2. What do we know when we know a person?
Personality is complex!
How can we study a person?

3. Studying a Person All science begins with observation
Called data
For the scientific study of personality what kinds of observations can you make?

4. Observation Ask a person about himself or herself
Ask others about a person
Look at a persons life
Look at what a person does (behavior)
Note: none of these are perfect indicators

5. “S” data
Ask a person about himself or herself
“Self data”

6. Activity
In groups:
Create a 5-item questionnaire designed to measure a characteristic

7. “S” data
Face validity
It appears to measure what it is suppose to measure

8. “S” data
Pros:
Easy and inexpensive
Best expert

9. “S” data Compare yourself to the average student Intelligent Friendly
1= Much lower than average
2= Somewhat lower than average
3=Average
4 = Somewhat higher than average
5 = Much higher than average
Intelligent
Friendly
Kind
Giving
Responsible

10. “S” data Cons: May not be able to tell you May not tell you Overused
Self-serving bias
May not tell you
Overused

11. “I” Data
Ask others about a person
“Informant data”

12. “I” Data What about me? What about a boyfriend / girlfriend?
Small groups
What about a boyfriend / girlfriend?

13. “I” Data Pros: Large amounts of information Real world
I data about boyfriend / girlfriend
Have seen hundreds of behaviors
Agreement between judges and self
Real world
Based on observations in the real world, not just the lab

14. “I” Data Cons: Limited information Not with a person all the time
Act differently around different people
Limited due to “private life”

15. “I” Data Cons: Errors and biases
Some behaviors stick out more than others
Biases can be “good” or “bad”, but not accurate