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Stability and change in personality

Stability and change in personality. “They must often change who would be constant in happiness or wisdom” Confucius, Analects. Lecture contents. Stage theories of personality development Freud Erikson Types and indices of change or stability Illustrative longitudinal studies.

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Stability and change in personality

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  1. Stability and change in personality “They must often change who would be constant in happiness or wisdom” Confucius, Analects

  2. Lecture contents • Stage theories of personality development • Freud • Erikson • Types and indices of change or stability • Illustrative longitudinal studies

  3. Stage theories of development • Criteria especially associated with particular stages. • Stages typically occur within given time limits. • Fixed typical sequence or progression through stages.

  4. Freud’s psychosexual stages • Oral (<2) Oral andNarcissistic • personalities • Anal (2-4) Anal personalities • Phallic (4-5) Oedipus/Electra complex • (Latency) • Genital (13-ish) Genital (healthy) • personality

  5. Oral Incorporative Over-indulged “Swallow anything” Optimistic Gullible Passive Oral Aggressive Frustrated “Biting remarks” Pessimistic Suspicious Manipulative Oral Personality: Receiving or giving • Narcissistic • Fully egocentric

  6. Anal Retentive Frustration Controlled Stingy Orderly Meticulous Precise Anal Expulsive Overindulgence Expressive Overly generous Messy Dirty Vague Anal personality: Withholding or giving

  7. Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development

  8. Critique of stage theories of development • + Useful in describing usual time and sequence of (especially key stages in) development • + Useful in identifying ‘sensitive periods’ in which effects may be especially lasting or resistant to change • + Useful to list characteristics difficult to notice by their absence • - Usual time and sequence of development rarely universal • - Much change incremental and non-progressive

  9. What is personality change? • “What about you would have to change for you no longer to consider yourself to be you?” • Pervin (2003, p. 196) • Absolute and relative change • Quantitative and qualitative change • Continuous and discontinuous change • Genotypic (latent) and phenotypic (expressive) change • Percevied (or measured) and actual change

  10. Type and indices of continuity and change • Differential • Individual differences • Correlation • Absolute • Absolute criteria • Comparisons of group means • Structural • Among patterns of variables within samples across time • Comparison of covariation patterns across factor analyses • Ipsative • Structural continuity or change at individual level (e.g., Block, 1971) • Coherence • Among latent characteristics

  11. Three illustrative longitudinal studies • Magnusson’s Swedish Study of Individual Development and Adjustment (IDA) • Jack Block’s Lives through time (1971) • The Minnesota Parent-Child Project

  12. Magnusson’s Swedish Study of IDA (1965+): Girls • Early-maturing, relative to late-maturing, girls, at 15: • More multiple drunkenness • More conflict with adults • Less interested in school and career • More focused on social relationships (often with older people) • Most behavioural and social differences reduced or gone by adulthood, but: • Married earlier • Had kids earlier • Left school and started work earlier

  13. Magnusson’s Swedish Study of IDA (1965+): Boys • Relative to boys with poor peer-relations at 13, boys who were also aggressive and hyperactive at 13: • Low levels of adrenaline in urine at 13 • Indicates low physiological reactivity • Thus, indicates low perceptions of stress and threat • Increased risk of later alcohol problems • Increased risk of later persistent criminality

  14. Jack Block’s Lives through time (1971) • Variety of data, in different formats • California Adult Q-Set (CAQ) to Q-sort, e.g., interviews, on personality traits (e.g., talkative, skeptical, needy). • Differential (individual difference) stability from Jnr-high to 30s • Sample mean correlation ( .75 between Jnr. and Snr. High) masks great individual range (-.01 to 1.00) • Sex differences • Males greater narrowing of interests and humour into adulthood • Females greater ambition and sympathising into adulthood

  15. Attachment styles (Bowlby; Ainsworth) • Securely attached • Insecurely attatched: • Anxious-avoidant • Anxious-resistent • (Anxious-disorganised)

  16. The Minnesota Parent-Child Project (1974+) • Sroufe and colleagues • Individual differences: • Relative to insecurely attached, securely attached preschoolers: (‘Traits’) • Less dependent • Greater ego-resilience (‘Social responsiveness’) • More active participation with peer group • Greater empathy • Better response to social rebuff (‘Social elicitation’) • Elicited ‘warm’ behaviour from teachers

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