UsingPersonalityTraitsto
UnderstandBehaviour
PSYC330-Lecture6
Dr.J.Nicol
TraitApproaches
• Single-traitapproachexaminesthebehaviourofpeople
withhighorlowlevelsofatraitofinterest
• Many-traitsapproachdetermineswhattraitsare
associatedwithaspecificbehaviourthenaLemptsto
understandthepaLernofcorrelaMons
• EssenMal-traitsapproachseekstorevealthenumberof
traitsareimportant(needed)tounderstandpersonality
• Typeapproachassertsthatpersonalitytypesarea
beLerwaytoconceptualizepersonalitythanrelyingon
quanMtaMvetraitdisMncMons
Single-traitapproachinvesMgatesthebehavioural
implicaMonsoftraitsofparMcularinterest
“Whatdopeoplehigh
onthistraitdo?”
ConscienMousness
• EmployersreportlookingforconscienMousness,integrity,
andtrustworthinessabovementalabilityinpotenMal
employeetraits(MichiganDepart.Ed,1989)
• TraitisbestmeasuredinpeopleusingIntegritytests(Ones
etal.,1989)
• Integritytestscorespredict:supervisorraMngs(r=.41;BESD
=70%),absenteeism(r=.33;BESD=70%),trust-worthiness
(r=.13;BESD=58%)(Onesetal.,2003)
• Consistentlyrelatedtoalljobperformancecriteriaforall
typesofjobs(Mount&Barrick,1998),acrossgenderand
irrespecMveofyearsofeducaMon(Costa,1996)
ConscienMousness
• Integritytestsdonotshowracialbiassocouldmakeworkplace
moreraciallybalancedwithoutaffecMngproducMvity(SackeLet
al.,1989)
• IntegrityscoresarebeLerpredictorsofsuccessinuniversitythan
high-schoolGPAorstandardizedtests(Wagerman&Funder,2007)
• PeoplehighonconscienMousnessgetthejobsandaremorelikely
tobepromoted(Caldwell&Burger,1998)
• Peoplewithhighlevelsthetraitlivelonger(Bogg&Roberts,2004)
• Moreeducated,eventhoughconscienMousnessandintelligence
arenotrelated(Caplan,2003)
Self-Monitoring
• DescribestherelaMonshipsanddiscrepanciesbetween
innerselfandpresentedself(Snyder,1974)
• Highself-monitors(HSMs)haveahighdegreeof
discrepancybetweentheirinnerandouterself
• Lowself-monitors(LSMs)havealowdegreeof
discrepancybetweentheirinnerandouterself
• PeopledescribeHSMsmorefavourablythanLSMs
• HSMsdobeLerinjobinterviews(Osbornetal.,1998)
PreferredbyHSMs
PreferredbyLSMs
Smidt&DeBono(2011)
Self-Monitoring
• HSMsusecluesintheenvironmenttodeterminehow
theyfeel,whereasLSMstendtointrospect(Graziano
&Bryant,1998)
• HSMsdatemorepeople(Snyder&Simpson,1984)
• HSMsAremoreconcernedwithphysicalappearance
(Snyderetal.,1985)
• HSMsEngageinmorecasualsex(Snyderetal.,1986)
Trivedi&Sabini(1998)
RowaLetal.(1998)
Malesandfemalesthatarehighself-monitors
aremorewillingtolieinordertogetadate
RowaLetal.(1998)
Narcissism
• Describesabasictraitofsomepeoplewhomaybe
charming,aLracMve,andevencharismaMc,sotheymake
goodfirstimpressions(Paulhus,1998;Robins&Beer,2001)
• Butalsohavesuchahighdegreeofself-regardandlackof
concernforotherpeoplethatoverMmetheir
manipulaMveness,senseofenMtlement,vanity,
exhibiMonismcreatesinterpersonalproblems(Raskin&
Terry,1988;Holtzman&Strube,2010)
• “Narcissistsarethekindofpeoplewho,thelongeryou
knowthem,thelessyoulikethem(Paulhus,1998;Robins&
Beer,2001)
Factoranalysissupportsathree-factorstructureoftheNPI
Ackermanetal.(2011)
Narcissism(NPIscores)hasbeenrisingin
universitystudentsforthepast30years
fromTwengeetal.(2008)
Narcissism(NPIscores)arerisinginuniversity
studentsinallracesmeasured
fromTwengeetal.(2008)
Backetal.(2010)
Backetal.(2010)
NarcissisMcbehaviourmaystemfromageneralfailure
tocontrolimpulsesanddelaygraMficaMon
Vazire&Funder(2006)
Ziegler-Hilletal.(2010)
Ziegler-Hilletal.(2010)
Carpenter(2012)
EndofLecture