Personality - Shows how people are different - Different theories = Type. Trait. Factors, Bio.

Personality - Shows how people are different - Different theories = Type. Trait. Factors, Bio.

1. Studied via :

   • MOSTLY Nomothetic - Scientific / Quantitative
     • Questionnaires
     • Based on Laws of Behaviour and can be generalised to everyone
       • Used to compare people with one another
     • STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES
   • Idiographic - Qualitative / Uniqueness
     • Case Studies, interviews - reflect uniqueness

2. Personality IS :

   • Characteristics of - Behaviour, attitudes, capabilities & interests
     • Its unique and means different things to different people
       • Should help predict future behaviour - and put people into brackets
   • CONSISTENT - Developed over a lifetime
   • RELATIVELY STABLE

3. Personally - Helps us make sense of ourselves and others

   • Professionally - lets us assess people by groups - schemas or stereotyping- tell if suited to a job
     • Ie - always early
       • A personality theory should describe STRUCTURE and DYNAMICS of how the behaviour is produced., Explain why they are always early.

4. TRAIT THEORIES

   • GALTON -1822 - 1911
     • Introduced PSYCHOMETRICS = collection of data that describes the range (highest/lowest) and distribution of INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN PERSONALITY
       • PSYCHOMETRICS SIMPLIFIED = MEASUREMENT OF PERSONALITY
   • Offers Consistency - people are consistent to the world and each other.
     • Difference between TRAIT (constant characteristic) and STATE (short lived experience) = eg might be a punctual person but traffic might mean you are late.
       • TRAITS remain constant - eg people with a punctuality trait prefer to be early.
   • INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES APPROACH
     • EG - Reliable - Unreliable or Introvert - Extrovert
       • Connects
   • TRAITS
     • PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTIC THAT MAKES SOMEONE DIFFERENT FROM ANOTHER
       • OR ..DESCRIBES INDIVIDUAL'S PERSONALITY
     • TRAIT SCORES
       • Continuous variable - person gives number score to show how much of a trait that person has
     • GREAT MANY TRAITS TO DECRIBE PEOPLE
       • A person can be described on EVERY TRAIT
     • WORDS TO DESCRIBE TRAITS:
       • EXTRAVERSION, INTERVERSION, NEUROTICISM
         • THESE TRAITS CAN ALSO BE CONSIDERED FACTORS BECAUSE THEY ARE SO BROAD
     • TYPES OF TRAIT
       • SURFACE TRAITS
         • Traits that SEEM apparent/obvious
           • Eg - Librarian who's friendly - presume Trait =SOCIABLE
         • SURFACE TRAITS based on PEOPLES PERCEPTION of PERSONALITY
           • -'S = NOT ALWAYS BEST DESCRIPTION OF UNDERLYING PERSONALITY DIMENSION
       • SOURCE TRAITS
         • DEEPER PATTERNS OF UNDERLYING PERSONALITY
         • EMERGE despite differences in TESTING SITU
           • Eg Questionnaire, methods etc.
           • ERIKSON
         • The SCORES on ALL FACTORS in the PROFILE of the INDIVIDUAL
         • CATTELL = FACTOR ANALYSIS to IDENTIFY 16 SOURCE TRAITS = which DEVELOPED 16PF
           • CATTELL 16PF 1977
           • COSTA & McCRAE 1992 = BIG 5 = OCEAN - MORE GENERAL MEANING MORE LEVELS OF UNIQUNESS
             • NOTE = FACTOR THEORY / TRAITS = WIDER THAN TRAIT THEORY
             • O = OPENNESS
               • C = CONTIENCIOUSNESS
                 • E = EXTROVERSION
                   • A = AGREEABLENESS
                     • N = NEUROTICISM
                       • ANXIOUS, DEPRESSED, GUILTY FEELINGS, LOW SELF ESTEEM, IRRATIONAL, MOODY, SHY EMOTIONAL
                     • LIKABLENESS
                   • HIGH EXTRAVERSION = TALKATIVE, PASSIONATE, ACTIVE, DOMINANT & SOCIABLE
                 • HARDWORKING, DEPENDABLE, RESPONSABLE, DEPENDABLE, TENACIOUS
               • HOW CULTURED, INTELLIGENT, RECEPTIVE WE ARE TO NEW IDEAS, PLACES AND INTERESTS
             • RELIABLE / & VALID
             • ALSO MAIN PERSONALITY INVENTORY = NEO-PI
               • NEUROTIC, EXTRAVERSION, OPENNESS
           • RELIABLE &VALID
         • GOLDBERG
           • PROPOSED ANOTHER BIG 5
             • SIMILAR TO COSTA & McCRAE EXCWPT HAS INTERLLECT AS A FACTOR INSTEAD OF OPENNESS
           • SEEKS TO DESCRIBE PERSONALITY
           • FACTOR 1 = EXTRAVERSION
             • FACTOR 2 = AGREEABLENESS
               • FACTOR 3 = CONSCIENCIOUSNESS
                 • FACTOR 4 = EMOTIONAL STABILITY
                   • FACTOR 5 = INTERLECT
   • CATTELL
     • Caattell's Trait Theory
       • INDUCTIVE METHOD
         • Vast amount of information gathered over years. Established 16 point PERSONALITY FACTOR QUESTIONNAIRE (16PF)
           • Traits divided into :
             • COMMON TRAITS
             • UNIQUE TRAITS
           • This method created 35 PRIMARY/FIRST ORDER TRAITS
           • Needed METHOD to gather RELIABLE + VALID information
           • BEST KNOWN PERSONALITY TEST 16 PF
             • CAN BE USED WITH EVERYDAY PEOPLE AND CLINICALLY
             • DATA TYPES
               • Q- DATA
                 • QUESTIONNAIRE DATA
                   • ASKING PEOPLE TO DESCRIBE THEMSELVES IN RESPONSE TO QUS.
                     • MULTIPLE CHOICE/TRUE FALSE
                     • +'S = Easy to do. Quick to get info
                     • -'s people can manipulate score = lie
               • T- DATA
                 • OBJECTIVE TEST DATA
                 • COLLECTED BY PEOPLE TAKING PHYSICAL, PROJECTIVE AND REACTION TIMES TESTS - (not obvious what its to achieve)
                   • +'S - Reduce CHEATING
                 • -'S - May be LITTLE USE
               • L- DATA
                 • LIFE RECORD DATA
                   • GATHERED BY GAINING PERSONS LIFE HISTORY - (PERSONAL RECORDS)
                     • GRADES, DRIVING HISTORY, LETTERS OF ACHIEVEMENT
                       • +'S - INFO WITHOUT participant fillling out QUESTIONNAIRES
                   • -'s - LIMITED INFO ABOUT PARTICIPANT
                   • LONG TIME TO ANALYSE
     • Wanted to systematically describe personality

5. FACTOR ANALYSIS

   • STATISTICAL TECHNIQUE - showing personality dimensions.
     • Simplified version of Trait Theory eg lots of traits for trait theory, fewer factors for Factor Analysis.

6. FACTORS

   • Aim to SUMMARISE things between variables into a smaller pattern - more generalised.
     • They describe the IMPORTANT DIMENSION OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
       • Basically A smaller number of FACTORS decribes ALL PEOPLE.. and gives greater FLEXABILITY
         • Person can be described on all factors
         • FACTORS :
           • INTERVERTED, EXTRAVERTED, NEUROTIC
   • FACTOR THEORY/TRAITS WIDER THAN TRAIT THEORY - TRAIT THEORY = SPECIFIC

7. BIOLOGY

   • BIOLOGICAL APPROACH TO STUDYING PERSONALITY
     • LOOKS FOR BIO REASONS/ CAUSES
       • MOODS / HORMONES/ TEMPERAMENT /MEDICATION/HERETABILITY
         • 3/4 OF PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS ACCOUNTED BY HEREDITY
           • EXIST CROSS CULTURE
         • STABILITY OF TRAITS OVER TIME
         • TWIN RESEARCH MORE PREFERED
           • TWIN RESEARCH SUGGESTS - STRONG SIMILARITIES ON THESE DIMENTIONS
             • MZ
             • DZ
   • GRAY
   • BUSS & PLOMIN
     • STUDY OF TEMPREMENT
       • BIRTH - TEENAGE
       • 3 PERSONALITY TRAITS THAT ARE INHERITED3
         • EMOTIONALLITY
           • ACTIVITY
             • SOCIABILITY

8. TYPE THEORY

   • PERSONALITY DETERMINED BY BIOLOGY + TYPE DETERMINES BEHAVIOUR
     • TYPE = ALL/NOTHING THING. PERSON BELONGS TO ONE CATEGORY ONLY
       • SMALLER NO OF TYPES DESCRIBES EVERYONE
         • NOTE = ONE CAT ONLY
   • EYSENCK
     • PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS
       • NEUROTICISM - EMOTIONAL STABILITY
         • INTROVERSION - EXTRAVERSION
           • INTRO = OVER AROUSED
           • EXTRA = UNDER AROUSED
     • EYSENCK = 4 INVENTORIES FOR SUPERFACTORS
       • MAUDSLEY PERSONALITY INVENTORY
       • EYSENCK PERSONALITY INVENTORY = EPI
         • EYSENCK PERSONALITY QUESTIONNAIRE = EPQ
           • REVISED TO EPQ - R
     • BIOLOGY LINK