Personality Psych - Trait Perspective I and II + Biological Approach

Trait

Relatively stable, consistent patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior that define personality.

They exist on a continuum; everyone has all traits to some degree, high or low.

Stable Characteristic

A trait that influences how a person behaves, thinks, or feels across time and situations.

Importance of Traits

Traits exist, can be measured, and are used daily by people to describe themselves and others.

Predict Behavior

Knowing a person's traits helps forecast how they might act and what they might feel or think in specific situations.

Understand Behavior

Recognizing the connection between a trait and behavior helps explain why someone acts a certain way.

Psychological Understanding

The ability to predict behavior is the best test of psychological understanding.

Life Outcomes

Traits are linked to physical health outcomes, mental health outcomes, life success, and relationships.

Job and Career Suitability

Certain traits suit certain jobs better, such as a good listener for therapy or a dominant person for surgery.

Career Aptitude Tests

Tests that measure traits to suggest suitable career paths.

Forensic Applications

Researchers study whether certain personality traits make someone a better investigator or interviewer.

Lexical Hypothesis

Proposed by Raymond Cattell, it suggests that all important aspects of human personality have been encoded in language.

Lexical Approach

Studies personality by systematically examining language, often starting with dictionary words.

Importance in Language

If something is important for human life, it will have a word to describe it, appear in multiple languages, and have many synonyms.

Example of Lexical Hypothesis

In Arctic cultures, there are many words for 'snow' because snow is vital for survival.

Summary of Lexical Hypothesis

Traits essential for human functioning become embedded in language, with the most important traits having the most words to describe them.

Cross-Cultural Studies

Show which traits are universal versus culture-specific.

Research Methods in Trait Psychology

Most trait research uses correlational designs to examine relationships between variables.

Measurement Accuracy

The main goal is to accurately measure traits to understand and predict behavior.

Dominance Prediction Example

If someone scores high in dominance, can we predict that they will act dominantly across situations?

Trait Approach

Emphasizes how people differ — not what they have in common.

Individual Differences

Core focus on how high or low someone scores on specific traits and how these differences explain variations in behavior.

Strengths of Trait Approach

Helps compare and contrast individuals; provides structure for understanding personality diversity.

Limitations of Trait Approach

Neglects universal aspects of personality shared by all humans; focuses on variation rather than commonality.

Building Blocks of Personality

Individual differences in trait levels form the foundation of personality; 'People are their traits.'

Key Theorist: Gordon Allport

Focused on individual uniqueness; saw traits as real psychological entities that influence behavior.

Key Theorist: Raymond Cattell

Used statistical methods (factor analysis) to identify core personality traits from thousands of adjectives.

The Person-Situation Debate

Explores whether personality or context influences behavior more.

Big Five Personality Traits

A model that includes five broad dimensions of personality, supported by evidence linking them to brain function.

2 multiple choice options

Problem of Inconsistency in Personality

People are often inconsistent in their behavior across different situations.

Situational Factors

Often determine behavior, meaning personality traits are not the only factors that influence how we act.

Core Issue of Person-Situation Debate

What determines behavior more: the person (traits) or the situation (environment)?

Situationist Side

Behavior is inconsistent and depends on situational variables; if the situation matters more than traits, Trait Theory fails.

Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)

The tendency to overestimate internal factors (traits/personality) and underestimate situational influences when explaining others' behavior.

Example of FAE

When someone cuts you off in traffic, you think, 'They're a jerk!' (trait-based explanation) without considering situational factors.

Everyday Trait Psychologists

Everyday people act as informal 'trait psychologists.'

Research Design

Research mainly uses correlational designs.

Focus of Trait Perspective

Studies stable, measurable patterns of personality.

Traits and Behavior

Traits are important for understanding and predicting behavior.

Key Figures in Trait Theory

Allport and Cattell contribute foundational ideas that later led to the Big Five Model of personality.

Modern View of Personality

Both personality traits and situations interact to influence behavior.

Rule of Thumb for Situational Variables

Situational variables predict how a person acts in specific circumstances.

Rule of Thumb for Personality Traits

Personality traits describe how a person acts in general across time and situations.

Importance of the Person-Situation Debate

Determines whether personality is stable or inconsistent across situations and impacts understanding of individual differences.

Life Outcomes Influenced by Personality Traits

Traits predict important outcomes such as happiness, spirituality, health, longevity, self-concept, relationships, career choices, political attitudes, community involvement, and criminality.

Explanation of Traits

Traits are enduring and shape thousands of small behaviors that accumulate over time.

Single-Trait Approach

Examines the link between one specific personality trait and many different behaviors.

Main Question of Single-Trait Approach

What do people like that do?

Many-Trait Approach

Works in the opposite direction of the single-trait approach, identifying which traits correlate with a given behavior.

Main Question of Many-Trait Approach

Who does that?

Delay of Gratification

Researchers look at many traits in children to determine which ones predict the ability to delay gratification.

Essential-Trait Approach

Seeks to determine which traits are the most important for understanding personality and predicting behavior.

Challenge of Essential-Trait Approach

There are thousands of trait descriptors in the English language.

Solution for Essential-Trait Approach

Use Factor Analysis to group correlated traits into broader categories.

Raymond Cattell's 16 Personality Factors (16PF)

An example of a model derived from the essential-trait approach.

OCEAN

A model consisting of Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.

Typological Approach

Focuses on patterns of traits that form whole personality types rather than analyzing traits individually.

Key Question of Typological Approach

Can we meaningfully compare people using numerical trait scores, or do people need to be understood as types?

Type A Personality

Characterized as competitive, perfectionist, impatient, ambitious, and workaholic.

Type B Personality

Characterized as relaxed, flexible, patient, and easy-going.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

A typology using four dimensions that describes people holistically using combinations of traits.

Analogy for Typological Approach

Similar to categorical diagnoses in the DSM, such as personality disorders.

Key Takeaways of Trait Theory

Trait Theory assumes behavior can be predicted from consistent personality traits.

Situational Variables

Situational variables can influence behavior, leading to inconsistency.

Interaction of Personality and Situations

Both personality and situations interact to shape what people do.

Real-Life Outcomes

Understanding this interaction helps predict real-life outcomes such as success, relationships, and health.

Gordon Allport

One of the founders of modern trait theory, focused on healthy, normal personalities.

Allport's Approach

Believed in the uniqueness of each individual and preferred a broad, comprehensive theory of personality.

Definition of Personality

The dynamic organization within the individual of the psychophysical systems that determine their characteristic behavior and thought.

Dynamic Organization

All parts of a person are interconnected.

Psychophysical

Both mind and body influence personality.

Behavior & Thought

Personality is not just action—it includes internal processes.

Conscious Motivation

Psychologists should first look at conscious motives before digging for unconscious ones.

Characteristics of a Psychologically Healthy Person

Allport listed six criteria for maturity / mental health.

Extension of the Sense of Self

Involvement in activities and causes beyond oneself.

Warm Relationships with Others

Intimacy, compassion, respect, equity.

Emotional Security

Self-acceptance, tolerance, self-control, emotional balance.

Realistic Perception

Sees reality objectively, accepts limitations, is task-oriented.

Insight and Humor

Self-understanding and ability to laugh at oneself non-hostilely.

Unifying Philosophy of Life

Clear purpose, guiding values, moral direction.

Common Traits

Shared across a culture (e.g., dominance, aggression, conscientiousness).

Personal Dispositions

Unique to each individual, based on personal life experiences and individual structure.

Allport's Definition (Simplified)

Personal dispositions are neuropsychic structures within the person that make them act consistently across different situations.

Neuropsychic

Combination of brain, nervous system, and cognitive processes. They help interpret stimuli (what's happening) and guide consistent behavior (how we respond).

Motivation

Why we act.

Style

How we act.

Cardinal Traits

Extremely dominant trait that defines a person's entire personality. Rare; everything the person does relates to this trait. Example: Scrooge → Greed; Mother Teresa → Compassion.

Central Traits

General traits that form the core of personality (5-10 for most people). Visible to others; shape everyday behavior. Examples: Honest, kind, hardworking, shy, confident.

Secondary Traits

More specific, less consistent traits. Preferences, attitudes, tastes, situational behaviors. Examples: Likes jazz, hates modern art, gets moody when hungry.

Consistency vs. Situations

Traits show consistency in behavior across time and contexts. But situations still matter — you may not act the same way in every setting.

Personality hierarchy

Cardinal (rare, dominating), Central (core, defining), Secondary (specific, situational).

The Proprium

The proprium refers to all the aspects of a person that they consider central, warm, and important to their identity — the parts they'd describe by saying 'that's me.'

Components of the Proprium

Values, Personal conscience, Sense of self and identity, Consistency in beliefs and behavior across adult life.

Non-Propriate Behaviors

These lie outside the proprium, on the periphery of personality. They include basic drives and habits that aren't deeply tied to identity.

Examples of Non-Propriate Behaviors

Eating, sleeping, social customs (saying 'hi,' driving on the right), simple habits (smoking, brushing teeth).

Motivation in Allport's Theory

Allport believed people are motivated by the present, not just by their past.

Four Requirements for a Complete Theory of Motivation

Contemporary Nature, Pluralism, Cognitive Processes, Concrete Uniqueness.

Functional Autonomy

Some motives become independent from their original causes.

Perseverative Functional Autonomy

Simple, habitual behavior that continues after its original reason disappears. Found in humans and animals.

Example of Perseverative Functional Autonomy

A rat still runs a maze after it's full; you keep saying 'bless you' out of habit.

Propriate Functional Autonomy

Refers to self-sustaining motives like interests, hobbies, and goals.