PSYC 330 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: The Employer, Content Validity, Job Performance
28 Jun 2018
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Theoretical Issues:
1. Meaningful individual differences exist -
oTrait psychology also called differential psychology - emphasis on studying differences
oHelps us critique behavior
oDifferences are measureable and it uses a quantitative approach - how different one is
from the average
oStats are important because they allow us to measure the prevalence and compare and
make predictions
oColor wheel analogy - primary traits and these traits combine to create secondary traits.
2. Traits are relatively stable over time -
oPersonality traits are consistent over time but behavioral manifestations may change
oSuch as there is a negative correlation between childhood tantrums and job longevity (-
0.45) - They have similar traits such as agreeableness and if you are low in it, you throw
tantrums and years later, have a tough time getting along with your colleagues.
oWe don't expect somebody to stay at the same level of trait all their life (same
impulsivity at 8 and 40). This is because there are age differences due to changes in the
brain.
oRank order differences - Even if the degree shifts, the order doesn't change. If timmy
was more impulsive than jimmy, all his life he will always be more impulsive than jimmy.
3. Traits have some consistency across situations -
oFor a long time, we believed that what we see is what it is (Behavior = personality).
o"honesty study" - kids cheating at games vs cheating in an exam - found that there was
not a lot of relevance between the two.
oSituationism - if behavior differs from situation to situation, then it must be situational
differences, rather than underlying personality traits, that determine behavior
oWalter Mischel - Situation = Personality, did not believe in self report tests.
"marshmallow test" - delayed gratification because its tougher when you're younger.
Person-Situation Interaction - shifted the assumption to be more representative
of the personality and situation [B = f(P*S)]. Situational specificity - it takes a certain
kind of situation to provoke the behavior. For eg - an easy going man has test anxiety
only in the specific situation of giving an exam. Who a person interacts with will
influence the expression of the personality trait - women are friendlier with other
women but with opposite-sex strangers, they arent friendlier. Men are more
dominant with same-sex friend but with strangers, they are not more dominant. In
strong situation, the person doesn't matter because the behavior is driven by the
constraint of the situation, and it might be the same for almost everybody -
obedience. In weak situation, the behavior is more about the person because there
are no restraints - habits in leisure time.
Situational Selection - personality can predict what sort of situations
you engage in or put yourself in
Evocation - personality traits may evoke specific responses from the
environment
Manipulation - various means by which people influence the behavior of
others - charm tactic, silent treatment, or coercion
Aggregation - Adding up or averaging several single observations resulting in a
better measure of a personality trait than a single observation of behavior. More data
= more accurate picture. Predicting longevity from S data vs lots of O data. Personality
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Document Summary
Trait psychology also called differential psychology - emphasis on studying differences o: helps us critique behavior, differences are measureable and it uses a quantitative approach - how different one is from the average o. Stats are important because they allow us to measure the prevalence and compare and. Color wheel analogy - primary traits and these traits combine to create secondary traits. Personality traits are consistent over time but behavioral manifestations may change. Such as there is a negative correlation between childhood tantrums and job longevity (- This is because there are age differences due to changes in the brain. o. Rank order differences - even if the degree shifts, the order doesn"t change. If timmy was more impulsive than jimmy, all his life he will always be more impulsive than jimmy. For a long time, we believed that what we see is what it is (behavior = personality).
