Personality Psychology Study Guide

A collection of 40 vocabulary flashcards based on key concepts from the Personality Psychology lecture notes.

S-Data (Self-Report Data)

Information people report about themselves, such as questionnaires or surveys.

Pros of S-Data

Easy to obtain, inexpensive, and gives direct access to thoughts and feelings.

Cons of S-Data

Includes bias, social desirability issues, and inaccurate self-perceptions.

Face Validity

Whether a measure appears to measure what it claims to measure.

I-Data (Informant Data)

Information from individuals who know the person, like friends and family.

Pros of I-Data

Reduces self-report bias and is useful for observable traits.

Cons of I-Data

Limited perspective and potential informant bias.

L-Data (Life Outcome Data)

Objective records of life outcomes such as grades, jobs, or arrests.

Pros of L-Data

Real-world relevance and difficulty to fake.

Cons of L-Data

Influenced by many factors beyond personality.

B-Data (Behavioral Data)

Direct observation of behavior.

Physiological measures

Heart rate, hormones, or brain activity collected during B-Data.

Behavioroid

Behavior resembling real-life behavior that occurs in a lab setting.

Most Prominent Type of Data

Self-report data (S-Data).

Psychometrics

The science of measuring psychological traits.

Generalizable Data

Findings that apply beyond the original sample.

Measurement Error

Difference between a person's true score and their measured score.

Reliability

Consistency of measurement.

Validity

Accuracy of measurement.

Constructs

Abstract concepts such as intelligence or anxiety.

Construct Validation

Process of determining whether a test measures the intended construct.

Types of Reliability

Test-retest, inter-rater, and internal consistency.

Types of Validity

Face, content, criterion, and construct (convergent and discriminant).

Barnum Effect

Tendency to believe vague, general statements describe oneself accurately.

Factor Analysis

Statistical method for identifying underlying traits.

Case Study Method

In-depth study of one individual; advantages include rich information.

Experimental Study

Research that manipulates variables to test causality.

Independent variable (IV)

Manipulated variable in an experiment.

Dependent variable (DV)

Measured outcome in an experiment.

Correlational Study

Examines relationships between variables but cannot establish causation.

Statistical significance

Likelihood results are not due to chance.

NHST (Null-hypothesis significance testing)

Tests whether results differ from chance.

Single-trait approach

Strength of a relationship between variables.

Many-trait approach

Looks for traits associated with a particular behavior

Essential-trait approach

Identifies which traits are most important.

Typological approach

Focuses on the patterns of traits that characterize a person.

Informed consent

Ethical requirement to inform participants about research.

Self-Report Measures

Questionnaires completed by participants to assess personality.

Descriptive Statistics

Mean, median, mode, and standard deviation.

Personality Traits

Stable patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

California Q-Set

Trait-sorting method used in personality assessment.

Lexical Hypothesis

Important personality traits become encoded in language.

Big Five Personality Traits

Extraversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness.

Eysenck’s View of Extraversion

Based on biological arousal levels; includes sociability.

Implicit vs Explicit Self-Esteem

Implicit is automatic and unconscious; explicit is conscious and self-reported.

Self-Compassion

Being kind to oneself during failure.

Self-Discrepancy Theory

Distress results from gaps between actual, ideal, and ought selves.