Personality & The Self Chapter 9

Take a sheet of paper & and write down a description of You, as you see yourself Your best friend You, as your best friend knows you

Personality - Biological Approaches Personality is an entity (Reification)

Galen - 4 Humors Blood Phlegm Yellow Bile Black Bile

Sheldon - Somatotypes Ectomorph Mesomorph Endomorph

Somatotypes = Personalities Ectomorph = Cerebrotonia Mesomorph = Somatotonia Endomorph = Visceratonia

Current Biological Theories Cattell - 16 Traits Eysenck - Types “The Big Five”7

The “Big Five” Personality Characteristics I Surgency (Extraversion) II Agreeableness III Conscientiousness IV Emotional Stability (vs. Neuroticism) Culture, intellect, openess

Behavioral Approach to Personality Behavior - You are what you do. Lundin (1961) Personality is: “that organization of unique behavioral equipment an individual has acquired under the special conditions of his (or her) development” Body is the location for your behavior (Baer) Environment shapes personality Behavior is situation specific

Behavioral Systems Approach Genotype/environment interactions (temperament) Person/Environment Interactions Personality as a skill Personality as a dynamic attractor

Temperaments (Thomas, Chess, & Birch) · Activity Level: · Rhythmicity: · Approach or Withdrawal: · Adaptability: Is the child able to adjust easily to changes in caretaking patterns? · Intensity of Reaction: · Threshold of Responsiveness: Quality of Mood: · Distractibility

Temperaments (Bates) Negative emotionality Difficultiness Adaptability to new situations or people Activity Level Self-regulation (smoothability) Reactivity Sociability-positive emotionality

How Stable is Temperament Low agreement among different observers (e.g., mother, father, teacher). Weak correlations between early months measures and later. Around end of year 1, better short-term stability After second year, beter long-term stability

Child Constellations Easy Child Difficult Child Slow-to-Warm Child

Which Category?

Implications “Goodness of Fit” Nonlinear Model

Role of Environment Genotype-Environment Interactions (Heavily genetic-constitutional –e.g. early temperament) Person-Environment Interactions (Heavily environmentally acquired) Personality Consistency in enviornments mean consistency in behavior. (Pasive, evocative, and active interactions contribute to this) Drastic changes in environment produce changes in personality (e.g., Patty Hearst). Previously reinforced behaviors put on extinction. New behaviors reinforced. Personality as behavioral attractor. (i.e., organized pattern of behavior.

How the Environment Organizes Behavior Familiar environments produce familiar behavior We actively maintain familiar environments We are reinforced by familar environments We environments are unfamiliar We try to change them They change us previous behaviors are extinguished new behaviors emerge and are organized

Sex Differences How Do Gender Related Behaviors Develop? Sex Role Stereotypes and Societal/Cultural Expectations Parental Expectations & Reinforcement Reinforcement of Gender Appropriate Behaviors Androgyny - Combining Roles

The Self Self Concept and Self Recognition Self-Awareness & Perspective Taking Relational Frame Theory Self statements Stable vs. Unstable Traits Internal - stable External - unstable Self-Efficacy Beliefs Self Control Self Esteem

Self-Control Matching Law & Choice Problem Small Immediate vs. Large Delayed Change Value by changing amount or delay

The Self Revisited