101184 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Factor Analysis, Reductionism, 3Rd Force
Lecture 10 - Personality
Personality
ā¢ What is the study of personality all about?
o Kluckhohn & murray (1953) say it is the investigation of 3 questions:
o How a person is like all other persons
o How a person is like some other persons
o How a person is like no other persons
o Different personality theories provide different answers to these questions
ā¢ Personality theories belong to one of 5 major approaches
ā¢ Trait approach
ā¢ Biological approach
ā¢ Social-cognitive approach
ā¢ Psychoanalytic approach
ā¢ Humanistic approach
ā¢ General focus questions for this lecture
o What does each approach have to say about personality?
o What is the best possible theory of personality?
Trait theories
ā¢ Two definitions of trait
1. A trait is an observed tendency to behave in a particular way
ā¢ Trait = adjective e.g., shy, devious, manipulative, open or friendly
2. A trait is an inferred, or hypothesised, underlying pattern of internal processes that
generates a behavioural tendency
ā¢ Allport and Odbert (1936)
o Compiled a list of some 18000 words from Webster's unabridged dictionary that could
be used to distinguish one person from another
o Reduced these to approximately 4000 or 5000 trait names indicating relatively stable
personality traits
o Encouraged theorists to attempt further refinement of the list of traits
Raymond Catell (1957)
ā¢ Relied on factor analysis to group together those adjectives on allport and odbert's list that
were highly correlated with each other
o E.g. intuitive and creative highly correlated, thus they go together in a higher order
personality factor (i.e. imaginative)
ā¢ Identified 16 personality factors
o E.g. imaginative, emotionally stable, tender-minded, suspicious, sensitive, tense
The five factor model or big 5
ā¢ Mccrae and costa (2008)
o Factor 1 : extroversion (v introversion)
o Characteristics:
ā¢ Warmth, gregariousness, assertiveness, activity, excitement seeking, positive
emotion
o Factor 2: conscientiousness (v lack of direction)
o Characteristics
ā¢ Competence, order, dutifulness, achievement striving, self-discipline, deliberation
o Factor 3: agreeableness (v antagonism)
o Characteristics:
ā¢ Trust, straightforwardness, altruism, compliance, modesty, tenderness
o Factor 4 neuroticism (v emotional stability)
o Characteristics:
ā¢ Anxiety, angry hostility, depression, self conscious-ness, impulsivity, vulnerability
o Factor 5 openness to experience (v closedness to experience)
o Characteristics:
ā¢ Active fantasy life, artistic interests, emotionally open, flexible, intellectual,
unconventional
ā¢ Ways of remembering the 5 factors:
o Ocean
ā¢ Openness
ā¢ Conscientiousness
ā¢ Extroversion
ā¢ Agreeableness
ā¢ Neuroticism
o Canoe
ā¢ Conscientiousness
ā¢ Agreeableness
ā¢ Neuroticism
ā¢ Openness
ā¢ Extroversion
Evaluation
ā¢ Contributions
o Traits are supposed to be relatively easy to measure
ā¢ Main form of measure is self-report questionnaire
āŖ E.g, cattell's 16PF ; Eysenck's EPI
ā¢ Such measures have encourages "quantitative" experimental research
ā¢ Limitations
o Self report questionnaires are open to "faking"
o Trait approach is largely descriptive
ā¢ It does not explain the underpinnings of that behaviour
Biological bases of personality
ā¢ Differences in the functioning in the nervous system
o Hans Eysenck (1953)
ā¢ Identified 3 personality factors
1. Extroversion v introversion
2. Neuroticism c emotional stability
3. Psychoticism v impulse control
ā¢ Eysenck postulated specific relationships between the Extroversion-introversion type and the
ascending reticular activating system (ARAS).
o The broad function of the ARAS is to mediate cortical arousal
ā¢ Introverts have higher levels of ARAS arousal than extroverts
o Thus, introverts are - relative to extraverts - "stimulus shy"
ā¢ In other words, it takes a relatively small amount of stimulation to exceed the
introverts "optimal arousal threshold" and there by become aversive
ā¢ Eysenck claimed that the basis of the neuroticism stability type is differences in visceral brain
activation
Document Summary
Identified 16 personality factors: e. g. imaginative, emotionally stable, tender-minded, suspicious, sensitive, tense. Evaluation: contributions, traits are supposed to be relatively easy to measure, main form of measure is self-report questionnaire, e. g, cattell"s 16pf ; eysenck"s epi. Such measures have encourages "quantitative" experimental research: self report questionnaires are open to "faking, trait approach is largely descriptive. It does not explain the underpinnings of that behaviour. Biological bases of personality: differences in the functioning in the nervous system, hans eysenck (1953) Introverts have higher levels of aras arousal than extroverts: thus, introverts are - relative to extraverts - "stimulus shy" The genetic bases of personality: the most definitive studies in the area compare twins reared together and twins reared apart. If personality is due to genetic inheritence then since mz twins share 100% of their genes, then personality correlation for twins, even when reared apart, will be higher for.