Personality MHS Psychology - 2014
What is personality? Pa#ern of behavior, thoughts, emo4ons that describe a person across different situa4ons. Important Ques/ons: Does personality change over /me? Which traits are most important? Where does personality come from?
Traits à Predic>ng Behavior Cardinal Traits Influence everything the person does Ghandi, King Jr. : NONVIOLENCE Very few people have cardinal traits Central (Global) Traits 5 to 10 main ways of dealing with others Stable over /me This is what a personality test was measures Ex.: Introvert (shy) vs. Extrovert (out there) Secondary Traits More changeable Preferences (food, colors), habits, opinions, etc.
Factor analysis the BIG 5 Give ques4onnaires to thousands of people see which answers clump together THE BIG 5: 1) Introverted vs. Extroverted OUTGOING VS. SHY 2) Neuro4cism ANXIOUS/ALERT VS. RELAXED 3) Agreeableness HEADSTRONG VS. EASY- GOING 4) Conscien4ousness RESPONSIBLE/PUNCTUAL VS. CARE- FREE 5) Openness to experience ORIGINAL/ARTISTIC VS. CONFORMING/PREDICTABLE
Biological Tradi/on Your personality depends on your genes Genes are inherited from parents True for alcoholism, schizophrenia, Alzheimer s How to inves4gate? Twin Studies compare Iden4cal twins (same) Fraternal (different) raised together and apart.
Iden>cal Twins Raised Apart Similar on Aggression Altruism Religious autudes GeUng divorced Watching lots of TV Gene>cs accounts for approximately 50% of it all! Is paren/ng not really that important?
Babies and Monkeys Some babies, Irritable, cranky, squirm à called ANXIOUS Sweet, cry li#le, snuggle à called CALM Anxious babies in stressful situa>on (stronger Sympathe>c NS) Higher heart rate Higher adrenaline, cor4sol (stress hormones) Tend to have blue eyes and suffer from allergies! GENETICS! Study repeated with infant monkeys Anxious monkeys act trauma4zed even though never felt the trauma. Anxious ones tend to self- medicate with alcohol (more than others) Is alcoholism related to gene4c predisposi4on toward anxiety?
What if you could control personality with biology? Most common beh. disorder in N. America? ADHD Full of energy, can t sit s>ll Trouble concentra>ng, messy, impulsive Tx.: Ritalin. Is the problem the kids or the situa4on? 10 x more in N. America than in Europe Less tolerant of energe4c kids in boring situa4ons Maybe the problem isn t just biological but also cultural Posi>ve aspects of ADHD? Do we want a world where everyone feels the same?
Problems with Twin Studies 1) Environments tend to be similar (twins raised apart) Opportuni4es, $, s4mula4on are not always that different 2) Paren>ng is a 2- way street Kids affect parents as much as parents affect kids (are environmental differences caused by biological differences in kids)
Learning Tradi>on (you ve already seen this one ) Behaviorists: Extreme à personality is an illusion Baby is a blank slate where only environment ma#ers Cogni/ve Theorists Acquire personality pa#erns as we learn to deal with the environment Personality Situa>on
Behaviorist view of Personality PERSONALITY IS THE RESULT OF DIFFERENT PATTERNS OF REINFORCEMENT/PUNISHMENT. Introversion / Extroversion: Shyness reinforced and friendliness punished Self- Handicappers Put obstacles in own path to success Fail à not my fault (blame it on handicap) Success à addi4onal credit (in spite of handicap!) Self defea/ng habits rewarded & learned! The message is GOOD: Don t wait for personali>es to change: BE PROACTIVE and change the environment that shapes you!
The Cogni>ve School 1) Models ma#er 2) Interpreta4ons of events makes a diff. 3) Mo4va4ng beliefs are imp. Some people pursue fame and glory even when all their experience has never reinforced their efforts. SOMEDAY I M GONNA BE A STAR!
2 most important personality traits that influence behavior 1) Locus of control Are the results of your ac4ons under your control Internal à control your own des4ny External à All thanks to luck, fate, others External: I did well on the test but it was just lucky...
2) Self- Efficacy à to persist What do we need: 1) Experiences overcoming obstacles (need to learn to fight through failure in life) 2) Successful and relevant models to show what is possible (girl hockey players) 3) Encouragement and persuasion from others 4) Experience using own physiological state well (public speaking learn to deal with stage fright become a teacher)