Personality Week 3

Trait-Dispositional Level

Trait Approach

Used by many psychologists to label, measure, and classify people often using trait terms of everyday language. (Friendly, aggressive, honest).

Traits

Continuous dimensions, a sliding scale. Inferred from behavior, thus explains behavior

Types

Discontinuous Categories. (Not really used anymore because everything can be at different levels).

Hippocrates Types

Choleric (irritable), Melancholic (depressed), Sanguine (optimistic), and phlegmatic (calm, listless) - associated with bodily fluids

Type Exampled

Introverts and Extroverts as well as Type A personalities.

Differences in Traits

May be arranged quantitatively by the degree of the trait the person has (degree of conscientiousness).

Do people have different responses to the same stimulus?

Yes, people often differ greatly and consistently.

Issue with Traits

Traits may be used as an adjective, but then it' becomes generalized to be the whole person. Not that he was behaving lazy, but now it becomes abstracted to he is unmotivated.

Gordon Allport Goals

To understand the differences between people in personality, and to see how the different characteristics and processes (learning, biological) within an individual interact and function in an integrated way.

Gordon Allport Main Thought

Traits make up our personality

Unifier

Allport - something that spans across different stimuli and responses, like friendliness.

Cardinal Traits

Allport - highly generalized dispositions that influence most aspects of behavior. (Personality becomes synonymous with that trait).

Central Traits

Allport - Less pervasive but still generalized dispositions that broadly influence behavior (honest, kind, easy-going).

Secondary Dispositions

Allport - Narrow traits or “attitudes” (being nervous about public speaking.

Trait Structure

Each person’s behavior is determined by this. No two people are alike nor respond the same to the same event.

Raymond B. Cattell Thoughts

Quantitative and systematic approach to personality terms.

Factor Analysis

Cattell - mathematical tool that measures inter-correlations to group interrelated traits into broader dimensions. (data, self ratings, objective tests.

Source Traits

Cattell - Related to underlying factors causing these behaviors (dominance as a source of argument).

Surface Traits

Cattell - Related to observable behaviors (arguing with a friend as the surface of dominance).

Cattell’s 16PF

Personality factor questionnaire on primary factors such as warmth, reasoning, dominance, sensitivity, and vigilance.

Ability Traits

Cattell - Concerned with the effectiveness in gaining the goal - related to cognitive capacities and skills, foundation of potential behavior.

Ability Traits Influence

Cattell - Influenced by genetics and are more stable.

Ability Traits Examples

Intelligence and verbal fluency

Temperament Traits

Cattell - Concerned with how the abilities are expressed emotionally - energy or emotional reactivity and behavioral predispositions. How someone typically behaves in certain situations.

Temperament Trait Example

Cattell - Adventurousness

Dynamic Traits

Cattell - Motivational traits that shape how abilities and temperament influence goal directed behavior. Combining needs and environmental pressures.

Dynamic Traits Example

Cattell - Someone in need of achievement may be more driven in a competitive work place.

Hans J. Eysenck Thoughts

Investigated introversion - extraversion as a dimensional trait, not as separate personality types as Jung once postulated. Traits more in relation to disorders and considered potential biological roots.

Emotional Stability

Stressed as a major dimension of personality, opposed by neuroticism.

Common Features of Trait Theories

Paid little attention to situations. Aimed to differentiate between traits (stable/enduring) and states (brief, sometimes situational)

Multiple Act Criterion

Groups together many behaviors that are relevant to the trait; is used to increase the reliability of personality inventories. (feature of trait theories).

Domain of Interpersonal Behavior

Wiggins attempted to find a comprehensive taxonomy of this. Dominant vs. Submissive

Neuroticism (N)

Big Five Factor Trait Dimension: Calm - worrying

Extraversion (E)

Big Five Factor Trait Dimension: Quiet - talkative

Openness to Experience (O)

Big Five Factor Trait Dimension: Conventional - origianal

Agreeableness (A)

Big Five Factor Trait Dimension: Irritable - good natured

Conscientiousness (C)

Big Five Factor Trait Dimension: Careless - careful

Big Five Factor Trait Dimension Positives

Tends to be stable in adults over long periods and can predict important life outcomes.

Juvenile Delinquency

Big Five Predicting Life Outcomes - low in agreeableness and open mindedness, high in extraversion

Big Five Factor Trait Dimension Limitations

Factors are just names that the researcher gives to the correlations that emerge.

Buss and Craik

Treat dispositions as act (behavioral) trends, not explanations.

Personality Paradox

Bem and Allen - intuition leads us to assume consistency, but research indicates low cross-situational consistency of behavior.

Person Vs. Situation Debate

Importance of personality vs situations as determinants of social behavior.

Cross-Situational Consistency

Behavior examined with what people claimed they were like, and what they actually did in different situations. Consistency lower than expected!

Walter Mischel

Proposed that cross-situational consistency was much less than had been assumed traditionally.

Situationalism

The belief that personality is less important than the situation.

Fundamental Attribution Error

Incorrectly viewing personality dispositions, and not situation effects, as explanations for behavior.

Social Psychology

Person effects are error variance or noise that needs to be removed from research.

Personality Psychology

Situation is noise.

Signatures of Personality

Individuals often exhibit consistent behaviors within distinct situations of stable patterns.

Signatures of Personality Example

My are is dependable in good weather, but not in the rain.

Type 1 Consistency

Average overall levels of behavior tendencies.

Type 1 Consistency Example

Average overall aggressiveness assessed by multiple items.

Type 2 Consistency

If… Then… (situation-behavior) signatures of personality.

Type 2 Consistency Examples

If challenged by a stranger, then my father acts aggressively.

Interactionism

Behavior is a product of dynamic interactions between personality and situations.

Predictions about Behavior

Dependent on the personality and situation of an individual.

Triple Typology

Bem - Categorizes types of (1) people, (2) behavior, and (3) situations.