PSY230 final uoft

personality psychology

study of patterns of thoughts and behaviors that make each individual unique

- focus on the whole person not just one part

trait

a stable pattern of thought, feeling and behaviour of an individual

- ranked on an ordinal scale

- allows for comparisons between people

funders first law

great strengths are usually great weaknesses and vice versa

the trait approach

an approach to studying personality that focuses on how individuals differ in personality dispositions

leaves out what we all share (food, basics) and what makes us unique (genetics)

3 levels to human analysis

universal traits (across all people)

some shared traits (happy people)

no sharing (genetics)

situationist argument

the argument situations are more important than personality traits

3 parts to situationist argument

1. correlational coefficient shows weak link to personality traits and behaviour (-30 -40)

2. therefore situations explain behaviours better than traits

3. if this is true, judgements about other traits are wrong (eg. fundamental attrivution error)

relative consistency

the degree to which an individual maintains differences from other people across situations (almost everyone talks more at a party than school, but most talkative at the party is still most talkative at school)

convergent validation

checking accuracy, if several signs point to the same trait a judgement is probably right

2 ways to test convergent validation

interjudge agreement - do other people see the same thing?

behavioural prediction - does the trait you choose to observe actually show up in their behaviour?

both true = convergent validity, multiple signs adding up

4 factors that make judgements less accurate

1. good judge (women tend to be better judges)

2. good target (some people are easier to read than others)

3. good trait (some traits are easier to judge than others)

4. good information (situation matters, some give more info to judge on eg. parties)

Realistic Accuracy Model (RAM)

explains how accurately we can judge someone’s personality.It says that for an accurate personality judgment to happen, four key stages must occur (relevance, availability, detection, utilization)

4 stages of ram

Relevance:The person must do something that reveals their personality.

Availability:The behavior must be visible or observable to the judge

Detection:The judge must notice the behavior.→

Utilization:The judge must interpret the behavior correctly and use it to form an accurate impression.

accurate self knowledge

- need to pass the same 4 ram stages on yourself

- seeing yourself ckearly leads to a better life

how to improve self knowledge

-introspection

-seek feedback

-observe own behavior

self monitoring

the tendency to monitor and adjust behaviours in public

high vs low self monitoring

high = aware of social cues

- good at adapting personality to different situations

low = less concerned about what others think

- more consistent

narcicism

- excessive self-love

- personality disorder

- usually charming and good impressions but seen as manipulative over time

- usually feel most anxuous and self concious underneath

single trait approach

focuses on one specific trait and studies how it relates to different behaviors or life outcomes.

It argues people behave consistently across situations, and traits like the Big Five summarize stable behavior patterns

- Studying conscientiousness to see how it affects job performance, health, or academic success.

many trait approach

looks at how many different traits together predict or explain a particular behavior.

👉 Instead of focusing on one trait (like extraversion), it examines a wide range of traits to see which ones are linked to a specific outcome.

- To understand why someone volunteers often, researchers might look at traits like agreeableness, empathy, conscientiousness, and openness all at once.

california q set

A set of 100 descriptive items (e.g., "is critical, skeptical, not easily impressed") that comprehensively cover the personality domain.

- people asked to sort them into categories

an example of a multiple trait approach

lexical approach

approach proposing that the most crucial features of personality are embedded in our language

- if a trait is important in everyday life there will be a word for it

alpert and odbert

discovered 17953 words to describe people

- narrowed it down to 16 using factor analysis

- then to 3

- eventually uncovered the big 3 traits

big 5 traits

openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism

openness

Curious, creative, and open to new ideas or experiences.

conscientiousness

Organized, responsible, and hardworking.

Plans ahead, follows rules, and pays attention to detail.

extroversion

Outgoing, energetic, and social.

enjoys being around people

**most outward expressed

agreeableness

Kind, cooperative, and compassionate.

avoids conflict and cares about others

** most ouward expressed

neuroticism

Sensitive, anxious, and easily stressed.

hexaco model

suggests the big 5 traits leaves out morals and ethics in personality

introduces honesty/humility - Sincere, fair, modest, and avoids manipulating others.

the dark triad

3 traits that tend to harm people or relationships

Machiavellianism, Narcissism, Psychopathy

Machiavellianism

manipulation of others for personal gain

- low empathy, goal oriented, deception

**strategic

Psychopathy

patterns of impulsivity, low empathy, disregard for rules

higher risk of criminal activity and personal harm

**impulse

narcissism

personality centered on self importance, entitlement, over self love

- sensitive to criticism, harms relationships

consistency across situations

do you behave similarily in different settings

stability over time

do your levels of traits stay similar as you age

absolute stability

your score on a trait stays the same over time

differential (rank order) stability

personality rank relative to peers stayes the same, even if it shifts over time

3 ways the environment impacts traits

active transactions: seeking out things that fit your traits

reactive transactions: reactions to the environment based on your trait (how an introvert vs extrovert views a party)

evocative transactions: your trait draws responses from others (agreeable person has others react to them with kindness)

personality disorders

unusual and extreme levels of a personality trait

- causes impairment day to day

- the person usually sees it as normal

old vs new dsm

old = 10 disorders in 3 categories (odd, erratic, anxious)

new = "dsm-5" places categories in clusters of the big 5

strengths and weaknesses of the trait approach

strengths = quantitative, good for describing individual differences

weaknesses = focuses on average comparison not uniqueness

oversimplifies and ignores contexts and cultures

social cognitive approach

It says behavior depends on situations — people act differently based on goals, beliefs, and interpretations of each context

- even someone high in agreeableness may act confrontational when stressed

encodings

mental labes we use to organize info about ourselves

expectations

predict what will happen in certain situations and what behaviour will occur

affects

feelings emotions and reactions to situations

self regulations

skills to control behaviours and manage emotions

whole trait theory

It integrates the trait and social-cognitive approaches so personality is seen as both stable and flexible

combining traits with situational forces

2 parts

descriptive parts of whole traits

summarizing patterns in behaviour — how people tend to act on average over time.

how often you act a certain way, across time and situations.

not why

explanatory part of whole traits

The explanatory side = social-cognitive mechanisms (goals, motives, beliefs) that explain why people behave as they do

How do the two parts of traits relate?

The explanatory part causes the descriptive patterns — they’re separate but form one “whole trait

5 main points of whole trait theories

1️⃣ Descriptive side = how often

2️⃣ Big Five need explanatory accounts (describe what people are like, but not why)

3️⃣ Traits = two parts (descriptive + explanatory)

4️⃣ Explanatory side = social-cognitive mechanisms (why)

5️⃣ Identify mechanisms that produce Big Five states (need to find out what’s happening inside their mind (the mechanism) that consistently produces those traits)

density distribution

Each person shows a range of behavioral states; their average + variability describe their trait level

ecological momentary assesment

a research technique where partitcipants are asked about their thoughts feelings and behaviours in real time as theyre happening

- avoids relying on memory which can introduce bias

state personality activities and affect

instead of asking about whole traits researcherd ask about momentary states "how outgoing do you feel right now)

within vs between person variance

within = how much a single persons personality changes across time or situations

between = how much people differ from others on average

cumulative continuity principle

personality traits increase in rank-order consistency as people get older

(most agreeable person at 20 is the same at 40)

maturity principle

people become better equipped to deal with the demands of life as they acquire experience and skills

plasticity principle

personality can change at any time

not always easy

role continuity principle

Taking on roles or images such as being a "jock" or a "brain" can lead personality to be consistent over time

identity development principle

people seek to develop a stable sense of who they are, and then strive to act consistently with this self-view

social investment principle

changing social roles through life (brother, husband, dad) causes personalities to change

corresponsive principle

person-environment transactions can cause personality traits to remain consistent or even amplify over time

- outgoing person choosing a sales job and becoming more outgoing

hows to produce stable trait changes

try new trait related behaviours

practise repeatedly

strengths and weakness of trait approach

strength

- valid and reliable

- widley used in research

- observers raitings usually aligns with the participants self rating

weakness

- self report bias

- aassumes people have accurate images of their own identity

sigmund freud born and death

1856 cxech republic

1939 england

lived in vienna

sigmund freud

developed psychoanalysis

hysteria

many assumptions

dream theory

psychosexual development

hysteria

usually women patients with broad unexplained symptoms were diagnosed with hysteria

psychoanalysis

founded by freud

therapy to uncover unconcious causes of mental disorders

3 methods

3 methods of psychoanalysis

free association = patient says whatever comes to mind

dream interpretation = analyzing hidden meanings and dreams

Freudian Slips: These consist of mental mistakes linked to your unconscious mind.

psychich determinism

mental events have causes and nothing is random

unconcious motivation

hidden conflicts drive behaviour

internal conflict

the mind has a bunch of competing forces in it

opposing needs, desires, or emotions within a single character

mental energy

force that fuels the mind’s activity

believed the mind runs on a kind of psychic energy that powers our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.

This energy comes from the life instincts (Eros) and death instincts (Thanatos)

early experiences

childhood events have lasting impacts

dream theory

dreams are a road to the unconcious mind

- reveals hidden wishes and fears

life (eros)

basic needs like hunger, sex, and love — all aimed at preserving life and reproduction.

death (thanatos)

aggression, distruction

behaviors like risk-taking, hostility, or self-destructive acts.

the id

instinctual part of the mind, wants immediate gratification

the superego

morals, values, concious

the ego

balances desires with whats acceptable

defense mechanisms for anxiety

repression

sublimination

displacement

denial

reaction formation

intellectualization

projection

Repression

Pushing painful or unacceptable thoughts out of conscious awareness.

sublimination

Redirecting unacceptable impulses into socially acceptable activities.

- sports

Displacement

Taking out emotions on a safer target instead of the real source.

- yelling at friends when mad at boss

denial

Refusing to accept reality or facts that cause anxiety.

reaction formation

Acting the opposite of how you really feel to hide true emotions.

intellectualization

Focusing on facts and logic instead of emotions to avoid feeling pain.

projection

Attributing your own unwanted feelings to someone else.

psychosexual stages of development

stages of child development in which a child's pleasure-seeking urges are focused on specific areas of the body called erogenous zones

the 5 psychosexual stages

1. Oral (0–1 yr): Pleasure from mouth (sucking, eating). Fixation → overeating, smoking.

2. Anal (1–3 yrs): Focus on toilet training. Fixation → neat/control freak (retentive) or messy (expulsive).

3. Phallic (3–6 yrs): Focus on genitals; Oedipus/Electra conflict. Fixation → identity or authority issues.

4. Latency (6–puberty): Sexual feelings inactive; focus on school and friendships.

5. Genital (puberty+): Mature sexuality; balance love and work.

carl jung

developed analytic psychology

- was freuds collaborator

- focussed on unconcious universal experiences we all have

analytic psychology

understanding the whole self, including both the conscious and unconscious mind.

4 unconcious patterns we all have

anima - feminine side of a man (nurtueing)

animus - masculine side of a woman (assertiveness, strength)

persona - the mask you put on for society, role

shadow - your hidden side (usually darker)

jungs archetypes are stored where

collective unconcious NOT personal

ways of processing information

sensation

intuition

thinking

feeling

Myers Briggs personality test

inspired by jungs theories

categorizes you into 4 of 16 personality types (estj,infp)

criticized for not predicting behaviour well, low reliability, oversimplification

alfred adler

rejected freuds focus on sex and aggression

- believed the main thing driving humans is power (growing, overcoming weakness)

- saw people as whole beings not split parts like ego id

organ inferiority

methods in which person attempts to compensate for inferiority (Alfred Adler)

- a sick person may want to grow up and become a doctor

- can lead to overcompensation

freud vs adler on trauma

f = trauma shapes the unconcious mind forever

a = its not the event but the meanin you give it that shapes you