Personality Psychology - EXAM 1

Personality trait

A single-word descriptor of personality reflecting a stable pattern of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors

Main characteristics of personality traits

Exist on a continuum, stable across time, consistent across situations, differ between people, and allow comparison

Dimensional nature of traits

Traits exist on a spectrum rather than in categories

Big Five Personality Traits

The most dominant system for studying personality using five broad trait dimensions

How the Big Five were developed

Derived from thousands of factor-analytic studies across languages and cultures

Benefit of Big Five: parsimony

Captures maximum information with the minimum number of variables

Benefit of Big Five: replication

The structure is replicated across thousands of studies

Benefit of Big Five: shared language

Provides a common framework to avoid confusion in research

OCEAN acronym

Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism

Openness to Experience

High: creative, intellectual, curious; Low: conventional, practical, straightforward

Conscientiousness

High: organized, reliable, diligent; Low: careless, disorganized, impulsive

Extraversion

High: enthusiastic, talkative, assertive; Low: quiet, reserved, withdrawn

Agreeableness

High: kind, compassionate, polite; Low: cold, rude, uncooperative

Neuroticism

High: emotionally unstable, anxious, volatile; Low: calm, emotionally stable

High openness example

Loves abstract art, enjoys new ideas, seeks novelty

Low openness example

Prefers routine, traditional values, dislikes change

High conscientiousness example

Makes schedules, meets deadlines, keeps things organized

Low conscientiousness example

Forgets assignments, messy, procrastinates

High extraversion example

Loves parties, initiates conversations

Low extraversion example

Prefers alone time, avoids crowds

High agreeableness example

Helps others, avoids conflict

Low agreeableness example

Argues often, insensitive to others

High neuroticism example

Anxious, moody, easily stressed

Low neuroticism example

Relaxed, emotionally steady

Trait correlations

Big Five traits are somewhat related but not identical

Jingle-jangle fallacy

Using the same word for different traits or different words for the same trait

Why jingle-jangle is harmful

Causes confusion, duplication of effort, and miscommunication

How Big Five reduces jingle-jangle

Provides a shared, standardized trait language

Personality types

Categorical groupings of personality

Personality traits vs types

Traits are dimensional; types are categorical

MBTI general description

A personality test that sorts people into 16 types using dichotomies

Key difference MBTI vs Big Five

MBTI is categorical; Big Five is dimensional

Problem with MBTI: forced categories

Loses information by forcing people into types

Problem with MBTI: jingle-jangle

Renames Big Five traits and creates confusion

Problem with MBTI: Barnum effect

Uses vague statements true for everyone

Barnum effect

Believing a vague personality description is highly accurate

Confirmation bias

Paying attention only to info that supports your beliefs

Problem with MBTI: low reliability

Poor test-retest reliability

Test-retest reliability

How consistent test results are over time

Problem with MBTI: poor validity

Does not predict job performance well

Why MBTI is popular

It feels intuitive and credible to users

Self-report data

People rate their own personality

Self-report pros

Cheap, easy, broad info, matches informant reports

Self-report cons

Self-bias, misconceptions, overused

Informant-report data

Others rate your personality

Informant-report pros

External perspective, useful for socially sensitive traits

Informant-report cons

Limited knowledge, cost, bias

Combining self and informant data

Averaging both strengthens validity

Behavioral data

Observing actual behavior

Behavioral pros

More objective

Behavioral cons

Costly, interpretation issues, observer effects

Experience sampling

Method capturing real-life behavior repeatedly

Daily diary studies

Random phone surveys throughout the day

EAR

Electronically Activated Recorder that records sound snippets

Life outcomes linked to Openness

Artistic, investigative careers, political orientation

Life outcomes linked to Conscientiousness

Career success, academic performance, health

Life outcomes linked to Extraversion

Peer acceptance, life satisfaction

Life outcomes linked to Agreeableness

Prosocial behavior

Life outcomes linked to Neuroticism

Mental health issues, substance use

MZ twins

Identical; 100% shared DNA

DZ twins

Fraternal; 50% shared DNA

Heritability

Proportion of trait variability explained by genes

Heritability of 0

No genetic influence

Heritability of 1

All variation due to genes

Moderately heritable traits

~50% genetic and 50% environmental

Average heritability of psychological traits

Around 40–50%

Polygenic inheritance

Traits influenced by many genes

Examples of polygenic traits

Height, intelligence, personality

Eugenics

Harmful movement using genetics to justify discrimination

Examples of eugenics policies

Forced sterilization, marriage bans, immigration restrictions, genocide

Positive eugenics

Encouraging reproduction among the “superior”

Why positive eugenics is coercive

Still controls reproduction and reinforces inequality

Pleiotropy

One gene affects multiple traits

Narcissism

A trait involving grandiosity and vulnerability

Facets of narcissism

Entitlement, vanity, superiority, self-sufficiency, authority, exhibition

Narcissism & Big Five relation

Low Agreeableness, high Neuroticism, high assertiveness of Extraversion

Difference between narcissism and self-esteem

Narcissism includes devaluing others

Consequences of narcissism

Aggression, poor relationships, sensitivity to failure

Grit

Passion and perseverance toward long-term goals

Problem with grit

95% overlap with conscientiousness

EEG

Records brain waves; cheap, poor localization

fMRI

Uses magnets to detect brain activity; expensive, precise

Biology of extraversion

Linked to dopamine sensitivity and reward processing

Biology of conscientiousness

Linked to prefrontal cortex function

Biology of neuroticism

Expected amygdala link, but weak evidence in adults

High-reactive infants

Highly sensitive amygdala, shy, fearful

Low-reactive infants

Less sensitive amygdala, sociable, risk-taking

Why infant temperament doesn’t determine adults

Environment and experiences shape development

Heterotypic continuity

Traits remain but manifest differently across time

Reactive person-environment interaction

We experience situations differently

Active person-environment interaction

We choose environments matching traits

Evocative person-environment interaction

We shape environments through behavior