Personality Psychology Flashcards

A set of flashcards created from the provided lecture notes.

Implicit personality theories

Intuitively based theories of human behaviour that we all construct to help us to understand both others and ourselves.

Lay definitions of personality

Emphasis on physical appearance and comments on social styles, based on judgements that are relative.

Psychological definitions of personality

Focus on characteristics or qualities of individuals, such as Allport's definition: “dynamic organisation inside the person, psychophysical systems that create the person’s characteristic patterns of behaviour, thoughts and feelings.

Aims of studying personality

To find out what people are like, why they behave the way they do, and to understand how it came to be; also involves providing descriptions/categorizations for behaviours, developmental theories, and considering heritability versus environment.

Lay definitions of personality (Gordon Allport)

Sociological, philosophical, ethical and legal definitions of personality.

Idiographic approach

Focuses on the individual and describes the personality of the individual, with the assumption that each person has a unique personality, differences are greater than similarities, and explores unique understandings of personality (e.g., case studies).

Nomothetic approach

Assumes a finite set of variables can describe personality, identifies traits across a group, assigns a set of variables, and creates norms for variables, where individuals can be above or below the norms for variables (e.g., extravert vs. introvert).

Description- Empirical Validity-Applied Values of personality

Identify/simplify/clarify. generate predictions, testable concepts, include both normal/abnormal behaviour, conceptual economy, stimulates research, practical usefulness.

Distinctions and assertions in personality research

Stable and enduring, observed in social situations, generally stable but can change over time, includes observable and unobservable aspects, conscious and unconscious aspects, and the private and public persona.

Social psychologists view on personality

Argue the situation dictates how we behave.

Measurement issues in personality research

Methods for measuring personality characteristics need to be reliable and explore if it is enduring over time (psychometric testing).

Clinical strand

Strands of personality theorizing related to mentally ill individuals.

Individual differences strand

Strands of personality theorizing related to individual differences.

Franz Anton Mesmer

Treatment based on magnets (flow can be disturbed), later explored individual differences of natural magnetism, psychological influenced his patients (hypnosis).

Johann Casper Lavater

Described linking of facial features with characteristics (physiognomy).

Dr Gall

Developed this idea and called it craniology— different human functions were located in different brain structures (relative to size/shape of cranium)— individuals characters are determined by the shape of cranium.

Francis Galton

Founder of individual differences, developed a range of measures e.g. attitudes and intelligence— use of stats to analyze (questionnaires) so is reliable).

Curt Hoffman, Ivy Lau and David Johnson (1986)

Compared types of personalities identified in western and Chinese culture e.g. west-artistic personality (creative, temperamental and intense) however no labels for Chinese equivalent.

Chinese Shi Gú personality type

World, socially skilled, devoted to family and reserved.

Trait

a dimension of personality used to categorise people according to the degree to which they manifest a particular characteristic.

The Lexical Hypothesis

Important individual differences between people become encoded as single terms.

Allport and Odbert (1936) - 4,500

Words identified to describe personality traits.

Cardinal traits

Single dominating trait (e.g., competitiveness).

Central traits

5-10 best descriptors.

Secondary traits

Preference rather than core constituent.

Proprium

Synonym for self, representing all parts comprising concept of self.

Cattell’s process for discovering basic structure of personality

Large samples of individuals asked to rate degree to which attributes apply to them - factor analysis (identification of clusters - correlated items).

Cattell (1965) Definition of Personality

The characteristics of the individual that allow prediction of how they will behave in a given situation.

Distinguishing Trait Types (Cattell, 1965)

Forms of traits e.g. ability, temperament and dynamic; environmental mold.

Surface traits

Collections of trait descriptors that cluster together in many individuals and situations.

Source traits

Responsible for the observed variation in surface traits, represent underlying structure of personality

Cattell & Kline (1977)

Allport and Odbert list (reduced to 171 - raters removed synonyms), reviewed research, personality assessment & psychiatric literature, and got to sufficient traits to describe individual differences in personality.

L-data

Records of peoples lives, jobs, siblings marriage ect.

Q-data

Questionnaires (self report ideas).

T-data

experiment like things, may not be useful.

16PF Questionnaire (Cattell, Eber & Tatsuoka, 1970)

Questionnaire- use of everyday terms (intuitive models of implicit models).

Supertraits

A learning approach, linking to biological models.

2 factor personality models

Neuroticism and stability, Extraversion- Introversion.

Eysenck Personality Inventory EPI

Tests these 2 dimensionsNeuroticism-Stability Extraversion- Introversion

EPQ

Added 3rd factor of psychoticism-socialisation + lie scale added.

Psychoticism

ego- control, empathy, socilisation — similar to psychopathy, overlap.

The Lexical Approach Evidence for the Five-Factor Model

Re-analyses of Cattell’s 16F solution have consistently elicited only 5 factors.

Costa and McCrae (1985;1989;1992;1997)Evidence for the Five-Factor Model

Data-driven factor analysis evidence (2PQs).

Levels of Consciousness of Freud (thought Preconscious mind Unconscious mind)

No clear division, but different degrees… – Dreams, stressful times, in symptoms of illness or psychological disturbance, alcohol or drugs.

Freud (1940/1969) The unconscious & dreams

Manifest content of dreams + Latent content of dreams.

Primary process

Irrational thinking/dreams

Secondary Process

Rational thought: The Reality Principle

Libido

Child born with fixed amount of mental energy

Motivation

Sexual drives + Life-preserving drives + Thanatos (self-destructive, death instinct

ID

Raw, uninhibited instinctual energy

EGO

Planning, thinking and organizing

Superego

Conscience (internalized parental attitudes etc

ID

Raw, uninhibited instinctual energy

The correct order of stages of psychosexual development is

Raw, uninhibited instinctual energy

Fixation

Internal resistance to transferring libidinal energy to new objects

Adler Inferiority feelings

Experienced from birth – helpless infant – Strive for mastery to fulfil potential.

Neurotic Personality

When inferiority is not compensated for the person develops a

Teleology

Contrast with deterministic approach, Overarching goal of superiority/mastery, Driving achievement and maximizing potential.

Love

3 generalized concerns include Work, Friendship and

Teleology

Over arching goal of

Socially useful personality

Positive social interest and prepared to co-operate.

Jung Human Psyche

Proposes a model- concepts similar to Freud, unifying sense of self- feelings of identity and continuity

Jung laws-Opposites

Opposition ideas

Introversion

Internal focus.

Sensing

Experience without evaluation.

Feeling

Evaluation of desirability/ worth.

Horney (1977) on Human Nature

Positive view of human nature, Warm, loving, consistent parenting, Child is respected and supported – Healthy personality development.

Neurotic Personality type Aggressive

They need power, prestige, achievementbelieve others are hostile & untrust- worthy; survival of the fittest and Appear ‘tough’ and unemotional but Are Poor at relationships.

Negative Defenses

Blind spots + Compartmentalisation + Rationalisation + Excessive self-control+ Arbitrary rightness + Elusiveness+ Cynicism

Pavlov-Operant conditioning

Reinforcement, reward and punishment.

Social learning theory - Bandura

Internal self-regulatory processes-self efficacy, Influenced by environments and individuals are active in this process.

Increase personal self-efficacy

Push yourself through it + Watch someone else do something + shadow someone else while they do it.

Rotter (1966) External-Locus of control

Helpless dependent on others.

Cognitive affective processing system (CAPS) and composed of cognitive affective units (CAUs)

Representations of self, others expectations beliefs

Kelly (1955)

All of us predict others behaviours based on experience, subjective views.

Rational-emotive behaviour theory Ellis (1958)

Humans are rational/irrational-rational behaviours help get to goals.

Underlying concept- rational emotive

Men are disturbed not by things, but by their views of things.

Humanistic tools include Activating eventBeliefConsequences

DisputationEducation.

Motivation in relation to theories

Maslow & RogersWhat motivates us and our behaviour + Weak— can be easily disrupted, easily overcome by negative environmental influences.

Rogers and behaviour

Individuals shape their behaviour—active roles, Everyone is deserving of respect and rights as beings.

Self-concept from theories

Real self/ideal self-Tension between real self and ideal selfincongruent + defence mechanisms.

Rogers person-centered therapy

Help the client to close the gap of incongruency, adjectives + descriptions on personality traits and sorted to 9 categories between 1-9 (Most like me or least like me scale).

Things in relation to attraction questions

big 5 personality traits + Cognitive variables- how we evaluate + Psychosocial—similarity, age dynamics

Reasons for Interpersonal Attraction (Kreuger and Caspi, 1993)

Ideal partner hypothesis+ Repulsion hypothesis + optional dissimilarity hypothesis+ Optimal outbreeding hypothesis+ Similarity hypothesis.

Kreuger & Caspi (1993) women shown

computer generated profiles + men with similar/dissimilar personality.

Fatal attraction (Felmlee, 1995)

Change in interpretation of our partners qualities, rather than a change in partners personality.

Where is love within love?

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Love is

According to students Like an elevator; you can ride it to the top or end up in the basement, but eventually you’ll choose which floor to get off.

Sternberg triangular theory of love

passion commitment and intimacy

Lee's colour of love:Storge

trust, grounded stuff (old friends)

Love attitude scale (Hendrick & Hendrick, 1986)

Sex based differences- men> ludic and manic while women= storgic and pragmatic lovers

Anxious-resistant

More eager to get close to their partners than the reverse Major worry is abandonment ‘Ambivalence’ – love-hate relationship-High break-up rate despite deep involvement-Intense grieving after lossUnstable self-esteem (self-doubt)

Investment Model

Shows how committed they are to their relationship as well as motivation Elements that determine commitment: – Satisfaction -> costs vs rewards/comparison level – Quality of alternatives -> comparison level – Investments

Davis, Shaver & Vernon (2003) Relating to Attachment categories

Related to attachment categories – Resistant attachment < Preoccupation with dissolution – Avoidant attachment > Fewer distress reactions< More avoidant tactics & self-reliant strategies – Secure attachment < Support of friends & family as coping strategy.

DSM-5: What is a Personality Disorder?

DSM-5 -lasting pattern of behaviour/ internal experience + Differentiated from individual’s culture impact on Affect + Cognition + Impulse control + Relationships

Cluster A

Withdrawn/cold/suspicious/irrational.

Cluster B

Theatrical/emotional/attention-seeking/shallow.

Cluster C

Anxious/tense/ over-controlled

Antisocial- cluster be

Responsible often criminal behaviour, starts childhood/early adolescents, behaviour markers of truancy, absconding, cruelty, cruelty, violence, lying & theft, adult behaviour marked as impulsive and lack of remorse

Schizotypal

Difficult relationships, Odd or strange behaviour, Uncomfortable in social contexts, Suspicious, Unusual perceptions & thinking, Eccentric speech + Inappropriate affect