Disposition and

Bioligical Basis of
Personality
Ma Esperanza Maambong Ordaneza
 Basic Assumptions
Asserts that an individual is composed of a set of definite
predisposition attributes called as traits. These traits are
distinguishable and often long lasting quality or a characteristic of a
person that makes him different from the others.
 Major Proponents

Gordon Allport Henry Murray Raymond Cattell Hans Eysenck Mcrae & Costa
Psychology of Individual Personology Structure-Based Systems Biological Typology Big Five Factor Theory
Emphasized the Personality is rooted in Theory
the brain. The
consider personality as Focused on They proposed that
uniqueness of the
a system in relation to temperament-innate, there are three
individuals cerebral
individual. To him, the the environment, and genetically based
physiology guides and central components
personality of an seeks to explain the personality differences.
governs every aspects of to perosnality; basic
individual can be complicated He believed personality
the personality. tendencies,
studied through a transactions between is largely governed by
Emphasized the
distinction between them as they produce biology, and that traits characteritics
uniqueness of each
the common traits and change and sometimes and dimesnion are adaptations, and
person while
the personal growth in the person. determined primarily by self-concept.
Gordon Allport :Psychology of Individua
Approach to Personality
What is the role of
What is Personality? What are the
Conscious Characteristics of a
• His conception of the mature personality;
• The dynamic organization within
Motivation?
Healthy adults are generally Healthy Person?
psychologically mature people are
the individual of those
psychopysical system that
aware of what they are characterized by proactive behavior; healthy

determine his unique adjustments doing and their reasons for people ordinarily have experienced a

to his environment relatively trauma-free childhood.

doing it.
• Both physical and psychological; it • Criteria for the Mature Personality
includes both overt behaviors and • Extension of the sense of self
covert thoughts; it is not only is • Warm relating of self to others
something, but it does something. • Emotional security or self acceptance
Personality is both substance and • A realisitic perception of their environment
change, both product and process, • Problem-centeredness, and development of
both structure and growth. problem solving skills
• Insight and Humor
Structure of Personality
A. The Propium - refers to those behaviors and personal dispositions that
are warm and central to our lives and that we regards as peculiarly our
own. Wanted to define carefully "personality he came at that task from two
directions;
• Phenomenologically - the self experience, he suggested that the self is composed of
the aspects of your experiencing that you see as most essential, warm and central
• Functionally- his functional definition became a developmental theory according
to Allport the self has seven functions, which tend to arise at certain times of
one's life;
a. Sense of Body
b. Self- identity
c. Self- esteem
d. Self- extension
B. Personal
• Common traits are general characteristics held in common by many people
Disposition
• A generalized neuropsychic structure (peculiar to the individual), with the
capacity to render many stimuli functionally equivalent, and to initiate and
guide consistent(equivalent) forms of adaptive and stylistic behavior.
• Level of Personal Dispositions;
• Central Traits - are the building blocks of your personality, when you describe
someone you are likely to use words that refers to these central traits. He noted
that most people have somewhere between 5 to 10 traits that makes a person
unique.
• Secondary Traits - Preferences, attitudes, situational traits are all secondary.
• Cardinal Traits - These are the traits that some people have which practically
define their life. A trait so dominant a person's entire life revolves around it and
C. Motivational and Stylistic
• He further divided personal disposition into;
Dispositions
• Motivational Traits - personal disposition that initiate actions
• Stylistic Trait - personal disposition that guide actions.
MOTIVATION
• Allport believes that most people are motivated by present drives rather than by past
events are aware of what they are doing and have some understanding of why they are
doing it.
• Adult behavior is both reactive and proactive, and an adequate theory of motivation
must be able to explain both
• He also stated that motivations could either be peripheral motive(those that reduce a
need) and propriate strivings(seeks to maintain tension and disequilibrium)
• A THEORY OF MOTIVATION
Personality rest on the assumption that people not only react to their environment and it
Functional Autonomy
• Allport didnt believe in looking too much into a person's past in order to
understand his present. Our motives today are independent (autonomous) of
their origin.
• these are motives that are self sustaining and independent from the motives
that were originally responsible for a behavior
1. Preservative Functional Autonomy - refers to those habits and
behaviors that are not part of one's propium, but still continue.
2. Propriate Functional Autonomy - includes all those self-sustaining
motovations that are related to the proprium.

Processes that are not functionally autonomous; Biological drives; Motives directly
linked to the reduction of basic drives; reflex actions; constitutional equipment
(physique, intelligence and temperament); habits in the process of being formed;
Psychological Maturity
• If you have a well developed proprium and a rich, adaptive set of
dispositions you have attained psychological maturity which Allport's
term for mental health.
• He listed 7 characteristics;
• Extension of the sense of self
• Warm relating of self to others
• Emotional security or self acceptance
• A realisitic perception of their environment
• Problem-centeredness, and development of problem solving
skills
• Insight and Humor
The Study of the Individual
• He suggested that psychologist employ methods of that
study the motivational and stylistic behaviors of "one person"
• Two scientific Approaches:
1. Nomothetic- which seeks general laws
2. Idiographic - which refers to that which is peculiar to the
single case

Allport also used MORPHOGENIC procedures, such as diaries

and letters, which stress patterns of behavior within a single
Criteria for Evaluating a Theory
• Moderate on generating research
• Medium on falsibility 50

• Low on organizing knowledge

40

• Moderate in guiding action

• High on internal consistency 30

• High on Parsimony
Concept of Humanity 20

• Free of choice over determinism 10

• Optimism over pessimism

• Teleology over causality 0

es
n

et
tio

io

vie
dg

m
at
• Conscious over Unconscious

ua

co
Re
Bu
in
al

ut
m
Ev

O
e
ss
Di
• Social Influence over biology
Henry Murray : Personology
Major Concepts:
• Principles of Personology
• Needs
• Type of Needs
• Characteristics of Needs
• Complexes
• Developmental Stages
Principles of Personology
• Personality is rooted in the brain. The individual's cerebral physiology
guides and governs every aspect of the personality. Everything on
which personality depends exists in the brain including feelings, states,
beliefs, values, etc. in other words Murray suggested "no brain, no
personality".
• Tension reduction. Murray was of the view that tension-free existense
in itself is a source of distress. He believed that the ideal state of
human nature is having a certain level of tension to reduce.
• An individual personality continues to grow overtime- personality is
constructed by all the events that occur during the course of a person's
life.
The Division of Personality
• Id - the id contains the primitive, amoral and lustful impulses described by Freud,
but it also contaims desirable impulses such as empathy and love
• Superego - the internalization of the culture's, values and norms, by which rules
we come to evaluate and judgeour behavior and that of others.
• Ego - is the rational governor of the personality; it tries to modify or delay the

Needs- motivator of human behavior

id's unacceptable impulses.

• it involves a physiochemical force in the brain that organizes and directs

intellectual and perceptual abilities
• May arise either from internal processes such or from events in the environment
• Arouse a level of tension that the organism tries to reduce by acting to satisfy
them.
• Energize and direct behavior
Type of Needs
• Primary • Secondary
• Reactive • Proactive
• Overt • Covert
• Focal • Diffused
• Modal • Effect
Characteristics of Needs
• Prepotency - needs differ in terms of urgency with which they
impact behavior
• Subsidiation - it arises in situation in which one need is activated to
help in staisfying other needs.
• Press - it's environmental related which press or pressurizes an
individual to act in certain ways. Type: Alpha Press ( environmental
objects as they exist in relaity or as objective inquiry discloses them;
Beta Press (environmental objects as they are perceived and
interpreted by the individual)
• Thema- it's the combination of press needs and need(personality)
Personality Development in Childh
• Complexes - are normal pattern of childhood development that influences the
adult personality.

Developmental Stage
I. CLAUSTRAL STAGE - it involves secure existence within the womb; and it
includes 2 complexes: Simple claustral complex ; Anti-claustral complex.
II. ORAL STAGE (Oral complex) - the enjoyment of sucking nourishment while
being held or the derivatives if early feeding experiences; oral succorance
complex; oral aggression complex; and oral rejection complex.
III. ANAL STAGE (Anal Complex) - the pleasure resulting from defecation/
bowel training; Anal rejection complex and Anal retention complex
IV. URETHRAL STAGE- the pleasure accompanying urination ; Urethral complex
V. GENITAL or CASTRATION STAGE - is when fear grows out of childhood
Assessment Technique
TAT (Thematic Apperception Test) - a
projective test that reveal their
underlying motives, concerns and the
way they see the world
Criteria for Evaluating a Theory
• Moderate on generating research
• Low on falsibility
• Low on organizing knowledge
Review Evaluation
• Moderate in guiding action 20% 20%

• High on internal consistency

• Medium on Parsimony
Concept of Humanity
• Free of choice over determinism
Budget Dissemination
• Optimism over pessimism 20% 20%

• Causality over Teleology

• Conscious over Unconscious
• Biology over Social Influence Outcomes
20%
Raymond Cattell : Structured-Based
Systems Theory
A structure based theory explains personality as a system in relation to the
environment, and seeks to explain the complicated transactions between them as
they produce change and sometimes growth in the person.
• He believe that personality is that which permits a prediction of what a person
will do in a given situation and believed that a full definition of personality must
await further investigation into the types of concepts that are included in the
study of behavior.
• Personality therefore; R = f (S,P) or A response(R) is a function(f) of the person(P)
and the stimuli(S).
• Personality Structure is heavily influenced by traits.
• Traits according to Cattell are stable and predictable characteristic of a person,
Factor Analysis
• Cattell identified different traits and then later use a highly
complicated statistical procedure to isolate and identify a limited
number of factors underlie a larger group of observed, interrelated

Data used in Factor Analysis

variables.
• L-data/life-record data - refers to the measurement of behavior in
actual, everyday situation.
• Q-data /or questionnaire data - information gathered in an interview
situation, in which respondents fill-out paper-pencil test from which
trait scores can be derived. (own rating of his/her own feelings, etc.)
• T- data- is based on objective test- information is gathered by an
observer in a standard test situation and id then scored.(persons
Categories of Traits
Once traits are identified, factor analysis is used to narrow down the data.
• Constitutional Traits - are those determined by biology
• Environmental Traits - mold traits determined by experience
• Ability Traits - refer to the person's skill in dealing with the complexity in a given
situation.
• Temperament Traits - refers to stylistic tendencies
• Dynamic Traits - refer to the person's motivation and interest
• Surface Traits - are simply a collection of trait elements, of greater or lesser width
of representation which obviously "go together" in many different in individuals
and circumstances.
• Source trait- is the underlying factor that controls the variation in the surface trait.
• Common trait -cultural traits which are shared by all members of the same or
similar cultures.
Personality Factors
Stages of Development: 6 Principal life stag
• Infancy (0- 6 years old ) - infant develops its basic social attitudes, sense of
security, the strength of various defense mechanism and the general
strength of the ego and superego.
• Childhood (6 - 14 years old)- according to Cattell child grows independence,
moving from its family to relationship with peers.
• Adolescence (14- 23 years old) - a period of psychological storm and stress,
requiring may adjustments in one's life.
• Maturity (23-46 years old) - Cattell considered this stage a busy and happy
time for most people but not for those few who fialed to resolve their
adolescence.
• Middle Age - middle age demands a re-evaluation of one's life values, and
often leads to the search of some philosophy to make sense of life.
Criteria for Evaluating a Theory
• High on generating research
• Low on falsibility
• High on organizing knowledge
• Moderate in guiding action
• High on internal consistency
• Low on Parsimony
Concept of Humanity
• Determinism over Free of choice
• Optimism over pessimism
• Causality over Teleology
• Conscious over Unconscious
• Social Influence over Biology
Hans Eysenck : Biological Typolog
• His assumptions that all traits has biological basis. This suggest a very
deterministic view of personality which means your biological
composition, genetics, physiological make up strongly determines how
you think, feel and behave in most situation.
Factor Analysis
• He did a Factor Analysis of Cattell's 16 PF using NOMOTHETIC
APPROACH which is the approach try and generalized or find
commonalities to be able to explain behavior of most if not all
individuals.
• Criteria for Identifying Factors must be psychometric evidence;
possess heritability and must fit an established genetic model; make
Measuring Personality:
• Maudsley Personality Inventory (MPI) - assessed only
Extraversion and Neuroticism

• Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) - it measures

exytaversion and neuroticism independently, with near
zero correlation between E and N.

• Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) - includes a

psychoticism (P) scale.
Three Factor Theory:
• His methods leads him to his theory which tells us that there are two main
levels in terms of personality structure:
• SUPERFACTORS - highest level and these are traits which most people
posses in varying levels of the spectrum.
• TRAITS - lowest level and these are where individual differences tend to

Three GENERAL SUPERFactor Theory

manifest.

• EXTRAVERSION ----- introversion

• NEUROTICISM ------ emotional stability
• PSYCHOTICISM ------ superego function
Arousal Theory
• Explains the behavioural differences in terms of the interactions between inherited
levels of nervous system arousal and levels of environmental stimulation.
⚬ Ascending reticular activating system(ARAS): part of the central nervous system
located in the lower brain stem: it involved in the arousal of the cerbral cortex
⚬ Autonomic nervous system: part of the peripheral nervous system usually under
the individual's voluntary control that regulates the operation of internal organs and
galnds: it consists of sympathetic and parasymthetic subsystems.
⚬ Extraverts: brains have lower innate levels of and are less resposnive to stimulation
⚬ Introverts: brains have higher innate levels of arouasal and are more sensitive to
stimulation.
⚬ Autonomic activitation and Neuroticism
￭ Visceral brain- part of the brain that underlie emotional feelings and expression, also
known as the limbic system
￭ Neurotics- have lower thresholds for activity in the visceral brain and greater
PERSONALITY AND DISEASE
• Eysenck also researched the relationship between personality
factors and disease. He teamed with Ronald Grossarth-Matieck
to study the connection between personality characteristics and
both cancer and cardiovascular disease. According to this
reasearch, people with a helpless/hopeless attitude are more
likely to die from cancer, whereas people who react to frustration
with anger and emotional arousal are nore much likely to die
from cardiovascular disease.
Criteria for Evaluating a Theory
• High on generating research
• Low on falsibility
• High on organizing knowledge
• Moderate in guiding action
• High on internal consistency
• Low on Parsimony
Concept of Humanity
• Determinism over Free of choice
• Optimism over pessimism
• Causality over Teleology
• Conscious over Unconscious
• Biology over Social Influence
Robert Mcrae and Paul Costa: Big
Five Factor Theory
• Both were constructing to elaborate taxonomies of traits, to
examine the stability and structure of personality. They rapidly
discovered the traits if Extraversion, Neuroticism and Openness.
• Eventually worked on the five factors of personality , and added
Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. It was when they revised the
NEO-PI personality inventory appeared in 1992 that they fully
developed the A and C scales.
• It was found that the five factors show permanence with age
wherein adult tend to uphold a consistent personality as they grow
Description of the Five Factor
• Mcrae and Costa agreed with Eysenck that personality traits are basically
bipolar, with some people scoring high on one factor and low on its
counterpart.
Units of Five Factor
• Mcrae and Costa predict behavior through an understanding of
three central core or core components and three(3) peripheral ones.
• The three core components include:
⚬ Basic Tendencies- are the raw materials of personality
⚬ Characteristics adaptations- are acquired personality
structure that develops as people adapt to their environment
⚬ Self- concepts- refers to knowledge and attitudes about onself.
• Peripheral components includes
⚬ Biological bases, which are the sole cause of basic tendencies
⚬ Objective biography, which is everything a person does or
thinks over lifetime
Four Postulates:
• The individuality posutulate stiputaes that every adult
has a unique pattern of traits.
• The origin postulate assumes that all personality traits
originate slely from biological factors, such as genetics,
hormones, and brain structures.
• The development postulate assumes that traits develop
and change through chilhood, adolescence, and
mid-adulthood.
• The strucure postulate states the traits are origanized
Criteria for Evaluating a Theory
• High on generating research
• Low on falsibility
• High on organizing knowledge
• Moderate in guiding action
• High on internal consistency
• Low on Parsimony
Concept of Humanity
• Determinism over Free of choice
• Optimism over pessimism
• Causality over Teleology
• Conscious over Unconscious
• Biology over Social Influence
CASE STUDY
Kate, a 20 year old university student. She is
described as kind, caring and loyal and prefers
watching movies and reading rather than going
out to a party. She works hard studying
psychology and volunteers to help children with
autism. Kate has a strong relationship with her
family and isn't expected to contribute to
housegold expense.
Trait/Dispositional Theory Perspective
• Personality is a combination of high and lows in different dimension like
Mcrae and Costa.
• Kate can be described as being introverted(low score on extraversion),
conscientious (high score), hard working and well organized.
• This perspective also claims that personality traits are stable and
enduring. However some criticism under this perspective is that it does
not specify enough as to how much an individual's personality results
of genetics or environment.