personality

Personality

general tendency to act in a certain way

Modern approach to describe personality

don’t try and describe where personality comes from → describing individual differences through measurable traits

Traits

major ways people differ from each other

Big 5 personality traits

CANOE // OCEAN

structure of human personality

spectrum

Conscientiousness

goal-oriented behavior, organization, persistence, and self-discipline

high: organized, careful, disciplined

low: disorganized, careless, impulsiveness

Agreeableness

how you treat others

high: kind, trusting, helpful

low: ruthless/brutal, suspicious, uncooperative

Neuroticism

emotional stability vs instability

high: anxious, insecure, emotional, self-pitying

low: calm, secure, self satisfying

Openness

creativity and curiosity, openness to try new experiences

high: imaginative, variety, unconventional

low: prefer routine, practical, traditional

Extraversion

social energy

high: social, fun loving, affectionate

low: quiet, reserved, solitude

traits predict

• Relationships

• Coping

• Substance use

• Life outcomes

Self-Reporting

surveys/questionaries about yourself

easy but biased

Informant Report

what others say about you

outside perspective→ may not know you fully

Behavioral Measures

observe actual behavior

time-consuming/ no thoughts or feelings

Electronically Activated Reporter (EAR)

Behavioral measure Records snippets of Daily life 3 minutes a day for a month

Projective Tests

projective personality - reveal unconscious thought

subjective hard to score

Rorschan inkblot test

indirect/projective test what you project on stimulus

see what each blot scored

Extroverted/Introverted

if you interact with people or not

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

ambiguous picture create story abt it for several minutes

indirect measure of personality

• achievement/motives

• relationships

• unconscious thoughts and feelings

best personality test

no best measure do all of them to get best picture

Myers Briggs - MBI

It is used for self-awareness and communication

personality test that categorizes people into 16 types based on four dimensions:

• Extraversion vs. Introversion

• Sensing vs. Intuition

• Thinking vs. Feeling

• Judging vs. Perceiving

Myers Briggs INTJ

The MBTI measures preferences, not ability

• Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, Judging

• Strategic, logical, independent

• Prefers planning and working alone

Problem

doesn’t do a good job of understanding people

• Oversimplifies personality

• Doesn’t capture complexity

classic approach

traits are largely stemming from how person deals with issues at different points of development

Psychodynamic Approach

personality develops as people grapple with key issues at different stages of development → adult personality reflects if each stage successfully resolved

• oral stage-pleasure through mouth → fixation smoking overeating

• anal stage- bowel and Blatter control → strict training lead to organized and rigid personality vs messy destructive personality

• phallic stage - aware of sexual differences→ rivalry with parent of same sex over other parent

• latency state: secual feelings dormant

• Genital stage: mature sexual interests and behavior

Internal Mental Conflict

How personality develops

• 3 unconscious types

ID

pleasure and instincts

born with, first part of the brain

• kids fighting over same toy

Ego

reality decision making

get desires don’t make ppl mad

Superego

morality, guilt, mental compass

Fixation

failure to resolve a stage → stuck at stage

oral → dependency → balance

oral stage= trust dependency

• lead to dependency issues not handled well

• balnce= healthy outcome → can rely on others but also dependent

• too dependent → expect others to do things for you need constant support

• Life presents challenges (question)

• Your personality determines how you respond (answer)

Humanistic Approach

personality develops as people try to satisfy needs ‘

basic: food security love

higher: love meaning and purpose

Humanistic fixation

failure to satisfy needs leads to inability to satisfy higher order needs

Conditions of Worth

feeling valued only when you meet expectations leads to, pressure and chasing approval instead of true self

Self Actualization

explore your self and what you actually want to do with your life and passion

comfortable with your self / self discovery

Behaviorist approach

personality learned through experience

• Rewards

• Punishment

• Environment

Biological Approach

Personality is genetic and can be inherrerted

Twin study

Test for Agreeableness -> test differences in twins

• Identical twins (100% DNA) → more similar

• Fraternal twins (50%) → less similar

Brain and Personality

• Amygdala → fear → neuroticism

• Frontal cortex → impulse control → conscientiousness

• Orbitofrontal cortex → reward → extraversion

personality change

personality changes and stays consiant through time

• ex ppl become more conscientious with time but you stay reliving higher if u started higher you will stay higher than everyone else

Heahner et al 2024

personality can intentionally be changed through self directed intervention to promote desired outcomes

• list of challenges that differ in difficulty 1 (easy) 4 (mid level) 7 (most difficult)

behavior change strategy

act like the trait you want

• Want to be extroverted → talk to strangers

• Want less anxiety → practice calming techniques

  • Repeated behavior → personality change

Jeffery Gray

extraversion vs introversion based on sensitivity to reward I the brain

• Extraverts chase rewards, introverts don’t need them as much

Extroversion

more sensitive to rewards → seek out social interactions and interaction

• feels good do more

Introversion

less sensitive to rewards → less driven/motivation to seek stimulation

Defense mechanisms

unconscious processes used by the ego to protect a person from anxiety and stress

• repression - pushing distressing thoughts out of awareness

• denial - refusing to accept reality

• projection - attributing own feelings to others

• displacement - redirect emotions to safer target

• rationalization - making excuses to justify behavior

• reaction formation - acting opposite to true feelings

• regression - revert to earlier behavior (acting childish)

 Person-Situation Controversy

whether behavior is driven more by personality traits or bye situational factors

→ behavior is influenced by both traits and situations acting together

• Person side: “People act consistently based on personality”

• Situation side: “Behavior depends on the situation”

  • Someone may be outgoing (trait), But quiet in a job interview (situation)

Locus of control

whether people believe outcomes in their life are controlled by their internal or by external forces

• internal: own actions → didn’t study enough

• external: luck, fate, others → test unfair

cont.

An internal locus of control is linked to higher motivation and persistence, as individuals believe their efforts will produce results. associated with greater happiness and independence

An external locus of control can lead to higher anxiety and stress. they may feel less in control of their lives and more prone to feeling helpless