Personality Perspectives Continued
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You will see
pictures of 3
different men.
On a piece of paper
please respond to
the following
questions/prompts.
1.
2.
3.
Choose a name for
the person in the
picture.
Create a list of 5
personality traits
you think may be
used to describe the
man in the picture.
What kind of job
might this man
have?
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1940s’s study of 4,000 college
aged men
Developed a theory that there are
three basic body types, or
somatotypes
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Mesomorphic
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Ectomorphic
Each associated with personality
characteristics, representing a
correlation between physique and
temperament
According to this view
human personality traits are
underwritten, as it were, by
human physical types.
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Does this idea seem
plausible?
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Does body type dictate
temperament?
Endomorphic
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To what extent does body
type influence personality
development, if at all?
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Trait theory is focused
on identifying and
measuring these
individual personality
characteristics.
How many traits are
there?
In the 1930’s there
were 4,500 traits in
1990 it has been
reduced to 5.
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A trait can be thought of
as a relatively stable
characteristic that
causes individuals to
behave in certain ways.
Unlike other theories of
personality, the trait
approach is focused on
differences between
individuals.
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Allport categorized
traits.
Cardinal
◦ Traits that dominate an
individuals whole life.
◦ Consider the origins of
the following terms
 Freudian, Don Juan,
Christ-like
◦ rare and tend to
develop later in life.
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Central Traits: The general
characteristics that form the
basic foundations of
personality.
These central traits, while
not as dominating as
cardinal traits, are the
major characteristics you
might use to describe
another person.
Terms such as intelligent,
honest, shy and anxious are
considered central traits.
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Secondary Traits: Traits
that are sometimes
related to attitudes or
preferences
Often appear only in
certain situations or
under specific
circumstances.
Some examples would be
getting anxious when
speaking to a group or
impatient while waiting
in line.
(Neuroticism)
Although traits are stable tendencies to behave in certain
ways, this stability does not necessarily apply across
situations
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PERSON – SITUATION INTERACTION
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Personality traits are both changeable and stable.
 What is more important? Innate tendencies… or situations?
◦ Most change occurs before age 30
 Conscientiousness ⇧ 20’s
◦ Most stability occurs after age 30
 Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness ⇓
 Agreeableness ⇧
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Genetic Factors may push and pull the development of
certain traits, whose development may be helped or
hindered by environmental factors.
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Organizes all personality traits into 5
categories.
• 1960’s -70’s (Walter Mischel, Julian Rotter, Albert Bandura)
• Emphasized a strong experimental approach
Cognitive factors include
our beliefs, expectations,
values, and social roles
as well as our biological
and genetic influences.
Behavior includes a
variety of actions, such
as what we do and say.
Environmental influences
include our social, political,
and cultural influences as
well as our particular
learning experiences.
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Julian Rotter
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Internal/external
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Handout
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How much control do we have over our situations
or rewards?
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Rotter’s findings indicate that a specific belief,
such as how much control you believe you have,
influences how you perceive your world; and in
turn, affects how you behave.
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Refers to not taking an
immediate but less desirable
reward and instead waiting
and pursuing an object or
completing a task that
promises a better reward in
the future.
Related to self control,
impulsiveness, & will power
How long children can wait
for marshmallows depended
upon what they attended to.
◦ Imagined (15 minutes)
◦ In front of them (6 minutes)
Should I take 1
marshmallow
now or wait and
get 2 later?
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Refers to the confidence
in your ability to
organize and execute a
given course of action to
solve a problem or
accomplish a task
“I think that I am capable
of getting a high grade in
this course.” is a sign of
strong self-efficacy
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You judge your SE by
combining 4 sources of
info.
You use previous
experiences of successes
& failures
You compare your
capabilities with those of
others
You listen to what others
say about your
capabilities
You use feedback from
your body to assess your
strength, vulnerability,
and capability.
Some people have a strong sense of self efficacy that applies to many
situations. Others have a strong sense that only applies to a few areas.
Having either high or low self efficacy can increase or decrease your
performance and success in a variety of tasks and personal behaviors.
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Personality development, growth, and change
are influenced by 4 distinctively human
cognitive processes
◦ Highly developed language ability
 Allows us to process and understand information that
influences personality development
◦ Observational learning
 Watch, imitate, model
◦ Purposeful behavior
 Anticipate events, plan ahead, set goals
◦ Self-analysis
 Internal process that allows us to monitor our own
thoughts and actions