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- Melancholic (excess black bile): brooding, moody, withdrawn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
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