1. Psychology 3051 Psychology 305: Theories of Personality Lecture 1

2. Psychology 3052 Lecture 1 1.What is personality? 2.What is personality psychology? 3.Why study personality? 4.What is a theory? 5.How is research used to test theories? Questions That Will be Answered in Today’s Lecture

3. Psychology 3053 A formal definition: “Personality is a dynamic organization, inside the person, of psychophysical systems that create the person’s characteristic patterns of behaviour, thoughts, and feelings.” -- Carver & Scheier, p. 5 Noteworthy points about this definition: 1.“Psychophysical” 2. “Dynamic” 3.“Organization” 4. “Create” 5.“Characteristic patterns” What is Personality?

4. Psychology 3054 What is Personality Psychology? “Every human being is like every other human being, like some other human beings, and like no other human being.” -- Kluckhohn & Murray, 1953 This quote reflects the three levels of analysis in personality psychology: 1. Human universals (e.g., desire to belong) 2. Group differences (e.g., sex differences) 3. Individual differences

5. Psychology 3055 Why Study Personality? The study of personality serves three functions: 1. Descriptive function 2. Explanatory function 3. Predictive function Predictive function is particularly important in applied settings. Examples: Clinical settings, military settings, corporate settings.

6. Psychology 3056 What is a Theory? Theory: A proposed explanation or interpretation of the relations among conceptual variables or constructs. Construct: A conceptual or hypothetical variable that can’t be directly observed. Examples of variables that are constructs: Intelligence, self-esteem, depression, aggression. Examples of variables that are not constructs: Hair colour, eye colour, weight, height, blood pressure.

7. Psychology 3057 Theories serve two functions. 1.Synthesizing function: Theories should explain and organize observations that have already been made. 2.Heuristic function: Theories should generate predictions or hypotheses about phenomena that have not yet been observed.

8. Psychology 3058 A theory is not: 1.a philosophy—a philosophy is broader than a theory. 2. a hypothesis—a hypothesis is more specific than a theory; a theory should generate hypotheses. 3.a taxonomy—a taxonomy is a classification system and does not generate hypotheses.

9. Psychology 3059 How is Research Used to Test Theories? Operationalization: The translation of a conceptual variable or construct into a variable that can be observed and measured. In order to test a theory, researchers must identify observable variables that reflect the conceptual variables or constructs of interest.

10. Psychology 30510 Examples of operationalizations: Construct: Physical health Operationalization: Heart rate, blood pressure, cholesterol levels Construct: Aggression Operationalization: Frequency and intensity of shocks given to a confederate Construct: Intelligence Operationalization: Scores on an IQ test

11. Psychology 30511 Theories Hypotheses Operationalizations Research Observations Interactive Relationship

12. Psychology 30512 Research Methods 1. Experimental Studies  Designed to examine cause and effect relationships between variables.  Range from simple to complex.  In simple experiments, there are only two levels of the hypothesized “causal” variable or independent variable (IV).

13. Psychology 30513  There are 4 steps involved in a simple experiment: (a) Participants are pretested on the hypothesized “effect” variable or dependent variable (DV). (b)Participants are randomly assigned to one of two groups. (c) The two groups receive different treatments. (d) The two groups are retested or posttested on the DV.

14. Psychology 30514 Pretest Group A Group B Random Assignment Treatment A Posttest A Simple Experiment Treatment B Posttest

15. Psychology 30515  Step (a) is often omitted. Advantage of conducting a pretest: Allows the researcher to ensure that random assignment was effective. Disadvantage of conducting a pretest: Pretest sensitization.

16. Psychology 30516  Steps (b) and (c) are necessary to establish causality. That is, participants must be randomly assigned to groups and there must be at least two levels of the IV included in the experiment. Random assignment of participants to multiple levels of an IV is referred to as manipulation of the IV.

17. Psychology 30517 2. Correlational Studies  Designed to examine the extent to which 2 variables covary.  The variables are not manipulated; instead, the naturally-occurring relationship between the variables is examined.

18. Psychology 30518  Correlations are typically measured by the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient (r).  r measures the extent to which a linear relationship exists between 2 variables.

19. Psychology 30519 Height Weight r = +1.00 Positive Linear Relationship

20. Psychology 30520 Criminal Activity Education Level Negative Linear Relationship r = -1.00

21. Psychology 30521 Exam Performance Anxiety Nonlinear or Curvilinear Relationship r = 0.00

22. Psychology 30522  An r = 0.00 would occur between two variables under the following conditions: (a) The relationship between the variables is curvilinear. (b)The variables are completely unrelated (e.g., intelligence and snow boarding ability) (c)The range of scores used for one or both variables was restricted.

23. Psychology 30523 Height Weight The Impact of Restricted Range on r Insufficient variability to allow for a correlation to emerge

24. Psychology 30524  Thus, the r between two variables may range in value from +1.00 to -1.00. Magnitude of r: strength of the relationship between the variables. Sign of r (+ vs. -): direction of the relationship between the variables.

25. Psychology 30525  In contrast to experiments, correlational studies do not allow researchers to determine causality.  A correlation between variables A and B may occur because: A causes B B causes A A third unmeasured variable accounts for the observed relationship between A and B—this is referred to as the third variable problem.

26. Psychology 30526 Example of the third variable problem: Self-Esteem Academic Performance Observed Relationship, r =.30 ?? Intelligence, Socioeconomic Status True Relationship True Relationship

27. Psychology 30527  Remedies for the third variable problem: (a) statistically control for the third variable (i.e., statistically hold the third variable constant for all participants). (b)experimentally control for the third variable (i.e., recruit participants whose scores on the third variable are identical).

28. Psychology 30528  Correlational studies allow the researcher to use the full range of scores on the variable of interest. Therefore, they do not result in loss of information due categorization of participants into experimental groups.

29. Psychology 30529 SubjectDepression Group NumberScore 6 3Low 928Low 130Low 1049Low 450Low ---------------------------- Median Split -------------------------- 251High 553High 867High 375High 788High Example of loss of information associated with categorization:

30. Psychology 30530 4. Case Studies  Involve the in-depth examination of the life of one person.  Assessment techniques include: Observation Interviews Administration of standard personality tests Analysis of written text

31. Psychology 30531 Ted Bundy, 1946 - 1989

32. Psychology 30532 Exercise: Application of Research Methods Construct: Happiness. Possible operationalizations: Measure of life satisfaction. Measure assessing the frequency and intensity with which participants experience positive emotions (e.g., joy, contentment, excitement). Number of times participants smile.

33. Psychology 30533 People experience happiness when they have successfully influenced others’ opinions. Experimental study. Hypothesis Ideal Research Method

34. Psychology 30534 Group A Group B Random Assignment Treatment A Posttest A Simple Experiment Treatment B Posttest Pretest

35. Psychology 30535 People experience happiness when they have successfully influenced others’ opinions. People who report extraordinarily high levels of happiness exhibit a unique constellation of personality characteristics. People who experience high levels of happiness tend to be more optimistic. Experimental study. Case study. Correlational study. Hypothesis Ideal Research Method

36. Psychology 30536 1.What is personality? 2.What is personality psychology? 3.Why study personality? 4.What is a theory? 5.How is research used to test theories? Questions That Were Answered in Today’s Lecture