1/25,1/30, 2/1,2/6: Types/Traits and Needs/Motives

2 Kinds of Dispositions

• Types/Traits
•  Study observable behavioral characteristics
• Typological theories- characterize based on Discrete groups
• Ex: people are either Type A or Type B; no overlapping
• Trait theories- characterize by Continuous dimensions
• same group, different rating on low-high scale
• Type approach
• oldest one
• Hippocrates
• laid groundwork for 1st theory of personality
• Hippocrates' four humors
• Blood
• Black bile
• Yellow bile
• Phlegm
• Believed an excess of one of these humors would elicit a specific disease
• Galen
• Galen's humor theory of temperament
• Sanguine (excess blood): forceful, direct, courageous
• Melancholic (excess black bile): brooding, moody, withdrawn
• Choleric (excess yellow bile): irritable, bitter, resentful
• Phlegmatic  (excess phlegm): weak, fragile, indecisive
• temperament theory tends to have a ring of truth but oversimplistic
• Sheldon
• Sheldon's Somatotypes
• Endomorphy: plumb; 7,1,1 (max); relaxed, easygoing, lovers of creature comfort
• Mesomorhpy: muscular; 1,7,1(max); bold, assertive, action-oriented
• Ectomorphy: frail; 1,1,7(max); inhibited, restrained, apprehensive 
• low-high scale of 1-7 for all three types
• typology that uses continuous traits but is still one or the other
• low relationship, still simplistic
• Favorite little piggy
• kind of typology personality assessment
• low-level understanding but undetailed
• Traits approach
• Gordon Allport
• first trait theorist, first to hold trait psych class
• published first textbook on personality 1937
• thought depth psychology(subconscious) may plunge too deep
• disliked psychoanalytic ideas
• people's reports of self personality can be taken at face value
•  his definition of Trait
• a neuropsychic structure having the capacity to render many stimuli functionally equivalent, and to initiate and guide equivalent (meaningfully consistent) forms of adaptive and expressive behavior
• traits are real
• account for consistency in behavior
• leads you to behave the way you do
• traits interprets situations differently 
• traits act as organizers of behavior
• 3 Kinds of Traits
• Cardinal
• single disposition that dominates everything a person does including personality
•  single descriptive adjective for person
• uncommon
• Central
• best descriptor of personality
• sample of 3-10 traits for one person
• 18,000 characteristics in all
• multiple adjectives for person
• would show up in letter of recommendation
• Secondary
• influences behavior only in certain limited settings
• situation specific tendencies
• ex: concert preference, conference behavior
• would probably not show up in letter of recommendation
• Nomothetic and Idiographic Approaches
• Nomothetic
• general laws/generalities of personality apply for everyone
• questionnaires/numbers only
• Idiographic
• In depth analysis of a single person and the uniqueness of their personality
• new novel approach
• initiated by Allport
•  thought best way to understand people was to use both nomothetic and idiographic
• Patterned individuality
• combination of traits and experiences that make someone who they are
• Rayman Cattell
• primary research goal: try to find 5 main traits of personality
• methodology: break things down to their core
• focuses extremely on nomothetic
• his four steps
• Trait as "building block"
• Search for basic traits
• Sought "periodic table"
• Used factor analysis
• takes many personality traits, puts them into a mathematical formula/statistics and tries to find out the basic traits that make up the rest/the combined traits
• Search for Basic Traits
• 4500 terms
• broke down terms to 176 before collection step
• Collected Data
• Multiple Data Sources
• L-data(Life Record)
• records of everyday behavior
• ex: #accidents, # social organizations, etc.
• Q-data(Questionnaire data)
• self-report ratings on validated instruments
• T-data(Test data)
• performance on various tests
• ex: athleticism, social connectedness, etc. 
• 16 Dimensions
• Reserved vs Outgoing
• Less Intelligent vs More Intelligent
• Emotional vs Stable
• Humble vs Assertive
• Sober vs Happy-go-lucky
• Expedient vs Conscientious
• Shy vs Venturesome
• Tough-minded vs Tender-minded
• Trusting vs Suspicious
• Practical vs Imaginative
• Forthright vs Shrewd
• Placid vs Apprehensive
• Conservative vs Experimenting
• Group-tied vs Self-sufficient
• Casual vs Controlled
• Relaxed vs Tense
• 16PF
• assessment for 16 dimensions
• Why Cattell isn't read anymore
• people felt he overused factor analysis
• thought it was too nomothetic, too general
• published too much, too prolific
• Cattell = Mr. Nomothetic
• Allport's comment on factor analysis
• disposition is mixed with everyone else's, can only ascertain the average personality, loss of individuality
• traits represent meat that haven't passed the purifier
• Eysenck's two basic dimensions
• Introversion- Extroversion
• determines person's preference  of activity type 
• One trait that moves from introvert point to extrovert point
• Introvert- quiet, introspective, fond of books rather than people, reserved, looks before leaps, mistrusts impulsive moments, distant except for a few intimate friends
• (Quiet : The Power of Introverts great book choice)
• Extrovert- social, likes party, has many friends, craves excitement, impulsive, needs people to talk to, doesn't like to study alone
• Meta Trait level
• 5 categories
• Sociability
• Impulsiveness
• Activity
• Liveliness
• Excitability
• Categories fall into:
• Habitual Response Level
• Specific Response Level
• Stability- Instability(aka neuroticism)
• Neuroticism(instability)
• emotional roller-coaster
• overreact to the slightest thing
• difficulty returning to normalcy
• easily disrupted
• strongly feels negative emotion
• Eysenck argued that Galen's temperaments have a place in modern-day personality theory
• Says these dimensions are separate from each other and open to combinations to traits inside Galen's traits
• Introverted at Melancholic and Phlegmatic side (left)
• Extroverted at Choleric and Sanguine side (right)
• Unstable (top) and Stable (bottom)
• Eysenck versus Cattell
• What are the foundational elements of personality?
• Eysenck: "top-down"
• started with Galen's idea and worked his way down with the data
• Cattell: "bottom-up"
• started with data and after working with data constructed theory narrowed to data
• Factor Analysis
• Eysenck: to validate his model
• Cattell: to determine what his theory should be
• Basic Traits
• Eysenck: two
• wanted simplest possible model, went for meta-traits
• narrowed Cattell's model
• Cattell: sixteen
• The Big Five(and facets) - Trait theory (O.C.E.A.N.)
• Extraversion
• Sociable- Retiring
• Fun loving- Sober
• Affectionate- Reserved
• Friendly- Aloof
• Spontaneous- Inhibited
• Talkative - Quiet
• Neuroticism
• Worrying- Calm
• Nervous- At ease
• High-strung - Relaxed
• Insecure- Secure
• Self-Pitying - Self-satisfied
• Vulnerable- Hardy
• Openness to Experience
• Original- Conventional
• Imaginative- Down to earth
• Creative- Uncreative
• Broad interests- Narrow interests
• Complex- Simple
• Curious - Incurious
• Agreeableness
• Good natured- Irritable
• Soft hearted- Ruthless
• Courteous - Rude
• Forgiving - Vengeful
• Sympathetic - Callous
• Agreeable - Disagreeable
• Conscientiousness
• Conscientious - Negligent
• Careful- Careless
• Reliable- Undependable
• Well-organized - Disorganized
• Self-disciplined - Weak-willed
• Persevering - Quitting 
• Sources of Evidence for the Big 5
• Factor analyses of trait terms in language
• Factor analyses of self-report data
• created questionnaires result in the Big 5
• Factor analyses of observer judgments
• Are the Big 5 linked to behavior?
• Yes, based on:
• Agreement between self ratings and observers(e.g. informant) ratings
• 1 = high +,+  0= no correlation -1= low +,-
• Studies of "behavioral residue"
• check organization of office, bedroom, dorm room etc.
• Criticisms and Limitations of the Big 5 model
• "The Big Five, plus or minus two"
• 5 traits is the norm but people are shown to have less or more
• Openness
• what exactly is it, the source?
• Over reliance on factor analysis
• Focus on supertraits or traits?
• Strength of the Trait approach
• Foundational structure of Personality
• Objective Focus
• Highly Generative
• propels you forward to other questions
• Many Practical applications
• Weaknesses of the Trait approach
• Atheoretical and Incomplete
• "bottom-up" approach; label what comes out of factor analysis
• no theories for explaining and understanding
• Merely descriptive
• summary labels
• doesn't explain why behind behavior
• Overemphasis on dispositions
• doesn't address situational behavior
• Needs/Motives Vs. Types/Traits
• needs/motives function: study underlying reason behind observable behavioral characteristics
• Similarities
• Basic set of Dispositional elements
• Individual differences
• Causal influence
• cause people to behave people a certain way
• weak in trait approach; better in need/motive
• Major Difference
• Trait and Type theorists: WHAT and HOW
• Need and Motive theorists: WHY
• Henry Murray
• psychoanalyzer; wanted to study people in great depth like Allport
• wanted to take an approach similar to idiographic approach
• Data collection topics
• personal history
• family relations and childhood memories
• sexual development
• present dilemmas
• ablitites and interests
• aesthetic preferences
• level of aspiration
• ethical standards
• imaginal productivity
• musical reveries
• dramatic productions
• Introduced Personology
• definition- scientific study of a whole person from an idiographic perspective
• psychodynamic 
• Introduced elaborate new set of terms
• means to get the people from different fields to understand each other
• Need:
• "a construct which stands for a force( the physio-chemical nature of which is unknown) in the brain region,  a force which organizes perception, apperception[interpreting perceptions], intellection [thinking], conation [striving], and action in such a way as to transform in a certain direction an existing unsatisfying situation."
• real; dependent on physiology 
• Components
• Grounded in the brain
• organizes the way you think, feel
• Causal
• causes you to act in a certain way
• Tension-reduction
• influences you to rid/meet some tension until it's satisfied
• Two Types of Needs
• Viscerogenic needs
• biological needs
• involve physical satisfactions
• list; see BB for highlighted ones
• Psychogenic Needs
• Psychological desires
• involve mental or emotional satisfactions
• most important
• largely unconscious
• no access to them; you just feel them when they arise
• all possess all 27, but some stronger than others
• the stronger ones distinguish who we are
• cares about how high some of our needs are in relation to the others
• list; see BB for highlighted ones
• Press
• definition- tendency in the environment to facilitate or obstruct the expression of a need
• ex: presence of friends in the library = press for affiliation
• Two types
• Alpha Press- objective reality
• what's happened
• Beta Press- subjective interpretation
• your perception about what's happened

1/23/12

Individual Differences and Dispositions

• Individual Differences- study of individual variation in personality dispositions
• Disposition- enduring, stable characteristics
• stable over time
• consistent across situations
• best way to study personality

Social Psychology

• Social Psychology- study of how people think about, influence, and relate to one another
• Situationism- belief that social situations have the most powerful influence on behavior

Individual Differences vs Social Psychology

• Individual Differences- focuses on how do people behave differently in the same single situation
• identify variations in people
• altruists vs nonaltruists
• Social Psychology- focuses on how most people behave similarly in the same situation
• identify variations in social setting
• Behavior is a function of both individual difference factors and social psychology factors

online reading

OPINION

The Joy of Quiet

By PICO IYER

Published: December 29, 2011

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ABOUT a year ago, I flew to Singapore to join the writer Malcolm Gladwell, the fashion designer Marc Ecko and the graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister in addressing a group of advertising people on “Marketing to the Child of Tomorrow.” Soon after I arrived, the chief executive of the agency that had invited us took me aside. What he was most interested in, he began — I braced myself for mention of some next-generation stealth campaign — was stillness.

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Vivienne Flesher

Enlarge This Image

Vivienne Flesher

A few months later, I read an interview with the perennially cutting-edge designer Philippe Starck. What allowed him to remain so consistently ahead of the curve? “I never read any magazines or watch TV,” he said, perhaps a little hyperbolically. “Nor do I go to cocktail parties, dinners or anything like that.” He lived outside conventional ideas, he implied, because “I live alone mostly, in the middle of nowhere.”

Around the same time, I noticed that those who part with $2,285 a night to stay in a cliff-top room at the Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur pay partly for the privilege of not having a TV in their rooms; the future of travel, I’m reliably told, lies in “black-hole resorts,” which charge high prices precisely because you can’t get online in their rooms.

Has it really come to this?

In barely one generation we’ve moved from exulting in the time-saving devices that have so expanded our lives to trying to get away from them — often in order to make more time. The more ways we have to connect, the more many of us seem desperate to unplug. Like teenagers, we appear to have gone from knowing nothing about the world to knowing too much all but overnight.

Internet rescue camps in South Korea and China try to save kids addicted to the screen.

Writer friends of mine pay good money to get the Freedom software that enables them to disable (for up to eight hours) the very Internet connections that seemed so emancipating not long ago. Even Intel (of all companies) experimented in 2007 with conferring four uninterrupted hours of quiet time every Tuesday morning on 300 engineers and managers. (The average office worker today, researchers have found, enjoys no more than three minutes at a time at his or her desk without interruption.) During this period the workers were not allowed to use the phone or send e-mail, but simply had the chance to clear their heads and to hear themselves think. A majority of Intel’s trial group recommended that the policy be extended to others.

THE average American spends at least eight and a half hours a day in front of a screen, Nicholas Carr notes in his eye-opening book “The Shallows,” in part because the number of hours American adults spent online doubled between 2005 and 2009 (and the number of hours spent in front of a TV screen, often simultaneously, is also steadily increasing).

The average American teenager sends or receives 75 text messages a day, though one girl in Sacramento managed to handle an average of 10,000 every 24 hours for a month. Since luxury, as any economist will tell you, is a function of scarcity, the children of tomorrow, I heard myself tell the marketers in Singapore, will crave nothing more than freedom, if only for a short while, from all the blinking machines, streaming videos and scrolling headlines that leave them feeling empty and too full all at once.

The urgency of slowing down — to find the time and space to think — is nothing new, of course, and wiser souls have always reminded us that the more attention we pay to the moment, the less time and energy we have to place it in some larger context. “Distraction is the only thing that consoles us for our miseries,” the French philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote in the 17th century, “and yet it is itself the greatest of our miseries.” He also famously remarked that all of man’s problems come from his inability to sit quietly in a room alone.

When telegraphs and trains brought in the idea that convenience was more important than content — and speedier means could make up for unimproved ends — Henry David Thoreau reminded us that “the man whose horse trots a mile in a minute does not carry the most important messages.” Even half a century ago, Marshall McLuhan, who came closer than most to seeing what was coming, warned, “When things come at you very fast, naturally you lose touch with yourself.” Thomas Merton struck a chord with millions, by not just noting that “Man was made for the highest activity, which is, in fact, his rest,” but by also acting on it, and stepping out of the rat race and into a Cistercian cloister.

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