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PERSONALITY PSY234 Lecture 5 : Trait & Type approaches

PERSONALITY PSY234 Lecture 5 : Trait & Type approaches. Dr Simon Boag Email: simon.boag@psy.mq.edu.au. Readings. Carver, C. S. & Scheier, M. F. (2004). Perspectives on Personality . (pp. 156-160) Monte, C. F. & Sollod, R. N. (2003). Beneath the mask. (pp. 597-614)

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PERSONALITY PSY234 Lecture 5 : Trait & Type approaches

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  1. PERSONALITY PSY234 Lecture 5:Trait & Type approaches Dr Simon Boag Email: simon.boag@psy.mq.edu.au

  2. Readings • Carver, C. S. & Scheier, M. F. (2004). Perspectives on Personality. (pp. 156-160) • Monte, C. F. & Sollod, R. N. (2003). Beneath the mask. (pp. 597-614) Additional (non-assessable) • Eysenck, H. J. (1967). The Biological Basis of Personality. Springfield: Thomas. • McCrae, R. R. & Costa, P. T. (1997). Personality trait structure as a human universal. American Psychologist, 52, 509-516

  3. Lecture Outline I. Eysenck’s dimensional approach • Extroversion vs introversion • Neuroticism vs normality • Personality temperaments II. Biological basis of personality • ARAS & visceral brain III. Summary & evaluation

  4. Learning Outcomes After this lecture you should be able to: • Understand & explain the meaning of personality ‘type’, ‘trait’ & ‘dimension’ • Describe & explain ‘extroversion’, ‘introversion’, ‘neuroticism’ & ‘normality’ • Understand the relation of dimensions to personality temperaments • Describe & explain Eysenck’s biological explanation for personality differences

  5. Types & Traits Traits: An enduring characteristic of a person’s behaviour eg. sociable/unsociable Types: A class of individuals with common characteristic or pattern of characteristics (physical/psychological) eg. Sheldon (1942) Varieties of Temperament

  6. Personality Types • Hippocrates (460?-377?BC) & Galen (130-200? AD): personality based on humors Sanguine (blood) • Warm-hearted, optimistic Melancholic (black bile) • Sad, depressed, anxious Choleric (yellow bile) • Quick tempered, angry, assertive Phlegmatic (phlegm) • Slow, lethargic, calm

  7. Eysenck’s Theory of Personality Hans Eysenck (1916-1997)

  8. Eysenck’s Approach • Identifying universal, measurable dimensions of personality • Rejects unique individual: “… the unique individual is simply the point of intersection of a number of quantitative variables” (Eysenck, 1952, p.18). • Identified through large scale assessment • eg. US Airforce personnel • Statistical approach: Factor analysis

  9. Personality Dimensions (1):Introversion/Extroversion Adapted from Jung’s types Extrovert: • Outgoing, embraces the world, responsive to social & physical stimulation • Insensitive to stimulation (‘stimulus hungry’) Introvert: • Hesitant, reflective, withdraws from social & physical stimulation • Sensitive to stimulation (‘stimulus shy’)

  10. Extroversion/Introversion • Dimension : relative degree (more or less) Introvert X Y Z Extrovert • Extrovert: sociable, outgoing, interactive, expressive, sensation seeking, acts first, think later, dislikes being alone • Introvert: private, reclusive, reserved, quiet, inward, sensitive, thinks before acting, exhausted by groups

  11. Personality Dimension (2): Neuroticism/Normality • Emotional vs non-emotional (Wundt) • Refers to strength of emotional reaction not psychopathology High degree of neuroticism: • More emotionally reactive • eg. moody, tense, anxious, irritable High degree of normality: • Less emotionally reactive (but still have emotions)

  12. Dimensions: Persons X & Y Introversion/Extroversion: Intr. X Y Extr. Neuroticism/Normality: Neur. Y X Norm. • These dimensions are orthogonal

  13. Test Items (EPQ) Introversion/Extroversion eg. ‘Do you prefer reading to meeting people?’ Neuroticism/Normality eg. ‘Are your feelings easily hurt?’ Later added another dimension: Psychoticism (anti-social trait) eg. ‘Would you like other people to be afraid of you?’

  14. Some empirical findings • ‘Criminals’ score high in E, N & P (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1985) • Creative people score high on psychoticism (Eysenck, 1993, 1994) • Extroverts more willing to have sexual contact without commitment & report more sexual experience (Wright & Reise, 1997)

  15. Eysenck’s Personality Types • Dimensional interaction produces ‘types’: (1) Extrovert (neurotic): Choleric: bad tempered (2) Extrovert (normal): Sanguine: cheerful (3) Introvert (neurotic): Melancholic: gloomy (4) Introvert (normal): Phlegmatic: unemotional, indifferent

  16. II. The Biological Basis of Personality • Personality types result from differences in central nervous system (CNS) functioning Implications: • Genetic basis of personality • Relatively stable & unchanging • However: environment interacts with biological predispositions

  17. Biological Basis of Extroversion/Introversion ARAS system: • Ascending Reticular Activation System • Cortical excitation & inhibition High ARAS arousal: • Predisposes to introversion Low ARAS arousal: • Predisposes to extroversion Evidence: Introverts have higher sedation threshold than extroverts (cf. ADHD)

  18. Some empirical findings • Introverts less tolerant of painful electric shocks (Bartol & Costello, 1976) • Corr et al (1995): After high dose of caffeine: Introverts poorer performance (over-stimulated?); Extroverts better performance (stimulated?) • Frontal lobes of introverts more active than extroverts (PET scan) (Johnson et al, 1999)

  19. Biological Basis of Neuroticism/Normality Visceral Brain (VB) system • Hypothalamus & limbic system • Mediates emotional activation High VB activation: • Predisposed to neuroticism (emotionally reactive) Low VB activation: • Predisposed to normality (non-emotionally reactive)

  20. Extroverts:Normal & Neurotic Sanguine Normal Extrovert • Low ARAS arousal • Low visceral brain activity Choleric Neurotic Extrovert • Low ARAS arousal • High visceral brain activity

  21. Introverts: Normal & Neurotic Phlegmatic Normal Introvert • High ARAS arousal • Low visceral brain activity Melancholic Neurotic Introvert • High ARAS arousal • High visceral brain activity

  22. Biological & Environmental Interaction “Biological causes act in such a way as to predispose an individual in certain ways to stimulation; this stimulation may or may not occur, depending on circumstances which are entirely under environmental control” (Eysenck, 1967, pp.221-222) • Effect of different teaching environments

  23. III. Evaluation • Twin studies: E & N: 50% genetic • Adoption studies: Correlations b/w adoptive parents & adopted children for E & N are around 0% • E, N & P: highest validity of all traits (Kline, 1993) • Contradictory findings (eg. sedation findings) • Hypothesised brain areas are not independent of one another

  24. Evaluation • Forms basis of subsequent trait theories eg. ‘Big Five Factor model’ (McCrae & Costa, 1997) • Neuroticism, extroversion, openness, conscientiousness, agreeableness • Is personality really stable? • Situationism (Mischel, 1990): situations are strongest determinants of behaviour • eg. child shy with strangers, friendly with parents

  25. Summary • Eysenck’s approach identifies personality dimensions (ext/int; neu/nor) • A person’s placing on these dimensions determines their personality temperament • Eysenck proposes a biological basis for personality • Extroversion & introversion are said to be related to ARAS functioning • Neuroticism & normality are said to be related to visceral brain activity

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