Theoretical and Measurement Issues in Trait Psychology Chapter 4 Theoretical and Measurement Issues in Trait Psychology

Theoretical Issues Meaningful Differences Between Individuals Consistency Over Time Consistency Across Situations Person-Situation Interaction Aggregation

Meaningful Differences Between Individuals There are meaningful differences between individuals (traits psychology is also called differential psychology) __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Emphasizes how much a given individual differs from average According to trait psychologists, every personality is the product of a combination of a few basic, primary traits By combining a few primary traits in various amounts, it is possible to distill the unique qualities of every individual

Consistency Over Time Research indicates consistency over time for broad traits e.g., intelligence, emotional reactivity, impulsiveness, shyness, and aggression show high test-rest correlations, even across years or decades between measurements (attitudes, interests, and opinions are less consistent over time) People can still change in important behavioral ways throughout adulthood, especially after encountering some important ______________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Consistency Over Time __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example: Disagreeableness As a child, a highly disagreeable person might be prone to temper tantrums, etc. As an adult, a disagreeable person might be difficult to get along with and hence might have trouble sustaining personal relationships and holding down a job -0.45 correlation between throwing temper tantrums in childhood and being able to hold a job as an adult 20 years later

Consistency Over Time How can there be consistency in a trait if it is known to change with age? e.g., activity level, impulsiveness, sociopathy May be explained by the concept of ____________________ If all people show a decrease in a particular trait at the same rate over time, they might still maintain the rank order relative to each other

Consistency Across Situations Trait psychologists traditionally assumed cross-situation consistency Although the evidence for consistency in traits over time is substantial, ________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Example: “friendliness” Even very friendly people are not friendly in every situation (at least not to the same degree) It may be that a particular situation exerts an influence on how friendly most people will likely be (e.g., party vs. library) If situations mainly control how people behave, then the existence or relevance of traits is questionable

Consistency Across Situations Research supports low cross-situation consistency across multiple traits (e.g., honesty, helpfulness, self-control) ___________________ published a groundbreaking book titled Personality and Assessment Suggested that personality psychologists should abandon their efforts to explain behavior with traits, focusing instead on situations ________________________ – If behavior varies across situations then situational differences, and not personality traits, determine behavior

Consistency Across Situations Mischel’s (1968) critique encouraged debate in personality psychology about the importance of traits compared to situations in causing behavior Both sides tempered views: Trait psychologists acknowledged the importance of situations Situationists acknowledged the importance of traits Debate led to two lasting changes: Person-Situation Interaction Aggregation

Person-Situation Interaction Two possible explanations for behavior: Behavior is a function of personality traits Behavior is a function of situation Integration  Person-Situation Interaction __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example: A person with the trait “hot temper” Acquaintances of this person may not be aware of this trait if they never encountered the person dealing with a frustrating situation e.g., vending machine = person-situation interaction between a particular personality trait (e.g., hot temper) and situation (e.g., frustration) _____________________________________________________ e.g., if the situation is frustrating, and if the person has a hot temper, then aggression will be the result

Person-Situation Interaction Differences between people make a difference only under certain circumstances Situational Specificity – ___________________________ ____________________________________________________ e.g., test anxiety trait Certain situations can provoke behavior that is out of character for an individual Some trait-situation interactions are rare because of the kinds of situations that elicit behavior related to those traits are themselves rare *Personality psychologists no longer try to predict “all of the people all of the time.” _______________________

Person-Situation Interaction Strong situation – _____________________________ ________________________________________________ e.g., grief following loss of loved one When situations are weak or ambiguous, _________ Perhaps because it requires us to interpret the actions, motives, and intentions of others (or events)

Person-Situation Interaction Three additional ways in which personality and situation interact to produce behavior Selection ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ *Situations can also influence persons just as much as persons can influence situations Evocation The reactions we produce in others, often quite unintentionally; _________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ Manipulation Various means by which people influence the behavior of others; tactics of manipulation vary with personality *entails altering those environments already inhabited (selection is choosing existing environments)

Aggregation ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Longer tests are more reliable than shorter ones and are better measures of traits __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Aggregation ____________________________________________________________________________________________ i.e., at any given time, for any given behavior, many factors influence why a person does one thing and not another i.e., a person’s traits can “fluctuate” over time e.g., even a friendly person may occasionally appear distant, irritable, etc. (may be feeling sick; received bad news) Thus, personality psychologists will never be good at predicting single acts on single occasions

Measurement Issues Trait approach relies on ________________________ to measure personality Personality psychologists assume that people differ in the _____________ of various traits, and so a key measurement issue is determining _______________ of a trait person has Traits are often represented as dimensions along which people differ Trait psychologists are aware of and address circumstances that affect accuracy, reliability, validity, and utility of self-report trait measures

Measurement Issues Carelessness Faking On Questionnaires Response Sets *Barnum Statements

Measurement Issues Carelessness Method for detecting such problems is an _______________________________ embedded in test Infrequency scale contains items that most people answer in a particular way If a participant answers differently than most, this suggests carelessness Another method for detecting carelessness is to include _________________________ spaced far apart in the survey—if the person answers the same item differently, this suggests carelessness

Measurement Issues Faking On Questionnaires “Fake good” “Fake bad” Attempt to appear better off or better adjusted than one is “Fake bad” Attempt to appear worse off or less adjusted than one is Method to detect is to a devise scale that, if answered in particular way, suggests faking

Measurement Issues Response Sets ___________________________ Tendency to agree with items, regardless of content; psychologists counteract by reverse-keying some items Tendency to give endpoint responses Tendency to answer items in such a way so that one comes across as socially attractive or likable

Measurement Issues ________________________ These are statements that could apply to anyone (generality statements) e.g., astrology predictions, “personality” websites Examples: “You sometimes have doubts about whether you have done the right thing.” “You have a need for others to like or admire you.” “Although you are able to deal with confrontation in a pinch, you typically like to avoid it if you can.”

Summary and Evaluation Hallmark of trait perspective is the emphasis on the differences between people Traits psychologists assume that people will be relatively constant over time and across situations in behaviors, because of their differences in various traits Traits are more likely to influence a person’s behavior when the situation is weak and ambiguous and doesn’t push for conformity from all people Personality traits refer to the average tendencies in behavior Trait psychologists are interested in the accuracy of measurement