Personality Psychology (PSY 836), Spring 2016
Wednesdays, 9:10 – 12:00, 255 Baker Hall
Emily Durbin
224 Psychology
517-353-7274
cdurbin@msu.edu
COURSE GOALS
The primary goal of this course is for students to acquire a broad perspective on the major theoretical
and empirical issues facing personality psychology and a working knowledge of the research methods
used in this domain.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING
1. Attendance, reading, and participation
The quality of your experience and the depth of your learning in this course will be largely
determined by your own and your classmates’ active engagement with the material in a community
setting. I will lecture during each class, but the bulk of each meeting will consist of discussion
amongst the group wherein we explore the issues raised by the readings and propose and develop
ideas that result from our interaction.
To bring some organization to the discussion, each of you will prepare 2-3 questions or discussion
points that either relate directly to or are inspired by the material in the readings for that class
meeting. You are to email these to me by the Tuesday prior to each class meeting by 12 PM.
These will provide a starting point for our discussion, and will also be graded by me for relevance,
depth of thinking, and creativity. Together, grades for these questions/discussion points will
provide 20% of your final grade.
2. Research prospectus
To maximize the usefulness of this course for your professional development, you will write a brief
prospectus (2-4 single-spaced pages) that describes a study/series of studies dealing with a topic of
interest to you related to the course material. The prospectus should include a description of the
research problem/question, sufficient background material that demonstrates the importance of the
problem and/or the theoretical propositions that provide context for it, and a brief description of
the design, procedures, assessments, and analyses that would be used. The prospectus will be
graded for thoughtfulness, degree of connection to the course material (i.e., clearly inspired by some
aspect of the course, but not a simple extension of any paper in the reading list), rigor and feasibility
of the proposed design, and the quality of your writing. You may submit this prospectus at any
point during the semester prior to 4/27. Given that two other evaluations occur at the end of the
semester, I encourage you to work on this paper early. It will provide 25% of your final grade.
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3. Personological analysis presentation
You will use the knowledge you gain in class regarding the science of human individual differences
to inform an idiographic analysis of a single human life. You are to read one of the approved
(auto)biographies listed at the end of the syllabus and prepare a brief presentation (10 minutes) that
conceptualizes the subject’s personality. In that presentation, you must describe the theoretical
approach(es) and empirical work that informed your conceptualization of the subject, and you must
point out how well/poorly existing personality theory and data fit your subject. Presentations will
occur during our last class meeting (4/27). My evaluation of the quality of your work as
demonstrated in the presentation will contribute 30% of your final grade.
4. Core questions essays (final exam)
You will complete a take-home exam consisting of several short essay questions. I will provide these
questions to you by 4/23, and your responses will be due to me by 5/2. The final exam will
contribute 25% of your final grade.
COURSE COVERAGE
This course is designed to provide breadth of coverage of issues central to modern personality science
(and a bit of history as well), but it is impossible to cover all topics of interest to all students or to cover
more than a small number of topics in depth. The selection of readings was influenced by my own areas
of interest and expertise, so our course includes more emphasis on developmental approaches and nonself-report methods than would a course designed by another instructor. You can help to broaden our
learning this semester by bringing your own perspective and expertise to our discussions, and I
encourage you to do that!
EXPECTATIONS
1. You really cannot learn from this course if you do not do the readings or if you skim them.
There is no substitute for giving yourself the time to read (and maybe even re-read some of) the
papers and to think deeply about them. If you fail to do this, it will be obvious in your submitted
questions/topics, your essay responses, and your other requirements, and will negatively impact
your grade, but more importantly, diminish your intellectual engagement with the course.
2. Do not be afraid to be ‘wrong’ or to express a contrary opinion, even one that disagrees with me.
If the material only confirms our existing knowledge and we all agree on every issue, then we
will have missed an opportunity to learn about the material and from one another. If we all
maintain a respectful stance towards one another, we will create an environment in which we
can disagree, expose our lack of knowledge, raise important issues, and provide critical feedback
to one another in a way that advances our knowledge and promotes rigorous thinking.
3. ‘Personality’ carries considerable baggage acquired through lay usage of its concepts and
unsophisticated application of its ideas. Do your best to approach this domain in the way you
would other areas of psychology – as a science – without losing sight of the folk understanding
of others to which it must ultimately make connections if the field is to advance human
understanding.
COURSE SCHEDULE OF TOPICS AND READING LIST
What is personality and why does it exist?
Date: 1/13/16
McAdams, D.P., & Pals, J. L. (2006). A new big five: Fundamental principles for an integrative
science of personality. American Psychologist, 61, 204-217.
Chapter 1 of McAdams, D.P. (2015). The Art and Science of Personality Development. Guilford:
NY.
Buss, D. M. (2009). How can evolutionary psychology successfully explain personality and
individual differences? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 4, 359-366.
Nettle, D. (2006). The evolution of personality variation in humans and other animals.
American Psychologist, 61, 622-631.
Confer, J. C., Easton, J. A., Fleischman, D. S., Goetz, C. D., Lewis, D. M. G., Perilloux, C., & Buss,
D. M. (2010). Evolutionary psychology: Controversies, questions, prospects, and limitations. American
Psychologist, 65, 110-126.
How do psychologists understand personality?
Date: 1/20/16
Chapter 2-3 of The Art and Science of Personality Development (McAdams, 2015).
Allport, G. W. (1931). What is a trait of personality? Journal of Abnormal and Social
Psychology, 25, 368-372.
Funder, D. C. (1991). Global traits: A neo-Allportian approach to personality. Psychological
Science. 2, 31-39.
Goldberg, L.R. (1993). The structure of phenotypic personality traits. American Psychologist,
48, 26–34.
Block, J. (1995). A contrarian view of the five-factor approach to personality description.
Psychological Bulletin, 117, 187-215.
Tellegen, A., & Waller, N. G. (2008). Exploring personality through test construction:
Development of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire. The Sage handbook of personality
theory and assessment, 2, 261-292.
Musek, J. (2007). A general factor of personality: Evidence for the Big One in the five-factor
model. Journal of Research in Personality, 41(6), 1213-1233.
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Date: 1//27/16
Funder, D. C. (2012). Accurate personality judgment. Current Directions in Psychological
Science, 21, 177-182.
Clark, L. A. & Watson, D. (1995). Constructing validity: Basic issues in objectivescale
development. Psychological Assessment, 7, 309-319.
Epstein, S., & O'Brien, E. J. (1985). The person–situation debate in historical and current
perspective. Psychological Bulletin, 98(3), 513-537.
Fleeson, W. (2004). Moving personality beyond the person-situation debate: The challenge and
opportunity of within-person variability. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 13, 83–87.
Lucas, R. E., & Donnellan, M. B. (2009). If the person–situation debate is really over, why does
it still generate so much negative affect?. Journal of Research in Personality, 43, 146-149
Swann, W. B., & Seyle, C. (2005). Personality psychology’s comeback and its emerging
symbiosis with social psychology. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 155-165.
Why does personality matter?
Date: 2/3/16
Ozer, D. J., & Benet-Martínez, V. (2006). Personality and the prediction of consequential
outcomes. Annual Review of Psychology, 57, 401-421.
Roberts, B. W., Kuncel, N., Shiner, R., N., Caspi, A., & Goldberg, L. R. (2007). The power of
personality: The comparative validity of personality traits, socio-economic status, and cognitive ability
for predicting important life outcomes. Perspectives in Psychological Science, 2, 313-345.
Deary, I.J., Batty, G.D., Pattie, A., & Gale, C.R. (2008). More intelligent, more dependable
children live longer: A 55-year longitudinal study of a representative sample of the Scottish nation.
Psychological Science, 19(9), 874-880.
Kotov, R., Gamez, W., Schmidt, F., & Watson, D. (2010). Linking “big” personality traits to
anxiety, depressive, and substance use disorders: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 136, 768-821.
Date: 2/10/16
Oh, I., Wang, G., & Mount, M. (2011). Validity of observer ratings of the Five-Factor Model of
personality traits: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96, 762-773.
Hampson, S. E. (2012). Personality processes: Mechanisms by which personality traits “get
outside the skin”. Annual Review of Psychology, 63, 315-339.
Fraley, R. C., & Marks, M. J. (2007). The null hypothesis significance testing debate and
implications for personality research. Handbook of Research Methods in Personality (pp. 149-169).
New York: Guilford press.
Meehl, P.E. (1978). Theoretical risks and tabular asterisks: Sir Karl, Sir Ronald, and the slow
progress of soft psychology. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46, 806-834.
Developmental origins and the emergence of individual differences
Date: 2/17/16
Chapter 4-6 of The Art and Science of Personality Development (McAdams, 2015).
Shiner, R. L., Buss, K. A., McClowry, S. G., Putnam, S. P., Saudino, K. J. , & Zentner, M. (2012).
What is temperament now? Assessing progress in temperament research on the twenty-fifth
anniversary of Goldsmith et al. (1987). Child Development Perspectives, 6, 436-444.
Rothbart, M. K. (2007). Temperament, development, and personality. Current Directions in
Psychological Science, 16, 207-212.
Watson, D., & Tellegen, A. (1985). Toward a consensual structure of mood. Psychological
Bulletin, 98(2), 219-235.
Date: 2/24/16
Durbin, C. E., (2010). Modeling temperamental risk for depression using developmentally
sensitive laboratory paradigms. Child Development Perspectives, 4, 168-173.
Caspi, A. (2000). The child is father of the man: personality continuities from childhood to
adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(1), 158-172.
Ellis, B. J., & Boyce, W. T. (2008). Biological sensitivity to context. Current Directions in
Psychological Science, 17, 183-187.
Baltes, P. B. (1987). Theoretical propositions of life-span developmental psychology: On the
dynamics between growth and decline. Developmental Psychology, 23(5), 611–626.
Individual differences in social and cultural context: how others ‘know’ us and we ‘know’ others
Date: 3/2/16 3/16/16
Vazire, S., & Carlson, E. N. (2011). Others sometimes know us better than we know ourselves.
Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20, 104-108.
Srivastava, S., Guglielmo, S., & Beer, J. S. (2010). Perceiving others’ personalities: Examining
the dimensionality, assumed similarity to the self, and stability of perceiver effects. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 98(3), 520.
Johnson, S. L., Leedom, L. J., & Muhtadie, L. (2012). The dominance behavioral system and
psychopathology: evidence from self-report, observational, and biological studies. Psychological
bulletin, 138(4), 692-743.
Date: 3/16/16
Heine, S.J., Buchtel, E.E., & Norenzayan, A. (2009). What do cross-national comparisons of
personality traits tell us? The case of conscientiousness. Psychological Science, 19(4), 309-313.
Ramírez-Esparza, N., Gosling, S. D., Benet-Martínez, V., Potter, J. P., & Pennebaker, J. W.
(2006). Do bilinguals have two personalities? A special case of cultural frame switching. Journal of
Research in Personality, 40(2), 99-120.
Rentfrow, P. J. (2010). Statewide differences in personality: toward a psychological geography of
the United States. American Psychologist, 65(6), 548-558.
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Gurven, M., von Rueden, C., Massenkoff, M., Kaplan, H., & Lero Vie, M. (2013). How universal
is the Big Five? Testing the five-factor model of personality variation among forager–farmers in the
Bolivian Amazon. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 104(2), 354-370.
Personality as constancy and change
Date: 3/23/16
Roberts, B.W., Walton, K.E., & Viechtbauer, W. (2006). Patterns of mean-level change in
personality traits across the life course: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Psychological Bulletin,
132, 1-25.
Roberts, B.W., & DelVecchio, W.F. (2000). The rank-order consistency of personality traits
from childhood to old age. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 3-25.
Soto, C.J., John, O.P., Gosling, S.D., & Potter, K. (2011). Age differences in personality traits
from 10 to 65: Big Five domains and facets in a large cross-sectional sample. Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, 100, 330-348.
Caspi, A., & Moffitt, T. E. (1993). When do individual differences matter? A paradoxical theory
of personality coherence. Psychological Inquiry, 4(4), 247-271.
Date: 3/30/16
Caspi, A., Roberts, B. W., & Shiner, R. L. (2005). Personality development: Stability and change.
Annual Review of Psychology, 56, 453-484.
Lüdtke, O., Roberts, B. W., Trautwein, U., & Nagy, G. (2011). A random walk down university
avenue: life paths, life events, and personality trait change at the transition to university life. Journal of
personality and social psychology, 101(3), 620-637.
Specht, J., Egloff, B., & Schmukle, S. C. (2011). Stability and change of personality across the life
course:the impact of age and major life events on mean-level and rank-order stability of the Big Five.
Journal of personality and social psychology, 101(4), 862.
Lucas, R. E., Clark, A. E., Georgellis, Y., & Diener, E. (2003). Reexamining adaptation and the
set point model of happiness: reactions to changes in marital status. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 84(3), 527-539.
Personality structures management of life tasks: relationships, work, health, and goals
Date: 4/6/15, 4/13/16
Chapter 7-10 of The Art and Science of Personality Development (McAdams, 2015).
Robins, R. W., Caspi, A., & Moffitt, T. E. (2000). Two personalities, one relationship: Both
partners’ personality traits shape the quality of their relationship. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 79, 251-259.
Fraley, R. C., Brumbaugh, C. C., & Marks, M. J. (2005). The evolution and function of adult
attachment: a comparative and phylogenetic analysis. Journal of personality and social psychology,
89(5), 731-746.
Solomon, B. & Jackson, J.J. (2014). Why does personality predict divorce? Multiple pathways
through satisfaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 106(6), 978-996.
Solomon, B. C., & Jackson, J. J. (2014). The long reach of one’s spouse: Spousal personality
influences occupational success. Psychological Science, 25(12), 2189-2198.
Hogan, J., & Holland, B. (2003). Using theory to evaluate personality and job-performance
relations: A socioanalytic perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 100-112.
Le, H., Oh, I., Robbins, S., Ilies, R., Holland, E., Westrick, P. (2011). Too much of a good thing:
Curvilinear relationships between personality traits and job performance. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 96, 113-133.
Berry, C. M., Kim, A., Wang, Y. et al. (2013). Five-Factor Model personality measures and sex
based differential prediction of performance. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 62, 13-43.
Kuncel, N. R., & Hezlett, S. A. (2010). Fact and fiction in cognitive ability testing for admissions
and hiring decisions. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 19(6), 339-345.Sackett et al. 2012.
PSY SC, 23, 1000-17.
Date: 4/13/16
Schwartz, S. H., Cieciuch, J., Vecchione, M., Davidov, E., Fischer, R., Beierlein, C., ... & DirilenGumus, O. (2012). Refining the theory of basic individual values. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 103(4), 663-688.
Freund, A. M., & Baltes, P. B. (2002). Life-management strategies of selection, optimization and
compensation: Measurement by self-report and construct validity. Journal of personality and social
psychology, 82(4), 642-662.
Mischel, W. (2004). Toward an integrative science of the person. Annual Review of
Psychology, 55, 1-22
Mischel, W. & Shoda, Y. (1995). A cognitive-affective system theory of personality:
Reconceptualizing situations, dispositions, dynamics, and invariance in personality structure.
Psychological Review, 102, 246-268.
Molden, D. C., & Dweck, C. S. (2006). Finding “meaning” in psychology: A lay theories approach
to self- regulation, social perception, and social development. American Psychologist, 61, 192-203.
Personality ‘processes’: interactions, trait x situation effects, genes, development
Date: 4/20/16
Hicks, B. M., & Patrick, C. J. (2006). Psychopathy and negative emotionality: analyses of
suppressor effects reveal distinct relations with emotional distress, fearfulness, and anger-hostility.
Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 115(2), 276.
Fleeson, W., & Gallagher, P. (2009). The implications of Big Five standing for the distribution of
trait manifestation in behavior: Fifteen experience-sampling studies and a meta-analysis. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 97, 1097-1114.
Marshall, M. A., & Brown, J. D. (2006). Trait aggressiveness and situational provocation: A test
of the traits as situational sensitivities (TASS) model. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32,
1100-1113.
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Johnson, W., Penke, L., Spinath, F.M. (2011). Heritability in the era of molecular genetics: Some
thoughts for understanding genetic influences on behavioral traits. European Journal of Personality,
25, 254-266.
Johnson, W. (2010). Understanding the Genetics of Intelligence: Can Height Help? Can Corn
Oil? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 19(3), 177-182.
Durbin, C. E., & Hicks, B. M. (2014). Personality and psychopathology: A stagnant field in need
of development. European journal of personality, 28(4), 362-386.C
Cramer, A. O., Sluis, S., Noordhof, A., Wichers, M., Geschwind, N., Aggen, S. H., ... & Borsboom,
D. (2012). Dimensions of normal personality as networks in search of equilibrium: You can't like parties
if you don't like people. European Journal of Personality, 26(4), 414-431.
SUGGESTED (AUTO)BIOGRAPHIES FOR PERSONOLOGICAL PRESENTATION
Artists
Becoming Richard Pryor. (2014). By Scott Saul. Harper Collins: NY.
Johnny Cash: The Life. (2013). By Robert Hilburn. Little, Brown, and Company: NY.
Dust Tracks on a Road: An Autobiography. (1942). By Zora Neale Hurston. Harper Collins: NY.
Life. (2010). By Keith Richards. Little, Brown, & Company: NY.
The Kid Stays in the Picture: A Notorious Life. (1994). By Robert Evans. Hyperion: NY.
Naked at the Feast: A Biography of Josephine Baker. (1996). By Lynn Haney. Robson: NY.
The One: The Life and Music of James Brown. By R.J. Smith. Gotham: NY.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: A Memoir of Life in Death. (1998). By Jean-Dominique Bauby.
Vintage: NY.
Just Kids. (2010). By Patti Smith. Ecco: NY.
Little Failure: A Memoir. (2014). By Gary Shteyngart.
Leaders & Innovators
Alexander Hamilton. (2004). By Ron Chernow. Penguin: NY.
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman. (2012). By Robert K. Massie. Random House: NY.
Steve Jobs. (2011). By Walter Isaacson. Simon & Schuster: NY.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley. (1964). By Malcolm X and Alex Haley.
Ballantine: NY.
The Motorcycle Diaries: Notes on a Latin American Journey. (2003). Ocean Press.
The Fish that Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America’s Banana King. (2013). By Rich Cohen.
Picador: NY.
Eisenhower in War and Peace. (2013). By Jean Edward Smith. Random House: NY.
Wolf Hall. (2010). By Hilary Mantel. Holt: NY. *
Athletes
Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero. (2007). By David Maraniss
Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich. (2008). By Mark Kriegel.
Hurricane: The Life of Ruben Carter, Fighter. (2000). By James S. Hirsch. Fourth Estate: NY.
‘Regular Folks’
H is for Hawk. (2015). By Helen Macdonald. Grove Press: NY.
The Liars’ Club: A Memoir. (1995). By Mary Karr. Penguin: NY.
Cherry. (2000). By Mary Karr. Penguin: NY.
Lit: A Memoir (P.S.). (2009). By Mary Karr. Harper Collins: NY.
The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy
League. (2014). By Jeff Hobbs. Scribner: NY.
The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder. (2013). By Charles Graeber.
Twelve: NY.
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. (2001). By Dave Eggers. Random House: NY.
American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History. (2012). By
Chris Kyle, with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice. Harper Collins: NY.
The Complete Persepolis. (2007). By Marjane Satrapi. Pantheon: NY.
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. (2008). By Ishmael Beah. Crichton Books: NY.
The Headmaster: Frank L. Boyden of Deerfield. (1992). By John McPhee.
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