5. According to the MMPI-2, what

levels of the 5 traits do I have?