1. Psychology 305: Theories of Personality
Lecture 3
Psychology 305

2. Scoring Your Questionnaire
In order to score your questionnaire, you must compute 5 scores.
Score 1: Sum items 1, 6, 11, 16, 21
Score 2: Sum items 2, 7, 12, 17, 22
Score 3: Sum items 3, 8, 13, 18, 23
Score 4: Sum items 4, 9, 14, 19, 24
Score 5: Sum items 5, 10, 15, 20, 25
Psychology 305

3. Office Hour Invitations by Student Number May 24th, 3:30-4:30, Kenny 2517

4. Research Methods and the Dispositional Perspective
Lecture 3
Research Methods and the Dispositional Perspective
1. How are the reliability and validity of personality measures assessed? (continued)
What are response sets and how do they threaten the validity of personality measures?
What are traits?
Psychology 305

5. 5. Has a comprehensive taxonomy of personality traits been developed?
4. What methods have been used to identify the traits that are most important in describing personality?
5. Has a comprehensive taxonomy of personality traits been developed?
Psychology 305

6. By the end of today’s class, you should be able to:
1. define content, predictive, convergent, and discriminant validity.
2. determine which forms of reliability and validity are necessary for the assessment of distinct constructs.
3. define acquiescence and socially desirable responding (SDR).
4. discuss methods to overcome acquiescence and SDR.

7. 5. distinguish between the lexical, statistical, and
5. distinguish between the lexical, statistical, and theoretical methods of trait psychology.
6. describe factor analysis.
7. describe the five dimensions of the Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality.

8. How are the reliability and validity of personality
measures assessed? (continued)
2. Content validity:
Refers to the degree to which a measure assesses the underlying dimensions of the construct under study.
E.g., Self-esteem
Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale: Assumes self-esteem is unidimensional.
Harter’s Self-Perception Profile: Assumes self-esteem is multidimensional; assesses self-esteem related to scholastic competence, athletic competence, social acceptance, physical appearance and behaviour.
Psychology 305

9. Content validity is assessed in one of two ways:
(a) By having experts judge the adequacy with which the measure assesses the underlying dimensions of the construct.
(b) In the case of questionnaire measures, factor analyzing participants’ responses to the items.
Factor analysis is a procedure that identifies items that are highly correlated with one another; each group of highly correlated items is thought to reflect a single dimension of the construct under study.
Psychology 305

10. 3. Predictive validity (or criterion validity):
Refers to the degree to which a measure is able to predict the likelihood or extremity of a behaviour (i.e., a criterion) that is theoretically related to the construct under study.
E.g., A self-esteem measure that is high in predictive validity should be able to predict:
alcohol and drug use
persistence in the face of failure
number of sexual partners (i.e., sexual promiscuity)
Psychology 305

11. 4. Convergent validity:
Refers to the degree to which a measure relates to measures that assess conceptually similar constructs (i.e., constructs that are theoretically related to the construct of interest).
E.g., A self-esteem measure that is high in convergent validity should be correlated with measures of:
depression
neuroticism
negative affectivity
Psychology 305

12. 5. Discriminant validity:
Refers to the degree to which a measure does not relate to measures that assess conceptually dissimilar constructs (i.e., constructs that are not theoretically related to the construct of interest).
E.g., A self-esteem measure that is high in discriminant validity should not be correlated with measures of:
agreeableness
need for cognition
political attitudes (i.e., liberal vs. conservative)
Psychology 305

13. Dep Neur NegAff Agree NCogn Polatt SE -.68 -.57 -.63 .06 .09 -.02
Often, convergent and discriminant validity are examined simultaneously; this is a powerful method by which to demonstrate the validity of a measure.
E.g., Results of a study that simultaneously examined the convergent and discriminant validity of a self-esteem measure:
Dep Neur NegAff Agree NCogn Polatt SE
Psychology 305

14. What are response sets and how do they threaten
the validity of personality measures?
Response set: A tendency to respond to the items that comprise a questionnaire in a biased manner (i.e., in a manner that does not reflect the content of the items)
There are two response sets that present a significant threat to the validity of personality measures.
Psychology 305

15. E.g., Rate the item “I like to socialize” using the following scale:
Acquiescence
Refers to a tendency to agree with an item, irrespective of the item’s content.
E.g., Rate the item “I like to socialize” using the following scale:
1 = SD, 2 = D, 3 = N, 4 = A, 5 = SA
A participant who acquiesces would select “5” = Strongly Agree.
Psychology 305

16. Remedy for acquiescence:
Include an equal number of positively-keyed items and negatively-keyed items in the questionnaire.
Positively-keyed items: Agreement indicates that the participant possesses the characteristic.
E.g. I like to socialize.
Negatively-keyed items: Disagreement indicates that the participant possesses the characteristic.
E.g. I like to spend a lot of time by myself.
Psychology 305

17. E.g., Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale
I take a positive attitude toward myself
(+ keyed)
On the whole, I am satisfied with myself
(+ keyed)
I certainly feel useless at times
(-) keyed
At times I think I’m no good at all
(-) keyed
Negatively-keyed items are reverse scored (5  1, 4  2, 3 = 3, 2  4, 1  5); this prevents the participant who acquiesce from obtaining an extremely high score.
Psychology 305

18. I take a positive attitude 1 2 3 4 5 toward myself.
I certainly feel useless at times
Average Score = 5
Reverse score negatively-keyed item:
I take a positive attitude
toward myself.
I certainly feel useless at times
Average Score = 3
Psychology 305

19. 2. Socially desirable responding (SDR)
Refers to a tendency to respond to items in a way that promotes a favorable self-image.
A pervasive problem in personality research because, for most personality characteristics, one pole is more desirable than the other.
E.g.,
Honest vs. Dishonest
Friendly vs. Unfriendly
Optimistic vs. Pessimistic
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20. Three remedies for SDR:
(a) Administer questionnaires anonymously.
(b) Use neutral items to describe positive and negative characteristics.
E.g., I am friendly vs. I am comfortable talking to people who I don’t know well.
(c) Use a separate measure to assess participants’ tendency to engage in SDR.
E.g., Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, Paulhus Deception Scales
Psychology 305

21. Items from the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (T/F)
I never hesitate to go out of my way to help someone. (T)
I have never intensely disliked anyone. (T)
No matter who I’m talking to, I’m always a good listener. (T)
There have been times when I was quite jealous of the good fortune of others. (F)
On occasion I have had doubts about my ability to succeed in life. (F)
There have been occasions when I felt like smashing something. (F)
Psychology 305

22. Items from the Paulhus Deception Scales (T/F)
Items assessing impression management:
I never swear. (T)
I always obey laws, even if I’m unlikely to get caught. (T)
When I hear people talking privately, I avoid listening. (T)
I have never dropped litter on the street. (T)
I sometimes drive faster than the speed limit. (F)
I have received too much change from a salesperson without telling him or her. (F)
Psychology 305

23. Items from the Paulhus Deception Scales, Continued
Items assessing self-deceptive enhancement:
My first impressions of people usually turn out to be right. (T)
I am very confident of my judgments. (T)
I am fully in control of my own fate. (T)
I always know why I like things. (T)
I don’t care to know what other people really think of me. (T)
It would be hard for me to break any of my bad habits. (F)
Psychology 305

24. Dispositional Perspective: Trait Approach
What are traits?
According to the trait approach, personality is best described as a constellation of traits (e.g., anxious, conscientious, outgoing).
Traits are viewed as descriptive summaries of behaviour.
E.g., Peter is jealous.
“Jealous” describes Peter’s behaviour.
Psychology 305

25. What methods have been used to identify the traits
that are most important in describing personality?
Trait psychologists have used three methods to identify the traits that are most important in describing personality:
1. Lexical Method
Based on lexical hypothesis: “All important differences in personality are encoded in natural language.”
Psychology 305

26. Dominant vs. manipulative.
Employs two criteria to identify the traits that are most important in describing personality:
Synonym frequency: The number of synonyms that exist for a given trait reflect the importance of that trait.
E.g.,
Dominant vs. manipulative.
Psychology 305

27. A comparable trait does not exist in any English-speaking culture.
(b) Cross-cultural universality: Traits that are represented in many languages are more important than traits that are represented in only a few languages.
E.g.,
Trait among the Yanomamo Indians of Venezuela: Unokai = trait ascribed to a male who has achieved manhood by killing another male.
A comparable trait does not exist in any English-speaking culture.
Psychology 305

28. An atheoretical approach.
2. Statistical Method
An atheoretical approach.
Typically, involves collecting S-data with structured questionnaires (e.g., adjectives or statements accompanied by rating scales).
The resulting data are analyzed using a statistical procedure referred to as factor analysis.
Psychology 305

29. Factor analysis examines the correlations between all
Factor analysis examines the correlations between all pairs of items and identifies groups of items that are highly correlated with one another.
Each group of items that is identified is thought to reflect a single dimension of personality.
Each dimension is interpreted and labeled by the researcher (a highly subjective process).
Psychology 305

30. E.g., Results of a Factor Analysis
Adjective Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3
Humourous
Amusing
Popular
Hard-working
Productive
Determined
Imaginative
Original
Inventive
Factor label
“Extraversion”
“Conscientiousness”
“Openness”
Psychology 305

31. Thus, factor analysis allows the researcher to reduce a
Thus, factor analysis allows the researcher to reduce a large number of personality traits to a small number of personality dimensions.
Each dimension is thought of as a superordinate trait that encompasses several more narrowly defined traits.
Psychology 305

32. E.g., Results of a Factor Analysis
Adjective Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3
Humourous
Amusing
Popular
Hard-working
Productive
Determined
Imaginative
Original
Inventive
Factor label
“Extraversion”
“Conscientiousness”
“Openness”
Psychology 305

33. E.g., Psychoanalytic Theory
3. Theoretical Method
The traits that are most important in describing personality are identified on the basis of a pre-existing theory.
E.g., Psychoanalytic Theory
Anal-expulsive personality type: Disorganized, hostile, destructive.
Anal-retentive personality type: Stubborn, stingy, orderly.
Psychology 305

34. Has a comprehensive taxonomy of personality traits
been developed?
Taxonomy: A classification system (e.g., Periodic Table of Elements).
Over the past century, dozens of taxonomies have been proposed for personality traits.
E.g.,
Cattell’s taxonomy
Eysenck’s taxonomy
In recent years, however, one taxonomy has been particularly influential—the Big 5 taxonomy of personality traits.
Psychology 305

35. The Big 5 taxonomy emerged from decades of
The Big 5 taxonomy emerged from decades of research by dozens of researchers.
This research combined the lexical and statistical methods described earlier:
Personality traits identified from English language dictionaries were administered to participants in the form of self-report questionnaires.
The resulting data were factor analyzed in order to reduce the large number of personality traits to a small number of personality dimensions.
Psychology 305

36. Reflects engagement with the social world.
Using these methods, dozens of studies demonstrated that there are 5 personality dimensions, each of which encompasses a number of more narrowly defined traits.
The 5 dimensions are:
Extraversion
Reflects engagement with the social world.
Encompasses traits such as assertive, outspoken, talkative vs. inhibited, quiet, shy.
Psychology 305

37. Reflects a concern with cooperation and social harmony.
2. Agreeableness
Reflects a concern with cooperation and social harmony.
Encompasses traits such as kind, sympathetic, understanding vs. cold, cruel, harsh.
3. Conscientiousness
Reflects ability to control and regulate impulses.
Encompasses traits such as meticulous, organized, practical vs. careless, disorderly, sloppy.
Psychology 305

38. Reflects a tendency to experience negative emotions.
4. Neuroticism
Reflects a tendency to experience negative emotions.
Encompasses traits such as calm, optimistic, stable vs. anxious, emotional, insecure.
5. Openness to Experience
Reflects an open and creative cognitive style.
Encompasses traits such as artistic, intellectual, philosophical vs. uncreative, unimaginative, unreflective.
Psychology 305

39. E.g., the Big Five Test administered in class.
Today, trait psychologists tend to assess participants’ scores on the Big 5 using one of two types of measures:
(a) Self-report questionnaires containing adjectives accompanied by rating scales.
E.g., the Big Five Test administered in class.
Psychology 305

40. SD = Standard deviation 25%ile and below = Low scores
Big Five Test
X = Mean
SD = Standard deviation
25%ile and below = Low scores
75%ile and above = High scores
Score 1: Openness to Experience
Females X = 19.4 SD = %ile = 18 75%ile = 21
Males X = 20.3 SD = %ile = 18 75%ile = 22
Score 2: Conscientiousness
Females X = 20.2 SD = %ile = 19 75%ile = 23
Males X = 18.8 SD = %ile = 17 75%ile = 21
Psychology 305

41. Females X = 19.0 SD = 3.5 25%ile = 17 75%ile = 22
Score 3: Extraversion
Females X = 19.0 SD = %ile = 17 75%ile = 22
Males X = 18.8 SD = %ile = 16 75%ile = 22
Score 4: Agreeableness
Females X = 22.2 SD = %ile = 21 75%ile = 24
Males X = 18.8 SD = %ile = 17 75%ile = 21
Score 5: Neuroticism
Females X = 18.5 SD = %ile = 16 75%ile = 22
Males X = 16.3 SD = %ile = 13 75%ile = 20
Psychology 305

42. “I don’t find it easy to take charge of a situation.”
Self-report questionnaires containing statements accompanied by rating scales.
E.g., the NEO-PI-R
“I don’t find it easy to take charge of a situation.”
(E)
“Most people I know like me.”
(A)
“I keep my belongings neat and clean.”
(C)
“I have frequent mood swings.”
(N)
“I enjoy trying new and foreign foods.”
(O)
Psychology 305

43. Research Methods and the Dispositional Perspective
Lecture 3
Research Methods and the Dispositional Perspective
1. How are the reliability and validity of personality measures assessed? (continued)
What are response sets and how do they threaten the validity of personality measures?
What are traits?
Psychology 305

44. 5. Has a comprehensive taxonomy of personality traits been developed?
4. What methods have been used to identify the traits that are most important in describing personality?
5. Has a comprehensive taxonomy of personality traits been developed?
Psychology 305