Trait models

Trait models

1. Approaches

   • Type vs traits
   • Lexical approaches
     • Lexical hypothesis: Important traits should be revealed by most common words in natural language Gordon Allport (1930s)
   • Empirical approaches
     • Raymond Cattell (1950s-1970s) : Analysed people’s responses to common words (personality tests, interviews, informant reports, and observations) Constitutional traits (genetic) vs. environment-mold traits (environmental) Surface traits: cluster together in many people/many situations Source traits: underlying traits responsible for variance in surface traits

2. Culture and the self

   • Self is thought to have an evolutionary function (Leary, 2006) and to develop in context of other’s views (looking glass self; Cooley, 1902) or acceptance (sociometer theory; Leary et al., 1999). Therefore cultural context would influence development and maintenance of self-concept
   • Development of self-concept – i.e., content and org of beliefs about self Maintenance of self-concept – exec function, e.g. self-reg and CSWs
   • Culture and self-definition (self contructs)
     • Two primary ways of relating to social world (Markus & Kitayama, 1991; 2010) Both present in all people and cultures, but vary in dominance
       • Independent/individualistic: Relationships are based on individuals’ goals & interests
       • Interdependent/collectivistic: Individuals are made meaningful through relationships
   • Inter-culture variation
     • Individual differences in individualism (idiocentrism) and collectivism (allocentrism) ) (Singelis et al., 1995; Triandis, 2001) Two orthogonal dimensions (though opposite at group level) Allocentrism correlates with higher agreeableness and conscientiousness, lower openness Contextual activation Bicultural participants show behaviours prototypical of culture that has been primed (Hong et al., 2000)
   • Culture and self =constructs
   • Self -esteem
     • Debate in literature: Relativist: Self-esteem is an individualistic construct; self in collectivistic cultures focuses on self-criticism and social harmony instead (Heine et al., 1999) Universalist: Pursuit of self-esteem is pancultural but different strategies (Sedikides et al., 2003)
     • Current evidence supports universalist: Self-esteem levels vary but predict wellbeing across cultures (family cohesion also predicts in collectivistic cultures; Abe et al., 2004; Cai et al., 2009) Westerners self-enhance on agentic traits/publicly, East Asians self-enhance on communal traits/privately (Hepper et al., 2013; Sedikides et al., 2005) and seek to ‘save face’ (Heine, 2005) Agency predicts self-esteem in agentic cultures; communion in communal cultures (Gebauer et al., 2013)

3. Hexaco model

   • Current evidence supports universalist: Self-esteem levels vary but predict wellbeing across cultures (family cohesion also predicts in collectivistic cultures; Abe et al., 2004; Cai et al., 2009) Westerners self-enhance on agentic traits/publicly, East Asians self-enhance on communal traits/privately (Hepper et al., 2013; Sedikides et al., 2005) and seek to ‘save face’ (Heine, 2005) Agency predicts self-esteem in agentic cultures; communion in communal cultures (Gebauer et al., 2013)
   • Reciprocal altruism – I will do you a favour on the basis that you will do me one in return in the future and that I will not suffer now (in the present)
   • The behaviours that we develop over time can largely be categorised into the three areas of reproductive success, adaptation and survival
   • Criticisms Saucier 2002- Factors are not distinct enough – the honesty factor is too similar/overlapping of the agreeableness factor Alternative research points at different, perhaps more independent 6th factor e.g. Spirituality/Religiosity or Sexuality Why just 6? There is potential multiple different factors that you could argue exist outside of the big 5 e.g. Paunonen & Jackson (2000) proposed 10 further dimensions outside of the big 5 -Problem is, Trait theory is built on lexical principles, i.e. data driven statistical analysis , cultural differences and evolving language use may mean that the “theory” is not reliable. Argument is therefore for the need to have something other than self-report “words” as the data e.g. biological evidence, external ratings, theoretical explanations etc.

4. Abnormal traits

   • The dark triad:
     • Narcissism (Raskin & Hall, 1979) Grandiosity, dominance, entitlement, egotism “If I ruled the world it would be a much better place”
       • Machiavellianism (Christie & Geis, 1970) Manipulativeness, cynicism, pragmatic morality "Never tell anyone the real reason you did something unless it is useful to do so"
         • Psychopathy (Hare, 1991) Impulsivity, thrill-seeking, lack of empathy or anxiety “It’s sometimes fun to see how far you can push someone before they catch on”
   • Evolutionary theory of the dark triad
     • Short-term, agentic, exploitative social strategy attract mates at expense of competitors (K-factor) exploit other group members to serve own survival
       • - Fluctuating selection Adaptive for as long as not “found out” - Fits better with male sexual strategy -Cross-cultural (Foster et al., 2003)
   • Three correlated constructs
   • Measuring dark triad traits: The dirty dozen
   • Components of narcissism
     • Adaptive: Authority, - Self-sufficiency - High self-esteem . ( Self-enhance using public and private strategies)
     • Maladaptive: -Entitlement , - Exploitativeness - Exhibitionism. ( Self-enhance and self-protect using public strategies)
   • Components of psychopathy
     • Instrumental (Primary) - Shallow affect, low empathy
     • Hostile/Reactive (Secondary)- Impulsivity, - Irresponsibility - Aggression
   • Aggressive behaviour:
     • Self-reports (Jonason & Webster, 2010) Psychopathy  physical, verbal, and premeditated aggression Machiavellianism  physical, verbal, and hostility Narcissism  hostility, reactive (“narcissistic rage”)
   • Dark triad and sexual behaviour
     • -High Dark-Triad scorers more likely to: Engage in short-term/unrestricted sex (Jonason et al., 2009) ‘Poach’ mates from others but also have mates poached from them (N/P only) (Jonason et al., 2010) Retain mates using aggressive, agentic tactics (Jonason et al., 2010)
   • Antisocial/criminalbehaviour
     • Williams et al. (2001): self-report in students Psychopathy: all delinquent behaviour, inc serious crime Machiavellianism: bullying and minor crime Narcissism: bullying, drugs, anti-authority acts, minor crime
   • Nature or nurture?
     • Vernon et al. (2008): twin study of Dark Triad and Big Five 75 pairs of MZ and 64 pairs of DZ adult twins
       • Narcissism- 59% genetics - psychopathy- 64% - Machiavelli- 31% , 39% shared env
   • Environmental causes of narcissm
     • Narcissism detectable from age 8 Childhood origins: Wounded or spoilt? Retrospective evidence supports the spoilt hypothesis (parental overvaluation, leniency, indulgence; Cramer, 2011; Horton et al., 2006; Otway & Vignoles, 2006)
     • Increased narcissism could have repercussions for society – need better understanding of construct and social impact

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