1. Theories of Personality
Psychology: Chapter 14, Section 1

2. What is Personality? Read “A Day in Life” on page 321
Would Hannah do something like that?
The answer to that question relies on our perception of Hannah’s personality
When people think of personality, they often think of the most striking element of that personality, like having an “assertive personality” or an “artistic personality”
But psychologists define personality as the pattern of feelings, motives, and behaviors that sets people apart from one another

3. Psychologists Try to Understand Personality
Psychologists have come up with many ideas and theories about how personality develops
They try to predict how different people will respond to life’s demands
In this chapter, we will explore five approaches to the study of personality, which are:
Trait theory
Psychoanalytic theory
Learning theory
Humanistic theory
Sociocultural theory

4. The Trait Approach
A trait is an aspect of a personality that is considered to be reasonably stable
Traits account for consistent behavior in different situations
Someone who has the trait of being “shy” will be shy at a party as well as shy in a classroom
But if that person was only shy in the classroom, but loud and outgoing at a party, he or she would not be considered to have the trait of being shy, since it’s not consistent across situations

5. Where Do Traits Come From?
Trait theorists have thought for a long time about where traits come from
Some of the major thinkers on this have been Hippocrates, Gordon Allport, and Hans Eysenck

6. Hippocrates
Hippocrates (c. 460 BC – c. 370 BC) was an ancient Greek physician
He is referred to as the father of Western medicine
When people complete their education and are finally about to be come doctors, they take the Hippocratic Oath, where they swear they will do no harm to anyone

7. Hippocrates
The ancient Greeks believed that the body contains fluids called humors
Hippocrates believed that personality traits are a result of different combinations of these bodily fluids
Yellow bile: Choleric: Quick tempered disposition
Blood: Sanguine: Warm, cheerful temperament
Phlegm: Phlegmatic: Sluggish, cool disposition
Black bile: Melancholic: Thoughtful disposition

8. Imbalance in the Humors
Certain diseases and disorders were believed to be caused by a lack of balance in these humors
Bloodletting and vomiting were recommended to restore the proper balance
Although medicine has advanced from this period, these words are still in use– a cheerful person could be described as sanguine

9. Gordon Allport
Gordon Allport ( ) was an American psychologist who was one of the very first to work on personality.

10. Gordon Allport
In the 1930’s, Gordon Allport searched through a dictionary, looking for every word that could describe a person. He found 18,000 words.
Some were physical descriptions (short, brunette), some were behavioral traits (shy, emotional), and some regarded morality (honest)
Allport assumed these traits could be inherited and were fixed in the nervous system
He believed that a person’s personality is a product of his or her combination of traits

11. Hans Jürgen Eysenck (1916 –1997) was a psychologist born in Germany, who spent his professional career in Great Britain. He is best remembered for his work on intelligence and personality

12. Hans Eysenck
Hans Eysenck saw personality along two dimensions: an extraverted/ introverted scale and emotional stability/ instability
Introverts tend to be imaginative and look inward rather than to other people for their ideas and energy
Extraverts tend to be active and self expressive and gain energy from interaction with other people
Stable people are reliable, composed and rational, while unstable people can be agitated and unpredictable
(note: Carl Jung, the originator of the idea, spelled it extraversion, which is more closely tied to its Latin roots, but many have adopted the spelling extroversion, to be more symmetrical with introversion. Either spelling seems accepted, as the book spells it with an o.)

13. Hans Eysenck
Eysenck categorized people on where they fell on the two-dimensional scale
For example, if a person is introverted and unstable, they might be considered Moody, while and introverted and stable person would be considered Calm. An unstable extraverted person could be Restless, while a stable extraverted person would be sociable.
This leads to a four point scale that reflects Hippocrates’s four humors theory

15. The Five-Factor Model
Research has expanded on Eysinck’s ideas and suggested that there might be five basic personality factors
In addition to extraversion/ introversion and stability/ instability, there may also be openness to new experiences, agreeableness, and conscientiousness
These personality traits lead to behavioral patterns
For example, people who are more agreeable tend to be safer drivers, as they allow others to merge. Dictators score low on openness, as they don’t want new ideas

16. The Five Factor Model looks at five aspects of personality and rates them on a sliding scale

17. The Myers-Briggs Test
One of the most popular tests for personality traits is called the Myers-Briggs test
This test was developed in the 1960’s by Isabel Myers ( ) and her mother, Katharine Cook Briggs ( ).
They studied individual differences in healthy personalities
Businesses spend millions of dollars each year giving workers and potential job candidates the Myers Briggs personality test to obtain an effective workforce

18. The Myers Briggs Test
The official test is based on Carl Jung’s work in psychological typology.
In 1921, Carl Jung categorized people into primary personality types.
Jung’s suggested that individuals are either born with, or develop, certain preferred ways of perceiving and deciding
The Myers Briggs Personality test sorts some of these psychological differences into four opposite pairs with a resulting 16 possible psychological types.
The four pairs are: Extraversion (E) vs (I) Introversion, Sensing (S) vs (N) Intuition, Thinking (T) vs (F) Feeling and Judging (J) vs (P) Perception.
People who prefer judgment over perception are not necessarily more judgmental or less perceptive. None of these types are considered better or worse, but certain personalities could be a better fit to certain jobs

19. Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein would be classified as an INTP (Introvert, Intuition, Thinking, Perception, 1-3% of population).
INTPs are quiet, thoughtful, analytical individuals who tend to spend long periods of time on their own, working through problems and forming solutions.
They are frequently found in careers such as science, philosophy, and law
They also tend to be impatient with the bureaucracy, rigid hierarchies, and the politics that are in many professions. INTPs have little regard for titles and badges, which they often consider to be unjustified.
INTPs accept ideas based on merit, rather than tradition or authority. They have little patience for social customs that seem illogical or that obstruct the pursuit of ideas and knowledge.
INTPs organize their understanding of any topic by articulating principles and theoretical constructs. They can demonstrate remarkable skill in explaining complex ideas to others in simple terms, especially in writing.
However, their ability to grasp complexity may also lead them to provide overly detailed explanations of simple ideas, and listeners may judge that the INTP makes things more difficult than they need to be.

20. Winston Churchill
On pretty much the opposite side of the scale we have the Winston Churchill, or the ESTP  (Extravert, Sensing, Thinking, Perception, 4-5% of population).
According to the Myers Briggs personality test, ESTPs are hands-on learners who live in the moment, seeking the best in life, wanting to share it with their friends.
The ESTP is open to situations, able to improvise to bring about desired results. They are bold and tactical people who want to solve their problems rather than simply discuss them.

21. There are 16 personality types described by the Myers Briggs test
There are 16 personality types described by the Myers Briggs test. None are “better” than the others

22. Evaluation of the Trait Approach
One problem with the trait approach is that it may describe personality but doesn’t really do a good job at explaining where the traits come from
Although Allport and others tried to find some biological bases for personality, they were not successful in their search
However, trait theory has been very helpful at matching people’s personalities with jobs that they would enjoy

23. Section Assessment
Complete #1-3 on page 324 in your notebook