Class 7: Personality (Part 1)

Question 1

Personality is define as…

Answer 1

distinctive qualities that characterize an individual, are relatively stable over time and across situations, and influence how a person thinks feels and behaves in relationships

Question 2

History (Lewis Terman)
1877-1956

Answer 2

Published a paper in 1935 called “Personality Factors in Marial Compatibility

One of the first of its kind to try to distinguish happy from unhappy couples

Question 3

What are some of the main personality variables assessed in relationship science?

Answer 3

1. Attachment Styles
2. Self-Esteem
3. Big 5

Question 4

Personality Attachment Style Researchers

Answer 4

John Bowlby (1907-1999)
British psychologist - book on attachment theory

Question 5

Influential figures for John Bowlby (Developed attachment theory)

Answer 5

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
- Psychosexual theory of attachment
- General idea that we learn to love from out parents
- Love ones become a part of out self concept

Konrad Lorenz (1903-1989)
- Ethologist (1953) imprinting work - attachment is instinctual (geese)
- Bowlby thought because of this that attachment is adaptive

Harry Harlow (1905-1981)
- Peer and friend
- Discovered that monkeys had a need for comfort, and not just food

Question 6

Measuring attachment in infants
Mary Ainsworth (1913-1999)

Answer 6

Extended attachment theory to focus on individual differences

Based on her work with children and the strange situation task

Question 7

Measuring Attachments in infants - Strange Situation Task (1969)

Answer 7

8 episodes of separation and reunion
ADD IMAGE

Question 8

Strange Situation Task - Mary Ainsowrth

Answer 8

1. Normal to cry and stop when parent returns (Secure Attachment)
2. Warry of stingers more than usual (Ambivalent Attachment)
3. Avoids parents when they return Avoidant attachment
4. Confusion and apprehension when parent returen
   (Disordered Attachment)

Question 9

Secure Attachment

Answer 9

Parent is secure base for exploration

Protest when parent leaves

Comforted by the stranger but has a clear preference for caregiver

Question 10

Insecure: Avoidant/Dismissive

Answer 10

Little affective sharing in play

Little or no distress when caregiver leaves

Little or no reaction when caregiver returns

Treats the stranger similar to the cargiver

Question 11

Insecure: Ambivilant/Resistant

Answer 11

Predicts passive withdrawal from peers in the school environment

The child is unable to use the caregiver as a secure base

Really distressed when they leave (Moreso than others)

Anger when caregiver returns

Harder to calm down from stranger

Question 12

Insecure: Disordered

Answer 12

The child is unable to use caregiver as a secure base

Remains confused as to how to meet there need.

May become passive unresponsive or angry

Question 13

Attachment styles are rooted in…

Answer 13

their environment

Question 14

Attachment: Infants to adults
Hazen & Shaver (1987)

Answer 14

published paper called “Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process”

Applied attachment theory to adult romantic relationships

Proposed that people have ‘internal working models’
- Carried from infancy to adulthood
- Affect romantic relationships

Focused on three types (dropped the disordered type)

Question 15

Adult Attachment Styles
Hazer & Shaver (1987)

Answer 15

Questionnaire was posted in the newspaper to determine adult attachment styles

A._____I am somewhat uncomfortable being close to others; I find it difficult to trust them completely, difficult to allow myself to depend on them. I am nervous when anyone gets too close, and often, others want me to be more intimate that I feel comfortable being.
B. _____I find it relatively easy to get close to others and am comfortable depending on them and having them depend on me. I don’t worry about being abandoned or about someone getting too close to me.
C. _____I find that others are reluctant to get as close as I would like. I often worry that my partner doesn’t really love me or won’t stay with me. I want to get very close to my partner, and this sometimes scares people away.

Question 16

How has the measurement of adult attachment styles changed?

Answer 16

Dr. Chris Fraley - created a handy summary of the measurement of attachment styles

Question 17

Revised Hazen & Shaver (1987)

Answer 17

They added a Likert scale to to the different attachment style statements - indicating how much you agree to it

Question 18

Adult Attachment Styles: 4 types of internal working models based on two dimensions
Bartholomew & Horowitz (1991)

Answer 18

Question 19

Adult Attachment Styles: 4 types of internal working models based on two dimensions
Bartholomew & Horowitz (1991)

Questions

Answer 19

Question 20

Bartholomew & Horowitz: Secure

Answer 20

Positive self view and other model

Have and ability to become emotionally close to others

They are comfortable depending on others and having others depending on them

They are also comfortable being independent and autonomous

Question 21

Bartholomew & Horowitz: Preoccupied

Answer 21

Positive other, negative self model

A need to be emotionally intimate with others and fear of being alone

Have a hard time trusting their partner and fear their partner will leave them

This is sometimes referred to as “clingy” behaviors in relationships

Question 22

Bartholomew & Horowitz: Dismissing

Answer 22

Positive Self, negative other model

Maintain their distance in relationships

Need distance, space, and minimal intimacy

Often feel uncomfortable being too close to another person

Question 23

Bartholomew & Horowitz: Fearful

Answer 23

Negative self and other model

Being uncomfortable getting too close to others, however wanting to be close to others at the same time

Difficulty trusting others and fearful of getting hurt

Intense need for love and connection, comparable to individuals with anxious attachment

Also have a fear of emotional closeness and intimacy, similar to avoidant attachment

Question 24

Experiences in Close Relationships (ECR)
Brennan et al. (1998)

Answer 24

36 item questionnaire
2 dimensions
Anxiety: Fear of abandonment/rejection

Avoidance: Fear of depending on others

Question 25

Experience in Close Relationships Revised (ECR-R) Fraley, Waller, & Bennan (2000)

Answer 25

36 item questionnaire 2 dimensions Anxiety: Fear of abandonment/rejection Avoidance: Fear of depending on others

Question 26

Fraley et al. (2006) ECR-RS

Answer 26

Designed to assess anxiety and avoidance across several distinct relationships, including relationships with parents, partners, and friends Shorter measure

Question 27

How is relationship initiation shaped by attachment styles?

Question 28

Perceiving a date's attachment style and dating interest Tu et al. (2022) RESEARCH OBJECTIVE/QUESTIONS

Answer 28

Examined perceptions of attachment style and dating interest using a speed-dating design Two research questions: 1) Do people accurately perceive a date's attachment anxiety or avoidance? 2) Is the accurate perception of date's attachment anxiety or avoidance associated with dating interest?

Question 29

Perceiving a date's attachment style and dating interest Tu et al. (2022) DESIGN

Answer 29

Used a mix-gender, speed dating study with 16 speed-daters engaging in over a dozen 3-minute dates pre registered study

Question 30

Perceiving a date's attachment style and dating interest Tu et al. (2022) METHOD

Answer 30

Participants first completed measure of attachment styles After each speed date, dating interest and perceived attachment style was measured Dating interest - How interested in this date are you romantically? -How interested in this date are you sexually?

Question 31

Perceiving a date's attachment style and dating interest Tu et al. (2022) RESULTS

Answer 31

People accurately perceived dates attachment anxiety, but not their attachment avoidance Perceiving a date as more anxiously or avoidantly attached was associated with less dating interest Accurate perceptions of anxious attachment were associated with less dating interest

Question 32

Attachment styles & Attractiveness as predictors of mate choice Poulsen et al., (2013) RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

Answer 32

Assessed the role of attachment styles AND physical attractiveness for mate choice variables

Question 33

Attachment styles & Attractiveness as predictors of mate choice Poulsen et al., (2013) METHOD

Answer 33

Tracked a sample of 242 young adults who were initially single over 32 weeks The researchers measured: - Physical attractiveness (as rated by research assistance based on photo) - Attachment anxiety and avoidance - Each week, participants asked mate choice (i.e., dating status) questions: -first date?, second dates? in a relationship? broke up?

Question 34

Attachment styles & Attractiveness as predictors of mate choice Poulsen et al., (2013) RESULTS

Answer 34

Securely attached AND more attractive people had fewer dateless weeks, had more dates (first and second) and more likely to be in a relationship Secure attachment helped above and beyond physical attractiveness

Question 35

Playing 'hard to get' and attachment styles Bowen & Gillath, 2020 OBJECTIVE

Answer 35

examined associations between attachment style and 'hard to get' (HtG) strategies in relationship initiation.

Question 36

Playing 'hard to get' and attachment styles Bowen & Gillath, 2020 RESULTS

Answer 36

women (vs. men) reported more playing HtG Men (vs. women) reported pursuing more HtG partners People higher on attachment (vs. lower) on attachment avoidance reported playing more HtG People higher (vs lower) on attachment anxiety reported more pursuing of HtG others.

Question 37

Attachment Anxiety and relational opportunities McClure & Lydon (2014) DESIGN AND OBJECTIVE

Answer 37

Examined the role of attachment styles and relational opportunities in initial encounters ~100 single, heterosexual people were recruited to participate in an hour long study Participants were presented with a relational opportunity in the form of a semi-structured 40-min interaction with an attractive, friendly, single , preferred-sex confederate

Question 38

Attachment Anxiety and relational opportunities McClure & Lydon (2014) PROCEDURE

Answer 38

Single participants came into a lab furnished like a living room Interacted with another participant (actually a preferred sex confederate who was attractive, friendly, single) Cover story was that the researchers were interested in how people might together form an impression of a third party Confederate and participants engage in a semi-stuctured task together for 40 minutes (while being video taped). As part of the cover story, they watcher videos of others and provided ratings together. They also completed a measure of attachment styles (modified ECR

Question 39

Attachment Anxiety and relational opportunities McClure & Lydon (2014) OUTCOME MEASURES

Answer 39

Rating (from research assistants) in terms of... 1) How much would you like to be friends with the participant? 2) how much would you like to date the participant? Interpersonal displays of manifest anxiety and social withdrawl

Question 40

Attachment Anxiety and relational opportunities McClure & Lydon (2014) RESULTS

Answer 40

Ratings (from research assistants) in terms of interpersonal outcomes - Attachment anxiety was associated with negative interpersonal outcomes (i.e., less likely to want to be friends, less likely to want to date) [as rated by the research assistants] Interpersonal displays of manifest anxiety and social withdrawal assessed for attachment anxiety - The negative displays and outcomes associated with attachment anxiety were expressed behaviorally as verbal disfluencies and interpersonal awkwardness (e.g., silences, awkward pauses) - No affect for social withdrawal Results were maintained after controlling for physical attractiveness of the participants [as rated by the research assistants]