Personality FINAL EXAM

Sex-typed female

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Sex-typed male

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Undifferentiated

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Four possible responses to tragic events

1. Succumbing 2. Surviving with Impairment 3.Resilience/Recovery 4. Thriving

Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ)

12 hypothetical good and bad situations. Write down that they think would cause the situation. Rate each cause of the explanatory style

Meta-analysis

A quantitative review of literature that averages data, weighted by sample size so we can draw conclusions about the particular study

Resilience/Recovery

Ability to return to a normal state of functioning, prior to traumatic event

Self-Esteem

Across ages, effect size is small, with males scoring higher in self-esteem But young children, ages 7-10, show slight difference As children age, the gap widens (11-14) In adulthood, the gap closes: (19-22 and 23-59)

Sex-bomb type

Attractive, seductive, flirtatious

Aggressiveness

Boys and men are more aggressive than girls and women, across all ages, cultures, types of aggression and aggression conditions EXCEPT there is no significant sex difference in verbal aggression

Gender Schemas

Cognitive representations that lead people to process information on basis of sex-linked associations

Cultural differences in locus of control - COLLECTIVISTIC

Collectivistic cultures tend to be more external

Counterfactual Thinking

Counterfactual thinking is thinking about what might have been or what the alternatives are

Positive emotions predict well being and resilience

Daily positive emotions significantly predicts an increase in resilience and subjective well being Negative emotions did not significantly predict either

Depression

Depression is repeatedly focusing on one's symptoms or distress Women ruminate more, which contributes to the perseverance of depressive symptoms

Seligman - learned helplessness in humans

Depression occurs when people believe their failures are due to uncontrollable events. Failure will continue as long as events are beyond their control Depression arises from helplessness Unlike animals, humans can ask "why am I helpless?"

Expressiveness

Ease with which one expresses emotions

Effect Size

Effect size (d) is used to express the differences in standard deviation units Effect size can be calculated for each study of sex differences, then averaged across studies to give an objective assessment of the difference

Ego Resilience

Ego resilience is an early term used to refer to the ability to modify one's behavior to meet the demands of a stressful situation and then return to normal after the stressor Ego resilience is a modern term for Trait Resilience

Explanatory Style

Explanatory style are habitual ways of explaining good and bad things that happen in life; explanations internal versus external, stable versus unstable, and global versus specific cause

Resilience and Adversity

Exposure to some stressors, with opportunity for recovery, may "toughen" individuals Toughness is related to mastery and control, which facilitates effective coping Research suggests that experiencing a moderate number of serious negative life events may contribute to developing a propensity for managing well in the face of stressors

Locus of Control and Achievement - EXTERNALS

Externals are more likely to miss work while feeling stressed and burned out

Locus of Control and Social Behavior - EXTERNALS

Externals are more sensitive to the social demands of a situation whereas internals are more senstive to the task demands When interacting with others, externals talk more and make better eye contact Externals do not get involved in politics because they do not believe they have the ability to change

Locus of Control and Mental Health - EXTERNALS

Externals have higher rates of depression and anxiety Externals have higher rates of suicide

CAVE technique

Find a quote of a person explaining why a good or bad event happened to them. Trained judges rate the explanations along the dimensions of the explanatory style

Positive Emotions

Foster adaptive ways of coping, repair harmful psychological effects of negative emotions, increase flexibility in thinking, build enduring social connections, and increase future well-being

Surviving with Impairment

Go on, but never the same again

What do studies say about hardiness?

Hardiness overlaps with optimism, locus of control, and neuroticism Hardiness is significantly correlated with neuroticism, extroversion, and conscientiousness

External Locus of Control

Having an external locus of control means that the individual's life is controlled by outside forces, other people, fate, or luck. People with an external locus of control usually feel powerless and vulnerable. They have a victim mentality

Internal Locus of Control

Having an internal locus of control means the individual controls what happens to them. Internals have a variety of advantages in achievement, work behavior, and physical and psychological health

Sex Differences in Depression

In childhood, there are no sex differences in depression. After puberty, women show depression two to three times more than men largest sex differences is in ages 18-44, then sexes start to converge again Low testosterone levels are associated with earlier onset and greater incidence of depressive illness in men aged 50-65 years

Research on Androgyny

In women, 38% of the variance associated with sex-typical behaviors was explained by genetic differences The heritability of "gender a-typicality" in boys and girls is roughly 50%

Negative Social indicators

Increased negative events and media coverage of them if more negative events occur, people will attribute more events to outside forces to protect the self-concept, leader to greater externality

The self-serving bias and the victim mentality

Increases in individualism may lead to greater externality. Individualism promotes the use of the self serving bias The self serving bias was significantly stronger in individuals with an external locus of control

Cultural differences in locus of control - INDIVIDUALISTIC

Individualistic cultures believe they have control over things they actually do not. Individualistic cultures are at risk for illusion of control

Locus of Control and Social Behavior - INTERNALS

Internals participate more in campus activities and are more likely to hold leadership positions

Locus of Control and Achievement - INTERNALS

Internals study harder, get better grades. Internals prepare more than externals because they believe their actions have meaning Internal locus of control at ten, predicts adult educational attainment in adulthood

Locus of Control and Mental Health - INTERNALS

Internals tend to be happier and better able to deal with stress

Locus of Control and Health - INTERNALS

Internals tend to be healthier because they are more likely to take preventative measures Internals are more likely to: exercise, wear seat belts, use birth control, keep track of medications

Locus of Control

Locus of control are people's belief's about control of reinforcements and outcomes in their lives

Maccoby and Jacklyn

Maccoby and Jacklyn developed more precise quantitative procedures for examining conclusions across studies and thus for determining sex differences (meta-analysis)

People who are external tend to agree with these statements:

Many of the unhappy things in people's lives are partly due to bad luck. Unfortunately, an individual's worth often passes unrecognized no matter how hard s/he tries. Neurotic people are external

Emotional Stability

Men and women are similar on impulsiveness Women score higher on anxiety

Parental influence on children's gender stereotyping

Men are more likely to have traditional gender stereotypes than women, especially if they are the sole wage earner in the family. Fathers are more concerned that their children maintain behaviors appropriate to their gender; fathers play a more important role than mothers in children's gender stereotyping

Risk Taking

Men consistently take more risks than women Males are more likely than females to be employed in hazardous jobs Males score higher than females on "sensation-seeking"

Minimalist vs Maximalist

Minimalists describe sex differences as small and inconsequential Maximalists argue that the size of sex differences should not be trivialized because trivial is not always trivial

Sex Differences in Personality - NEUROTICISM

Neuroticism is the largest sex difference between genders and is true across all cultures Openness shows the smallest differences Across all cultures, women are slightly higher in conscientiousness, extroversion, and agreeableness

Openness to Experience

No sex differences in openness to experience

Thriving

Not only recovering, but doing better than you were prior to the event

Optimistic explanatory Style

Optimistic Explanatory Style views negative events as external, unstable, and specific. People who view negative events as not their own fault (external), unlikely to happen again (unstable), and limited to just one aspect of their lives (specific)

Explanatory style and Sports - Optimistic explanatory style

Optimistic explanatory athletes perform better, especially after defeat Optimistic basketball teams won more games the following season Optimistic soccer players play better after a loss When told they had performed poorly (swam slow), pessimistic swimmers subsequently swam slower while optimistic swimmers swam faster.

Learned Helplessness

Organisms learn that their behavior is ineffectual They learn not to act and be powerless Learned helplessness is associated with complete external locus of control

Independence Model of Locus of Control

People have become more individualistic; predictions that locus of control has become more internal over the past 40 years Increased control in terms of personal control: cited use of birth control, reduced discrimination, and increased entertainment and recreational options

People who are internal tend to agree with these statements:

People's misfortunes result from the mistakes they make. In the long run, people get the respect they deserve in the world

Models of Personality and Health - INTERACTIONAL STRESS MODERATION MODEL

Personality characteristics modify physiological response e.g. optimism and the immune system

Pessimistic Explanatory Style

Pessimistic Explanatory Style views negative events as: internal, stable, and global People who view negative events in their own fault (internal), likely to happen again (stable), and undermining other aspects of their life (global)

Positive emotions

Positive emotions broaden attention and thinking, undo lingering negative emotions, fuel psychological resilience, and build personal resources

Seven Habits of Highly Resilient People

Positive emotions, loving relationships, a meaningful life, optimism and hope, gratitude, relaxation, and happiness

Types of Control - PRIMARY

Primary control is an attempt to make one self feel better or less distressed by changing circumstances

Internals and externals have different coping styles

Problem focused vs. Emotion Focused Looking for solutions vs. talking to others

What is Resilience?

Resilience is the ability to recover from tragedy, adversity, hardship, or to adapt to ongoing life stressors

Characteristics of Resilient People

Resilient people are hardy people. They believe they can control their own outcomes and reinforcements They actively engage in their social world They see negative events as an opportunity Each independenty buffer stress and having more than one does not seem to add additional benefits

Trait resilience

Resilient people rebound from stressful experiences faster, psychologically

Rebounding

Resilient people respond appropriately to stressor and then return to their usual state People high in neuroticism have a hard time getting over a situation and returning to their usual state

Androgynous

Scoring high on femininity and masculinity

Types of Control - SECONDARY

Secondary control is an attempt to fit into, accommodate or accept a situation or event in ways that make themselves feel better

Sex differences in violent crimes

Sex differences in violent crimes accompanies puberty, peaking in adolescence and the early 20s After 50, violent crime declines and men and women become more similar in terms of aggression Teenage girls are more likely than males to engage in bullying

Models of Personality and Health - TRANSACTIONAL STRESS MODEL

Some personality traits adverse exposure Certain traits result in less healthy individuals because they lead to greater exposure to unhealthy scenarios (e.g. sensation-seeking and wrecklessness)

Explanatory style and Achievement - Optimistic explanatory style

Students show greater persistence and motivation and generally do better in school Optimistic college students perform better in classes even after controlling for ability Optimistic elementary school children in both the US and China show higher achievement and standardized scores

Instrumentality

Task focused, self-sufficient, independent

Alienation Model of Locus of Control

The alienation model of locus of control focuses on two historical trends: the tendency to blame one's misfortunes on outside forces and increases in negative social indicators Locus of control has become more external over time

Dangers of too many choices

The dangers of having too many choices results in paralysis and lack of action Research consistently shows that when people have 10 or more options, they make poorer choices. More choice leads to more regret because you forgo opportunity cost and choice increases expectations which decreases satisfaction

Models of Personality and Health - HEALTH BEHAVIOR MODEL

The health behavior model is when people adopt a healthier lifestyle Certain traits increase healthy behaviors, causing healthy individuals

"People-Things" Dimension

The people-things dimension has to do with vocational interests Men are more towards "things" and women are more towards "people"

Hopelessness model of depression

The sense of hopelessness is related to a lack of perceived control in addition to the idea that one will not regain control

Sexuality

There are large differences in sexuality. Men have more interest in causal sex compared to women

Transformational Coping

Transformational coping is turning an experience into something less threatening; viewing negative as an opportunity Finding meaning under duress Engendering optimism and active problem-solving Engaging with people as social supports

Twenge

Twenge conducted a meta analysis on studies conducted between 1960-2002. She found that the average college student in 2002 was more external than 80% of the students in the early 1960s Working class has more external individuals

Gender Stereotypes - WILLIAM AND BEST

Two-thirds of both females and males within a country agreed that the characteristic described one sex or more than the other (consensus across countries) Three-quarters of the countries surveyed agreed that the characteristic described one sex or more than the other (consensus across countries) In general, men were viewed as stronger than women In general, men were viewed as being more active than women In general, men were viewed more positively than men

Succumbing

Unable to physically or mentally survive. Permanently unable to go on

Models of Personality and Health - CONSTITUTIONAL PREDISPOSITION MODEL

Underlying genetics or constitutional factors influence personality and disease There's a third factor that leads to health and personality

Agreeableness

Women score higher on trusting and tender-mindedness Women smile more than men do

Extravery and Surgency

Women score slightly higher on gregariousness - more social Men score slightly higher on activity level (boys are more rambunctious at an earlier age) Men score moderately higher on assertiveness

Conscientiousness

Women score slightly higher on order

Progressive subtype

intellectual, independent, ambitious, confident, liberated

Traditional subtype

maternal, devout, conforming, naive, dependent