Cengage Personality Notes

Chapter 7: The Trait Approach: Theory, Application, and Assessment

Neo-Freudian Review of Carl Jung: Shadow, Anima, Animus

  • Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious

    • The shadow, anima, and animus represent repressed or unconscious aspects of the personality.

    • Integration into conscious self occurs through individuation, leading to wholeness.

  • The Shadow

    • The most accessible archetype, consisting of the primitive, undesirable, or repressed parts of our personality.

    • Often viewed as the "dark side" of the psyche; hidden due to shame and societal pressures.

  • The Anima and Animus

    • Anima (in men) and animus (in women) are unconscious archetypes of the opposite sex, linked to creativity, and represent the inner soul/spirit.

    • Anima:

    • For men, characterized by intuition, emotion, empathy, and relatedness.

    • Repression can manifest negatively as moodiness and hysteria.

    • Animus:

    • For women, characterized by reason, assertiveness, and power.

    • Repression results in traits like stubbornness, aggression, and argumentative attitudes.

  • Integration and Psychological Balance

    • Integration of anima/animus promotes psychological balance.

    • A man integrating his anima accesses emotional depths, while a woman integrating her animus can assert ideas confidently.

  • Individuation Process

    • Journey towards becoming a psychologically whole and integrated person

    • Steps include:

    1. Confronting the shadow to bring repressed material into consciousness.

    2. Integrating the anima/animus, bridging the conscious mind and the deeper collective unconscious.

    3. Successful integration leads to the emergence of the Self, unifying all aspects of the psyche.

New Theory – Trait Theory
Lexical Hypothesis

  • A psychological theory stating:

    • The most important and socially relevant personality characteristics are encoded into natural language vocabulary, with significant traits becoming singular words.

    • Analyzing personality-describing words allows the identification of fundamental dimensions of personality.

    • Instrumental in the development of models like the Big Five personality traits.

Cattell's Trait Theory

  • Defines personality using source traits and surface traits.

  • Identified 16 core source traits, which are the stable factors of personality.

    • Measured through the 16PF (Sixteen Personality Factor) Questionnaire.

  • Traits are influenced by biological and environmental factors, categorized into:

    • Ability traits

    • Temperament traits

    • Dynamic traits

Eysenck's Trait Theory

  • Describes three biologically based, innate personality dimensions:

    1. Extraversion-Introversion

    2. Neuroticism-Stability

    3. Psychoticism

  • Known as the PEN model:

    • Proposes that these super-traits influence behavior:

    • Extraversion relates to brain arousal levels and need for stimulation.

    • Neuroticism connects to emotional reactivity and stability.

    • Psychoticism is associated with anti-social tendencies.

The Big Five Trait Theory

  • Also known as the Five-Factor Model or OCEAN model:

    • Human personality described by five broad, enduring dimensions:

    1. Openness

    2. Conscientiousness

    3. Extraversion

    4. Agreeableness

    5. Neuroticism

  • Traits are not distinct categories but continuous scales, providing a framework for understanding personality.

Chapter Outline

  • The Trait Approach

  • Important Trait Theorists

  • Factor Analysis and the Search for the Structure of Personality

  • The Situation Versus Trait Controversy

  • Application: The Big Five in the Workplace

  • Assessment: Self-Report Inventories

  • Strengths and Criticisms of the Trait Approach

Trait Approach

  • Identifies personality characteristics represented along a continuum.

  • Trait:

    • Categorizes individuals based on the degree to which they manifest particular characteristics.

  • Assumptions:

    • Personality characteristics are stable over time and across situations.

Gordon Allport

  • Acknowledged the limitations of the trait concept due to environmental influences on behavior.

  • Presented the idea that traits have physical components in the nervous system, emphasizing the concept of self.

Gordon Allport: Research Strategies

  • Nomothetic approach:

    • Individuals described along a dimension like assertiveness or anxiety; common traits applicable to everyone.

  • Idiographic approach:

    • Finds unique combinations of traits for individuals:

    • Central traits: Describe personality

    • Cardinal trait: Dominating trait

    • Advantage: Individuals determine the traits to examine.

Henry Murray (1 of 2)

  • Introduced Personology, combining psychoanalytic and trait concepts.

  • Focused on needs, especially psychogenic needs that drive personality beyond survival.

Henry Murray (2 of 2)

  • His theory emphasizes uniqueness and complexity of individuals.

  • Key elements:

    • 24 psychogenic needs driving behavior.

    • Interaction between universal needs and environmental pressures.

    • Thema: Patterns of needs and environmental impacts throughout a person's life.

  • Developed the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) for assessing underlying needs and motivations.

Factor Analysis and the Search for the Structure of Personality

  • Factor analysis: Empirical technique to determine the structure of personality, utilized by Raymond Cattell.

  • Source traits: Basic components of personality.

  • Limitation: Analysis is dependent on the chosen data.

Donald Fiske’s Personality Factors

  • Identified key factors through various studies:

    1. Social adaptability

    2. Emotional control

    3. Conformity

    4. Inquiring intellect

    5. Confident self-expression

  • These factors are often aligned with the Big Five.

Summary of the Big Five Personality Factors

  • Neuroticism:

    • Worried vs. calm, insecure vs. secure, self-pitying vs. self-satisfied.

  • Extraversion:

    • Sociable vs. retiring, fun-loving vs. sober, affectionate vs. reserved.

  • Openness:

    • Imaginative vs. down-to-earth, preference for variety vs. routine, independent vs. conforming.

  • Agreeableness:

    • Softhearted vs. ruthless, trusting vs. suspicious, helpful vs. uncooperative.

  • Conscientiousness:

    • Well organized vs. disorganized, careful vs. careless, self-disciplined vs. weak-willed.

Neuroticism

  • Locates individuals based on emotional stability.

  • High scorers are more vulnerable to anxiety and depression, while low scorers are generally well-adjusted.

Extraversion

  • Ranges from extreme extraverts to extreme introverts.

  • Extraverts are sociable, while introverts are often reserved and independent.

Openness

  • Encompasses imagination, divergent thinking, and intellectual curiosity.

  • High openness leads to unconventional thinking; low openness favors familiarity and routine.

Agreeableness

  • High scorers are helpful, trusting, and sympathetic; low scorers are antagonistic and skeptical.

Conscientiousness

  • High scorers are organized, plan-oriented, and determined, whereas low scorers are careless and undependable.

Ongoing Questions Related to the Big Five Model

  • Ongoing debates regarding the meaning of the five factors.

  • Discrepancies about the structure of the five-factor model.

  • Stability of these factors over time, and the appropriate measures for Big Five scores.

Criticism of Trait Approach

  • Trait measures fail to predict behavior effectively since both personal traits and situation influence behavior.

  • The person-by-situation approach highlights the interrelation of traits and context.

  • Little evidence exists for cross-situational consistency of traits.

In Defense of Personality Traits

  • Difficulty in measuring behavior accurately may explain weak links between traits and behaviors.

  • A strong predictor of behavior is viable if the trait is significant to the individual.

  • The explanatory power of 10% variance is substantial in behavioral studies given the complexity of influences.

Application: The Big Five in the Workplace

  • Employers utilize personality test scores for hiring and promotions.

  • Credible research suggests conscientiousness is notably related to job performance:

    • Conscientious individuals are organized, hardworking, persistent, and ambitious.

  • Agreeable individuals work well in team settings due to their trusting and cooperative nature.

  • Extraverts often outperform introverts in business environments.

  • Big Five test scores significantly inform hiring decisions.

Assessment: Self-Report Inventories (1 of 6)

  • Self-report inventories:

    • Require individuals to answer a series of personal questions.

    • Commonly utilized for personality assessments; boasts greater face validity.

    • Employed by researchers, clinical psychologists, and personnel managers.

Assessment: Self-Report Inventories (2 of 6)

  • Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI):

    • The prototypical self-report inventory for clinical psychologists.

    • MMPI-2, the revised version, was published in 1989 and remains widely in use.

    • Ongoing debate regarding the validity of its scales.

Assessment: Self-Report Inventories (3 of 6)

  • MMPI Sample Profile:

    • Scoring includes various scales indicating mental health and personality characteristics.

    • Each scale score provides insights into different psychological dimensions.

Assessment: Self-Report Inventories (4 of 6)

  • Challenges with self-report inventories:

    • Faking:

    • Test-takers may present a misleading image (fake good/bad).

    • Test developers design safeguards to reduce faking influence.

    • MMPI contains scales to detect faking behavior.

Assessment: Self-Report Inventories (5 of 6)

  • Additional challenges:

    • Carelessness and sabotage:

    • Boredom may lead to random selections of responses.

    • Sabotage through misinformation is an issue.

    • Remedies include adequate instructions and emphasizing test importance.

Assessment: Self-Report Inventories (6 of 6)

  • Response tendencies:

    • Social desirability:

    • The tendency to present oneself favorably impacts score interpretations.

    • Acquiescence response: Reporting agreement on statements may distort score accuracy.

Strengths and Criticisms of the Trait Approach (1 of 2)

  • Strengths:

    • Use of objective measures mitigates bias and subjectivity.

    • Practical applications in various fields (e.g., education, employment).

    • Extensive research supports trait measures.

Strengths and Criticisms of the Trait Approach (2 of 2)

  • Criticisms:

    • Insufficient explanations for trait development and extreme score impacts.

    • No psychotherapy schools originated from trait theory.

    • Absence of a universally accepted framework.

Summary (1 of 6)

  • The trait approach identifies stable individual differences in behaviors across contexts.

  • The focus is on typical behaviors rather than individual anomalies.

Summary (2 of 6)

  • Gordon Allport recognized as the first trait theorist identified central and secondary traits, plus nomothetic vs. idiographic research and self-descriptions.

  • Henry Murray proposed psychogenic needs as core personality elements, influencing behavior relative to need hierarchy and situational context.

Summary (3 of 6)

  • Raymond Cattell focused on identifying personality's fundamental structure using factor analysis.

  • Evidence shows personality aligns with five basic dimensions, supporting the five-factor model despite ongoing inquiries.

Summary (4 of 6)

  • Trait versus situational determinants debate centers on behavioral prediction limitations of traits.

  • Critics argue for low predictive power; advocates insist correct trait and behavior measurement reveals significant relationships.

Summary (5 of 6)

  • The five-factor model stimulated interest in personality’s role in job performance.

  • Conscientiousness is frequently identified as a leading performance predictor.

  • The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory remains a core self-report assessment; however, challenges persist, including faking and carelessness.

Summary (6 of 6)

  • Trait theory's strengths include a robust empirical foundation, numerous applicable scenarios, and significant research output.

  • Criticisms highlight limited applicability in resolving extreme behavioral issues and a lack of a unified conceptual framework.