PSYCH EXAM: 3/3

Personality

The characteristic thoughts, emotional responses, and behaviours that are RELATIVELY STABLE in an individual over time and across circumstances

There are numerous ways of ____________ and ______________ personality.

1. CONCEPTUALIZING

2. OPERATIONALIZING

Ways to Assess Personality

• idiographic

• Nomothetic

Idiographic Approaches

Person-centred, focus on individual lives

e.g., narrative approach; humanistic perspective

PERSONALIZED APPROACH

Nomothetic Approaches:

COMMON traits, unique combinations

1. projective measures

2. objective measures

Projective measures

having someone tell an ambiguous story about an image or story → e.g. Rorschach inkblot, TAT

- idea is that person is going to PROJECT their own personality, desires, goals onto story/image

Obejctive measures

fill out the survey → e.g. self-reports, informant ratings (getting someone who knows you well to fill out the survey about you as well)

- FLAWS: people might lie, be ignorant or have a different idealized version of themselves

- They have systems to try and ensure more accuracy (e.g information ratings)

Projective Measure Example: The Rorschach Inkblot Test

Poor psychometric properties → shows a lot more people than it should as being psychologically disturbed

Projective Measure Example: The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Participants are asked to: Write a story and imaginative story about this image

- Claims to study participant's need for: ACHIEVEMENT, POWER, AFFILIATION

- Not shown to be super accurate or consistent

Perspectives on Personality: Historical & Contemporary Approaches

1. Psychodynamic → Freudian, Neo-Freudian

2. Humanistic → Maslow and Rogers

3. Social-Cognitive → Bandura, Mischel

4. Trait Approaches → e.g. "the Big Five"

Psychodynamic and Humanistic Similarities 

- Very difficult to test scientifically

- More interested in finding the way in which personality developments (not really the specific characteristics that people have)

Freud’s Psychodynamic Theory

3 sections of mind = unconscious, preconscious, conscious

3 PRINCIPLES OF MIND = ID, SUPEREGO, EGO

conscious mind

present awareness

Unconscious mind

NOT ACCESSIBLE

a large majority of our personality is in our unconscious mind → id

Preconscious

outside of current awareness, but is accessible (where our long-term memory is with memories we can retrieve) → ego and superego

Id

very selfish impulses → very instinctual, biological actions

- self-gratification, hedonistic

PLEASURE principle → E.g. babies are only focused on what they need

Superego

- internalized ideals

- angel on ur shoulder

MORAL Principle: rules of society, clear right and wrong

Ego

executive mediator → meditates between the superego and the id

REALITY principle

In a healthy person, the ego is the STRONGEST PART of the self (according to Freud)

- BALANCE SUPEREGO AND ID

Freud:

- Came up with talk therapy

- One of the first to help us investigate emotions

- His theories were NOT FALSIFIABLE

Defense Mechanisms

unconscious mental strategies the mind uses to PROTECT ITSELF

DONT NEED TO KNOW CHART

Neo-Freudian Approaches

Carl Jung - analytical psychology

Karen Horney - Feminist psychology

Carl Jung (analytical psychology)

Personal vs. collective unconscious; personality types reflecting opposing ways we can orient ourselves to the external environment

- PERSONAL unconscious → what Freud focused on

- COLLECTIVE unconscious → why so many different people have similarities in their responses due to the cultural similarities

Orienting ourselves to the external environment → introversion and extroversion

- Myers-Briggs test (e.g. INTJ) → very bad test-retest reliability and a poor measure of personality

- Jung DID NOT come up with the Myers-Briggs test, just came from his ideas

Karen Horney (feminist psychology)

emphasis on cultural and social conditions as a determinant of personality (rather than instinctual or biological drives)

- used Freud's ideas  → chose to look into the opposite from Freud’s sexist ideas (womb envy)

- Impact of social structures on personality → this was not seen in Freud’s models

- Believed that patients could help themselves (could be taught to engage is psychoanalysis by themselves ← beginnings of self-help)

Humanistic Approaches - definition

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE and belief systems

- ppl seek personal growth to fulfill their potential

- SELF- ACTUALIZATION (Maslow)

- more OPTIMISTIC APPROACH - when things go right instead of wrong

self-actualization (Abraham Maslow)

the desire to become more and more of what one is, or to become everything that one can be 

- Maslow NEVER put the hierarchy into a pyramid

- Maslow's ideas about self-actualization came from the time he spent with the Blackfoot tribe (a First Nations group which he never actually mentioned in his writings), where he saw a lot of people who were self-actualized, while many people in the Canadian culture were not self-actualized

Humanistic Approaches

Carl Roger's person-centred approach

more on next flashcard

Phenomenology

Subjective human experience

- Unconditional positive regard

Self-concept (or self)

"the organized, consistent set of perceptions and beliefs about oneself." (Carl Rogers)

Incongruent =little overlap in self-image and ideal self; lead to disordered behaviour (anxiety/depression)

Congruent = when treated with postive regard leads to self-actualization

Self

the totality of the individual, consisting of all characteristic attributes, conscious and unconscious, mental and physical.

Self-concept

People's description of their own characteristics (including psychological and physical characteristics, qualities, skills, etc.)

Self-construal

The extent to which the self is defined independently of others or interdependently with others

Individual self-construal

Your uniqueness ← not linked to a particular situation

Interdependent self-construal

focuses on your connection with others (less likely to be unique to you)

Cultural Differences in the Self

Western cultures: Independent self-construals

Non-Western cultures: Interdependent self-construals

Both interdependent and independent self-construals

"can and do co-exist in individuals"

It's not like you either have one OR the other

Social-Cognitive Approach

Ways of understanding personality which emphasizes cognitive processes and the role of the environment

Albert Bandura (recall social learning theory)

Reciprocal determinism

bidirectional relationship (goes both ways)

behavioural perspective = how will this afect someone's behaviour

E.g. Girl who plays soccer

Condition: interest in soccer

Environment: joins the soccer team

Behaviour: spends lots of time with the soccer team

All relates back other other

Self-Efficacy

belief in being able to perform in a particular area

ex. belief someone can do rlly well in a hard math class/low self-efficacy in auditioning for school play

Where does this come from?

Performance experience: past experiences ← e.g. if you have taken a whole bunch of math classes and done well

Vicarious experience: observing others

Social persuasion: other people believing in us

Imaginal experience: visualizations of future success

Physical and emotional states: how u feel abt the situation

Locus of Control

Developed by Julian Rotter in the 1950s-60s

The degree to which people believe that they (as opposed to external forces) have control over the outcome of events in their lives

internal locus of control

they have control over what happens to them

active

external locus of control

things happen to them

- they have no control over their life

-passive

Importantly external vs. internal locus of control represent....

opposite ends of a CONTINUUM

Self-regulation

the process by which people alter or change their behaviour to attain personal goals

Self-control

a process of self-regulation in contexts involving a clear trade-off between long-term goals and short-term temptations

Delay of Gratification: "The Marshmallow Test" (self control)

Walter Mischel, 1970s (& later)

Some strategies: Turning "hot" cognitions into "cold" cognitions (reframing); ignoring; distraction

While original longitudinal studies suggested meaningful connections between delayed gratification at age 4 and things like SAT scores, recent replications have indicated otherwise

Personality as "if-then behavior profiles"

Emphasis on the interaction between the situation and the individual

People may not behave consistently across all situations ("if A, then she X, but if B, then she Y"), but these patterns of behaviour tend to be consistent

Personality trait:

A characteristic; a dispositional tendency to act in a certain way over time and across circumstances

Personality type:

A classification based on particular configurations of personality traits or other characteristics

Recall: Factor Analysis

How do we find underlying dimensions when we can only observe specific behaviours?

Big Five Theory

openness,

conscientiousness,

extraversion,

agreeableness,

neuroticism

Openness

open to new things

- trying new situations, aesthetics

Conscientiousness

tendency to be organized, hardworking, responsible

Extraversion

orientation of ones interests and energies towards outer world rather than inner world

Agreeableness

cooperrative, altruistic

Neuroticism

emotional stability, characterized by a chronic level of emotional instability

prone to psychological distress and lack of emotional stability

Social Psychology

We are social animals who live in groups and depend on one another for survival

Social psychologists study how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviours of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others

Pareidolia

the human tendency to see faces where they do not exist

- its bc human faces are so important for us

Importance of social contact

Genie

harlow and the baby monkey

Human babies that are never touched will die → we rely on that contact

Also Recall: Harvard & Glueck Studies

Longest running study on health & happiness - what makes a good life?

"The only thing that really matters in life are your relationships to other people." - Robert Waldinger

Affiliation Motivation: The Need to Belong

The motivation to be part of relationships, to belong to groups, and to be accepted by others

The need to belong → we are sensitive to the feeling of exclusion

We are profoundly influenced by other people - even strangers!

Example: The bystander effect (Latané & Darley, 1968, 1970)

Diffusion of responsibility

Evaluation apprehension

Pluralistic ignorance

bystander effect proven false

a murder had taken place outside a large apartment complex

False headline: all the people in the apartment building witnessed the murder, but no one called the police

- People actually did care and called the police in reality

studies done on the bystander effect

They did these studies where these participants are just casually filling out questionnaires (but in reality, some participants are hired by the researchers)

- Smoke (fog machine) fills the room, and the hired participants are told to act like nothing is happening

- They wanted to see what the real participants would do

- People were less likely to do something (get help, respond in an emergency situation)

Bystander effect

the more people do nothing (act as bystanders), make it more likely for more people to do the same

- if there r so many more ppl then u feel like someone else will help them

Diffusion of responsibility

other ppl will help them

Evaluation apprehension

ppl are going to judge me for helping

they will think im overreacting

Pluralistic ignorance

Nobody else is responding here, so that must mean there is nothing to be worried about"

Conformity

The altering of one's opinions or behaviours to match those of others or to match social norms

Social norms

Generally accepted ways of thinking, feeling, or behaving that most people in a group agree on and endorse as right and proper

Descriptive social norms

What people ACTUALLY think, feel, or do

Injuctive/prescriptive social norms

What people SHOULD think, feel, or do

People Tend To Conform To Norms For Two Reasons:

info influence

normative influence

information influence

A group has informational influence if we adopt the group consensus because it SEEMS CORRECT

- cover your sneeze with ur arm so u dont spread germs

Normative influence

A group has normative influence if we adopt the group consensus to show identification with the group

- dont wanna be excluded from grp, show ur a good member by covering ur sneeze with ur arm

Asch's Conformity Experiments

They were told that they were signing up for a perspective experiment

Showed a standard line, along with 3 other lines

- Asked to identify which of the 3 lines is the standard line

They made it very clear what the correct answer is (B)

Would people ever go against what their own eyes are telling them if a bunch of other people think otherwise?

- Everyone said A and then the last person was the real participant (they were testing if he would say B)

Why do ppl conform?

Importance of unanimity

• Normative influence (acceptance) & informational influence (correctness)

Related to groupthink

When group decision making is impaired because of a desire to reach or maintain consensus

Compliance

a change in a person's behaviour in response to a direct request; requester has no authority over us

obedience

When we comply to the request of someone in a position of authority

Stanley Milgram

- Influenced by Solomon Asch

- Milgram was very interested in studying conformity and differences based on culture

Milgram's studies of obedience important background info

Right after WWII → he believed that he would do this in America, and very few people would be willing to deliver electric shocks to another participant.

- But he believed, in Germany they would be more likely to obey authority figures

- He never actually went to Germany because he found a lot of things out from the American studies

Milgram's studies of obedience what happens in study

There is always an authority figure in the room, monitoring the situation (always a man in a lab coat)

Participants randomly assigned "teacher" and "learner"

Rigged → the participant is always the teacher

- Every time the learner makes a mistake, it is the job of the teacher to deliver the electric shock

- Original set up: teacher is sent to a different room (they don't see what is going on with the learner)

Predicted vs. Actual Obedience of Milgram's experiments

It was expected that only a few people would apply very high shocks

In reality → 65% of participants shocked until the max shock.

Factors that lowered rates of obedience include:

1. Proximity to the learner

2. Proximity of the experimenter

3. Presence of non-obedient confederates

Proximity to the learner

E.g., same room, actual touch in order to send the shock

Proximity of the experimenter:

if they are sending the instructions over the phone OR if the instructions or sometime from an intermediary, obedience drops to around 20%

Presence of non-obedient confederates

instead of the real participant being the only teacher - variation where there are multiple teachers. If those other teachers said "no," then the obedience drops to 10%.

Ethical Concerns

Ethical violations didn't exist yet for the Milgram studies

Now: the benefit from the study has to be higher than the harm to the participants

Cross-Cultural Findings & Replications of milgram study

- Findings have been replicated in many different countries (e.g., Australia, South Africa, Jordan, Spain)

- No consistent gender differences (as Milgram found); started w only men but later found no diff w women

- Most recent replication (stopped at 150-volts) found that 65% of men and 73% of women would continue to obey the experimenter (Burger, 2009)

Most recent replication (stopped at 150-volts) continuation

Noted that at the 150-volt point, if they continued, they were more likely to continue from that point forward to 450-volts (they see themselves as not being responsible and separates themselves from the situation)

ENGAGED FOLLOWERSHIP

thinking about it in terms of the greater good (viewed it as important scientific discovery)

Are First Impressions as Important as We Think?

YES probably!

1st impressions impact...

how we view ppl's behaviour later

form impressions of others based on...

V LIMITED INFO

-appearances (halo effects), stereotypes, "thin slices of behaviour", etc.

- learn one things abt someone = making inferences abt other behaviours

example of 1st impressions

showing students a 5 second video of a prof with no sound and asking them to rate it, shows a strong correlation to the students who rated their profs after having them for an entire semester

1st impressions r...

REMARKABLY PERSISTENT

- but we are also capable of updating (and correcting) our impressions of others

- Negative information and uncommon behaviours are typically given more weight

Attributions:

Judgments about the cause of a person's behaviour

Dispositional attributions

Explanations that refer to internal characteristics (e.g., traits)