© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. The Personality Puzzle Sixth Edition by David C. Funder Chapter 1: The Study of the Person Slides created by Tera D. Letzring Idaho State University 1

Definitions of Personality “An individual’s characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior, together with the psychological mechanisms—hidden or not—behind those patterns” (p. 5) Personality psychology is attempting to explain the whole person in his or her daily environment – Mission: Impossible 4 © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Basic Approaches to Personality Also called paradigms Definition: a theoretical view of personality that focuses on some phenomena and ignores others 6 © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Basic Approaches to Personality Trait approach: how people differ psychologically/personality traits © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 4

Basic Approaches to Personality Biological approach: understand the mind in terms of the body © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Basic Approaches to Personality Psychoanalytic approach: primary concern is with the unconscious mind and internal mental conflict © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Basic Approaches Phenomenological approach: focus on conscious experience of the world – Humanistic psychology: how conscious awareness produces uniquely human attributes – Cross-cultural psychology: how the experience of reality varies across cultures 8 © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Basic Approaches Learning approach: how behavior changes as a result of rewards, punishments, and life experiences Cognitive approach – Social learning: learning through observation and self-evaluation – Cognitive processes: focuses on perception, memory, and thought 9 © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

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Appreciation of Individual Differences Other areas of psychology treat all people as if they were the same BUT every person is different and personality psychologists wonder how and why – Strike a balance between pigeonholing (categorizing/labeling) and respecting individual differences 13 © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Teaching Personality Psychology _schools_kill_creativity.html _schools_kill_creativity.html 20 min Discuss in pairs © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 11

© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. The Personality Puzzle Sixth Edition by David C. Funder Chapter 2: Clues to Personality: The Basic Sources of Data Slides created by Tera D. Letzring Idaho State University 12

Research Methods Everybody’s least favourite topic… What do you remember about research methods? © 2010 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 13

Experimental Evidence Of Massive-scale Emotional Contagion Through Social Networks Kramer et al. (2014) people in the study Computer algorithm increased or reduced visibility or positive or negative posts in newsfeed for a week and then monitored posts for emotional content. 14

Kramer et al., 2014 “When positive expressions were reduced, people produced fewer positive posts and more negative posts; when negative expressions were reduced, the opposite pattern occurred. These results indicate that emotions expressed by others on Facebook influence our own emotions” 15

16 Positive posts Negative posts

Data are Clues We can not directly measure personality, so it must always be inferred, and these inferences are never certain. Four kinds of clues: – S Data: Self-Reports – I Data: Informant Reports – L Data: Life Outcomes – B Data: Behavioural Observations 17 © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

S Data: Self-Judgments or Self-Reports Definition: a person’s evaluation of his or her own personality Usually questionnaires or surveys Most frequent data source High face validity (the degree to which an assessment instrument appears to measure what it is intended to measure) 18 © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Advantages of S Data 1) Based on a large amount of information – You are always with yourself. – People are usually their own best expert. 2) Access to thoughts, feelings, and intentions 3) Definitional truth 19 © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

4) Causal force – How you view yourself will effect your behavior. – Self-verification: prefer that others see us the same way we see ourselves. 5) Simple and easy data 20 © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. Advantages of S Data

Disadvantages of S Data 1) Maybe people won’t tell you 2) Maybe people can’t tell you – Memory is limited and not perfect – Fish-and-water effect – Active distortion of memory – Lack of self-insight 3) Too simple and too easy 21 © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Informant Report (I) Data Definition: judgments by knowledgeable informants about the individual’s personality Acquaintances, coworkers, clinical psychologists, etc. Based on observing people in whatever context they know them from Used frequently in daily life 22 © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Advantages of I Data 1) Based on a large amount of information – Many behaviors in many situations – Judgments from multiple informants are possible 2) Based on observation of behavior in the real world – Not from contrived tests or constructed situations – More likely to be relevant to important outcomes 23 © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Advantages of I Data 3) Based on common sense about what behaviors mean – Takes context into account 4) Definitional truth – How charming are you? 24 © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Advantages of I Data 5) Causal force – Reputation affects opportunities and expectancies – Expectancy effects/behavioral confirmation 25 © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Disadvantages of I Data 1) Limited behavioral information 2) Lack of access to private experience 3) Error: more likely to remember behaviors that are extreme, unusual, or emotionally arousing 4) Bias: due to personal issues or prejudices © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Life Outcomes (L) Data Definition Obtained from archival records or self-report – Advantages and disadvantages of archival records The results or “residue” of personality 27 © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Advantages and Disadvantages of L Data Advantages – Objective and verifiable – Intrinsic importance – Psychological relevance Disadvantage – Multidetermination 28 © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Behavioral (B) Data “The most visible indication of an individual’s personality is what she does” (p. 44). Definition 29 © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Natural B Data Based on real life Diary and experience-sampling methods Reports by acquaintances Naturalistic observation Advantage: realistic Disadvantages: difficult and expensive; desired contexts may not occur often 30 © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Natural B Data 1) The setting must be natural 2) The event must be natural. 3) The behavior must be natural. © 2010 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Natural/Laboratory B Data Could include: – Interactions with others – Body language/facial expressions © 2010 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

B Data collection Who were you observing and where were they? Describe who you observed in general terms (gender/ethnicity/physical characteristics) What would be considered normal behaviour for the setting (talk show)? Were there general patterns of behaviour, speech and interactions? What were your own thoughts and feelings during your observations? © 2010 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Laboratory B Data Experiments – Make a situation happen and record behavior – Examine reactions to subtle aspects of situations – Represent real-life context that are difficult to observe directly 34 © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Laboratory B Data (Certain) personality tests – To see how a person responds – Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), Rorschach Inkblot test 35 © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Laboratory B Data Physiological measures: biological “behaviour” Behaviour of the autonomic nervous system 36 © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Advantages and Disadvantages of B Data Advantages – Range of contexts in the lab – Appearance of objectivity direct assessment, numeric expression, reliable data But subjective judgments must still be made Disadvantage – Uncertain interpretation 37 © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Mixed Types of Data Data do not always fit into only one category There is a wide range of possible types of data Each type has advantages and disadvantages 38 © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

No Infallible Indicators of Personality “There are only clues, and clues are always ambiguous” (p. 55). It is important to collect more than one type. Consistent findings increase confidence. Discrepancies can be interesting and informative. 39 © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.