Week 4 (Trait theories of Personality and Biological Influences)

Question 1

Definition of traits

Answer 1

Higher levels description of people’s thoughts, attitudes, and behaviours, that remain relatively stable across the lifespan.

Question 2

Definition of facets

Answer 2

Components of traits that tend to be more specific than traits that tend to become more of less relevant depending on the situation.

Question 3

Definition of characteristics

Answer 3

Temporal moments of facets that tend to be associated with the physical acts of facets.

Question 4

Idiographic Vs Nomothetic

Answer 4

Idiographic
-Focuses on recognition of uniqueness
-Uses subjective experiences
-Based on the study of uniqueness of the individual

Nomothetic
-Attempts to generalise people
-Uses objective knowledge
-Based on numerical data or data that can be categorised

Question 5

Definition of Idiographic approach

Answer 5

The study of one individual without comparing them with any other

Question 6

Definition of Nomothetic approach

Answer 6

Describes personality in terms of sets of dimensions (traits) that can be applied to other people (via quantitative methods)

Question 7

What did Hippocrates and Galen theorise about personality?

Answer 7

That there are different classifications of human “temperaments”, or personality, linked to the elements (and bodily fluids)

Question 8

What does the Choleric classification of personality mean (Hippocrates and Galen)

Answer 8

Yellow bile
-Determined, quick to act, fiery, energetic, passionate

Question 9

What does the Sanguine classification of personality mean (Hippocrates and Galen)

Answer 9

Blood
-Warm hearted, outgoing, volatile, optimistic, cheerful

Question 10

What does the Phlegmatic classification of personality mean (Hippocrates and Galen)

Answer 10

Phlegm
-Slow, patient, calm, quiet, shy, rational, consistent

Question 11

What does the Melancholic classification of personality mean (Hippocrates and Galen)

Answer 11

Black Bile
-Serious, anxious, quiet, fearful, depressed, poetic, artistic, sad.

Question 12

What did Persian polymath Avicenna add to Hippocrates and Galen’s classification of personality.

Answer 12

-emotional aspects
-mental capacity
-moral attitudes
-self-awareness, movements and dreams

Question 13

What did William Sheldon theorise about personality

Answer 13

Somatotypes (types of physique)

Question 14

What are the traits of the endomorph somatotype

Answer 14

-Sociable
-Peaceful
-Tolerant
-Large body

Question 15

What are the traits of the mesomorph somatotype

Answer 15

-Assertive
-Proactive
-Vigorous
-Muscular

Question 16

What are the traits of the ectomorph somatotype

Answer 16

-Insecure
-Sensitive
-Delicate
-Weak muscles

Question 17

What did Gordon Allport theorise about personality

Answer 17

-Suggested that people who were raised within similar cultures would most likely have the same, or similar common traits.

Cardinal traits:
-Traits that dominate/ Shape behaviour

Central traits:
-Basic building blocks of your personality

Secondary traits
-Variable traits such as the likes and dislikes

Question 18

What were the different types of data that Raymond Cattell collected?

Answer 18

-L-data: life records
-Q-data: questionnaires
-T-data: lab observations and testing

Question 19

What questionnaire did Raymond Cattell develop?

Answer 19

The 16 personality factor (16PF) questionnaire

Question 20

Source traits and Surface traits (Raymond Cattell)

Answer 20

Surface traits: collections of trait descriptors that cluster together
Source traits: identified via factor analysis and refers to underlying trait that is responsible for the variance in these observable surface traits.

Question 21

Hans Eysenck, three basic personality dimensions

Answer 21

1. Extroversion - Introversion
2. Neuroticism - Stability
3. Aggressiveness/ egocentricity - self control (Psychopathy)

Question 22

Extroversion to Introversion dimension (Eysenck)

Answer 22

-Interactivity with others
-Extraverts seen as sociable and impulsive who love excitement
-Introverts seen as quiet, introspective individual who prefer well-ordered life

Question 23

Neuroticism to Stability dimension (Eysenck)

Answer 23

-Measure of emotional behaviours
-Neurotics were seen as emotionally unstable individuals with unreasonable fears and obsessional symptoms.

Question 24

Biological bases of extraversion trait

Answer 24

-Lower level of cortisol arousal
-Highly-extraverted people are naturally less stimulated, so they seek it out

Question 25

Biological bases of Neuroticism trait

Answer 25

-More reactive limbic (nervous) system -Highly N individuals are more sensitive to environmental stimuli

Question 26

Biological bases of psychoticism

Answer 26

-Low levels of dopamine -Vulnerability to inhibit irrelevant stimuli and impaired learning of societal rules

Question 27

What are the three dimensions to temperaments

Answer 27

-Emotionality -Activity -Sociability

Question 28

What are the 5 components of "The Big Five"

Answer 28

-Openness to experience -Conscientiousness -Extraversion -Agreeableness -Neuroticism

Question 29

What is "openness to experience" in the big five

Answer 29

-Involves characteristics of showing intellectual curiosity, divergent thinking and a willingness to consider new ideas and an active imagination High scorers: -Unconventional -Independent -Imaginative -Prefer variety Low scorers: -Conventional -Conforming -Down to earth -Prefer familiarity

Question 30

What is "conscientiousness" in the big five

Answer 30

-This dimension describes the degree of self-discipline, control and the active process of planning, organising, and carry out tasks. High scorers -Well-organised -Careful -Self-disciplined -Determined Low scorers: -Disorganised -Careless -Weak-willed -Easily distracted

Question 31

What is "extraversion" in the big five

Answer 31

-This factor represents a measure of individuals sociability , assertiveness, and activity High scorers: -Sociable -Fun-loving -Affectionate -Energetic -Optimistic -Assertive Low scorers: -Retiring -Sover -Reserved -Even-paced -Independent

Question 32

What is "agreeableness" in the big five

Answer 32

-This dimension indicates characteristics that are relevant for social interactions, such as traits for altruism and cooperativeness High scorers -Soft-hearted -Trusting -Helpful -Sympathetic Low scorers -Antagonistic -Suspicious -Unhelpful -Uncooperative

Question 33

What is "neuroticism" in the big five

Answer 33

-This dimension measure's individual's emotional stability and personal adjustment and tendency to experience negative affect, such as fear, sadness, embarrassment, anger, guilt and disgust. High scorers -Worried -Insecure -Self-pitying -Anxious Low scorers -Calm -Well-adjusted -Less reactive -Emotionally stable

Question 34

What is the easy way to remember the big five

Answer 34

OCEAN

Question 35

How is the big five measured

Answer 35

NEO-PI-R

Question 36

What did Vukasovic and Bratko's 2015 study report about genetic inheritance of big five characteristics

Answer 36

That 40% of individual's differences in personality were due to genetic, while 60% are due to environmental influences.

Question 37

Three approaches to identifying traits

Answer 37

1. Analysis of natural language (the lexical approach) 2. Using statistical techniques (e.g. factor analysis) to identify patterns in data. 3. Theorising --> deducing fundamental traits.

Question 38

What impact does life-changing events have on personality?

Answer 38

-A surprisingly small effect. -Obtaining a job increased emotional stability -Emotional stability increased in the period before childbirth and then dropped again.

Question 39

Stengths of the trait approaches

Answer 39

-Empirical investigation -Questionnaires developed -Not bound to theoretical assumptions -Scientifically sound area of psychological research -Cross-cultural consistency in 5 factors

Question 40

Limitations of the trait approaches

Answer 40

-Heavy reliance on self-reports -Derived from everyday language -Factor analysis only as good as the items included -Descriptive but not explanatory -Factors may not mean the same thing across cultures.