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Personality
Consistencies in people's thoughts, feelings, and behavior over time and across situations
Personality (textbook)
Individual's characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior, plus psychological mechanisms behind those patterns
Trait Approach
Focuses on individual trait differences; provides relative info (e.g., more/less sociable); usually correlational data
Trait Approach example
Study measuring correlation between social behavior and self-reported trait of extraversion
Biological Approach
Focuses on influence of neuroanatomy, biochemistry, genetics, and evolution
Biological Approach example
Comparing resting levels of cortisol to reported neuroticism
Psychoanalytic Approach
Focuses on processes within the unconscious mind
Psychoanalytic Approach example
Rating initial judgment of people who resemble romantic partner vs random faces
Cognitive Approach
Focuses on influence of conscious thoughts
Cognitive Approach example
Comparing self-perceived academic ability vs GPA
Cultural Approach
Focuses on influence of social and cultural contexts on personality
Cultural Approach example
Comparing self-evaluation between American and Chinese students
Phenomenological Approach
Emphasizes that perception is more important than objective reality
Humanistic Approach
Focuses on personal growth and free will
Construct
Idea about a psychological attribute that cannot be seen directly but affects visible things (e.g., intelligence, gravity)
Psychopathy
Behavioral style of deception, deceit, exploitation, antisocial behavior, and lack of empathy
Impulsivity
Lack of self-control
Delay of gratification
Resisting immediate temptation to wait for a better reward
Psychological triad
The combination of how people think, feel, and behave
BLIS framework
Main data sources in personality psychology—Behavioral, Life, Informant, Self data
S-data (Self-report)
Information from the person about themselves
S-data pros
Access to thoughts, feelings, intentions; lots of info; causal force; easy
S-data cons
Bias, error, too simple
S-data example
Questionnaire asking "How extraverted are you?"
I-data (Informant report)
Info from people who know the individual
I-data pros
Real-world basis, common sense, causal force
I-data cons
Limited info, bias, lack of private access
I-data example
Friends rating someone's extraversion
L-data (Life outcomes)
Objective, verifiable data about life events
L-data pros
Objective, intrinsically important, psychologically relevant
L-data cons
Multi-determined, may lack psych relevance
L-data example
Arrest record for speeding (risk-taking)
B-data (Behavioral observations)
Info from observing behavior
B-data pros
Wide range of contexts, objective appearance
B-data cons
Expensive, uncertain interpretation
B-data example
Observing if someone initiates conversation
Reliability
Consistency of results
Validity
Degree to which a test measures what it's supposed to
Test-retest reliability
Giving same test later to check consistency over time
Internal consistency
Comparing items within a test to ensure they measure the same thing
Inter-rater reliability
Checking if different raters produce similar results
Face validity
Does the test seem to measure what it claims?
Predictive validity
Does the test predict outcomes it should predict?
Convergent validity
Is it related to other trusted measures?
Discriminant validity
Is it unrelated to measures it shouldn't be?
Construct validity
Combines all other types of validity
Case study
In-depth study of one person; useful for rare phenomena; not generalizable
Correlational study
Examines natural relationships between variables; cannot infer causality
Experiment
Manipulates IV and measures DV; can establish causality
Correlation coefficient
Size = strength, sign = direction of relationship
Independent variable (IV)
Variable manipulated by researcher
Dependent variable (DV)
Variable measured by researcher
WEIRD sample
Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic; limits generalizability
Internal consistency (term)
Reliability measure comparing items within a test
Measurement error
Random variation from uncontrollable influences
Factor analysis
Statistical technique finding clusters of related items or traits
Generalizability
Extent results hold under different conditions; includes reliability + validity
Social desirability bias
People answer to appear favorable
Demand characteristics
Participants guess study purpose and change behavior
Statistical significance
Result unlikely due to chance
False positive
Finding a relationship that doesn't exist
Questionable research practices
P-hacking, small samples, excluding data, or misreporting hypotheses
Reproducibility
Can methods and analyses be duplicated?
Replicability
Do we get same results when study repeated?
Open science
Disclose all methods, share data, include null results, use large samples
Ethics in research
Protect participants, minimize harm, respect privacy, report data honestly
Deception in research
Acceptable only when necessary and benefits outweigh risks
Institutional Review Board (IRB)
Evaluates study risks and ensures ethical standards
P-level
Probability result occurred by chance
P-hacking
Analyzing data multiple ways and only reporting significant results
Effect size
Magnitude of a result or relationship
Publication bias
Significant results more likely to be published
Person-situation debate
Which matters more—personality or situation?
Situationist perspective
Personality traits don't predict behavior much (small correlations)
Personality response
Correlations are meaningful; personality still predicts behavior
Situational constraint
External factors limit expression of personality
Fundamental attribution error
Overattributing behavior to personality instead of situation
Interactionism
Behavior = interaction of personality and situation
RAM (Realistic Accuracy Model)
Relevance → Availability → Detection → Utilization
Good judge
Attends to relevant cues and elicits honest responses
Increasing self-knowledge
Observe yourself in new situations, meet new people, try new things
Self-fulfilling prophecy
Expectations influence behavior to make them come true
Moderator effect
Variable that changes the relationship between two variables
Consensus
Agreement between judges; reliability
Accuracy
Agreement with actual behavior; predictive validity
Constructivism
No objective reality—only human interpretations
Critical realism
Combine all evidence to best judge accuracy
Lexical approach
Traits important to humans appear in all languages
Statistical approach
Uses correlations/factor analysis to find clusters of traits
Theoretical approach
Identifies traits based on theory
Typological approach
Groups people into personality types
Typological pros
Simple and intuitive categories
Typological cons
Subjective; loses nuance within types
Big Five—Openness
Creative, curious; linked to art, liberalism, drug use
Big Five—Conscientiousness
Reliable, organized; predicts success, health, longevity
Big Five—Extraversion
Outgoing; predicts leadership and social status
Big Five—Agreeableness
Kind, cooperative; predicts forgiveness, relationships, health
Big Five—Neuroticism
Emotionally unstable; predicts stress, poor relationships, divorce
Big Five critiques
Too broad, atheoretical, descriptive not explanatory
Mean-level change
Change in average level of a trait over time