Personality Psychology
Chapter 13
Modules: 46, 47, 48
Defining Personality
Latin persona  “mask”
Cicero (50 BC) 4 meanings
 Appearance to others
 Inner "true" self
 Role
 Person of distinction
Defining Personality
Gordon Allport (1930s)
An individual’s distinct and
relatively enduring pattern of
thoughts, feelings, motives, and
behaviors
Defining Personality
Ways that a person is like…
 All other persons
 human nature
“need to belong”
 Some other persons
 common differences
lively, impulsive
 No other person
 uniqueness
“Paul Trapnell-ish"
Personality Psychology
Social Psychology?
The situation.
Personality Psychology?
The person.
̶ Individual differences
̶ Self and Identity
Research focus, however is
 Mainly individual differences traits
Importance of Personality
Mate Selection
Career Preferences
Leadership
Leadership
Leadership
Disorders Personality Disorders
Also,
Treatment Issues:
Clients
Therapists
Antisocial
Paranoid
Schizotypal
Schizoidal
Borderline
Narcissistic
Self-Knowlege
Theory
Theoretical Perspectives
 Psychodynamic theories
 Humanistic theories
 Trait theories
 Social-Cognitive theories
Measurement
http://www.lovecalculator.be/quizcentral/
quicktest.php#.Vk4DYr8vZ7k
http://www.colorquiz.com/quiz.php
Measurement
Behavior samples
Trait ratings
 self-ratings
 peer / partner ratings
 observer ratings
Objective vs Projective tests
Objective tests
Numerical scaling (quantification)
Standardized admin. & scoring





Adjective lists
Questionnaires
MMPI
NEO-PI
Myers-Briggs
The MMPI
Example of “Contrasted Groups”
form of test constuction
 Most widely used psychodiagnostic test
 567 statements (T, F)
 Compared answers between normals and
clinical patients to construct scoring key.
 Scores therefore reveal how similar
answers are to clinical groups, e.g.,
paranoia, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia
MMPI Sample Items
“I usually feel that life is worthwhile and
interesting.”
Depression Scale
“Evil people are trying to influence my mind.”
Paranoia Scale
“I seem to hear things that other people can’t
hear.”
Schizophrenia Scale
MMPI has 10 scales
categories
MMPI Individual Profile
MMPI-2 “RF” (2008)
Major revision of MMPI in 2008
 Refined the original 10 scales
 Followed better psychometric principles
 Cleaner, leaner scales (less noise)
 Less overlap
 Updated item wordings
Projective tests
 Word Association tests
 Rorschach (1921) 10 inkblots
Projective Tests
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
 Ambiguous pictures
What is happening in the picture?
Write a story.
 Personal motives “leak” out in the story
Need for Achievement
Need for Power
Need for Affiliation
“She’s putting on
makeup and what
she doesn't realize
that she will be in a
terrible accident
because she is
about to kill
someone and harm
herself, and she will
die being unloved,
not married, no
children, no family,
no career…”
Trait Perspective
First… there were “TYPE” theories
Galen (400 AD)




Sanguine
Choleric
Phegmatic
Melancholic
(happy, jolly)
(irritable, impulsive)
(calm, relaxed)
(gloomy, withdrawn)
Other typologies
Freud (1900)
 oral character
 anal character
 phallic character
Jung (1921)
 Extraverted type vs Introverted type
 +3 more “polarities”
 Myers-Briggs Scale: 4 x 4= 16 Types
Critcism
of theuseful
“type”
concept
Which
is more scientifically
for describing
personality?
 Personality psychology gradually moves
away from TYPE concepts.
 Becomes the study of
TRAITS.
Galen’s 4 Types
 Sanguine
(happy, jolly)
 Choleric
(irritable, impulsive)
 Phegmatic
(calm, relaxed)
 Melancholic
(gloomy, withdrawn)
Sanguine
E+
(-)
Phlegmatic
Choleric
N+
(-)
Melancholic
Trait theories
Research questions:
 How many traits?
 How do traits covary?
Are there major trait dimensions?
 Stability vs. change?
 Causes: Nature vs. Nurture
 Biology of traits
Brain, body, hormones
Trait taxonomies
Two approaches:
Bottom-up
 Data driven
e.g. analyze covariation
Top-down
 Theory driven
Psychodynamic theory
Biological theory
Rise of trait taxonomies
Searching for trait dimensions
 Guilford (1936)
 Questionnaire to measure “extraversion”
 Analyze correlations using
“factor analysis”
 Method of analyzing correlations
 Expanded the questionnaire… Repeat.
 First effort to identify several different
“dimensions” of personality
Eysenck’s Dimensions
Hans Eysenck




(1940s-90s)
Top-down approach
Focus on biggest dimensions first.
Propose biological theory
Use experiments to test them.
Eysenck decides on a “Big Three”
Extraversion Neuroticism
“P”
Eysenck was important
Criticism of Eysenck’s 3
1) Not comprehensive enough
 Where is Cooperativeness, Kindness,
Orderliness…. Curiosity…?
2) Based on trait questionnaires
 Who constructed them? Researchers.
 How did they decide which traits to measure?
 What they find depends on which traits were
chosen to be measured.
 How decide which traits to measure?
The Lexical Approach
How decide which traits to measure?
 Lexical: “words in the natural language”
 Galton’s (1885) "Lexical hypothesis"
If a trait is socially important enough
for people to want to talk about them,
then over time there will be a word for it
in the natural language.
Lexical Trait Research
Allport (1938)
28,000 trait words
Cattell (1944):
 Used Allport’s list of 28,000 trait adjectives
 Obtained self-ratings, peer-ratings
 Factor analysis
 RESULT: 16 factors  so, he developed
the “16PF” Personality Questionnaire.
 Critics? “Only 5 big factors in his data”.
16 PF
http://ipat.com/16pf-questionnaire/
Trait Questionnaire
 Cattell’s personality questionnaire
 Most widely used trait measure until 1990s
 Especially business and career counseling
Lexical discovery of the Big 5
Lewis Goldberg (1980)
 Redo steps of Cattell
(Factor Analysis easy now)
 1710 adjectives self-ratings,peer-ratings
 Result: 5 large trait dimensions
 What about other languages?
German, Dutch, French, Turkish, Tagalog…
 Same result:
Big Five
The “Big Five”
What are the Big Five?
In-class demo
Big Five Inventory
(“BFI”)
The OCEAN of Personality
Extraversion
Neuroticism
Conscientiousness
Agreeableness
Openness -Intellect
P
The Big Five
O C E AN
Sociability
Warmth
Pos emotions
Assertiveness
Excitement-skg
Activity-level
Each factor represents covariation among
hundreds of related traits.
5 Dimensions of Trait Covariation
Openess to Experience
Is curious about many different things.
Has an active imagination.
Values artistic, aesthetic experiences.
Likes to reflect, play with ideas.
Is original, comes up with new ideas.
Is ingenious, a deep thinker.
Is inventive.
Extraversion
Is full of energy.
Has an assertive personality.
Is outgoing, sociable.
Is talkative.
Generates a lot of enthusiasm.
Is sometimes shy, inhibited.
Tends to be quiet.
Is reserved.
Conscientiousness
Does a thorough job
Is a reliable worker
Perseveres until the task is finished
Does things efficiently
Makes plans and follows through
with them
Tends to be disorganized (-)
Agreeableness
Is helpful and unselfish with others.
Is generally trusting.
Has a forgiving nature.
Likes to cooperate with others.
Is sometimes rude to others. (-)
Starts quarrels with others. (-)
Can be cold and aloof. (-)
Neuroticism
Is depressed, blue.
Worries a lot.
Gets nervous easily.
Can be moody.
Is relaxed, handles stress well. (-)
Remains calm in tense situations. (-)
Why is Big Five important?
1. Comprehensive
 Recurrent factors in many languages.
English Factor V
Ashton (2001):
French Factor V
Somer & Goldberg (2002):
Turkish Factor V
Why is Big Five important?
1. Comprehensive (cont’d)
 Also located in old trait questionnaires.
e.g., MMPI, CPI, 16PF
Example: MBTI
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
MTBI correlations with B5
I-S
J-P
E-I
F-T
OCEAN
.72
.50
.74
.44
?
Interpersonal Circle
Assertive
Dominant
Extraverted
Manipulative
Affiliative
Cold
Warm
Aloof
Agreeable
Introverted
Deferent
Timid
Dominance
Assertive
Dominant
Extraverted
Affiliative
Cold
Warm
Aloof
Agreeable
Introverted
Deferent
Timid
Warmth
Manipulative
Assertive
Dominant
Extraverted
Manipulative
Affiliative
Cold
Warm
Aloof
Agreeable
Introverted
Deferent
Timid
A
II+II+
V+V+
O
Self-reports
Big Five
GZTS
MMPI
MMPI Si
Peer-reports
Big Five
r
Interval
6 years
24 years
30 years
30 years
.74
.65
.56
.70
7 years
.70
Stability increases with age
3. Substantial heritability
Weight
IQ
.60
.50
Openness
Extraversion
Neuroticism
Conscientiousness
Agreeableness
.46
.36
.31
.28
.28
Riemann et al (1997)
Heritability of self+peer ratings
Factor V controversy
Culture (Norman, 1967)
Intellect (Goldberg, 1990)
“Inquiring Intellect” (Fiske, 1949)
Imagination (Saucier, 1994)
Openness (Costa & McCrae, 1987)
Openness?
French
Dutch
Turkish
Intellect?
German
Hungarian
Tagalog
4. Brain correlates of B5
Consc
 Higher volume in frontal
lobe region related to
planning/controlling
behavior
Neur
 Right asymmetry in
frontal lobe activation
4. Brain correlates of B5
Extrav
 High activation in
sensory processing
areas of posterior
thalamus
Brain correlates of B5 :
Neuroscience of Extraversion
Johnson et al. (1999)
 PET
 9 Introv, 9 Extrav
 Resting state only
RESULTS
Thalamus
Insula
Broca’s Area
↑ Anterior
↑ Anterior
↑ Posterior
↑ Posterior
High
Self-talking?
Average
5. Cross-cultural univers.
Found in many languages
 Many languages other than European
(although the clearest replications are in
European languages)
Translated Big Five questionnaires
show same structure worldwide
 NEO-PIR studied in hundreds of languages
 Factor structure recovers Big Five very
closely in all samples
6. Predict important things
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Health
Longevity
Divorce
Career preferences
Music preferences
Lifestyle->Clothes, furniture, books, tatoos
Valid prediction of Big Five from language
usage patterns in social media….
O: Social Attitudes
60% of the heritable part of political
orientation is due to openness
Social Media and Big Five
Word cloud: Extraversion
Word cloud: Introversion
Word cloud: Neuroticism
Beyond the Big Five
Possible omissions?
1. Pos evaluation “excellent”
2. Neg evaluation “evil”
3. masc/fem
“girlish”
4. relig & spiri
“religious”
5. attractiveness “beautiful”
6. Sexuality
“sexy”
The Big “Six” instead?
HEXACO model
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Agreeableness is too broad?
Easily breaks into 2 big dimensions
6th factor: “Honesty-Humility”
Many languages show this 6th factor
Big Six is better?
Currently being debated. (Many disagree).
Low end of HH = “Psychopathy”
Ignore the slides after this one. Be
sure to study the textbook modules
that are required for Exam 3.
Psychodynamic
Perspective
Every man has reminiscences which he
would not tell everyone but only to his
friends … But there are other things which a
man is afraid to tell even to himself.
-- Dostoyevsky
Psychodynamic
Perspective
Every impulse we strive to
strangle broods in the mind, and
poisons us.
-- Oscar Wilde
Psychodynamic
Perspective
Sigmund Freud
1859-1939
 Austrian clinical neurologist
 Fascinated by “hysteric” patients
 Physical symptoms but not physical cause
 Presumably “psychological” causes
 Studied with Charcot in Paris, e.g., hypnosis
 “Talking Cure”
 Josef Breuer & Freud: “Studies in Hysteria”
 Famous case study: “Anna O”
Historical Influences
1. Romanticism
psychic conflict
 “big clash”  passion vs. logic/reason
 “big clash”  individual vs society
2. Darwinism
sex, adaptation
3. Victorianism
repression
 Great optimism  technology  progress
 Grand theories Biology, chem, physics
Historical Influences
4. Judeic hermeneutic traditions
Scholarly study of religious texts
 Text analysis- “interpretation”
 Interpret symbolic meanings
 Discover deeper and deeper meanings
“Depth” Psychology
 Look deep below the surface
 Interpret symbols of the mind
Historical Influences
5. Mythology
 Universal psychological themes
 Clues to Universal “deep” structure
and processes within human mind
6. Clinical Medicine
 “Hysteria” disorders in neurology
̶ physical symptoms but not a physical cause
for them, e.g., “glove” paralysis
Sigmund Freud
Importance of unconscious mind
 Unconscious drives or “instincts” are at work
behind the scenes
 Tension / anxiety occurs from “clash” between
inner wants/impulses and outer demands.
 Our minds hide / disguise undesirable impulses or
desires to manage anxiety.
 Disorders can occur from these dynamics of the
unconscious mind.
 Personality is created by these dynamics too.
Sigmund Freud
Psychoanalysis
 Treatment method
 Exacvation of unconscious conflicts
“Deep diving”
 Bring unconscious conflicts to surface
 Understanding (“insight”) is curative
“talking cure”
 Therapist helps identify conflicts, undo repression
 Helps to replace immature “defenses” with more
mature, adaptive ones.
Freud’s Structural Model
3 levels
 Conscious
 Preconscious
 Unconscious
3 structures
Id
Ego
Superego
Freud’s Developmental
Theory
1
Oral
2-3
Anal
4-5
Phallic
6-12
Latency
> 12
Genital
Freudian "Dynamics"
• Id energy must get
out
• But out "safely" (no
anxiety)
• So Manipulate
awareness
• Transform impulses into disguised, conscious form
that appears safe or normal
Defense Mechanisms
 One of most lasting contributions of Freud
(and daughter, Anna)
Repression
 The most general, important mechanism
Other defense mechanisms:
 Displacement
 Projection
̶ Scapegoat theory of prejudice: Influential 1950
book: The Authoritarian Personality
Defense Mechanisms
 Reaction Formation
 Acquiring OPPOSITE attitude/feeling in
order to disguise undesirable real attitude
Homophobia study
 Adams et al. (1996)
Homophobia Scale
Homophobia (Adams et al)
Hetero Porn
Lesbian Porn
Gay Porn
!!
Homophobia (cont’d)
Homophobics
showed slightly
higher response to
erotica regardless of
whether erotica was
Gay or Straight
Defense Mechanisms
Other defense mechanism
 Regression
 Rationalization
 Sublimation
 Identification
 Intellectualization
Criticism of Freud
1) Unfalsifiable theories
2) Case study methods Confirmation bias
3) Empirical evidence is very weak
e.g., repression
4) Treatments don’t work
Alfred Adler
"Organ inferiority"
1. NeoFreudian motives:
Superiority Striving
Social Interest
2. Birth Order theory
Neo-Freudians
1. Other motives are important
 Agentic motives (competence, mastery,
understanding, exploration)
 Communal motives (attachment,
belonging, affiliation)
Neo-Freudians
2. Ego is more just an anxiety
manager
 Rise of “Ego Psychology”
 Rise of “Self Psychology”
Self-esteem
Self-awareness
Self-structures (complexity, clarity )
Social-Cognitive View of
Personality
Learning theories
 John Locke (1700s)
 Behaviorism (1900-present)
Cognitive theories
 “Personal Constructs"
(Kelly)
 "Expectancies“, e.g, self-efficacy
 "Attributions" (Rotter, Seligman)
(Bandura)
Example of cognitive traits
Efficacy
 Domain specific "can do" beliefs
 x not same as outcome expectations
 x not same as "confidence“
Studies of snake phobics
Studies of bravery in soldiers
Efficacy belief not lack of fear predicted successful
behavior (picking up spider; being courageous)
Example of cognitive traits
Explanatory Style
 Seligman and Petersen
 Global, stable, internal attributions for bad
outcomes= maladaptive beliefs
 Predicts depression, shorter lifespan
Humanistic Perspective
"3rd" Force in Psychology (1961)
 Abraham Maslow
 Pyramid theory of motivation
 Peak Experiences
 Optimal personality (Coan, 1971)
 Carl Rogers
 Growth, Actualization
 Congruency; Positive Regard
Positive Regard
 Conditional Positive Regard: love is
contingent upon behavior.
 Unconditional Positive Regard: love is
unqualified.
Influential in counseling
Rogers’ Personality Theory
The needs for self-actualization and positive
regard create a potential for conflict.
Self-Discrepancy Theory
Self-esteem is defined by the match between how we
see ourselves and how we want to see ourselves
Self-Actualization
Esteem
Belongingness
Safety
Physiological
Psychology of Optimal
Experience: Flow
 Csikszentmihalyi
Absorption in activity
 Sense of effortlessness
and perfection
 Focus on single activity
 Balance between high
skill and high challenge