5 Flashcards
(43 cards)
What is personality?
emphasis on characteristic or consistent ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving
Different definitions of personality in textbooks:
A dynamic organization, inside the person, of psychosocial systems that create the person’s characteristic patterns of behavior, thoughts, and feelings
Characteristic patterns
Relatively enduring and that influence his/her interactions with, and adaptations to, the intrapsychic, physical , and social environments
The five factor model
Product of decades of research by dozens of independent groups of researchers
The most widely accepted taxonomy of personality traits to date
Identifies 5 dimensions/ “superordinate” personality traits that encompasses the diversity of traits in the english language, OCEAN
In general_______ are associated with postiive outcomes in life
OCEA
___ is associated with negative outcomes
N is correlated with negative outcomes
what is associated with More positive life events
O, E
Ie: getting married, getting high grades
what is associated with greater physical health and longer lifespan
C
People high in C are more likely to engage in good health practices (ie get blood work done, get yearly checkups, good diet, regular exercise)
what is associated with lower levels of depression
A
what is associated with poorer physical health and a shorter lifespan
People who are high in N are using poorer coping methods for stress (ie using drugs, alcohol for stress, cease physical activity, and carry excessive weight)
Individuals low in ___ and high in____ are 3x more likely to develop alzheimer’s
low in C and high in N
Increase of half standard deviation of N in one decade have a 40% greater likelihood of dying over the next 18 years
When assessing changes in personality traits across time, researchers use two indices:
mean level change
rank order consistency
Mean-level change
for a given personality trait, the degree to which a sample’s mean score changes across time (ie: mean score for the sample at time 1 vs. time 2)
Rank-order consistency
for a given personality trait, the stability of participant’s rank order within a sample across time (ie: participants with relatively low scores at time 1 have relatively low scores at time 2)
Test-retest correlations reflects the rank order consistency
If test-retest correlation is high, the rank order consistency is high, there are not many shifts in the rank order over time
With respect to FFM, research indicates that personality exhibits both mean-level change and rank order consistency across the life-span
Mean Level changes in FFM:
extraversion
Extraversion have been split into 2 categories:
1)social vitality(slight increase very early in life, and decreases in 20’s and declines toward older adulthood)
Qualities tied to our gregariousness and energy (ie: friendly, positive affect, energetic)
2)social dominance (steady incline in earlier years of life- young adulthood, largely plateaus in 40’s)
Extent to which we exhibit confidence in context of social interactions (ie: dominance, independent, autonomous)
mean level change in A
Increase over age of 60
mean level change in C
continuing to increase over lifespan
mean level chnage in Emotional stability (lOW N)
high increase from 20-30, then somewhat plateaus
mean level change in o
relatively stable after adolescence, and then decline in older adulthood
Mean level change reflect the ____principle
maturity
maturity principle
as we age we become more conscientious, dominant (component of E), agreeable, and emotionally stable (inverse of N)
Life experience forces us to adapt well to our lives
Rank order consistency of personality traits for different age groups (Roberts and delvecchio, 2000)
As we progress through life span, our rank order constituency tends to increase; we show less change in our ordinal position within population
Rank order consistency reflects increasing stability: as we age our relative scores on 5 dimensions become more stable
There is still probability for our levels to shift on 5 dimensions later in life despite the claim that our personality does not shift after age 30
In addition to scores on 5 dimensions, researchers have identified 4 personality types related to FFM:
Average: average on all 5 dimensions
Reserved: Low in O and N
Role Model: Low in N, high in O,C,E,A,; more common in older adults
Self-centered: High in E, Low in O,C,and A; more common in younger adults
