PSC 162 Midterm 1 Study Guide

What is Personality Psychology?

Attempting to understand how people are different?

What is the acronym for the big five personality dimensions

OCEAN

What does OCEAN stand for

Openness to Experience

Conscientiousness

Extraversion

Agreeableness

Neuroticism

Openness to Experience

Curious, original, intellectual, creative, and open to new ideas and experiences

-Explore system (interests)

Conscientiousness

Organized, systematic, punctual

-Self-regulation system (standards)

Extraversion

Outgoing, talkative, sociable

-Approach system (rewards)

Agreeableness

Warm, kind, cooperative, sensitive, trusting

-Care system (long-term bond)

Neuroticism

Anxious, irritable, moody, tense

-Avoidance/vigilance system (punishment)

Definition of personality

Consistent patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors (psychological triad)

Research Questions (7)

1. Why do some people follow while others lead?

2. Why are some people shy and others outgoing?

3. Why do some people respond to failure by working harder and others by disengaging?

4. Are you stuck with your personality or can you change it?

5. How does brain damage affect your personality?

6. Would you have the same personality if you grew up in a different family or culture?

7. Do non-human animals have the same personality if you grew up in a different family or culture?

-> Personality psychology is the scientific study of these questions

Theoretical Approaches in Personality Psychology

1. Trait Approach

2. Biological Approach

3. Psychodynamic Approach

4. Phenomenological Approach

5. Behaviorism/Social Learning Approach

Personality predicts important life outcomes (self control example)

i.e. self-control -> low self-control = higher likelihood of having a criminal record, raised in a single-parent household, higher likelihood of living in poverty, being dependent on drugs, and multiple mental health problems

What else can personality predict in regards to life outcomes? (5)

1. Academic achievement

2. Occupational success

3. Delinquency and crime

4. Having a happy and lasting relationship

5. Health and longevity

Personality Psychologists Focus on... (6)

1. Consistencies over time and across situations

2. Role of person (vs. situation) in causing behavior

3. Individual differences in the way people respond to a situation

4. Multiple influences - from genes to culture

5. Real-world outcomes - work, family, health

6. Diverse range of research methods and measures

Personality Measures (types)

1. Rorschach Inkblot Test, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator --> all meaningless

2. NEO-Personality Inventory, Implicit (reaction time) measures, Autonomic arousal, Neuroimaging measures (fMRI), Genetic (DNA) measures, Neuroendocrine measures (Cortisol, oxytocin, testosterone) -> Blood, saliva, hair, Immune functioning (cytokines), Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR), Data mining (e.g. Facebook)

BLIS (Research Methods)

Behavioral/Biological Data

Life Outcome Data

Informant Report

Self Report

Behavioral/Biological Data

-Real world behaviors

-Behavior in standardized conditions (Experiments, projective techniques, nonverbal behavior like playing with hair or fidgeting with shirt)

-Biological measures (heart rate, cortisol, neuroimaging, genetics)

--> EAR, Shark, Marshmallow, EEG, fMRI, DNA sequencing

Life Outcome Data

-Information obtained from the events, activities, and outcomes in a person's life

--School records, criminal records, death, divorce, credit report, number of jobs, number of children, etc.

Informant-Report Data

-Personality descriptions provided by people who know the individual being assessed

-Parent, friends, teachers, romantic partners

--> Usually collected from a questionnaire or rating form

Self-Report

-People describe their typical thoughts, feelings, and behaviors

-Standardized personality tests

Example: Measuring Shyness (B)

-EAR recordings

-walking along side v. middle of hallway

-Brain imaging with novel stimuli (right brain activation)

-Facial coding of emotion

-Behavior in structures situation (meeting stranger, novel toy, oral presentation)

Example: Measuring Shyness (L)

-Type of job (librarian v. bartender)

-Marital status

-# of friends, # of FB friends, # of social clubs joined

-Attendance of hs/college reunions

Example: Measuring Shyness (I)

-Ratings of shyness by peers, parents, teachers, relationship partners, co-workers

-Use standardized, well-validated scale

Example: Measuring Shyness (S)

Self-Report Personality Tests

-"I find it difficult to talk to strangers"

-"I feel tense when I'm with people I don't know well"

-"I have trouble looking someone right in the eye"

-"I am somewhat socially awkward"

Assessing Chuck Graner's Personality (BLIS)

B: Aggression experiment (blasting with white noise; hot sauce); Brain imaging, testosterone, serotonin

L: Employment records at prison, court records related to spousal abuse

I: Ratings by Graner's ex-spouse, other prison guards, military supervisor, his friends, etc.

S: Personality tests completed when he entered the military

Funder's Second law

There are no perfect indicators of personality

-To understand personality, you need to collect multiple clues (types of data), and each clue is potentially flawed

California Families Project

-N=674 Mexican-Origin Youth

-Assessed annually from ages 10-20

-Goal: Identify risk factors for emotional and behavioral problems

California Families Project: Measures

B: parent-child interactions; neuroimaging and physiological measures; risk-taking tasks

L: school data, census, and police data

I: parent, teacher, and interviewer reports

S: self report tests and psychiatric interview

Evaluative the quality of personality measure: Reliability

-Are the score on a measure stable and replicable (vs. random)?

-Reliability = 0.00 (completely random)

-Reliability = 1.00 (completely reliable)

-Personalist measures are usually highly reliable (~0.80-0.90)

-Multiple items/informants

Evaluative the quality of personality measure: Validity

-Do the scores actually measure what they're supposed to measure? Are they accurate or correct?

-Low-validity: Bumps on head as a measure of self-control

-High-validity: Delay of gratification tasks as a measure of self-control

Reliability v. Validity

Reliability: Are you hitting the same spot each time?

Validity: Are you actually hitting the bullseye?

--Can be unreliable yet valid

Three types of research designs

1. Correlational

2. Experimental

3. Case Studies

Correlational studies

-Study wide range of variable with large samples, but difficult to establish causal effects

Experimental studies

Allows inferences about causal effects, but difficult to manipulate personality

Case studies

In-depth study of person, but highly subjective and can't establish causal effects

Does low self-esteem cause aggression (example of correlational study)

-Low self-esteem is correlated with aggression

-But, maybe aggression causes low self-esteem (Reverse causality)

-Or, maybe kids who grow up in a hostile family environment become more aggressive and develop low self-esteem (3rd variable)

-Longitudinal study

Does low self-esteem cause aggression (example of experimental study)

-Manipulate self-esteem (short-term change)

-Low self-esteem is not related to lab measures of aggression

-But, lab measures of aggression are different than real-world aggression

Does low self-esteem cause aggression (example of case study)

-Do school shooters have low self-esteem?

Does low self-esteem cause aggression (example of ideal study)

Intervention to boost self-esteem

-Random assignment to intervention vs. control condition

-Follow-up to see which group is more aggressive

Personality tests in industry

-Companies used personality tests to select employees who are likely to perform well in the job

-Experts identify personality traits related to job performance

-Personality tests given to applicants, but not used to select people for job

-Determine which tests predict job performance

-Tests are revised to create final set of selection measures

-Why not just interview the person?

Assumptions of Trait Approach (7)

1. Building blocks of personality

2. Comparative

3. Influence Behavior

4. Predicts life Outcomes

5. Consistent Across Situations

6. Stable Over Time

7. Partially biologically-based

Building blocks of personality

Individuals differ in their typical patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors

-These patterns are called traits

-Examples: Talkative, organized, punctual, kind, friendly

Comparative

Traits characterize differences among people

-bell curve with average (highest number of people in the middle while individuals extremely low and extremely high in the trait are on the ends)

Influence Behavior

Emphasis on personal rather than situational causes of behavior

Predicts Lift Outcomes

i.e. high extraversion -> happiness, peer acceptance, and job satisfaction

Consistent Across Situations

People who are friendly at school also tend to be friendly at home, at work, and in social settings

Stable Over Time

People who are friendly in high school tend to be friendly in college and later in life

Partially biologically-based

-Genetic predisposition/component of what makes up your personality traits

-Leads to what we learn about you from childhood v. adulthood

What aren't personality traits?

-Physical attributes (tall, thin)

-Temporary states (embarrassed)

-Social categories (jock, nerd)

-Defense mechanisms (repression)

-Goals and values (get a high status job)

-Motives (achievement, power, affiliation)

-Attitudes (sexist)

-Cognitive Ability (IQ)

-Life Narratives ("warrior")

Person-situation debate (Abu-Ghraib example)

-What exerts a stronger influence on behavior?

--Dispositionalist view: your personality

--Situationalist view: the situation you are in

-"The situation made them do it"

--Situation created bad apples, there were not bad apples in the situation

-Personality psychologists argue about their personality that is interacting with the situation they are in that is heightening their response to the situation

-Aggression and other antisocial traits are stable over time and across situations

Discovery of "Big Five" dimensions

-Based on lexical studies (started with 17, 953 trait terms)

-Statistical procedure (factor analysis) identified 5 broad dimensions

-"Big 5" dimensions replicate 1. in self and informant reports 2. in numerous cultures from every region of the world 3. in other spcies

Personality Trait Taxonomy

Traits are the basic building blocks, so what are the best categories to which all traits can be classified?

What are the Big Five Dimensions

OCEAN

Personality Change: Across the Lifespan

-Assumptions of Trait Approach: Traits are stable over time (people who are more shy, creative, and friendly than others tend to remain more shy, creative, and friendly than others over time)

-Stable, but changing (Your personality is stable relative to everyone around you but you are all changing in the same way -> you want start low and someone else may start high and you will both increase the same amount. Therefore they will stay higher and you will stay lower even though you're both increasing.

-Cause of personality development across the lifespan (genes and biological maturation AND life experiences)

Personality Change: During College

Study shows majority of college students want to change their personality in some way (97% want to be more extraverted) (97% want to be more conscientious)

Personality Change: Through intervention

-Psychiatric drugs, psychotherapy, and interventions

-Most change evidence for Neuroticism and Extraversion

-Lasting effects seen in even 1+ years later

-All types of therapy (except hospitalization) are effective

Basic assumptions of biological approach

-Personality traits:

1. Reflect physiological differences

2. Are strongly influences by genetics

3. Are rooted in our evolutionary history

-Evolution > Genetic make-up > Physiological differences > Personality

Physiological Processes: Neurotransmitters

Dopamine and Serotonin

Neurotransmitters: Dopamine

-High levels -> exploratory behavior, positive emotion, and responsiveness to rewards

-Approach ("Go") system -> Extraversion and Opennes

Neurotransmitters: Serotinin

-Low-levels -> Depression, anxiety, obsessive worrying

-Avoidance ("stop") system -> Neuroticism

Physiological Processes: Hormones

Testosterone and Cortisol

Hormones: Testosterone

-Associated with aggression, dominance, and competitiveness

-Males have 10x more testosterone and are generally more aggressive

-High testosterone at birth -> increased aggression

-Higher testosterone -> increased violent crime (not for wealthy men)

Hormones: Cortisol

-Response to stress/threat ("fight-flight")

-Chronically high cortisol -> anxiety and depression

-Chronically low cortisol -> failure to respond to danger

Brian Damage (Neural Bases of Personality)

-Patients with brain lesions caused by accidents or disease

-Damage to frontal cortex -> increased impulsivity and poor self-control

--Shows evidence that the brain is involved in regulative things like these

Brain Activation

-fMRIs, EEGs

-Helps with brain imaging

-participants with "normal" brains are exposed to controlled stimuli and activity is monitored

Conclusions from behavioral genetic research (5)

1. Genes matter

2. Environment also matters

3. The "shared" family environment matters much less than genetics

4. About half the variability in personality is not due to genes or being raised in the same family

5. Genetic disposition influence the environment

Genes matter

-All personality traits are at least partially heritable, but genes explain only half the variability in personality

Environment also matters

-Heritability =/=1.00

-Biology is not destiny (phenotype=/=genotype)

The "shared" family environment matters much less than genetics

Non-shared environment matters more than shared

About half the variability in personality is not due to genes or being raised in the same family

Your personality is influence by uniqye experiences not shared with other family members (differential treatment by parents, major illness, best friends, school teachers, etc.)

Genetic dispositions influence the environment

-Twins reared apart select and create similar environments

-Your nature affects your nurture

Molecular Genetics: Why is it so difficult to identify individual genes?

-Surprisingly weak links between individual genes and psychological traits

-Possibilities:

--Thousands of common genetic variants with tiny effects

--Small number of rare genetic variants with stronger effects

--Gene-environment interactions

-> Environment shapes genes expression (epigenetics)

-> Genetics variant only leads to trait in some environments (nature AND nurture)

Molecular Genetics: Gene environment interactions

1. People with low MAOA genes levels have a lot of behavioral problems but only if your'e in some type of adverse environment (i.e. parental maltreatment)

2. People with high levels of Serotonin Gene will only experience depressive tendencies that you are genetically predisposed to IF you are in a stressful environment that triggers them)

Basic idea of evolutionary personality psychology -> traits facilitated survival and reproduction (adaptive benefits of Big Five)

OCEAN

Adaptive Benefits of the Big Five: O

Openness: Exploration, learning, creativity

(exploratory system)

Adaptive Benefits of the Big Five: C

Conscientiousness: Conform to social standards, discipline, and persistence

(self-regulation system)

Adaptive Benefits of the Big Five: E

Extraversion: Seeking mates, social rank, competing for resources

(approach system)

Adaptive Benefits of the Big Five: A

Agreeableness: Bonding with mates and caring for offspring

(caregiving system)

Adaptive Benefits of the Big Five: N

Neuroticism: Avoidance of danger

(avoidance system)

Personality in Animals

Does your dog have a personality?

-Yes, there are observable individual differences

-We can see this in the pig approaches (reward, approach, exploratory, and avoidance stimuli)

Usually in animal studies they have a whole series of behavioral tasks

Example: Risk Takers

-high risk takers tend to scuba dive, skydive, ride motorcycles, have lots of sex partners, etc.

-Self-Report Scale ("Almost everything enjoyable is illegal or immoral" "I get bored seeing the same old faces")

-Stoplight task

Risk takers have different brains than non-risk takers

-Prefrontal cortex is structurally different (lower volume)

-Greater neural activity in response to rewards (dopamine regions of the brain)

-Higher baseline levels of dopamine

-Lower MAO-A activity

Risk rakers have different genetic make-up

-Risk taking is highly heritable (genetic influence is ~50%)

-Tend to have long version of D4 dopamine receptor and CADM2 gene

Definition and goals of personality

-Personality refers to an individual's characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior, together with the psychological mechanisms—hidden or not—behind those patterns.

-This definition gives personality psychology its unique mission to explain whole persons

Basic approaches: Trait Approach

-Conceptualization of individual differences

-Measurement of individual differences

-Almost all research within the trait approach relies on correlational designed

-It focuses exclusively on individual differences

-The trait approach, by its very nature, is prone to neglect aspects of psychology common to all people, as well as the ways in which each person is unique

Basic approaches: Biological Approach

-Anatomy

-Physiology

-Genetics

-Evolution

Four kinds of personality data ("clues")

BLIS

Advantages/Disadvantages of Behavioral Data

A: Wide range of contexts (both real and contrives); Appearance of objectivity

D: Difficult and expensive; Uncertain interpretation

Advantages/Disadvantages of Life-Outcome Data

A: Objective and verifiable; intrinsic importance; psychological relevance

D: Multi-determination; Possible lack of psychological relevance

Advantages/Disadvantages of Informant-Report Data

A: Large amount of information; Real word basis; Common sense; Causal force

D: Limited behavioral information; Lack of access to private experience; Error; Bias

Advantages/Disadvantages of Self-Report Data

A: Large amount of information; access to thoughts, feelings, and intentions; Causal force; Simple and easy

D: Maybe they can't/won't tell you; Too simple/easy

Person-situation debate; responses to situationist perspective

-The first counterargument was that Mischel's review of the personality literature was selective and unfair. After all, the relevant research literature goes back more than 60 years and contains literally thousands of studies. Mischel's review, by contrast, is quite short (only 16 pages of his book) and concentrates on a few studies that obtained disappointing results rather than on the (perhaps more numerous) studies that obtained more impressive findings.

-This limit is a result of poor or less than optimal research methodology. The weak findings summarized by Mischel do not imply that personality is unimportant, merely that psychologists can and must do better research

Implications of Big Five

-This limit is a result of poor or less than optimal research methodology. The weak findings summarized by Mischel do not imply that personality is unimportant, merely that psychologists can and must do better research

-For one thing, they aren't quite as orthogonal as originally hoped

Brain damage and brain imaging

Observe its function directly—to view what the brain is doing while it is doing it. The oldest technique is electroencephalography (EEG), in which electrodes are placed on the scalp to pick up electrical signals generated by the brain activity underneath. A newer, related technique is magnetoencephalography (MEG), which uses delicate sensors to detect magnetic (as opposed to electrical) indications of brain activity. Both of these techniques are useful for determining when the brain is especially active, but they are not very specific as to just where in the brain the activity is concentrated.

Frontal lobes and personality

-EEG studies suggest that the left frontal lobe is more active when a person wants to approach something pleasant, whereas activity in the right frontal lobe is associated with wanting to withdraw from something un- pleasant or frightening

-Activity in the left side of the frontal lobe is associated with the ability to inhibit responses to unpleasant stimuli, so the left frontal cortex may be able to both promote good feelings and dampen bad ones