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

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

3. 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

4. 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 ______________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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.” _______________________

12. 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)

13. 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)

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

15. 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

16. 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

17. Measurement Issues Carelessness Faking On Questionnaires Response Sets
*Barnum Statements

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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.”

22. 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