Theories of Personality

Theories of
Personality
Power Point Presentation by Avidan Milevsky,
Ph.D.
Touro College South
This presentation copyright Susan C. Cloninger. Some

images are from "Holy Cow! 250,000 Graphics," by
Macmillan Digital Publishing USA.
Prepared to accompany Theories of Personality (5th ed.) by Susan C. Cloninger (2008), published by Prentice Hall, Inc. All rights reserved.
“Who am I?”
“I am . . .”
 1.
 2.
 3.
.
.
 20.
Beside each number list what you consider to be
some of your positive and negative personality
qualities.
1. Introduce yourself to the other group members and tell
them about your personality.
2. As a group identify the four descriptive terms used most

frequently on the exercise. Why do you think these specific
terms were used to describe
personality?
3. Identify any of the self-descriptive terms that do not

really qualify as personality characteristics. What makes a
personal quality part of your
personality?
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction to
Personality Theory
Chapter Overview
 Personality: The Study of Individuals
Definition of Personality
 Description of Personality
Differences Between People: Groups or Gradations?
Comparing People or Studying Individuals
 Personality Dynamics
Adaptation and Adjustment
Cognitive Processes
Culture
Chapter Overview Cont.
 Personality Development
 Biological Influences
 Experience in Childhood and Adulthood
 The Scientific Approach

 Theory
 Criteria of a Good Theory
 Relationship Between Theory and Research
 Methods in Personality Research

 Personality Measurement
 Correlational Studies
 Experimentation
 Studying Individuals
 One Theory or Many? Eclecticism and the Future of

Personality Theory
Personality: The Study of Individuals
Definition of Personality
The underlying causes within

the person of individual behavior
and experience
Definition of Personality
Description
Dynamics
Development
Description of Personality
•Types:
Old approach
Categories
Hippocrates Optimistic, Melancholic,
Irritable, Apathetic
•Traits
•Varies from one person to another
•Is more focued
•The numbers are astonishing
•Factors
•Are broader than traits
•They are quantitative
Personality Dynamics
Motivations for Behavior
 Adaptation and  How do people adapt

Adjustment to life’s demands?
 Cognitive Processes  How does a mentally
 Culture healthy person act?
 What behaviors or
thoughts are
unhealthy?
 Adaptation and  Do our thoughts affect

Adjustment our personality?
 Cognitive Processes  What kinds of
 Culture thoughts are
important for
personality?
 Do unconscious
processes influence
us?
 Adaptation and  How does culture

Adjustment influence our
 Cognitive Processes functioning?
 Culture  Does culture affect us
by its expectations for
men and women? For
different classes?
Personality Development
 Biological Influences  How do biological

 Experience in processes affect
Childhood and personality?
Adulthood  Is personality
inherited?
 Biological Influences  What do children

 Experience in learn that matters for
Childhood and personality?
Adulthood  Does childhood
experience determine
adult personality?
 Do adults change? Or
has personality been
determined earlier?
The Scientific Approach
Scientific method: method of knowing based on

systematic observation
Determinism: the assumption that
phenomena have causes that
can be discovered by empirical
research
Examples:
 neurotransmitter causes of
experience
 thoughts that influence moods
and choices
THEORY
A conceptual tool for understanding
certain specific phenomena
Levels of Thinking in Theory
Levels of Thinking in Theory:
Another View
Hypotheses Derived From a Theoretical Proposition
Relationship between theory
and research
Theory Research
Relationship between theory
and research
Implicit theories: ideas about personality that

are held by ordinary people
(not based on formal theory)
Examples:  assuming that attractive people

are warm and trustworthy
 assuming that HIV positive
people look different from HIV
negative people
Methods in Personality Research
Personality measurements:
 reliability
 validity
 measurement techniques
Reliability: repeatability, as when a

measurement is repeated at another
time or by another observer, with
similar results
Examples:  a correlation between assessment

of extraversion once and a month
later shows good agreement
 two raters assess a person’s
behavior, with similar results
Methods of Reliability Testing:
 test-retest reliability
 alternate forms reliability
 split-half reliability
Validity: desirable characteristic of a

test, indicating that it actually
does measure what it is
intended to measure
Examples:  a trait of extraversion

 a fixation from childhood
conflict
measurement techniques
 direct self-report measures, i.e., "How important
is achievement to you?" (on a 10-point scale)
 indirect methods
 open-ended questions, i.e., “What would you look for in an
ideal job?”
 projective tests, i.e., inkblots
 behavioral measures
 How often does the person choose to spend time alone
instead of with other people?
 How often does the student turn in assignments late?
Correlational research method that examines the

research: relationships among measures
Examples:  research that correlates intelligence

measures with career success
 research that correlates
maladjustment with childhood abuse
Experimental research strategy that manipulates a

research: cause to determine its effect
Examples:  manipulating exposure to television

violence to determine effect on
aggressive behavior
 subliminal exposure to stimuli to
determine effect on symptoms
 Manipulate the variable thought to be a

Experimental “cause,” called the “independent variable.”
research:  for example, violent vs. nonviolent TV
 experimental group watches violent TV
 control group watches nonviolent TV
 Everything constant except the cause

 Random assignment to control 3rd variables
 Does the “effect” (dependent variable)
change?
Case Studies &

Psychobiography:
 case study
 an intensive investigation of a single
individual
 e.g., clinical observation of one person
 psychobiography
 the application of a personality theory
to the study of an individual’s life
 theoretical emphasis
One Theory or Many? Eclecticism and the Future of
Personality Theory
Paradigm: a basic theoretical model,

shared by various theorists and
researchers
Examples:  behavioral perspective

 humanistic perspective
 evolutionary perspective
Chapter summary
Personality: The Study of Individuals
Description of Personality

Theories of Personality

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Theories of

This presentation copyright Susan C. Cloninger. Some

2. As a group identify the four descriptive terms used most

3. Identify any of the self-descriptive terms that do not

 The Scientific Approach

 Methods in Personality Research

 One Theory or Many? Eclecticism and the Future of

The underlying causes within

 Adaptation and  How do people adapt

 Adaptation and  Do our thoughts affect

 Adaptation and  How does culture

 Biological Influences  How do biological

 Biological Influences  What do children

Scientific method: method of knowing based on

Implicit theories: ideas about personality that

Examples:  assuming that attractive people

Reliability: repeatability, as when a

Examples:  a correlation between assessment

Methods of Reliability Testing:

Validity: desirable characteristic of a

Examples:  a trait of extraversion

Correlational research method that examines the

Examples:  research that correlates intelligence

Experimental research strategy that manipulates a

Examples:  manipulating exposure to television

 Manipulate the variable thought to be a

 Everything constant except the cause

Case Studies &

Paradigm: a basic theoretical model,

Examples:  behavioral perspective

Personality: The Study of Individuals

The Scientific Approach

Methods in Personality Research

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