What is a personality?
Time to Pick a Topic
Going to the library this week to begin
research!
What is a personality?
• In 1936, Gordon Allport developed a list of
18,000 words that describe personalities.
• How many words can your team come up
with in 5 minutes?
Words we use to describe
personalities
outgoing
How many different kinds of
personalities are there?
• 5 “traits” in all possible combinations?
• 8 opposite traits in all possible
combinations?
• Or is there an unlimited number of
different personalities?
Why do people like to take
personality tests?
• Try googling “personality test.” See how
many you can take for free.
• Do psychologists like personality tests for
the same reason we all do?
• How would it help us to know about
different types of personalities?
What are you?
• Take out a blank sheet of paper.
• Number:
1.
2.
3.
.
.
8.
Rate yourself (1 to 5)
1. Are you…
Easygoing, Laidback, Mellow (1) or
2
3
4
Shy, Nervous (5)
or somewhere in between?
2. Do you…
Stand close to people (1) or
2
3
4
Stand back (5)
or somewhere in between?
3. Are you…
Always on time (1) or
2
3
4
Always ½ hour late (5)
or somewhere in between?
4. Do you…
Like big parties (1) or
2
3
4
Like to hang out with 1 or 2 friends
(5)
or somewhere in between?
5. Do you tend to …
Worry (1) or
2
3
4
Take what comes (5)
or somewhere in between?
6. Do you tend to …
Do what others want (1) or
2
3
4
Argue, fight (5)
or somewhere in between?
7. Are you usually a …
A rule-follower (1) or
2
3
4
A risk-taker (5)
or somewhere in between?
8. Would you rather …
Try the new Algerian restaurant (1)
or
2
3
4
go to your old favorite Italian (5)
or somewhere in between?
Score Yourself
Trait
Calculate from Items
Extroversion
2+4
Neuroticism
5-1
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
Openness
6
3+7
8
Your
Score
Who are you according to “The Big Five”?
Extrovert (2)
Worrier (-4)
Agreeable (1)
Conscientious (2)
Open to New Things (2)
Introvert (10)
Easygoing, optimist (4)
Antagonistic, Grouchy (5)
Impulsive (10)
Resistant to new experience (5)
From Allport’s 18,000… research has boiled down to a few key traits.
These 5 don’t tell us everything – but they tell us about as much as many
more traits would.
Do the Big Five exist everywhere?
• Gosling et al: 60+ species of other animals
• Countries including Germany, Britain,
Turkey, China, Ethiopia, Russia, Korea,
the Philippines…
• Self-description and description of others
So where does personality come
from?
“Nature or nurture?” and how can we tell?
– Identical vs fraternal twins: all genes + some
environment vs some genes and some
environment
– Identical twins raised separately: all genes
and very little environment
– Adopted children: Are they more like their
biological parents or the parents who raised
them?
So where does personality come
from?
• 50% genes
– About half of all variation in ‘likes parties vs
small gatherings’ (introversion vs
extroversion) is due to genetics (i.e., how
much people’s parents liked parties – even if
they’re raised by someone else!)
• 50% ????????? – Parents? Friends?
Brothers and sisters? School? Culture?
How can genes be so powerful?
Kagan (Social Cognitive
Learning Theory):
temperament is
established genetically,
then shaped by life…
Reciprocal
Determinism: If
you’re laid back and
I’m not, I will parent
you differently
Temperament: Easygoing and laid
back? Or shy, nervous, easily upset
From birth
10% nonreactive
80% in the
middle
10% highly
reactive
By adulthood
Of the highly reactive,
About 15% still highly
reactive
85% ‘normal’
Nobody’s become laid
back
Can you find a highly reactive child? A laidback, easygoing child?
Who shapes your personality?
How?
Who says parents don’t matter?
• Adopted children have very little in
common with their adoptive parents.
• “Non-shared environments” (like having a
different 4th grade teacher) seem to make
siblings very different from one another.
• Parents don’t treat all their children the
same way. Why not?
Remember “reciprocal
determinism”?
• How would that work with the influence of
friends? School? Neighborhood? Siblings?
Carl Rogers* “Unconditional
Regard”
“I only love you when you behave the way I want”
defensive, uneasy people (Incongruence: the
uncomfortable sense that you are about to be found out
for who you really are…and you’ve often been told that
who you are is not OK)
“I love you even if your behavior at the moment bugs me”
warm, open people (“Congruence” – the feeling that
your behavior is consistent with who you really are.)
* A humanist. Not much more scientific than the psychodynamic theorists, but some of
this has led to positive psychology which does take a more empirical approach.