Personality

Definition (#f7aeae)

Important (#edcae9)

Extra (#fffe9d)

Personality:

Dictionary:

• Characteristics and qualities that forms a distinct character.

• Sum total of physical, emotional, mental and social characteristics.

• State of a person.

Psychological:

• Unique and relatively enduring internal and external aspects of a person’s character.

  • Influences the behavior in different situations.

• Description is complex.

  • Humans change according to situations and people.

Theory: Provides the framework to describe data in a meaningful way.

Set of principles must:

1. Be testable and capable of stimulating research.

2. Be able to clarify and explain data by organizing it into coherent framework.

3. Help understand behavior.

Personality & Social Media:

• Personality includes how others see a person online.

• Social media has a wide amd reachable audience, which shapes and reflects personality.

Role of Race, Gender & Culture:

• Race & gender: 

  • Ignored ethnic and gender.

  • Personality theorists traditionally consisted of white men.

• Culture: 

  • Cross-culture psych research.

  • Conclusion shows that personality is formed by a genetic and environmental influences.

Individualism vs collectivism:

Impacts:

• Child-rearing practises: Raised by family vs a community.

• Self-enhancement: Tendency to promote oneself aggressively and be conspicuous.

Assessment in Personality Study:

• Evaluation of personality:

  • Used for diagnosis, education, counseling.

• Principles of measurement:

  • Reliability: Consistency of response to an assessment.

  • Validity: Extent to which an assessment is accurately measuring it’s intended measure.

• Assessment Methods:

  • Self Reports:

    • Participants answer questions about their behavior and feelings.

    • Measure: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

    • Advantages: Objective scoring and quick assessment.

    • Disadvantages: Tendency to provide socially desirable answers, not suited for those with limited reading skills.

  • Online test administrations:

    • Advantages: Not time consuming, objective scoring, prevents test takers from changing answers.

  • Projective tests:

    • Techniques: Rorschach Inkblot technique, Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), Sentence completion & word association.

    • Interpretation is subjective, reliability and validity is low.

  • Clinical interviews:

    • Involves asking relevant questions about past and present life experiences, social & family relationships.

    • Advantages: Problem areas can be explored in detail.

    • Disadvantages: It’s subjective.

  • Behavioral assessment:

    • Observer evaluates a person’s behavior in a given situation.

    • Assessment occurs during clinical interview.

    • Advantages: Provides valuable insight.

    • Disadvantages: Less systematic.

  • Thought and experience samples:

    • Thought sampling: Records thoughts and moods in a systematic manner. Provides a sample over a period of time.

    • Experience sampling: Participants describe social and environmental context in which experience is being sampled.

    • Relies on technological developments

    • Advantages: Determines how context influences thought and mood.

    • Disadvantages: Participants may forget to record experiences. Emotions and mood affect nature of information.

Gender Issues in Assessments:

• Personality assessment is influenced by gender.

• Assessment measures indicate differential rates of diagnosis based on gender for emotional disorders.

• Therapists may exhibit bias against women.

Ethnic Issues:

1. Hispanics:

   • Less likely to seek psychological treatment.

   • High in collectivism.

   • High in PTSD symptoms following treatment.

2. Asians:

   • High in collectivism.

   • Low in assertiveness and optimism.

3. African Americans:

   • Personality test bias.

   • Low on trust.

   • Low on hopelessness and depression.

   • Low on self-esteem if they perceive discrimination.

4. Translation of personality tests:

   • Slang and colloquial expressions.

   • Problems arising from cross-culture application.

Personality Research methods:

1. Clinical Method:

   • Case study: Detailed history of an individual.

   • Contains data from various sources, consistencies are used to generalize findings.

   • Advantages: Provides in-depth descriptions.

   • Disadvantages: No precision or control, subjective, accuracy of childhood memories can’t be checked.

2. Experimental Method:

   • Involves determining effects of variables on behavior.

   • Experimental situation arranged by researchers.

   • Uses: IV, DV, control and experimental group.

   • Advantages: Controlled and systematic.

   • Disadvantages: DV is influenced by participants attitude, ethical reasons restrict control.

3. Virtual Research Method:

   • Online test administration, Psychological tests, opinion surveys.

   • Advantages: Fast response, Reaches broad range of participants, inexpensive.

   • Disadvantage: Sample may not be representative, Online test takers may have different characteristics, accuracy is questionable.

4. Correlational Method:

   • Measures the degree of relationship between 2 variables.

   • Expressed by the correlation coefficient, which ranges from -1.00 to +1.00

   • Advantages: Helps make predictions in the real world.

   • Disadvantage: Cause and effect conclusions may be flawed.

Important Questions:

1. Free will or determinism?

2. Inherited nature or nurturing environment?

3. Dependent or independent of childhood?

4. Unique or universal?

5. Satisfaction or growth?

6. Optimism or pessimism?