Personality III Dr. Carolyn R. Fallahi

The Trait Approach  Gordon Allport  He was concerned less with explaining traits (as Freud had been) but with describing them.

How do Psychologists classify and describe personality?  Jerome Kagan (1989) classified children’s temperaments as either shy-inhibited or fearless-uninhibited types.  Some health psychologists classify people as intense, Type A, or laid back, Type B, personalities.

William Sheldon  William Sheldon (1954) classified people by body type.  Endomorph = Santa Claus = jolly and relaxed  Mesomorph = Superman = muscular, bold, and physically active.  Ectomorph = Sherlock Holmes = high strung and solitary.

Carl Jung  The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is quite simple. “Do you usually value sentiment more than logic, or value logic more than sentiment?”  Then it counts the test-taker’s preferences, labels them as indicating, say a “feeling”, or “thinking” type, and feeds them back to the person in complimentary terms.

Classifying people  Classifying people as one or another distinct personality type fails to capture their full individuality.  So how else could we describe their personalities?  Allport & Odbert (1936)

Factor Analysis  Factor analysis statistical procedure identify clusters of test items

Eysenck & Eysenck  British psychologists Hans Eysenck and Sybil Eysenck 2 or 3 genetically influenced dimensions, including I-E and emotional stability – instability.  The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire has been given to people in 35 countries around the world.

The Big Five  Many believe that Eysenck’s dimensions are important; but incomplete.  An expanded set of factors – the Big Five – does a better job.

The Big Five  Trait Dimension Emotional Stability Extraversion Openness  Explanation Calm – anxious; secure;insecure; self- satisfied-self-pitying. sociable –retiring; fun- loving-sober; affectionate- reserved Imaginative-practical; preference for variety- preference for routine; independence-conforming

The Big Five  Aggreeableness  Conscientiousness  Soft-hearted; ruthless; trusting-suspicious; helpful-uncooperative  Organized- disorganized; careful- careless; disciplined- impulsive

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI2 or MMPIA)  Assesses abnormal personality tendencies rather than normal personality traits.  Empirically derived.  Ten clinical scales.  T-F statements.  Validity scales (lie scale – faking good)  15 content scales: e.g. work attitudes, family problems, anger.

MMPI2  Scored objectively - & by computer.  Objectivity does not guarantee validity.