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Unit 10 - Personality Psychology

What Is Personality?
an individuals characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, & acting most fields of psychology study similarity
personality: the individual

Personality: an individuals characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, & acting


implies some degree of consistency
enduring, stable qualities

traits vs. situationism


traits: relatively consistent characteristics exhibited in different situations
intuitive appeal

The Case For Situationism


a view of personality that regards behavior as mostly a function of the situation, not of internal traits
idea of multiple selves, situationally-elicited

Does the following passage sound like you?

The Case For Situationism


You have a strong need for other people to like you and for them to admire you. You have a tendency to be critical of yourself. You have a great deal of unused capacity which you have not turned to your advantage. While you have some personality weaknesses, you are generally able to compensate for them. Disciplined and controlled on the outside, you tend to be worrisome and insecure inside. You pride yourself as being an independent thinker and do not accept others opinions without satisfactory proof. At times you are extroverted, affable, sociable, while at other times you are introverted, wary, and reserved.

The Case For Situationism


Davies (1997): gave all participants this paragraph after a personality test
results: students typically rated personality summary as good or excellent

certain traits experienced at certain times, in certain situations


role of dual presentation
This is why horoscopes work...

The Case Against Astrology...


Leo: creative, generous, fun-loving, dramatic, passionate, ambitious, independent, noble, powerful
bossy, patronizing, boastful, selfconscious

Capricorn: prudent, responsible, patient, hard-working, self-reliant, ambitious, conscientious


rigid, demanding, insensitive, inhibited

Pisces: compassionate, imaginative, spiritual, easy-going, accepting, visionary, artistic


distracted, detached, impractical, neglectful, lazy

The Case Against Astrology...


1. universality of traits 2. desire to see self positively Glick et al. (1989): skeptics of astrology given flattering description maybe theres something to this astrology stuff after all

The Case For Situationism


Hartshorne & May (1928): gave grade-school kids the opportunity for undetected deceit
e.g. lie about how many push-ups they can do, lie to parents about time spent on homework, cheat on a test, keep money given to them for other purposes dishonesty in one domain did not predict dishonesty in another
less than 10% of variance explained by single underlying trait of honesty

Interactionism: The Compromise


power of the situation... ...but we do carry something around with us
individual differences

interactionism: view of personality as product of both traits and situations We will start by talking about historical personality perspectives, then move to more modern interactionist approaches...

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)


Austrian neurologist; medical degree from University of Vienna (psychiatry/neurology)
early interest in cocaine as analgesic, relief from mental disorders (On Coca, 1884)
reports of addiction, overdoses

developed interest in nervous disorders (neurosis, hysteria)


defined by anxieties

Anna O. (1859-1936)
aka. Bertha Pappenheim treated for hysteria by Josef Breuer & Freud
limb paralysis on right side of body disruptions to vision, hearing, & speech hallucinations loss of consciousness

faking symptoms? sympathy from Breuer & Freud


used hypnosis, discussion & clarification of memories talking cure

Are we anxious about things that we are unaware of?

The Unconscious
more to the psyche than just consciously accessible portion (iceberg analogy)
unconscious: collection of unacceptable thoughts, wishes, desires, feelings, & memories (Freudian definition)
modern definition: information processing of which we are unaware

psychoanalysis: hydraulic theory of personality that attributes thoughts & actions to unconscious motives & conflicts

The Unconscious Revealed


unconscious wields powerful influence (often in disguise) Freud found deeper meaning in almost everything
e.g. dreams: the royal road to the unconscious
manifest vs. latent content safe haven for expressing unacceptable urges; consequence-free

e.g. Freudian slips


slips of the tongue through which strange or unacceptable thoughts are expressed A Freudian slip is like saying one thing, but meaning your mother.

Freudian Slips
Condoleezza Rice (2004): called Pres. Bush my husband

Freudian Slips
Pres. George W. Bush (2000):
I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family.

Freudian Slips
Pres. George W. Bush at an address to teachers of America (2001):
First Id like to spank all the teachers...

Freudian Slips
George H.W. Bush (1988):
For seven and a half years Ive worked alongside President Reagan. Weve had triumphs. Made some mistakes. Weve had some sex ... uh ... setbacks.

The Unconscious Revealed


e.g. free association
not all patients could be hypnotized free association: relax, respond to stimulus with first thing that comes to mind
reverse flow of unconscious thoughts; backtracking

Bottom line: Freud believed neuroses expressed themselves in slips of the tongue, passing comments, etc.

Uncovering the Unconscious Today?


limited information from objective tests (conscious only)
need a pipeline to the unconscious...

projective tests: personality test using ambiguous stimuli to elicit projection of inner conflicts
e.g. Rorschach inkblot test (1921)

Uncovering the Unconscious Today?


82% of clinicians report administering Rorschach at least occasionally (Watkins et al., 1995; Lilienfeld et al., 2000)
If a professional psychologist is evaluating you in a situation in which you are at risk and asks you for responses to ink blots ... walk out of that psychologists office. (Dawes, 1994)

Uncovering the Unconscious Today?


problems with Rorschach:
extracting objective meaning from allegedly ambiguous stimuli?
Are the inkblots truly ambiguous?

requires subjective, projective perspective of clinician no universal system for scoring & interpretation low inter-rater reliability

yet inkblots are still used...


The Rorschach Inkblot Test has been resoundingly discredited ... I call it the Dracula of psychological tests, because no one has been able to drive a stake through the cursed things heart. (Tavris, 2003)

Uncovering the Unconscious Today?


another projective test: Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
30 provocative but ambiguous pictures create a dramatic story, including:
what led up the event shown what is happening now what the characters are thinking, feeling outcome of the story

Uncovering the Unconscious Today?


interpretations, themes = window to the unconscious? criticisms:
validity? (measuring what it actually claims to measure) reliability? (consistent results over time)

Psychoanalytic Theory: 3 Components of Personality


personality = behavior resulting from conflict between aggressive, pleasure-seeking desires and social restraints

Psychoanalytic Theory: 3 Components of Personality


id: unconscious psychic energy driven by sexual & aggressive urges
pleasure principle: demands immediate gratification; mindless of societal norms & restraints young children largely id-driven

Psychoanalytic Theory: 3 Components of Personality


superego: part of personality that represents internalized ideals and standards for judgment
the conscience develops around age 4-5 (according to Freud) focuses on how one ought to behave

Psychoanalytic Theory: 3 Components of Personality


ego: mostly conscious, executive part of personality that mediates id vs. superego struggle
reality principle: seeks to gratify id in ways acceptable to the superego

Psychoanalytic Theory: Stages of Psychosexual Development

patients symptoms rooted in conflicts from childhood?


ids pleasure-seeking energies focused on different parts of the body (erogenous zones)

Dont write this down... its on page 392

The Story of Oedipus


Oedipus: mythical Greek king of Thebes
son of Laius & Jocasta
prophecy that he would murder Laius, marry Jocasta

given to herdsman to be killed

traveling to Thebes, met chariot with father in it


dispute killed Laius

defeated Sphinx riddle


appointed king of Thebes, married widow Jocasta

met herdsman: Jocasta killed self, Oedipus blinded self

The Oedipus Complex


during phallic stage (3-6 years old), boys develop unconscious sexual desires for mother, jealousy & hatred of father (rival)
feelings of guilt, fear of punishment (anxiety)
castration anxiety = fear of becoming like a female (fear of powerful people overcoming them)

What about girls?


Electra complex: a girls feelings of inferiority and jealousy (anxiety)
penis envy = anger, regret over being female

Remember, its all about anxiety...


hedonistic id vs. conscience/superego = personality
ego fears losing control experience generalized anxiety, no clear explanation why

defense mechanisms: methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality


can be adaptive...

Defense Mechanisms
repression: forcibly blocking unacceptable thoughts from conscious mind
thoughts, desires, emotions, memories, etc. e.g. why we dont remember childhood sexual desire for parents

underlies all the other defense mechanisms

Defense Mechanisms
projection: disguise own threatening impulses by attributing them to others
e.g. Newt Gingrichs diatribe against Bill Clintons infidelity while having his own affair at the same time a level of disrespect and decadence that should appall every American ... White House as rough equivalent of the Jerry Springer show (5.18.1998)

Defense Mechanisms
reaction formation: unconsciously switching unacceptable impulses into their opposites
e.g. Congressman Mark Foley (R-Florida) resigned in 2006
exchanged sexually explicit emails with a former congressional page had previously introduced legislation to protect children from Internet exploitation by adults

Defense Mechanisms
sublimation: redirecting psychic energy away from negative outlets, toward positive outlets
most productive defense mechanism; socially useful e.g. art, music, etc.

Neo-Freudians
people who ran with Freuds ideas, pioneered psychoanalysis
maintained many of Freuds original ideas
e.g. personality structures, unconscious, personality development in childhood, anxiety & defense mechanisms

2 critical modifications:
1. more emphasis on conscious mind 2. sex & aggression as primary motives?

Carl Jung (1875-1961)


Swiss psychiatrist; developed close relationship with Freud
intrigued by psychoanalysis + Freud needed people to spread and validate ideas

shared belief in existence of unconscious, but differed on content


Freud unconscious: store unacceptable thoughts, urges (Jung: personal unconscious) Jung unconscious: personal unconscious + collective unconscious

Collective Unconscious
a reservoir of the experiences of our species
repository of all religious, spiritual, & mythological symbols and experiences

evidence? theory of synchronicity


2 or more events seemingly co-occur meaningfully, but causally unrelated meaningful coincidences

Synchronicity
e.g. costume designers buying a coat for Wizard of Oz
bought from second-hand store previously belonged to L. Frank Baum Professor Marvel Wizard of Oz

Jung: such synchronicities evidence of collective unconscious, underlying all human experience

Evaluating Psychoanalysis: The Bad


many of Freuds specific ideas refuted by modern research
Many aspects of Freudian theory are indeed out of date, and they should be: Freud died in 1939, and he has been slow to undertake further revisions. (Westen, 1998)

scientific shortcomings
typically based on Freuds own recollections & interpretations fails to predict behaviors, only explains them post hoc
testable predictions?

Evaluating Psychoanalysis: The Bad


lifelong development, not just childhood
neural networks incapable of sustaining traumas suggested by Freud?

gender identity begins earlier, lasts longer than Oedipus complex other, modern explanations for dreams

Evaluating Psychoanalysis: The Bad


Freudian slips: confusion between verbal choices in memory network (simultaneous activation)
e.g. I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family.

little evidence for repression


more often remember traumatic events (role of stress, emotion)

Evaluating Psychoanalysis: The Good


introduction of the unconscious
modern conception: processing of which we are not aware
e.g. implicit learning Lewicki et al. (1997): number 6 jumped around screen according to complex pattern
tracked movement; got faster with repeated exposure offered $100 for finding pattern, but no one could

different than Freuds concept, but rooted in that idea

defense against anxiety, often unconsciously (e.g. Terror Management Theory)

Evaluating Psychoanalysis: The Good


not necessarily intended to be a predictive scientific theory?
merely possible to find meaning in our states of mind

first personality & psychotherapy theories


roots of modern study of:
unconscious/implicit processes self-protective defenses sexuality as human motivation social well-being

Nicolaus Copernicus 1473-1543

Charles Darwin 1809-1882

Sigmund Freud 1856-1939

The Trait Perspective


early-mid 20th century: 2 primary options for budding psychologists
1. Freudian psychoanalysis (and its accompanying negativity) 2. Skinnerian behaviorism (and its mechanistic way of thinking)

Gordon Allport (1897-1967)


generally considered founder of modern personality psychology thought psychoanalysis = too deep, behaviorism = not deep enough

Allports Famous Visit with Sigmund Freud (1919)


Soon after I had entered the famous red burlap room with pictures of dreams on the wall, he summoned me to his inner office. He did not speak to me but sat in expectant silence, for me to state my mission. I was not prepared for silence and had to think fast to find a suitable conversational gambit. I told him of an episode on the tram car on my way to his office. A small boy about 4 years of age had displayed a conspicuous dirt phobia. He kept saying to his mother, I dont want to sit there ... dont let that dirty man sit beside me. To him everything was schmutzig (dirty). His mother was a well-starched Hausfrau, so dominant and purposive looking that I thought the cause and effect apparent.

Allports Famous Visit with Sigmund Freud (1919)


When I finished my story Freud fixed his kindly therapeutic eyes upon me and said, And was that little boy you? Flabbergasted and feeling a bit guilty, I contrived to change the subject. While Freuds misunderstanding of my motivation was amusing, it also started a deep train of thought.
...taught me that [psychoanalysis], for all its merits, may plunge too deep, and that psychologists would do well to give full recognition to manifest motives before probing the unconscious.

i.e. describe personality in terms of traits


trait: characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act a certain way describing, rather than explaining, behavior

The Trait Approach: Class Project


Groups of no more than 5 at stake: 1 homework voucher per person for winning team 1. Are some traits more important than others? In other words, which are most centrally defining of someones personality? Which traits are most important? (roommate example) 2. Would most people agree with you? How would you know if those traits are the most important to other people? 3. How would you assess these traits in someone? Be specific: If questionnaire, what would you ask? Who would you ask? If observation, what would you look for? etc.

The Trait Approach


How do we decide which traits are most important? 3 main approaches:
1. lexical approach 2. statistical approach 3. theoretical approach

1. The Lexical Approach


lexical hypothesis: all important individual differences have been encoded within language over time
meaningful differences noticed words invented to discuss differences e.g. dominant, creative, reliable, cooperative, hot-tempered, selfcentered, etc. etc. etc... a natural selection amongst words

1. The Lexical Approach


2,800 trait-descriptive adjectives in English language (Norman, 1967) 2 criteria for identifying important traits:
1. synonym frequency 2. cross-cultural universality

1. The Lexical Approach


problems & limitations
many traits ambiguous, metaphorical, obscure, or difficult to interpret personality conveyed through different parts of speech (not just adjectives)

Bottom line: good starting point for identifying traits, but should not be exclusive method

2. The Statistical Approach


start with pool of personality items (e.g. lexical approach)
have large number of people rate selves on traits

factor analysis: statistical procedure that identifies groups of items that covary, but do not covary with other groups

Factor Analysis Example (Matthews & Oddy, 1993)


Adjective Rating
Humorous Amusing Popular Hard-working Productive Determined Factor 1: Extraversion .66 .65 .57 .05 .04 .23 Factor 2: Ambition .06 .23 .13 .63 .52 .52 Factor 3: Creativity .19 .02 .22 .01 .19 .08

Imaginative
Original Inventive

.01
.13 .06

.09
.05 .26

.62
.53 .47

2. The Statistical Approach


advantages:
identifying personality variables that have common property, hang together reducing huge number of traits into more manageable set of factors

caveat: You only get out of it what you put into it.
critical dependence on input selection

3. The Theoretical Approach


theory dictates which traits are important to measure
e.g. Maslows selfactualization theory
predicts differences in motivation to self-actualize

Taxonomies of Personality
many attempts at creating a list of the most important traits
some theoretical, some atheoretical...

taxonomy with most support: five-factor model (Big Five)


began with combination of lexical & statistical approaches trait dimensions

The Big Five


Openness Conscientiousness Extraversion Agreeableness Neuroticism

The Big Five


Conscientiousness Agreeableness Neuroticism Openness Extraversion

The Big Five: Conscientiousness


how we control, direct, and regulate our lives
high conscientiousness: organized, neat, orderly, practical, prompt, meticulous low conscientiousness: disorganized, disorderly, careless, sloppy, impractical

sample questions:
I am always prepared. I am exacting in my work.

The Big Five: Agreeableness


concern with cooperation and social harmony
high agreeableness: sympathetic, kind, warm, understanding, sincere low agreeableness: unsympathetic, unkind, harsh, cruel

sample questions:
I am interested in people. I make people feel at ease. I sympathize with others feelings.

The Big Five: Neuroticism


tendency to experience strong negative emotions
intense emotional reactions, longlasting high neuroticism: moody, anxious, insecure low neuroticism (aka. emotional stability): calm, relaxed, stable

sample questions:
I get irritated easily. I get stressed out easily. I have frequent mood swings.

The Big Five: Openness


somewhat vague trait: distinguishes imaginative, creative people
high openness: creative, imaginative, intellectual, preference for new & exciting low openness: uncreative, unimaginative, unintellectual, preference for routine & habit

sample questions:
I am full of ideas. I am quick to understand things. I spend time reflecting on things.

The Big Five: Extraversion


engagement with the outside (social) world
high extraversion: talkative, assertive, forward, outspoken low extraversion: shy, quiet, bashful, inhibited

sample questions:
I am the life of the party. I dont mind being the center of attention. I start conversations. I talk to a lot of different people at parties.

Research on the Big Five


generally very stable through adult life
neuroticism, extraversion, openness drop slightly after college agreeableness (30s-60s), conscientiousness (20s) rise slightly after college (McCrae et al., 1999; Vaidya et al., 2002)

heritability: (Bouchard & McGue, 2003)


openness: 57% extraversion: 54% conscientiousness: 49% neuroticism: 48% agreeableness: 42%

Research on the Big Five


cultural universality?
e.g. McCrae et al. (2005): 50 culture study, 80 collaborators
Features of personality traits are common to all human groups.

some variability...
e.g. individualistic cultures score higher (on average) on extraversion

Big 5 predicting other attributes


morning people = more conscientious; evening people = more extraverted (Jackson & Gerard, 1996) one partner lower than other in agreeableness, stability, & openness = marital & sexual dissatisfaction (Donnellan et al., 2004)

birth order?

Birth Order & Personality


only child = spoiled, self-centered, pampered? middle child = left out, out of place in family, problem child? Sulloway (1997): firstborns = more conscientious, more socially dominant, less agreeable, less open to new ideas intelligence differences?

Birth Order & Intelligence


firstborns typically score higher on intelligence, reasoning, & achievement tests Zajonc: firstborns surrounded by adults, adult influences (highly intellectual?)

Birth Order & Personality


little definitive research to support birth order claims often contradictory: only children = introverted (used to being alone) AND extraverted (go outside family to meet other children)? studies often confounded e.g. large families typically lower SES than smaller families 3rd, 4th, 5th kids: low in birth order but also larger family, often lower SES, etc. Ernst & Angst (1983): study on 6,315 Swiss males birth order research a waste of time Jefferson, Herbst, & McCrae (1998): study on 9,664 Americans no significant correlations between birth order and Big 5 tendency to perceive birth order effects when aware of individuals birth order

Optimism
belief that things are more likely to go well than to go badly
strongly positively correlated with selfesteem
causal direction?

Optimism
benefits of optimism:
more likely to turn around low grades success at work associated with higher immune system functioning

problems with optimism?

We just havent been flapping them hard enough.

Optimism
one problem with optimism: optimistic bias
tendency to be over-optimistic about future outcomes

Most people see themselves as less likely than peers to:


become alcoholic drop out of school have heart attack by 40 get divorced be fired from a job get struck by lightning get cancer from smoking cigarettes

We just havent been flapping them hard enough.

Optimism vs. Realism


a dose of realism can help
explaining past failure = depress ambition anxiety over potential future failure = increased ambition

Success requires enough optimism to provide hope and enough pessimism to prevent complacency.

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