Seminar 4- critiquing trait theories of personality

What are some issues with factor analysis?

Subjective interpretation of results as the researcher has to decide what items are included

What are some issues with the big 5?

• Too broad

• May be missing or more important factors

• Derived from lexical approach, which may be flawed

What is the lexical approach?

• Assumes personality is captured by everyday language

• Uses personality surveys to derive basic factors

Who was a major opponent of the lexical approach?

Hans Eysenck

What did Eysenck suggest?

• Two-factor model (extraversion-introversion and neuroticism)

• Then proposed a third factor: psychoticism

  • Aggressiveness, coldness, antisocial tendencies, egocentricity, vulnerability to psychotic disorders

What are some issues with trait theories?

• Traits capture behaviour that is consistent across situations

  • But is behaviour really consistent?

• Do traits interact with the situation or environment?

What did Walter Mischel (1968) find about the consistency of personality traits?

• Behaviour and personality traits correlate weakly

• Situation is the main determinant of behaviour

• Traits are weak predictors of behaviour alone

What are some critiques of Mischel?

• Weak correlations are still important

• Consistency is greater for ‘average’ behaviour vs single trials

• Situational influences are about as weak as personality influences

What did Hartshorne & May (1928) find about the consistency of personality traits?

• Gave thousands of children behavioural tests of dishonesty

• Dishonesty varied widely across situations, with little consistency