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PSYC 321 > Chapter 3 - Traits > Flashcards

Chapter 3 - Traits Flashcards

1
Q

What is the Dispositional Domain?

A

-aspects of personality that are stable over time; relatively consistent over situations; make people different from each other
-2 basic formulations:
1.traits as internal causal properties
2. traits as purely descriptive summaries

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2
Q

What is a trait (as internal causal properties)?

A

-traits are internal: individuals carry their desires, needs, and wants from one situation to the next
-desires/needs are causal: explain behaviour of individual who posses them
-traits lie dormant: capacities are present even when behaviours are not expressed

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3
Q

What are 2 problems with assuming causal?

A

-internal aspects the person might not be aware of;
-in different situations we might not notice (context matters)

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4
Q

What is a trait (purely descriptive summaries)?

A

-traits are descriptive summaries of attributes: no assumption about internality/no deep-seated trait; nor is causality assumed
-first identify/describe individual differences: subsequently develop casual theories to explain them

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5
Q

What are the 3 approaches to identifying relevant traits?

A
  1. Lexical approach
  2. Theoretical approach
  3. Statistical apporach
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6
Q

What is the Lexical Approach?

A

-starts with lexical hypothesis: all important individual differences have become encoded within the language
-which words we use are important

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7
Q

What are the 2 criteria of the Lexical Approach to identify important traits?

A
  1. Synonym frequency
  2. Cross-cultural universality
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8
Q

What are the problems and limitations of the Lexical Approach?

A

-many traits are ambiguous, metaphorical, obscure, or difficult
-personality is conveyed through different parts of speech
-good starting point for identifying important individual differences but shouldn’t be used exclusively

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9
Q

What is the Theoretical Approach?

A

-starts with a theory, which then determines which variables are important
-contrasts the statistical approach which is atheoretical

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10
Q

What is the Statistica Approach?

A

-starts with large/diverse pool of personality items
-researchers using lexical turn to statistical to distill ratings of trait adjectives into basic categories of traits
-goal: identify major dimensions of personality
-researchers often use factor analysis to correlate responses into clusters

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11
Q

What is factor analysis?

A

-identifies groups of items that covary or go together, but don’t covary with other groups of items
-provides means for determining which personality variables belong within the same group
-reduces the large array of diverse traits into smaller, more useful set of underlying factors

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12
Q

What are the Taxonomies of Personality?

A

-Gordon Allport
-Hans Eysenck’s Hierarchical Model of Personality
-Raymond Cattell’s Taxonomy: the 16 personality factor system
-circumplex taxonomies of personality: the Wiggins Circumplex
-Five-Factor Model
-The HEXACO Model

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13
Q

Did Allport agree with Freud?

A

-he did not agree with psychoanalytic perspective of personality
-not everything is a repressed memory from childhood

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14
Q

What were Allport’s views?

A

-virtually impossible to define personality in precise terms
-“personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his characteristic behaviour and thought”
–components are interconnected; continually evolving and changing
-although situational influences have an effect, it is the individual’s perception of the situation that influences their behaviour and thoughts

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15
Q

What is the Humanistic Theory?

A

-a theory that emphasizes the dignity and worth of a person
-gives people the benefit of the doubt; doing the best they can
-people are in a state of becoming: a developmental process involving movement towards self-actualization

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16
Q

What does a trait in action look like?

A

-stimuli is processed through the trait which results in a specific behaviour/response

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17
Q

What are the 3 trait classifications (in order of influence)?

A

-cardinal traits
-central traits
-secondary traits

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18
Q

What is a Cardinal trait?

A

-characteristics that serve as the motivating force for virtually all of an individual’s behaviour.
-ex: power; empathy
-some don’t have a cardinal trait

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19
Q

What is a Central trait?

A

-characteristics that control an individual’s behaviour in many situations, but are less comprehensive than cardinal traits.
-ex: intelligent; sincere; kind
-everyone has central traits; they impact decision-making but less than cardinal traits

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20
Q

What is a Secondary trait?

A

-peripheral characteristics that exert little control over a person’s behaviour (personal preferences)
-ex: likes dessert more than dinner; preference of vacation spots

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21
Q

What are 2 trait distinctions?

A

-common: dispositions shared with others.
-personal disposition: traits unique to the individual.

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22
Q

What is Nomothetic?

A

-approach to the study of behaviour that seeks to establish laws by specifying the general relationships between variables.

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23
Q

What is Idiographic?

A

-approach to the study of behaviour that seeks to understand the uniqueness of a specific individual through intensive investigation.

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24
Q

What are the criticisms of Allport’s Trait Theory?

A

-did not have much impact outside of psychology
-difficult to focus on uniqueness of individual rather than generalizable traits
-too few traits

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25
Q

What was Raymond Cattell’s goal?

A

-his goal was to identify and measure the basic units of personality
-believed true factors of personality should be found across different types of data (L data; Q-data; T-data)

26
Q

What are the 2 techniques for factor analysis?

A

-R technique: used to infer underlying source traits in large subject populations. (nomothetic)
-P technique: permits assessment of the unique trait structure of an individual. (idiographic)

27
Q

What is the role of Heredity and Environment?

A

-both biology and learning affect the development of traits

28
Q

What is Classical Conditioning?

A

-type of learning in which a stimulus that is originally incapable of evoking a response becomes capable of evoking it after continued pairing of this stimulus with one that naturally produces the response.

29
Q

What is Instrumental/Operant Conditioning?

A

-type of learning in which the presentation of a rewarding or punishing stimulus is made contingent on the occurrence of a response or behaviour

30
Q

What is integration learning?

A

-type of learning in which people utilize their reasoning abilities and value systems to maximize the attainment of long-range goals.

31
Q

What is Cattell’s 16 Personality Factor System/Test?

A

-factor-analytically derived questionnaire designed to measure the primary or basic underlying traits of personality.

32
Q

What are the major criticisms of Cattell’s Taxonomy?

A

-other researchers failed to replicate the 16 factors
-a smaller number of factors captures important ways in which individuals differ
-Cattell was a eugenicist

33
Q

What are Restrictive Eugenics?

A

-program to reduce the birth rate of the mentally handicapped; Cattell advocated this program in the belief that such individuals are a costly burden to society and slow its evolutionary growth

34
Q

What are Creative Eugenics?

A

-program designed to increase the birth rate of more intelligent people in the belief that such individuals will develop sounder ethical values and contributes more to society’s well being

35
Q

What is Eysenck’s Hierarchical Model of Personality?

A

-based on traits that Eysenck believed were highly heritable with a psychophysiological foundation
-3 Supertraits met criteria:
1. Extraversion-Introversion (E)
2. Neuroticism-Emotional Stability (N)
3. Psychoticism (P)

36
Q

What is the Hierarchical Structure of Eysenck’s model?

A

-super traits (P,E,N) at the top
-narrower traits at the second level
-subsumed by each narrower trait is the 3rd level (habitual acts)
-at the lowest level of the four-tiered hierarchy are specific acts

37
Q

What are the Biological Underpinnings of Eysenck’s model?

A

-key criteria for “Basic” Dimensions of Personality:
-P,E,N have moderate heritability
-identifiable physiological substrate

38
Q

What are the limitations of Eysenck’s model?

A

-many other personality traits show moderate heritability
-Eysenck may have missed important traits

39
Q

What is Wiggins’ Circumplex Taxonomies of Personality?

A

-developed measurement scales to assess traits
-started with lexical assumption
-argues that trait terms specify different kinds of ways in which individuals differ: interpersonal, temperament, character, material, attitude, mental, and physical
-concerned with interpersonal traits and carefully separated these out
-two resources that define social exchanges are love and status

40
Q

What are 3 key advantages of the Wiggins Circumplex?

A

-provides an explicit definition of what constitutes “interpersonal” behaviour
-specifies relationships between each trait and every other trait in the model (adjacency, bipolarity, orthogonality)**
-alerts investigators to “gaps” in work on interpersonal behaviour

41
Q

What are key limitations of the Wiggins Circumplex?

A

-interpersonal map is limited to two dimensions
-other traits may have important interpersonal consequences

42
Q

What is the Five Factor Model?

A

five broad factors
-originally based on the combination of lexical and statistical approaches
-has achieved a greater degree of consensus than any other trait taxonomy in the history of personality trait psychology

43
Q

What are Facets (Big Five)?

A

-because the Big Five are big, they include several subcategories of traits, called facets (we don’t score high on all facets)
-helps view diversity of characteristics within each larger grouping
-helps avoid common misunderstandings about the traits

44
Q

What are the five factors (OCEAN/CANOE)?

A

-Openness-intellect/Openness to Experience (O)
-Conscientiousness (C)
-Extraversion (surgency) (E)
-Agreeableness (A)
-Neuroticism/Emotional Stability (N)

45
Q

What are the traits of Openness-intellect/Openness to Experience?

A

-being interested in trying new activities; playing with new ideas, beliefs, and value systems
-fantasy prone; open to feelings; open to diverse behaviours; open to new/different ideas; open to various values and beliefs; vivid fantasy life; artistic sensitivity; deep feelings; behavioural flexibility; intellectual curiosity; unconventional attitudes

46
Q

What are high openness people like?

A

-enjoy trying new things
-play with complex ideas
-consider alternative perspectives and value systems
-tend to be creative
-tend to be politically liberal and interested in social activism

47
Q

What are low openness people like?

A

-prefer routine
-value the status quo
-favour traditional and conventional activities
-tend to be politically conservative

48
Q

What are the traits/facets of Conscientiousness?

A

-organized, ambitious, and self-controlled
-competent; orderly; dutiful; achievement-oriented; self-disciplines; deliberate

49
Q

What are people high in conscientiousness like?

A

-have high levels of will power
-are organized
-work hard toward goals despite distractions or boredom
-have good mental and physical health
-have academic and professional success

50
Q

What are people low in conscientiousness like?

A

-are impulsive
-are easily distracted
-have less ambition
-are unorganized
-tend to give up easily
-are more likely to engage in drug and alcohol abuse, crime, risky sex, and gambling

51
Q

What are the traits/facets of Extraversion?

A

-being outgoing and experiencing positive
-gregarious; warm; assertive; active; excitement-seeking; positive emotionality

52
Q

What are some characteristics of Extraversion?

A

-linked to better mental health
-Americans score above average on extraversion
-personality traits vary regionally
-most people are both extraverted and introverted in different settings

53
Q

What are the traits of Agreeableness?

A

-caring for others and having a good relationship with other people
-straightforward; altruistic; compliant; trusting; modest; tender-minded

54
Q

What are agreeable people like?

A

-are trusting and sympathetic
-prefer cooperation to competition
-tend to be honest, forthright, humble, self-efficacing, and compliant
-tend to be good friends and caring romantic partners
-linked to better mental health

55
Q

What are disagreeable people like?

A

-skeptical, cynical, dishonest, aggressive, grandiose, egocentric, manipulative, and callous
-more likely to be involved with crime, risky sex, drug abuse, and other antisocial behaviour
-likely to have a hostile attribution bias

56
Q

What are the traits/facets of Neuroticism?

A

-experiencing negative emotions like worry and anger
-anxiety; angry hostility; depression; self-consciousness; impulsiveness; vulnerability

57
Q

What are people high in neuroticism like?

A

-are more likely to take medications, drink alcohol or take drugs to improve mood
-more prone to mental health issues including: depression; anxiety disorders; personality disorders; substance abuse disorders; eating disorders
-prone to physical health issues including: heart issues; obesity; irritable bowel syndrome

58
Q

What is the empirical evidence for the Five-Factor Model?

A

-replicable in studies using English language trait words as items
-found by more than a dozen researchers using different samples
-replicated in different languages
-replicated in every decade for the past half century
-replicated using different item formats

59
Q

Are the Big Five distinct categories or a continuum?

A

-very few people score at one extreme or the other
-most are somewhere in between
-the Big Five components are on a continuum
-some Big Five traits are weakly correlated with others

60
Q

What is the HEXACO Model?

A

-similar to Big Five, but posits slightly different versions of some of the traits
-key differences:
–honesty-humility as a sixth dimension
–the inclusion of anger under agreeableness rather than emotionality

61
Q

What are other possible traits?

A

-still debates on exact number and composition of traits that are most important
-other traits capturing interesting aspects of our behaviour: need for achievement; need for cognition; authoritarianism; self-esteem; optimism; alexithymia

62
Q

What is the Dark Triad?

A

-three traits associated with disruptions and transgressions in social relationships
1. Machiavellianism
2. Narcissism
3. Subclinical psychopathy

PSYC 321 (11 decks)

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