Trait approaches

Question 1

When defining Personality, name the different theories that can approach this question:
(domains)

Answer 1

Biological domain
Intrapsychic domain
Cognitive-social learning domain
Personality trait domain

Question 2

Name the 3 Structures of the Human Mind according to The development of personality (Freud)

Answer 2

Id – pleasure principle born
Ego – reality principle 2-3yrs
Superego – morality or conscience 5+

Question 2

Given the broad definition of personality, what are the different levels of analysis (Kluckhohn & Murray, 1948)?

Answer 2

Human nature (i.e., universality).

Individual and group differences.

Individual uniqueness.

-Trait approach uses this (most dominant approach)
looks at what makes people similar to or different to others

Question 2

Which approach
-focuses on fundamental internal human instincts
or needs that shape individuals’ thoughts, emotions, behaviours
-sometimes outside of conscious awareness

Answer 2

Intrapsychic Domain

includes Freuds development of personality

Question 2

Which approach argues
-Human behaviour motivated by innate instincts
–drive for life (pleasure) and drive for destruction (aggression)

These instincts often lead to drives/urges that would be unacceptable within society.

Answer 2

Psychoanalytic approach (Freud)
Development of personality

-based on how each person resolves the conflicts differently between these instincts and living in a regulated civilized society.

• based on Darwin’s theory of natural selection (primal urges)

Question 2

Define characteristics of personality

(due to cognitive thought processes that underly behaviour)

Answer 2

Descriptions of character
Goals and ambitions
Values/ beliefs
Coping styles
Roles in social groups

Question 2

What is the most dominant approach in psychology?

Answer 2

Trait approach
-individual experiences someone has had with the environment and has changed the way they behave in a meaningful way

Question 2

Personality is driven by genetic differences within individuals is known as which domain?

Answer 2

Biological domain

Question 2

Internal mechanisms like Mental/ cognitive processes shape how we interact with the social world an example of which domain?

Answer 2

Intrapsychic domain

Question 2

Which domain focuses on the cognitive and social processes that shape the different outcomes individuals respond to in their environments (or the goals they strive to attain)?

Answer 2

Cognitive-social learning domain

Question 2

Freud argued personality development was linked to set stages of development.

When we get stuck at a stage of Psychosexual development, what does Freud argue happen to develop personality?

Answer 2

Freud argues that a healthy adult will have a balanced Ego and Superego
Weak ego and Hyperactive ID make adults have differences in personality

Conflict between the stages of development - we get stuck
eg. obsessive tidiness = conflict at phallic stage

Freud viewed the stages/ conflicts as universal
but the outcomes from resolving these conflicts shaped personality.

Question 3

Who and which approach argued each person has a unique hierarchy of needs that influences their perception of situations/ behaviours?

Answer 3

Murray (1938)
Motives and Personality

Personality can be viewed as differences between people in the strength and intensity of fundamental human needs.

Needs receiving most attention from researchers:
achievement
power
affiliation
autonomy

Question 3

The focus on learning the association between (direct) behaviour and outcomes (e.g., Skinner’s notion of operant conditioning) is an example of which domain?

Answer 3

Cognitive approach

Behaviours will be repeated and maintained if reinforced with desirable outcomes.

Human personality is due to differences between personal histories of reinforcement.

Question 3

Learning through watching others succeed or fail at tasks, and in reflecting on consequences of possible actions

Banduras, (1986) study is an example of which domain?

Answer 3

Cognitive-Social learning approach
-We are active reflective learners (not passive like behaviourists think)

Question 4

The Cognitive-Social learning approach argues that

We learn from watching other people, take the process on and how it may apply to the environment. Humans are ….. learners that exercise ……. over desired outcomes in their lives.

Answer 4

reflective learners
exercise control

Bandura (2001) individuals’ behaviour is determined by self-efficacy – the extent to which people believe they can exercise control over events in their lives.

vicarious- peer and equal constancy (at ur level)

Question 5

Cognitive-Social learning approach:
Self-Efficacy
Individuals differ in their levels of self-efficacy and this affects performance outcomes.

How is Self-efficacy enhanced?

Answer 5

Self-efficacy is enhanced via:

Mastery experiences
- successful past experiences

Vicarious experiences
– observation peer of equal competence succeed

Social persuasion
– encouragement from a credible person and behaviour is within one’s skill set.

Question 6

Which domain explains
-Personality is the set of psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual
-these are organised, influence their interactions
-social cognitive processes which underpin behaviour
very specific thought patterns which are reinforced by cognitive processes in addition to how the environment interacts with us
-can adapt to, the intrapsychic, physical, social environment?

Answer 6

Dispositional/ Personality Trait domain

-explains how we cope with these issues
-these are stable

-also has a biological domain of knowledge (tries to incorporate the intrapsychic and biological domains)

Question 6

Which approach identifies the fundamental and most important personality traits to examine how people differ from one another, by focusing on the origin, development, and maintenance of personality traits?

Answer 6

Trait Approach

Question 6

Name the properties of a Personality Trait Theory:
(biological basis remember)

EXAM

Answer 6

Temporal stability – relatively stable over time.

Cross-situational consistency – relatively consistent across different situations.

Internal (biological) basis attributed to within the person.

Predictive validity – traits should affect behaviour.

Minimal overlap of characteristics within traits.
should not be adding more similar traits they should all be distinctly different

Inter-individual differences.
should see a variance within people

Question 7

Name ways the Five ways to evaluate biological underpinning of traits:

EXAM

Answer 7

Physiological substrates

Hereditary or genetic contribution
blame parents for being neurotic, travels down generations
biological basis through genes

Similar traits in non-humans
other primate species may function similar
eg. living in social communities
some traits need to be more dominant and more agreeable (evolutionary advantage)

Cross cultural evidence
universal traits but expression may differ across cultures
eg. trait of extroversion should be universal

Temporal stability
what is consistent across time
correlations between traits from now and 5 years time

Question 7

Different theories take different views on the causality of personality traits.

Internal & causal

Answer 7

-behaviour is an expression of an internal (biological) trait.
-trait is direct cause for behaviour

Question 8

Different theories take different views on the causality of personality traits.

Descriptive summaries

Answer 8

–the trait describes an expressed behaviour, but no attributions of the cause are made (i.e., internal or external).

Question 9

What structure is this?

Answer 9

Personality Trait Structure

Question 9

Personality Trait Structure leads to what?

Answer 9

Behavioural Expression of Facets
Specific behavioural acts

Question 9

Personality vs. Situationism
Distinction between social and personality psychology

Key assumption in trait approach:
cross-situational consistency of behaviour.

Mischel (1968) reviewed the evidence and concluded that behavioural consistencies were not robustly observed.
What did Mischel claim?

Answer 9

Mischel claimed:
personality psychologists should focus on situationism

-explaining behaviour in terms of situational differences.

Question 10

Most psychologists now study behaviour as an interaction between personality traits and situations.
What approach is this?

Answer 10

Interactionism

Question 11

Personality traits are designed to predicted aggregated behaviours.

Interactionism can be expressed in terms of ‘if, then’ statements (Shoda, Mischel & Wright, 1994):

Name the equasion for behaviour

Answer 11

B = f(P x S)

behaviour = a function of personality x the situation

Question 12

Measurement of traits:
Self-report questionnaires are most common method.

Name the 3 methods for questionnaire development:

Answer 12

1 Lexical approach

2 Statistical approach

3 Theoretical approach

Question 12

What is the purpose of questionnaires in trait theory?

Answer 12

To measure how much people possess a specific trait.

Question 13

Measurement of traits:
Self-report questionnaires are most common method.
Which approach involves traits expressed in natural language?

Answer 13

1 Lexical approach

Question 13

Measurement of traits:
Self-report questionnaires are most common method.
Which approach uses factor analysis to identify clusters?

Answer 13

2 Statistical approach

Question 14

Issues with Self-Report Questionnaires

Answer 14

Carelessness when answering questions
-not reading the question closely enough
-add in stupid questions which are overtly disagree

Faking or concerns social desirability
-honesty exampler questions instead of ‘I am honest’

Barnum statements
-apply to everyone
-badly worded statement

Question 14

Measurement of traits:
Self-report questionnaires are most common method.
Which approach uses a priori theory on most important traits/ is a top down approach 4 trait these are what they are, the questionnaire is validated by answers?

Answer 14

3 Theoretical approach