Chapter 6: Using personality Traits

Why is it important to remember that being high or low in this trait is not inherently better?

-Because high and low self monitoring correlate with many other behaviors -actors are high in self monitoring and mental patients are low in self monitoring -each has its own strengths and weakness

Which personality traits are associated with different political orientation? Is this always clear?

-Conservatives: were described as tending to feel guilty, anxious in unpredictable environments, unable to handle stress, favor values in group loyalty, authority & respect, purity. -Liberals: resourceful, independent, self-reliant, confident. wide range of gratifications(seek & enjoy the good life) -Authoritarians: uncooperative, inflexible when playing experimental games, likely to obey an authority figure commands to harm another person, few positive emotions, oppose rights for transsexuals. watch more TV. -No it is not always clear bc rapidly changing events alter the context in which we think about politics, people have different ways to define liberal/conservative

What are some of the Big Five traits and what is the evidence for whether or not they are cross cultural? -are they common in different regions of the US why/why not?

-Extraversion, Neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness. -The big five have been found again & again over the years using many different list of traits & a wide range of samples of people. -4/5(expect openness) in phillipines, japan, hong kong. -all five appeared when translated in german, hebrew, chins, korean, turisk) -central attributes of personality are similar to an important degree, yet different from culture to culture. not a one-one correspondance

Why is the California Q-sort an especially useful test?

-it forces the judge to compare all of the items directly against each other within one individual -the judge is restricted to identifying only a few items as being important for characterizing a particular person. -nobody can be described as all good or all bad; -finer & subtle discriminations must be made. -a team of researchers sought to develop a comphrensive set of terms sufficient to describe the ppl they interact with.

How did factor analytic approach help determine "essential" traits What were cattel idea, eysenck, tellegen.

-it involves correlating every measure variable with every other variable. Correlation matrix results. *It helps reduce the many to a few.* -Cattell: 16 traits were essential(friendliness, intelligence, stability, sensitivity, dominance among others... -later others said it was overextracion and that 16 were too much to be fundamental. They represent what he thought to be most important -Eysenck: extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism (aggressiveness, creativity, impulsivness) -Tellegen: positive emotionality, negative, constraint.

What are some problems with the typological approach?

-it is not good to predict peoples behavior beyond what can be predicted with traditional scores. -a scientist must find the exact dividing lines that distinguish one type of person from another in order for the types to be clearly identified. -the further challenge is to find divisions that distinguish different types; show differences are qualitative not quantitatively.~ are they different in ways that conventional trait measure could not capture. -knowing a persons personality type adds little or nothing to predict behavior beyond what can be done using traits that define typology.

How can typological be useful?

-it might be useful in the way they summarize many traits in a single label and makes it easier to think about psychological dynamics -they be useful for education and theorizing. -learn why ppl do what they do. -good for how traits interact with each other~ does not add up ability to predict outcomes.

Do most people who are high in narcissism suffer from Narcissistic Personality Disorder?

-not all narcissism is problematic, they do tend to be charming, good looking and make a good first impression on others. also it stems from entitlement/exploitativness (arrogant element) -also associated with leadership/authoirty, associated with self-confidence. People who score high are more satisfied with their life. They take risks -narcissism has increased in the U.S. population, slowly but surely over the past few decades. -yes it can get to the point where it reaches such an extreme that is considered a personality disorder.

Which of the big five is associated with intellect?

-openness to experience, is the most controversial. -creative, imaginative, open-minded, clever. liberal, use drugs, play an instrument. -like nature more. -some view the approach as a reflecting a persons approach to intellectual matters, while others value cultural matters like literature, art, music. -hard to replicate over different cultures. -doesnt make you right, believe UFOS, ghost. -imaginative, original, curious, viewed as intelligent., substance abuse.

Where are highly agreeable/open/conscientious people most likely to be found

-scores on these traits vary by geographic region: -*agreeable ppl* are more likely to be found in eastern half of country than in the western half -*conscientious people* are found in the south eastern states and southwestern. -*openness* is highest in areas near new York city, LA, San Fran, Miami -*extraverted* in the southeast and north to the middle. -*neurtoic* more so in the northern east -sex differences vary geographically as well. -women score higher than men on neurotics, agreeableness, conscientiousness. tend to be larger in wealthier nations.

What is typological approach?

-stems from doubt and hope -the doubt is whether it is really valid to compare people with each other quantitively on the same trait dimensions ~perhaps they are different bc they are different types of people -comparing individual trait scores makes little sense. -hope is that researcher can identify groups of people who resemble each other enough & are different enough from everybody else. -focuses on patterns of traits that characterize whole persons. -important differences may be qualitative not quantitative. -assumes ppl can be characterized on a common scale

What is agreeableness?

-tendency to be cooperative, likability, warmth, friendly, compliment -ppl high in compassion=liberal, ppl high in politness=conserative. rate ppl more positively, say nice things, smoke less, score higher than men, don't agree to everything like an affair. -children less vulnerable, more into religious activities, sense of humor, well-adjusted, healthy heart, look at pleasant, recover from accidents faster, social interests, unlikely to engage in criminal behavior. easy to get along with.

What is Muhammad Ali typology?

-that people come in four types; pomegratne: hard on outside and inside, -walnut(hard on outside soft on the inside) -the prune(soft on the outside, hard on the inside) -grape is soft on the inside and outside -has poor validity and so does myers briggs type indicator

What is the lexical hypothesis?

-the important aspects of human life will be labeled, and if something is truly important & universal, many words for it will exist in all languages. -if something is important, people will have invented a word for it.

What are some criticisms of the Big Five?

-there is more to personality than just five traits. List doesn't capture attributes such as sensuality, humor, frugality, cunning -Paunonen found 10 more factors(seductiveness, manipulativeness, integrity & religiosity) -ppl think honest-humility should be added, many that paunonen found could be listed under this -degree to which broad traits are sufficient for conceptual understanding. summarize narcissism as combo of high in extraversion low in conscientiousness miss essence of construct. -big five are types of traits, not of people.

Is a person who is high in narcissism to make a good first impression? If so, will it last?

-they are often charming and make a good first impression and put more effort into their hairstyle, clothing, makeup -makes them appear sexy in the short term -but overtime they come to be described as manipulative, overbearing, entitled, vain, arrogant and exhibitionistic -the longer you know them, the less you may like them. -Become aggressive when their positive view of themselves is threatened & when ppl reject them they take it out on others. Do not handle failure well.

What is the theoretical analytic approach? Murray and Block What is over controlled and under controlled

-Henry Murray theorized that 20 traits~ he called them needs were central to understanding personality -need for aggression, autonomy, exhibition, order, play, sex and so on. -Block developed two essential characteristics called ego-residence(psychological adjustment) & ego control(impulse control). -concept behind these is that people constantly experience needs & impulses ranging from sexual drives to desire to eat doughnuts. -Overcontrolled ppl(inhibit these impulses~ high in ego control. -Under control(low in ego control) are prone to act immediately. Depends on situation for which one is better. under causes trouble, residence gets you out.

How would you describe someone who is high/low in self-monitoring? What groups of people tend to be higher/lower in self-monitoring?

-High self-monitors: carefully survey every situation looking for cues as to the appropriate way to act, and then adjust their behavior accordingly. Look for cues to how they are feeling -Adaptable, flexible, popular, sensitive, able to fit in wherever they go. Wishy-washy, two faced, lacking integrity & slick. Talkative, drama, social poise, humorous, -Low: tend to be more consistent regardless of the situation; behavior is guided more by inner personality. -Self direct, having integrity, consistent, honest, insensitive, inflexible, stubborn, touchy, irritable, touchy, independent.

What did the new research in washington post article find out about the four types of people

-Reserved: agreeable, consciousness people but not high in extroversion -Role model: high in everything except neuroticism -Self-centered: people who scored high in extraversion, below average in agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness. teen boys more likely to be self-centered decreased with age. -Average~ a weaker one.

What typological types are most commonly replicated in research?

-Well-adjusted person: adaptable, flexible, resourceful, interpersonally successful. Older people belong to this. -Maladjusted over controlling: too uptight for his won good, denying himself pleasure, difficult to deal with -Malajdusted under controlling: impulsive, prone to be involved in crime or unsafe sex, wreck general havoc on other people. -found repeatable; young people to under controlling and older people to well adjusted.

How does the q california set work?

-a list of 100 personality phrases. Each phrase describes an aspect of personality that might be important for characterizing a particular individual -they are more complex than personality traits, which are usually expressed in single words. -raters express judgments of personality by sorting the items into 9 categories ranging from highly uncharacteristic to highly characteristic -the distribution is forced, predetermined # of items must go into each category. -distrubution is peaked or normal, meaning that most items are placed near the center and only a few can be placed on each end -The rater must be an acquaintance, researcher or psychotherapist.

What is extraversion in the big 5?

-active, outspoken, dominate, forceful, adventurous, spunky. Higher status. -cheerful, upbeat, optimistic, ambitious, hardworking, achievement oriented. -has a powerful influence on behavior & takes effort for them to act in any other way. -hold moral judgements that hold ppl responsible for effects of actions, even if unintentional -more popular, physically attractive, sensitive to rewards, experience pos emotions more, happier. -spend money on experience rather than material. argumentative, risk for overweight

What is neuroticism in the big five?

-deal ineffectively w/problems. react negatively to stressful events, sensitive to social threats -higher in this unhappier, anxious, physical sick, complain a lot, feel oppressed by life, have problems w/family, not like jobs, more likely to engage in criminal behavior.

How can looking at someone's typical vocabulary (or the types of words they commonly use) provide information about their personality? What was the study they used to find these findings?

-each participant underwent a hour life-history interview, with questions that ranged over past experiences, current, future prospects. -questions deleted, answers transcribed w/computer files containing thousands of words used by each person. -One category counted by the LIWC program is "Certainty words(exact, guarantee, sure, truly)~ people who are confident, intelligent, verbally fluent, ask for advice, ambitious, generous. -People who used words rarely were emotionally bland, exploitative, repressive(avoid recognizing unpleasant facts)

What is the story (briefly) of Narcissus? What is narcissism?

-he fell in love with his own beauty, stared at his reflection in a pool. -it refers to excessive self-love, it can be classified as a personality disorder

What is the essential trait approach?

-it address the question of which traits are the most important? -it tries to narrow that long list of thousands of traits into traits that really matter -most prominently the big 5 list which includes extraverision, neuroticism, conscientiousness, agreeableness,s openness

What is the many trait approach? What is a weakness that funder makes?

-it begins with the implicit research question, "who does that(where that is an important behavior) -researchers attack the behavior of interest with long lists of traits intended to cover a wide range -determine which traits correlate with a specific behavior, and then explain the patterns of correlations. -many traits may be associated with a behavior or outcome of particular interest. -bad in a way that looking at the whole pattern is more informative than paying a lot of attention to occasional inconsistencies(which might just be due to chance)

What is the single trait approach?

-it examines the link between personality & behavior by asking. What do people like that do? -examine the correlation between one trait and behavior. -Self-Moniroting: addresses fundamental issues concerning the relationship between one's private inner reality and external self presented to others -Narcissism: basic trait of some people who may be charming, attractive, but have a high degree of self-regard & neglect of concern for others.

What are some of the implications of the Big Five? is the big five always orthogonal and why is that the case? What is orthogonal?

-they are orthogonal, which means that getting a high or low score on any one of them is not supposed to predict whether they will get low or high on other traits. -they cover a wide swath & summarize much of what any test can measure. Can predict outcomes such as a career & health, economic status, cog ability. -more complex than they seem at first: *are not always as orthogonal as hoped*. -More stable: agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism(emotional stability) they all form into one factor -extraversion & openness form together to form plasticity -lower-order facets & aspects- oversimplified & misleading.

How are authoritarians predicted to act when living is declining, crime is worse, environmental quality is dealing?

-they become 6 more times likely to favor restrictions on welfare, and eight times more likely to support laws to ban abortions. -when society is in turmoil and basic values are threatened they want to support "Strong" candidates for office who make them feel secure, regardless of candidate party. -believe in communist ideas but support racist political parties -like prefer structured and predictable environments~ resist change.

What is conscientiousness?

-they have a lot of integrity, more likely to enjoy success on job, seek out opportunities to learn about company, and acquire skills, do well in interviews spend more time seeking info & preparing themselves. don't procrastinate, feel guilty when do not live up to expectations. -not popular. avoid risks & seek to protect themselves, live longer, less likely to smoke, overeat. have more years in school.

Why do narcissist behave in the way they do?

-they seek to defend an unrealistically inflated self-concept through means, such as bragging, that are ultimately unsuccessful -stem from a general failure to control impulses & delay gratification. -crave feelings of power, prestige, success and glory. -always express feelings of superiority whenever they feel the need, justified or not.