PSY2042_Week_2_2024__4_

PSY2042 - Personality and Social Psychology Notes

Week 2: Trait Theory

• Continuing Personality Theories

• Readings: Textbook Custom edition pages: 570-599

• Lecturer: Nathan Ogilvie

• Email: nathan.ogilvie@monash.edu

• Monash School of Psychological Sciences

Learning Objectives

• Understand the basic premise of Trait Theory.

• Examine the various Trait theorists.

• Understand the concepts involved in the Big Five approach.

• Examine the relationships and practical uses of the Big Five approach.

• Briefly examine the existence of different personality theories.

Historical Basis of Trait Theory

• Ancient Notion: People differ in fundamental ways.

• Hippocrates (400 BC): Introduced the concept of bodily humors and temperaments.

• Galen (AD 150): Expanded on this with four temperaments:

  • Black Bile (Melancholic): Despondent, poor sleep.

  • Yellow Bile (Choleric): Bad tempered, easily angered.

  • Phlegm (Phlegmatic): Calm, unemotional.

  • Blood (Sanguine): Courageous, amorous.

• An excess in any humor corresponds with the associated temperament.

Trait Theory’s View of the Person

• Behavior Patterns: Reduced to observable traits.

  • A trait is fundamental in personality description.

  • Represents enduring characteristics of a person.

  • Traits vary across individuals and suggest a disposition to act in certain ways.

• Concepts:

  • Consistency: Traits indicate regular behavior patterns.

  • Distinctiveness: Traits manifest how individuals differ across various situations.

• Implication: Individuals maintain consistency despite varying social changes.

Types vs Traits

• Types: Categorized dichotomously (Extravert vs Introvert).

• Traits: Positioned on a continuous spectrum.

Science of Personality

• Scientific Functions:

  • Summarizes typical behavior and provides basic descriptive facts necessary for personality theories.

  • Establishes personality taxonomy for classification purposes.

Allport’s Trait Theory (1897-1967)

• Emphasized the healthy, organized aspects of human behavior.

• Psychoanalysis may go too deep; recognition of manifest motives before probing unconscious.

• Traits are basic units of personality rooted in nervous system activity.

  • Defined through frequency, intensity, and situational range.

Allport’s Personality Structure

• Three Trait Types:

  • Cardinal Traits: Dominant, pervasive traits influencing most actions.

  • Central Traits: Dispositions covering limited situations.

  • Secondary Dispositions: Least observable, generalized traits.

Cattell’s 16 Personality Factors

• Using factor analysis to group descriptive terms into 16 factors.

• Traits include warmth, emotional stability, aggressiveness, liveliness, etc.

• Surface vs Source Traits:

  • Surface traits are observable; source traits are internal, underlying causes.

Hans Eysenck's Theory

• Developed from historical observations, introduced three primary factors: Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Psychoticism (PEN model).

• Eysenck's work explored neurophysiological functions linked to psychological traits.

The Five-Factor Model of Personality (Big Five)

• Dimensions: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism.

  • Supported by extensive evidence and factor analyses.

• McCrae and Costa's View: Traits reflect biological bases influencing development.

• Cultural Considerations: The universality of the Big Five dimensions is debated across languages.

Applications of the Big Five Model

• Useful in predicting job performance; conscientiousness correlated with various job roles.

• Links found to health and longevity (e.g., conscientious individuals tend to live longer).

• Implications for clinical diagnosis in understanding personality types.

Critical Evaluation of Trait Theory

• Objective data supports reliable trait assessments.

• Overall, trait theory lacks therapy approaches.

• Different theorists approach integration and explanations of personality change differently.

Proposed Integration

• Mischel & Shoda (2008) proposed a unified theory incorporating various psychological perspectives for a comprehensive understanding.

• Theories are seen as tools for personality assessment and psychological change.