SYJC
Psych Ch 3. Notes
PERSONALITY
The word personality is derived from the latin word “persona”, which means ‘mask’. During olden days, the
Greeks use to wear suitable masks, as per the need to wear of the characters they used to play.
The most important name in the topic of Personality is Gordon Allport.
Definition given by Allport:- It is the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical
systems that determines his characteristic behaviour and thought.
Revised Definition given by Allport:- Personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of
those psychophysical systems that determines his unique adjustments to the environment.
Components of Allport’s Revised Definition –
1. Dynamic Organization – It refers to Allport’s view to be healthy, and one needs to integrate all parts
of their personality into a whole.
2. Psychophysical Systems – According to Allport, biology influences our personality development. He
accepted the idea that temperament constitutes an inherited biological foundation for personality.
3. Determinative – According to Allport, traits are not just predictors of behaviour. They actually
determine (cause) behaviour.
4. Unique – According to Allport, traits are highly individualized or unique.
5. Adjustment to Environment – Allport felt that our personality develops our function of adopting to
social needs, while trying to achieve our needs.
Definition given by Norman Munn:- It is a unique collaboration of an individual ‘s physical structure,
needs, interests, abilities and aptitudes.
FACTORS AFFECTING PERSONALITY
There are two main factors which affect Personality –
(1) Biological Factor
(2) Psycho-Social Factor
PSYCHO-SOCIAL FACTORS AFFECTING PERSONALITY
1) Family – It is the most important source to influence our personality.
→ Structure of the Family
• Traditional Families – Traditional Families are of 2 types – nuclear and joint. In nuclear
families, you are the only one; you don’t learn sharing, adjusting etc. whereas in joint family
one becomes more adjusting, disciplined, etc.
• Divorced Families – Marriages ending in divorce are increasing. The child has more academic,
behavioural problems.
• Single-Parent Families – Children coming from one parent families are at a greater risk of
marital and parenting problems.
→ Atmosphere of the Family
• The ability of the parents to create favourable environment affects the personality of the child.
If mom is working the child is benefited, the feel more competent and self-esteem increases. If
father is jobless the atmosphere is not good at all.
→ Relationships in the Family
• Sibling Relationship – Sibling relationships and relations with parents affects. If trust prevails
between siblings, then it will be reflected in their future social relations.
2) Social Environment
→ Social Relationships
3) School Atmosphere
→ Teacher-Student Relationship – Critical and over-controlling teachers create a helpless attitude in
the child. Students tend to pay more attention and work harder in those subjects whose teacher they
like. If the teacher is very creative the child’s creativity develops.
→ Religious Affiliations – It includes rreligious values, morals ethics, cooperation, speaking truth,
fundamentalism.
→ Socio-Economic Status – Individuals from higher economic status are more intelligent, smart,
mature etc. They have all the required access to vitamins and resources. The children from poor
families tend to be more aggressive.
4) Neighbourhood
→ Values
→ Roles in Status
5) Peer Groups – It refers to other children of the same age or study with or play with the child. They are
much more influential than parents.
→ Has both positive and negative effects i.e., good and bad company.
→ Much more influential than sibling or parents. Important in shaping characteristics. Socially
appropriate behaviour as well as undesirable behaviour is learnt.
→ Helps learn gender appropriate behaviour. Communication skills, roles, sense of belonging, enhance
relationships, sense of identity, cooperation, realistic view of their abilities and emotional security.
→ Negative effects like shop lifting, smoking, drinking, drugs etc. can be observed.
→ It influences the behaviour when issues are unclear reinforce prejudice among the members towards
outsiders.
6) Cultural Factors
→ Moral Values
→ Ethical Values
→ Beliefs and Norms
PERSPECTIVES/APPROACHES OF STUDYING PERSONALITY
1) Psychoanalytic Perspective – Emphasis on effect of early childhood experiences.
2) Humanistic Perspective – Assumes the important of free will and psychological growth.
3) Trait Perspective – Assumes that every individual possesses specific traits in different quantities, giving
everyone a unique personality.
4) Type Perspective – Assumes that every individual has a unique personality based on his physique,
temperaments, and mental characteristics.
5) Socio-Cognitive Perspective – Emphasises the important of observational learning and cognitive
learning.
TYPE THEORIES OF PERSONALITY
Hippocrates (extra)
Greek Physician Hippocrates’ proposed the type theories in 400 BC. He worked on the assumption that
human body contains four humours (blood, phlegm, black bile, yellow bile). He categorized people in 4
corresponding personality types –
Kretschmer Ernst (extra)
The German Psychiatrist classified individuals into certain biological types according to their physical
streamline. The three types were:-
William H. Sheldon (extra)
The personality types given by him are fairly well-known, which uses body build and temperament as the
main basis. He classified them into 3 types
Carl Gustav Jung
Swiss Psychiatrist, Carl Jung came up with this theory in 1921. He classified people into two groups based
on mental characteristics – Introverts and Extroverts. But he said that no one is a pure introvert or extrovert,
which created a third type – Ambivert – which was coined by Hans Eysenck.
TRAIT THEORIES OF PERSONALITY
Gordon Allport – Trait Theory
An American psychologist, he came up with the 3 categories of Traits
Traits can be defined as “relatively enduring and consistent ways of thinking, feeling and acting”. Traits are
relatively stable over a period of time. They are generally consistent across all situations and their strength
and combinations in different people leads to differences in personality.
He and his colleague Odbert scanned a dictionary and identified 18000 separate terms which could be used
to describe personality. After excluding the synonymous words, they got a list of 200 traits.
1) Cardinal Trait – These traits are highly generalised dispositions. They indicate the goal around which
the person’s whole life seems to revolve. The person becomes known specifically for this trait, as this
trait dominates and specificizes his behaviour for all his life. Eg. “Humanitarianism” was a cardinal trait
of Mother Teresa, “Truthfulness” in Mahatma Gandhi, “Ambition” in Napoleon, “Lust for Power” in
Caesar. A person can only have one Cardinal Trait.
2) Central Traits – These traits are the building blocks of one’s personality. These traits are not
necessarily consistent throughout their life and can be present and absent at different times of their life.
A person can have 5 – 10 or more Central Traits. Eg. Honesty, Smartness, Sociability, Sensitivity,
Diligence, etc.
3) Secondary Traits – These traits appear only in specific situations and hence are narrow in effect. These
traits play a very minor role in determining the personality, as these traits are situational, and have to be
elicited. Eg. being Anxious when you’re late, preferring ethnic clothes at certain functions.
Robert McCrae & Paul Costa – Big Five Factor Model (OCEAN)
1) Openness – Describes a dimension of cognitive style, that distinguishes imaginative creative people from
down-to-earth conventional people.
✓ Open people are intellectually curious. They appreciate art and are sensitive to beauty. They tend,
to be compared to close people and be more aware of their feelings. They tend to think and act in
individualistic and non-conforming ways.

People with low scores on “Openness” tend to narrow common interests. They prefer the plain,
straightforward, and obvious, over the complex, ambiguous and subtle. They may regard the arts
and science with suspicion, regarding these endeavors as obtuse or of no practice use. “Closed”
people prefer familiarity of novelty. They are conservative and resistant to change.
Openness is often presented as healthier and mature by psychologists; however open and closed type of
thinking are useful in different types of environments. Openness will help in research work; while
closedness is useful in police work, where one needs to be strict with norms.
2) Conscientiousness – This trait concerns the way in which we control, regulate, and direct our impulses.
✓ People high on this trait will achieve high level of success, through purposeful planning and
persistence. They are also positively regarded by others as intelligent and reliable. They can be
compulsive, perfectionist and workaholics. Extremely conscientious people will be considered as
stuffy and boring.

Unconscientious people may be criticised for their unreliability, lack of ambition and failure to
stay within the lines (not sticking to the rules, norms, values and ethics). But they will experience
many short-lived pleasures, and they will never be called stuffy.
Impulses are inherently bad, occasionally time constraints require a snap decision, and acting on our first
impulse can be an effective response. Also, in times of play rather than work, acting spontaneously and
responsively can be fun. Impulsive individuals can be seen by others as colourful, fun to be with and full
of life. This trait includes the factor known as “Need for achievement”.
3) Extroversion – This trait is characterized by excitability, assertiveness, and high amounts of emotional
expressiveness.
✓ People high on this trait are known as Extroverts. They are full of energy, and often experience
positive emotions. They tend to be enthusiastic, action-oriented individuals who are likely to say
“yes” and “let’s go do it” for opportunities of excitement. In groups they like to talk, assert
themselves and draw attention to themselves.

People low on this trait are known as Introverts. They lack energy and activity levels of
extroverts. They tend to be quiet, low-key, deliberate, and disengaged from the social world. Their
lack of social involvements should not be interpreted as shyness or depression. An introvert
simply needs less stimulation than and extrovert and prefers to be alone.
4) Agreeableness – It reflects individual differences in concern with co-operation and social harmony.
✓ Agreeable individuals value getting along with others. They are therefore considerate, friendly,
generous, helpful, and willing to compromise their interest with others. Such people have
optimistic view of human nature. They believe that people are basically honest, decent, and
trustworthy.

Disagreeable individuals place self-interest above getting along with others. They are generally
unconcerned with other’s wellbeing and therefore are unlikely to extend themselves for other
people. Sometimes their skepticism about others’ motives, cause them to be suspicious,
unfriendly, and uncooperative.
Agreeable people are better liked than disagreeable people. On the other hand, agreeableness is not useful
in situations which require tough or absolute objective decisions. Disagreeable people can make
excellent, scientists, soldiers and critics.
5) Neuroticism – It refers to the tendency to experience negative feelings.
✓ People high on this trait may experience primarily one specific negative feeling such as anxiety,
anger or depression. But are likely to experience several of these emotions. People high on this
trait, are emotionally reactive – they respond emotionally to the events that would not affect most
people and their reactions tend to be more intense than normal. They are more likely to interpret
ordinary situations also as a threatening and minor frustrations as hopelessly difficult. Their
negative emotional reactions tend to persist for unusually long periods of time – meaning, they’re
often in bad mood. These problems in emotional regulation can diminish a psychotic’s ability to
think clearly, make decisions and cope effectively in stress.

Individuals who score low in this trait are less easily upset and are less emotionally reactive. They
tend to be calm, emotionally stable and free from persistent negative feelings. Freedom from
negative feelings doesn’t mean that low scorers experience a lot of positive feelings. Frequency of
positive emotions is a component of “Extroversion” Domain.
MEASUREMENT OF PERSONALITY
Behavioural Analysis
Behaviour Analysis is done by two techniques – Interview Method and Observation Method
1. Interview can be defined as a face-to-face conversation carried on with some basic goal. It is a process
in which and interviewer tires to collect information about the personality of the interviewee by asking
various questions. Diagnostic Interviewing generally involves in-depth interviewing, which seeks to go
beyond the replies given by the person. Interview method is mostly used by clinical psychologists,
educational psychologist, and vocational counsellors.
Depending upon the purpose or goal of the assessment, Interviews are of two types:Structured Interview – It uses standardised questions. There are restrictions on what questions
can be asked by the interviewer. They are generally used where strict measurement and exact
qualification is required. Pre-determined questions are asked for which answers are also highly
specific.
Unstructured Interview – It is an open interrogation. Here the interviewer asks the subject or
interviewee any question on any subject relevant to the situation. Detailed answers can be given,
and scoring is subjective. Any set of questions can be asked, which require subjective answers.
Criticisms of Interview Method:1. It is highly subjective in nature.
2. They lack reliability and validity.
3. Personal qualities of the interviewer can influence the results.
4. It is too time consuming and at times costly.
5. This method also requires a well-trained and competent person to conduct the interview.
2. Observation Method (Refer to Notes of Ch 1)
It is a commonly used method for assessing personality. For the purpose of personality assessment
professionals are required. It can be used by clinical psychologists. There are four types of observation
method
Self-Report Technique/Self-Report Inventory
Allport suggested that the best method to assess a person is by asking him about himself which led to the use
of self-report measures. They are fairly structured measures where the subjects are asked to objectively
report his/her own feelings with respect to various items. The responses are scored in quantitative terms and
interpreted based on norms developed for the test.
Examples of Self-Report Inventories:→ Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
It assesses traits of human personality that are characteristics of Psychological Abnormalities
Developed in 1943 by Starke Hathway and Jovian McKinley, for individuals who are above 16
years of age. 566 affirmative statements are asked, for which the subject has to give a response
from the options – “True, False or Cannot say”
→ 16 Personality Factor Test (16PF Test)
In his explorations of personality, British psychologist Raymond Cattell found that variations in
human personality could be best explained by a model that has sixteen variables (personality
traits), using a statistical procedure known as factor analysis. Following this discovery he went on
to create and promote the 16PF Questionnaire. This test uses a public domain scales from the
Internation Personality Item Pool to measure the same traits. This personality test consists of 164
statements about yourself, for each indicate how accurate it is on the scale of (1) disagree (2)
slightly disagree (3) neither agree nor disagree (4) slightly agree (5) agree. It will take most people
around ten minutes to complete.
Projective Technique
It refers to a group of techniques used for both intellectual as well as non-intellectual use of personality. In
this test, the individual is presented with an ambiguous task like a picture, ink-blot, or an incomplete
sentence, which permits a wide variety of interpretation of the task by the subject. The base of assumption
underline projective test is that individuals interpretation of the task will project his characteristic mode of
response, his personal motives, emotions and desires and this enable the examiner to understand a more
subtle aspect of his personality.
There are wide variety of projective techniques:1) Rorschach’s Ink-Blot Test
Story behind the Ink-Blot Test: Rorschach was doing some writing research work, when his fountain pen
stopped working. To get it to work again (as we all do), he tried to shake the pen, in a jerk-like motion –
which lead to an ink-spill. So he tried to clean the ink on a piece of paper and then threw the paper. Later
on, he found his servants looking at these pieces of paper, and describing what they could see in those ink
blots. Which lit the lightbulb in him to try to create this test.
It was developed by Hermann Rorschach in 1921. It is widely used, very popular, and also widely
criticised and researched about. The test consists of 10 cards – 5 in black and white and 5 in colour. These
cards be rotated, turned upside down, etc. as per the subjects wishes.
The 4 most common scoring categories psychologists test on during the ink-blot test:- (COLD)
→ Content of the Ink-blot – What do you see in the ink-blot?
→ Originality and Popularity of the Description (Response) of the Subject
→ Location of the Ink-blot – Which part of the ink-blot are you seeing?
→ Determinant of the Ink-blot – What is the characteristics of the depiction in the ink-blot?
2) Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
It was developed by C.D. Morgan and Henry Murray. This test came into being in 1935. This test is another
method to explore unconscious thoughts and fantasies. This test consists of 30 pictures + a blank card. The
pictures have been selected and marked in such a way that there are 4 sets of 20 cards each. One set for
boys, one for girls, one for males over 14, and one for females over 14. The testing process is divided into
two sessions, and for both of these it is suggested that no more than 10 TAT cards can be administered with
at least one day intervening between the two sessions. The cards are presented individually, and the
respondent is instructed:→ To provide a story about the picture that describes the depicted scene,
→ What led up to it?
→ What the characters in the picture are thinking?
→ What the outcome will be?
The 3 most famous scoring systems for TAT are:1. Murray’s Scoring System – Non-Quantitative Scoring
2. McCelland’s Scoring System – Quantitative Scoring
3. Eron’s Scoring System – Quantitative Scoring
3) Sentence Completion Test (SCT)
In this test, the individual is given a series of incomplete (partial) sentences, and the subject is asked to
complete them in their own words. For eg. I feel anxious when ______________.
Greater flexibility and variety of responses are possible, and more areas of personality and experience may
be tapped in this test.
The most commonly used SCTs are
─ Sack’s SCT
─ Rotter’s Incomplete Sentence Blank
─ Washington’s University’s SCT