4.5: Social-Cognitive and Trait Theories of Personality

Social-Cognitive Theory

A theory that emphasizes the interaction between cognitive factors, behavior, and environment in shaping personality. Bandura.

“Social” “Cognitive”

Social: We learn behaviors through conditioning, observation and imitation

Cognitive: Our mental processes and how we think about a situation affect behavior

How we and the environment interact

Reciprocal Determinism

The concept that internal personal factors, environmental factors, and behavior all influence each other in a continuous loop.

Ex: When praised, Rosa’s self esteem increases, motivation and effort increases

Self

The center of our personality, the organizer of thoughts, feelings and action

Self concept

All thoughts, feelings, understanding about ourselves in response to the question: Who am I?

Self-Efficacy

Our sense of competence and efficiency on a task

Self esteem

Our feeling of self worth, how much value we place on ourselves

Trait Theories

Focus on identifying consistent patterns in how we think, feel, behave that lead to typical responses of stimuli

Trait

Stable, characteristic pattern of behavior that influences thoughts, emotions, and personalities

Enduring Characteristics

Stable traits or qualities that form the foundation of a person's personality across time and situations.

Big Five Theory of Personality

A trait theory that identifies five major dimensions of human personality.

Openness

Imagination, creativity, curiosity, willingness to try new things

Conscientiousness

Organized, responsible, and dependable

Extraversion

Outgoing, energetic, and enjoy social interactions

Agreeableness

Compassionate, cooperative, and trusting of others, empathetic

Neuroticism

Emotional instability, anxiety, moodiness, and irritability

Personality Inventory

A self-report questionnaire used to assess a wide range of personality traits

Factor Analysis

A statistical procedure used to identify clusters of related items on a test.

Ex: Enjoy social gatherings + dislike quiet reading are the clusters that are related to extraversion

Empirically derived

Developing a personality test by using data collected from responses to various items that allow for distinguishing between groups

Social Desirability Bias

Faking answers on a personality inventory to make a good impression or be accepted

Lie Scale

Scale that assess the extent of dishonest answers stemming from the social desirability bias