Module 34 – Contemporary Perspectives on Personality The Trait Perspective and The Social Cognitive Perspective

Review: Perspectives on Personality We are studying 4 perspectives on personality Psychoanalytic, Humanistic, Trait, and Social-Cognitive Trait perspective: People can be described by a limited set of patterns of behavior or disposition to feel and act Eysenck & Eysenck’s 2 dimensions: Stability and extraversion Big 5: Conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness to new experience, and extraversion Questions about personality traits: Are there biological bases for personality? Yes, neurotransmitters Are the traits stable? Yes, especially after adolescence Are the traits genetically determined? Yes, partially Does a person’s personality change across situations? No, behaviors change, average tendencies for behavior remains stable

Contemporary psychology’s ways of assessing personality Personality can be assessed by self-report: a personality inventory a questionnaire (often with true-false or agree-disagree items) designed to measure a wide range of feelings and behaviors Assesses selected personality traits scored objectively Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests – translated to 100 languages including Turkish originally developed to identify emotional disorders (still considered its most appropriate use) NEO-PI-Revised Personality Inventory of Big 5: translated and adapted to Turkish by Sami Gulgoz

Perspectives on Personality Psychoanalytic Humanistic Trait Social-cognitive

Social-Cognitive Perspective Behaviors are influenced by the interaction between persons and their social context Reciprocal Determinism: the interacting influences between personality and environmental factors

Reciprocal determinism Do we choose our environments? Reciprocal determinism People choose different environments: preferences (personality) People react to environments based on personality (will influence future choices) Repeated experiences in an environment will change our reactions over time BIOLOGICAL , PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND SOCIAL-CULTURAL FACTORS INFLUENCE PERSONALITY

The issue of personal control Our sense of controlling our environments rather than feeling helpless External Locus of Control the perception that chance or outside forces beyond one’s personal control determine one’s fate Internal Locus of Control the perception that one controls one’s own fate An extreme situation of lack of control: Learned Helplessness the hopelessness and passive resignation an organism learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

Perceived control is basic to adaptive human functioning Uncontrollable bad events Perceived lack of control Generalized helpless behavior

How helpless do we feel? Optimism vs. pessimism Pessimism: a negative attributional style - explain bad events as externally determined, stable, and global. Optimism: a positive attributional style - explain bad events as internally controllable, temporary, and specific. Both internal locus of control and optimism are related to higher achievement, better dealing with stress, less illness and faster recovery.

How can we “predict” behavior? Social-cognitive psychologists’ answer Behavior is the product of personality and the situation Best predictor of behavior in a given situation is past behavior in a similar situation We cannot predict behavior with personality only We cannot predict behavior by asking questions about “what would you do if…” We can predict behavior if we create analogous situations

Module 43 – Social Thinking Attitudes and behaviors Power of the Situation

Social Psychology Branch of psychology which studies how we think about, influence, and relate to one another. TOPICS: Attributions: How do we try to understand each other? Attitudes: How are our behaviors in different environments determined? How do attitudes change?

How do we think about and try to understand one another? We attempt to understand each other’s behaviors by making attributions: Dispositional attributions Situational attributions FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR: We overestimate the influence of personality and underestimate the influence of situations Napolitan & Goethals experiment: Conversations with a woman: aloof/critical OR warm/friendly Two groups: expected spontaneous behavior / expected behavior upon instruction Participants were asked to talk to a woman who behaved in a cold, aloof and critical manner.  Before talking to her, participants were told either that the woman was like this naturally, or they were told that she had been asked to behave in this way.  However, afterwards when they were asked about what the person was really like they ignored previous information and believed that she really was cold and critical.  They repeated the procedure with other participants using a woman that was friendly and kind and found just the same.  Situational factors were only considered when the participants had the opportunity to chat to the woman a second time and see her behaving differently.

The Effects of Attribution In the way we relate to each other in daily life Friends, partners, spouses, coworkers In situations when we make decisions about each other: Job interviews, courts, disciplinary hearings – murder versus manslaughter Political effects of attributions Why is there poverty? Why is there unemployment? Why is there ignorance? Why is there illiteracy? Why is there terrorism? Personal deficits  treatment of individuals Situational deficits  large scale policies

Does behavior influence attitudes? Attitudes and actions Definition: Attitudes are feelings (based on our beliefs) that predispose our reactions to our environment (objects, people, and events) Cigarette smoking does not really kill. “White” lies don’t count as lies Attitudes influence behavior (most of the time) What if there are other influences? Does behavior influence attitudes?

Attitudes and Actions Internal attitudes External Influences Behavior

How does behavior influence attitudes? “Foot-in-the-door” phenomenon Agree to a request for a small action  comply with a larger demand Prisoners of war  changing political attitudes Attitudes follow good behaviors and evil behaviors Smoking campaigns Finnish paternity leave policy

Social roles influence attitudes Roles are sets of expectations / prescriptions about social positions. Roles define how those in a certain position ought to behave. Roles affect our attitudes. Role of a meek female or an assertive male Management role Motherhood role

Stanford Prison Study http://www.prisonexp.org/slide-14.htm

Stanford Prison Study Subjects: physically and mentally healthy young men who volunteered to participate for money. They were randomly assigned to be prisoners or guards. Those assigned the role of prisoner became distressed, helpless, and panicky. Those assigned the roles of guards became either nice, “tough but fair,” or tyrannical. Study had to be ended after 6 days.