1. Chapter 13: Personality Slides prepared by Randall E. Osborne, Texas State University-San Marcos, adapted by Dr Mark Forshaw, Staffordshire University, UK 1

2. Personality: What It Is and How It Is Measured 2

3. Personality — What It Is Personality — defined A taxonomic approach Psychologically meaningful differences Why are people different? –prior events –anticipated events 3

4. Personality — How It Is Measured Personality inventories Self-report Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Easy to administer –response style: hope people are honest –Validity affected by response 4

5. Personality — How It Is Measured Projective techniques –Rorschach Inkblot Test Problems? –always an interpretation –reliable in predicting behaviour? –valid in predicting behaviour? 5

6. The Trait Approach: Identifying Patterns of Behaviour 6

7. Personality —The Trait Approach A person’s special qualities? Gordon Allport (1937) — personality can be understood as a combination of traits Are the personalities of the two people, one with a tidy desk, one with an untidy one, likely to be different? Traits studied include defensiveness, sensation seeking, optimism 7

8. The Search for Core Traits How personality is represented in our language (synonyms) Factor analysis Hierarchical structure of traits 8

9. Eysenck’s Factor Analysis Identified two main dimensions –introversion/extraversion –emotional/stable Many tendencies can be understood as expressions of the interactions between these ‘core traits’ 9

10. The Big Five Dimensions of Personality Many factor analyses reveal the same “major” factors that seem to classify the personalities of most people The Big Five –Openness to experience –Conscientiousness –Extroversion –Agreeableness –Neuroticism 10

11. Traits as Biological Building Blocks Do immutable brain and biological processes produce the stability of personality? Brain changes do sometimes bring on personality changes — Phineas Gage Traits do seem to have a heritability component 11

12. Do Animals Have Personalities? Gosling (1998) studied spotted hyenas. He: –had human observers use personality scales to rate the different hyenas in the group –did a factor analysis on these findings –found five dimensions three closely resembled the Big Five traits of neuroticism, openness to experience, and agreeableness 12

13. Traits in the Brain Reticular formation of extraverts may not be as easily stimulated as that of introverts Gray (1970) suggests extraversion/ introversion and neuroticism reflect differences in two basic brain systems: –behavioral activation system (BAS) –behavioral inhibition system (BIS) 13

14. The Psychodynamic Approach: Forces That Lie Beneath Awareness 14

15. Psychodynamic Approach Freud and “psychopathologies of everyday life” Freudian slips Psychodynamic approach –dynamic unconscious 15

16. Psychodynamic Approach — Structure of Personality Three independent, interacting, and often conflicting systems Id — present at birth –pleasure principle Ego — acquired through contact with reality –reality principle Superego — learned from caregivers –morality principle 16

17. Psychodynamic Approach — Dealing with Inner Conflicts Anxiety as a driving force Defence mechanisms –Unconscious coping mechanisms to reduce anxiety from unacceptable impulses –repression as “motivated forgetting?” –decreased activity in hippocampus during memory suppression 17

18. Psychodynamic Approach — Defence Mechanisms Rationalization Reaction formation Projection Regression Displacement Identification Sublimation 18

19. Psychodynamic Approach — Personality Development Psychosexual stages of development Personality formed by age 6 through crucial experiences Fixation Oedipus conflict 19

20. The Humanistic- Existential Approach: Personality as Choice 20

21. Humanistic-Existential Approach Healthy choices Self-actualising tendency Hierarchy of needs Peak experiences Conditions for growth –unconditional positive regard (Rogers) 21

22. Personality as Existence Rollo May & Victor Frankl — looked at specific aspects of human existence –awareness of our own existence –ability to make choices Finding meaning in life –existential dread (if I can think about life, I realise that I will die!) –mortality salience (worldview defence) 22

23. The Social Cognitive Approach: Personalities in Situations 23

24. Personalities in Situations Social cognitive approach –social psychology –cognitive psychology –learning theory Situations cause behaviour, too… 24

25. Consistency of Personality across Situations Person-situation controversy Mischel (1968) –measured personality traits do a poor job of predicting behaviour Kelly (1955) — people view the social world from different perspectives Personal constructs are key to personality differences –can have the same traits but won’t act the same way if your perspective is different 25

26. Personal Goals and Expectancies Person’s unique perspective is reflected in personal goals Outcome expectancies Rotter (1966)—locus of control 26

27. Personal Goals and Expectancies Answer: A more internal locus of control would be reflected in choosing options 1b, 2b, 3a and 4a 27

28. The Self: Personality in the Mirror 28

29. The Self Learn to recognize ourselves in the mirror by about 18 months Self-concept –William James —“I” (self as knower) and “Me” (self as known) Self-esteem Self-concept organisation –self-narrative 29

30. The Self in the Brain Self-schemas What happens in the brain when something has “self-relevance?” Medial prefrontal cortex becomes active Activation stronger when judging their own standing on traits than when judging that of others 30

31. 31 Causes and Effects of Self- Concept George Herbert Mead (1934) — generalised other Self-verification — prefer and seek “consistent” feedback Allows personality to become self-sustaining

32. 32 Self-Esteem Sources of self-esteem: –Being accepted and valued by others –self-evaluations –social comparisons –actual versus ideal self

33. 33 Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale

34. Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale: Answers Scoring: For items 1,3,4,7 and 10, SA=3, A=2, D=1, SD=0; for items 2,5,6, 8 and 9, the scoring is reversed, with SA=0, A=1, D=2, SD=3. The higher the total score, the higher one’s self-esteem 34

35. Self-Esteem Desire for self-esteem –a basic need? Self-serving bias –“I did the good things, but I wasn’t responsible for when it all went wrong…” Narcissism –“It’s al about me…” 35