The Cognitive Foundations of Personality Traits

The Cognitive Foundations of Personality Traits

EMOTIONS, PERSONALITY, AND PSYCHOTHERAPY Series Editors Carroll E. Izard, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware and Jerome L. Singer, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut Recent volumes in the series THE COGNillVE FOUNDATIONS OF PERSONALITY TRAITS Shulamith Kreitler and Hans Kreitler THE EMOTIONAL BRAIN: Physiology, Neuroanatomy, Psychology, and Emotion P. V. Simonov EMOTIONS IN PERSONALITY AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY Edited by Carroll E. Izard FREUD AND MODERN PSYCHOLOGY Volume 1 The Emotional Basis of Mental Illness Volume 2 The Emotional Basis of Human Behavior Helen Block Lewis GUIDED AFFECTIVE IMAGERY WITH CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS Hanscarl Leuner, Gunther Horn, and Edda Klessmann LANGUAGE IN PSYCHOTHERAPY: Strategies of Discovery Edited by Robert L. Russell THE POWER OF HUMAN IMAGINATION: New Methods in Psychotherapy Edited by Jerome L. Singer and Kenneth S. Pope THE PSYCHOBIOLOGY OF EMOTIONS Jack George Thompson SAMPLING NORMAL AND SCHIZOPHRENIC INNER EXPERIENCE Russell T. Hurlburt SHYNESS: Perspectives on Research and Treatment Edited by Warren H. Jones, Jonathan M. Cheek, and Stephen R. Briggs THE TRANSFORMED SELF: The Psychology of Religious Conversion Chana Ullman A Continuation Order Plan is available for this series. A continuation order will bring delivery of each new volume immediately upon publication. Volumes are billed only upon actual shipment. For further information please contact the publisher.

The Cognitive Foundations of Personality Traits Shulamith Kreitler and Hans Kreitler Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv, Israel SPRINGER SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA. LLC

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Kreider, Shulamith. The cognitive foundations of personality traits I Shulamith Kreider and Hans Kreider. p. em.-(emotions, personality, and psychotherapy) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-4899-2229-8 ISBN 978-1-4899-2227-4 (ebook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4899-2227-4 1. Personality and cognition. I. Kreider, Hans. II. Title. III. Series. BF698.9.C63K74 1989 155.2'3-dc20 89-38261 CIP 1990 Springer Science+Business Media New York Originally published by Plenum Press, New York in 1990 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1990 All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher

To Solomon E. Asch and Florence Asch for a quarter-century of inspiring and heartwarming friendship

Preface Hardly anything in psychology is as irking as the trait concept. Psychologists and laypersons alike use primarily adjective trait-names to characterize and even conceptualize the individuals they encounter. There are more than a hundred well-defined personality traits and a great many questionnaires for their assessment, some of which are designed to assess the same or very similar traits. Little is known about their ontogenetic development and even less about their underlying dynamics. Psychoanalytic theory was invoked for explaining the psychodynamics underlying a few personality traits without, however, presenting sufficient empirical evidence for the validity of these interpretations. In a reductionistic vein, behaviorally inclined psychologists have propounded the thesis that all traits are acquired behaviors. Yet, this view neither reduces the number of personality tests nor explains the resistance of traits to modification by means of reward and punishment. Dissatisfied with these and some other less well-known approaches to personality traits, we decided to explore whether applying our psychosemantic theory of cognition to the trait concept would do better. The way we had to follow was anything but easy. This book presents the results of our long explorations: a new definition of traits, an explanation of trait dynamics in terms of meaning, a specification of trait characteristics that allows us, for example, to compare traits or to determine whether a given personality disposition is a trait or is not, the amazing facteven for us-that one relatively simple test can be used for assessing each of the 120 best known and well-studied personality traits, and many more applications and demonstrations of the new conception of traits. In the first part of the book (Part I), we present and analyze various problems and difficulties besetting the conventional trait concept (Chapter 1). Then we describe the new meaning-based approach to cognition, emphasizing its major assumptions, tenets, concepts (e.g., meaning, meaning profile, and meaning variable), implications, and the new assessment tools it has generated, mainly the assessment of meaning. Following this presentation, we proceed to the theoretical rationale leading to the cognitive conception of personality traits (Chapter 2). This conception was tested in a series of over 40 empirical studies of personality traits. The major findings and conclusions of these studies in regard to personality traits are described in Chapters 3 to 8. The conclusions concern issues, such as the nature of traits (Chapter 3), how traits function (Chapter 4), and the relations of traits to overt vii

viii Preface behavior (Chapter 8). The problems concerning traits raised in Chapter 1 are answered in Chapter 7 in the framework of the new meaning-based trait concept, on the basis of the extensive research findings. The second part of the book (Part II) is devoted to empirical studies of traits based on applying the new cognitive approach, implemented by the assessment of meaning. An introductory section discusses the methodological and procedural issues common to all the studies. The 22 presented studies were selected because they deal with 76 common traits of different kinds (e.g., emotional, cognitive, and social), illustrate a wide range of different applications of the new conception, and demonstrate its contributions to resolving specific problems concerning particular personality traits, such as extroversion, Machiavellianism, external and internal control, and sensation seeking. The third part of the book (Part III) focuses on practical applications of the new conception of personality traits to issues such as trait assessment, trait comparisons, and the construct validity of traits. The illustrations are based partly on studies of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, the Jackson Research Form, and different anxiety scales. In particular we show how one test, the assessment of meaning, can provide information about trait scores. Each of the chapters of Part III includes precise instructions for working with the new trait concept. The information necessary for applying the new concept to the assessment of personality traits is summarized in Appendix B. Owing to the amazing number of publications, psychologists often lack the time to read a professional book from cover to cover. Therefore, it seems advisable to point out what is essential to understanding, as well as what is likely to be of special interest to different professional groups. To our mind, reading Part I is absolutely necessary for obtaining an adequate understanding of the new trait concept, its dynamics, its theoretical and practical implications, and the extent of its potentialities. Chapter 6, however, may be skipped by those readers who either are not particularly interested in methodological aspects or trust that the authors have done a proper job. The studies described in Part II may be interesting and, we hope, even important to psychologists who are actively involved in research in personality in general or personality traits in particular, as well as to those who want to learn more about one or another of the discussed traits. Both groups are advised to read the introductory section and then those studies that deal with the traits in which they are particularly interested. Part III is specifically designed for researchers and practitioners. Chapter 10, which describes in detail how to assess traits by means of the meaning test, is essential reading for both. The other chapters deal with more specific applications focusing on issues of identifying traits (Chapter 11), characterizing trait scales and factors (Chapter 12), and using the meaning system for validation (Chapter 13). Any of these may be read either by investigators who are interested in the discussed issue or by those who would like to use the detailed examples as inspiration for exploring further applications of the new system. A preface would hardly be complete without expressions of thanks to all those who have helped in making this book possible. Out of the many, we would like to mention in particular the workers of the Tel Aviv Computation Center for having contributed their expertise and time; Professor William McGuire of Yale University

Preface ix for his unswerving encouragement and help; and our students at Tel Aviv University, especially Mr. Gadi Breier, Ms. Iris Drexler, and Dr. Talma Lobel, whose data constitute a part of the broad research base for the new conception; Mrs. Oma Hamilis, the graphic art designer at Tel Aviv University, who has volunteered to prepare Figure 1; as well as the many others whose critical remarks over the years have led us toward an increasing clarity of conception. We would finally like to thank those at Plenum, namely Eliot Werner, Margaret Ritchie, and Robert Freire, for their contributions in the course of bringing this volume to publication.

Contents I. THE TRAIT CONCEPT............................................ 1 1. Traits: The Embattled Concept...................................... 3 Doing Something about Traits.......................................... 3 Traits in Personality................................................... 4 Traits in the Quagmire................................................. 5 The Eight Questions................................................... 13 2. Toward a Solution................................................. 15 The Underlying Level.................................................. 15 The Meaning System.................................................. 17 Basic Assumptions.................................................. 17 Derivation of the Meaning System.................................... 18 The Meaning Variables................................................. 19 Meaning Dimensions................................................ 19 Types of Relation.................................................... 26 Forms of Relation................................................... 29 Shifts in Referents................................................... 29 A Brief Interim Summary.............................................. 31 The Meaning Profile................................................... 32 Zigzagging toward a Hypothesis........................................ 34 Active and Passive Mastery of Meaning Variables...................... 34 Preferred Meaning Variables......................................... 35 On the Track of Function............................................ 36 Some Assumptions and the Hypotheses............................... 38 3. The Trait and Its Constituents...................................... 41 The Major Finding..................................................... 41 Meaning-Assignment Tendencies....................................... 42 xi

xii Contents Manifestations of Meaning-Assignment Tendencies....................... 43 Meaning Preferences and Beliefs........................................ 46 Behavioral Manifestations of Meaning Preferences........................ 49 4. Trait Dynamics.................................................... 61 Meaning Assignment.................................................. 61 Interaction within the Trait Pattern...................................... 62 Substitution........................................................... 65 Structural Impacts..................................................... 66 The Preservation of Reality Testing...................................... 67 A Glimpse of the Interaction between Traits............................. 69 Traits and Behavior.................................................... 69 Trait Dynamics and Interactions: A Brief Summary....................... 71 5. Characteristics of the Trait Pattern.................................. 73 The Uses of Trait Characteristics........................................ 73 The Seven Trait Characteristics......................................... 73 1. Specificity........................................................ 74 2. Two Levels of Generality.......................................... 74 3. Structure......................................................... 76 4. Meaning Variables of Different Kinds and Their Proportions in the Pattern.................................................... 79 5. Positive and Negative Components................................. 81 6. Number of Meaning Variables in the Pattern........................ 86 7. Coherence....................................................... 87 Concluding Remarks and an Extended Trait Definition.................... 88 6. A Methodological Interlude........................................ 91 Purpose.............................................................. 91 Testing for Biases...................................................... 91 Question 1: Is There a Bias Pro or Contra Any Particular Meaning Variable?................................................. 92 Question 2: Did the Characteristics of the Meaning System Bias the Distribution of the Meaning Variables in the Trait Patterns?........... 92 Question 3: Was There Any Bias in the Chances of Any Grouping of Meaning Variables to Be Included in the Trait Patterns?............... 93 Some General Conclusions............................................. 96 7. The Answers: A Summary of Contributions......................... 99 Answering the Questions.............................................. 99 Question 1. What Is a Trait and What Is the Epistemological and Existential Status of the Trait Concept?........................................ 99 Question 2. What Are the Typical Manifestations of Traits?................ 101

Contents xiii Question 3. What Are the Similarities or Differences between Traits as Well as between Traits and Related Concepts?............................ 103 Question 4. What Are the Attributes of Traits?........................... 105 Question 5. Are There Different Kinds of Traits?......................... 105 Question 6. What Is the Structure of Traits?.............................. 107 Question 7. How Do Traits Function?................................... 108 Question 8. What Is the Relation of Traits and Behavior?.................. 110 8. Traits and Human Behavior........................................ 111 A Systems Approach.................................................. 111 The Cognitive Orientation Theory....................................... 112 Traits and Behavior Evocation.......................................... 118 The Issue of Behavioral Consistency..................................... 120 Beyond the Trait-Behavior Relation: The Importance of a Trait Concept 122 II. STUDIES ON TRAITS............................................ 125 9. Studies on Traits... :............................... 127 Goals of the Studies................................................... 127 Order of Presentation.................................................. 129 General Guiding Principles............................................. 129 The Studied Traits..................................................... 130 Some Features of Method Common to the Studies........................ 131 On the Track of Manifestations of Meaning Variables..................... 132 Notes on Interactions.................................................. 135 Study 1. Extroversion in Questionnaire and Meaning................... 136 Study 2. The Meaning Patterns of the California Psychological Inventory.................................................. 144 Study 3. Meaning and Machiavellianism.............................. 169 Study 4. Need for Power and Some More Machiavellianism............. 173 Study 5. The Functionality of Machiavellians.......................... 178 Study 6. Cattell's Personality Factors as Patterns of Meaning Variables... 180 Study 7. Different Kinds of Meaning Variables in Jungian Types........ 202 Study 8. Meaning and the Constellation of Approval Motive, Ego Strength, and Anality....................................... 207 Study 9. Cleanliness and Order...................................... 213 Part A: The Patterns of Meaning Variables.................... 213 Part B: Preferences for Specific Meaning Values............... 216 Study 10. Hypochondriasis, Avarice, and Impulsivity................... 218 Study 11. The General Meaning Pattern of External-Internal Control...... 223 Study 12. The Meaning Patterns of Specific Subtypes of External and Internal Control............................................ 227 Part A: Defining Four Clusters of Externality and Internality... 227 Part B: Testing the Four Clusters of Externality and Internality.......................................... 230

xiv Contents Study 13. You Don't Have to Be Dogmatic to Be Authoritarian........... 231 Study 14. Meanings of Cognitive and Motor Activities................... 237 Study 15. The Different Meaning Patterns of Sensation Seeking.......... 246 Study 16. Meaningful Choices of Subtypes of Sensation Seekers.......... 253 Study 17. The Meaning Patterns of Sex-Role Conceptions (Bern Scale)..... 256 Study 18. The Three Meaningful Faces of Intolerance of Ambiguity....... 260 Study 19. The Three Clusters of Intolerance of Ambiguity............... 264 Study 20. The Meaning Profiles of Leadership Styles.................... 268 Study 21. Meaning and the Eye of the Beholder........................ 272 Study 22. Traits in Interaction......................................... 283 III. HOW TO WORK WITH THE NEW TRAIT CONCEPT.............. 289 10. Assessment of Personality Traits................................... 291 Assessing All Traits by Means of the Meaning Questionnaire.............. 291 The Procedure of Assessing Personality Traits by Means of the Meaning Questionnaire..................................................... 291 Antitraits............................................................. 297 Validation............................................................ 298 Advantages of the Meaning-Based Trait Scores........................... 300 11. Identifying Personality Traits...................................... 303 Importance of Identifying Traits........................................ 303 The Procedure for Identifying Traits..................................... 303 The Case of the MMPI: An Example of Applying the Procedure........... 305 The Case of the PRF................................................... 310 Other Applications of the Method for Identifying Traits................... 310 12. Characterizing Trait Scales and Factors............................. 317 Identifying the General Class of Traits................................... 317 Comparing Traits...................................................... 321 Characterizing Factors................................................. 323 13. Meaning-Based Validation of Personality Traits..................... 325 Traits and Manifestations.............................................. 325 Validating by Meaning................................................. 325 The Procedure of Meaning-Based Validation............................. 327 Meaning-Based Validation and Other Validation Methods................. 328 Validation as a Continuing Process...................................... 328 Postscript............................................................. 331

Contents XV Appendixes Appendix A. Appendix B. Appendix C. 333 The Meaning Variables: List and Code.... 335 Summary of Manifestations of Meaning Variables.... 339 General Instructions for Coding the Meaning Questionnaire........................................... 371 References 375 Index................................................................ 395