Personality

Motivation is at the centre of personality
Motives shaped by early childhood experiences

Self-preservation
Libidinal
Aggressive

- Lacks empiricism
- Not falsifiable

Need to understand ppl's motivations to understand their behaviour
Blended psychoanalytic ideas with theories of motivation

Developed a system of psychogenic needs (achievement, dominance, play etc.)
Developed the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) to measure the psychogenic needs
TAT developed to assess latent dynamics of personality: internal conflicts, unconscious drives and motives

- No reliability in this measure relating to the psychogenic needs he outlined

Created a list of character sketches
Suggestsed character sketches rely on language
The Grumbler

Studied personality from lexical approach - if something is important, we will have a word for it
Went through English dictionary
Found ~18,000 words were possible person descriptors

Developed comprehensive system of personality trait dimensions using factor analysis
Aimed to identify how ppl think, feel and behave across different contexts
Gathered as much data as possible and constructed theory around the data
Found 16 possible personality factors

Constructs used to explain why ppl remain stable and consistent in their action across diverse situations

Openness to experience
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism

Big 5 Inventory (BFI)
NEO-Five Factor Inventory

Critiqued personality:
- Personality does not reliably predict behaviour
- Situations are stronger determinants of behaviour

Social context:
Family
Class
Race
Culture

Created person-environment fit theory

Individuals select and create social and physical environments that reinforce and reflect aspects of their psychological qualities

Selection
Evocation
Manipulation

Individuals choose certain environments and avoid others

Individuals unintentionally elicit responses (changes) from the environment

Individuals alter their environments to fit their needs

Occupational attainment:
+ive correlation
Perform better within interviews and within job itself
Mortality:
-ive correlation
Risk averse, compliant
More likely to reach out for help with medical concern

Occupational attainment:
+ive correlation
Seek out jobs involving social interaction, business, hospitals etc.
Mortality:
-ive correlation
Larger social networks so better social support

Occupational attainment:
+ive correlation
Teaching, hospitals
Mortality:
-ive correlation

Occupational attainment:
-ive correlation
Mortality:
+ive correlation
Associated with anxiety, depression, psych distress
Psych stress can weaken immune system (cortisol)

Genotypic view
Phenotypic view

Personality traits are endogenous and inherited basic tendencies that are largely indepenedent from culture
Traits are biologically based, should be universal
Traits remain stable over time
Cultural differences indicate genetic differences between cultures

Personality traits are observable, behavioural regularities that reflect both genetic dispositions and characteristic adaptations to the sociocultural context
Traits reflect observable expressions of behaviour
Can't make assumptions about genetic vs cultural basis of personality

Fixed
BUT can change over time
Eg. hair colour

Behavioural genetics
Cross-cultural comparisons
Personality stability throughout lifespan

Twin studies
Personalities of adopted children largely unrelated to adoptive parents
Openness:
MZ ~0.6
DZ ~0.24
Used to support genotypic view
BUT MZ not 1.0 so environment must also play a part

- Adoptive parents heavily screened (financially stable, stable job etc.), so can't apply to low SES families

English language measures of Big 5 translated and administered to ppl in different cultures
Factor analyses of translated measures revealed personality structure very similar to Big 5
Suggests Big 5 has cross cultural validity

- Measure designed to maximise differences between traits from English persepctive
- Ethnocentric, fails to account for cultural differences, test should be made in relation to the culture the pps belong to
- Critics favour emic (ie. indigenous) over imposed-etic (ie. imported) approaches to personality

Only 3 factors of personality description fully replicable across language (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness)
Gender, honesty and humility are prominent factors affecting personality

Personality traits arise from biological processes and reach maturity in early adulthood, at which point personality is set like plaster

Ppl establish psych commitments to social institutions in form of social role (eg. work, marriage, family, community)
These roles encourage certain behaviours that enhance certain traits
Occurs throughout middle adulthood, contributing to personality change

Created a hierarchal model of personality

Defines adult sense of identity
Represents the way in which ppl describe themselves to others
Constantly changing as persepctive of oneself change
Can vary by culture

- Entirely subjective
- Can't be empirically measured
- Can't be falsified

Studied level 2 personality (personal projects)
Personal projects cannot be directly inferred from observation of ppl's acts
Embedded within daily ecology
Well-being related to extent which ppl engage in personal projects that are meaningful, supported by other and realistic
Intrapersonal projects

Trying to change/deal with aspects of one's own personality (eg. be more assertive)

High E and C
High E = more social support

Low A = poorer physical health and earlier mortality
Low C = smoking, poor diet, lack of exercise
High N = anxiety disorders
High N and low E = depression

High N = negative predictor of status but only in men (vulnerable men not deserving of status?)
High N and low A = negative relationship outcomes, conflict, abuse, breaking up
Negative emotions increase relationship distress

Low O associated with conservative beliefs

High E and A = volunteering, leadership roles
Low C and N = antisocial behaviour
Low C = behaviour problems in adolescent males