4.6 Social Cognitive and Trait Theories of Personality

Chapter 4.6A: Social Cognitive and Trait Theories of Personality: Trait Theories

Understanding Personality through Traits

• Origin of Personality Psychology:
  • Shift from unconscious forces to stable behavior patterns.
  • Gordon Allport's interview with Sigmund Freud highlighted the need for conscious understanding of behaviors.
  • Allport emphasized defining personality through identifiable behavior patterns.

Types of Traits in Personality

• Cardinal Traits:

  • Dominant traits influencing thoughts and actions.
  • Examples: Persuasiveness, Dominance.

• Central Traits:

  • Common traits influencing behavior but not defining it entirely.
  • Examples: Kindness, Honesty, Friendliness.

• Secondary Traits:

  • Traits that appear in specific situations; less apparent.
  • Examples: Nervousness before public speaking.

Personality Inventories

• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI):
  • Categorizes individuals into personality types based on preferences (Extroverted/Introverted, Sensing/Intuitive, Thinking/Feeling, Judging/Perceiving).
  • Popular in career counseling but criticized for lack of empirical support.

Trait Assessment Tools

• Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI):

  • Initial purpose to identify emotional disorders; can also indicate personality traits.
  • Contains questions grouped into clinical scales (e.g., depression, introversion).

• Projective Tests vs. Personality Inventories:

  • Projective tests (like Rorschach) score subjectively, while inventories score objectively.
  • Objectivity does not ensure validity; social desirability bias can skew results.

Trait Dimensions

• Eysenck’s Model:
  • Reduced personality dimensions to extraversion-introversion and emotional stability-instability.
• The Big Five Personality Factors:
  • Developed by McCrae and Costa, covering Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.
  • Strong consistency across cultures and predictive of various outcomes (e.g., well-being).

Stability of Personality Traits

• Longitudinal Studies:
  • Research indicates stability in personality traits over time, with some maturation observed.
  • Personality can shift in response to major life events, but core traits remain stable.

Influence of Biology on Personality

• Genetic and Environmental Factors:
  • Twin studies show genetic factors in personality traits (e.g., extraversion).
  • Environmental factors also shape traits and behaviors (e.g., aggression).

Person-Situation Controversy

• Behavior Variability:
  • Personality traits are stable, but behaviors can vary across situations.
  • Cross-situation correlation is weak; average behaviors are more predictable than specific instances.

Social Significance of Traits

• Impact on Life Choices:
  • Personality traits influence health, job success, and relationships.
  • Traits are reliable predictors of long-term outcomes like marital stability and career success.

Chapter 4.6B: Social-Cognitive Theories of Personality

Overview of Social-Cognitive Perspective

• Developed by Albert Bandura, emphasizes interaction between traits and environmental influences.
• Illustrates how behavior changes across different situations (e.g., casual vs. professional).

Behavioral Approach

• Focuses on learned behaviors through conditioning and imitation.
• Children model behaviors seen in authority figures; personality develops through these adaptations.

Reciprocal Determinism

-Definition: Interaction of behavior, internal personal factors, and environmental factors influences reactions and development.

• Example: Positive feedback enhances self-efficacy, which motivates further action.

Self-Efficacy

• Definition: Belief in one's ability to succeed in specific situations.
• Higher self-efficacy correlates with greater willingness to face challenges confidently.

Gene-Environment Interaction

• Genetic predispositions affect personality, but environmental factors can suppress or enhance these traits (e.g., aggression).

Assessment Center Approach

• Organizations observe individuals in realistic scenarios to assess traits and predict future behavior.
• This method yields more reliable behavior predictions than traditional assessments.

Past Behavior as Predictor

• Historical behaviors in similar circumstances are potent predictors of future actions.

Evaluating Social-Cognitive Theories

• They bridge traits and situations effectively and highlight the significance of both.
• Researchers emphasize the importance of internal traits alongside situational factors in shaping behaviors.