Psychology of personality

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Psychology of personality
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Basic theories of personality

• Temperament
• Trait approaches to personality
• Psychodynamic theory (S. Freud)
• Phenomenal theory (Humanistic psychology)
• Cognitive theory of personality Personal
  construct theory of personality
• Social cognitive theory

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Typology of personality

• To find basic types of personality

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Temperament

• Temperament is a basic attribute of our mental
  live, excitableness.
• Disposition, which determines formal qualities of
  our reactions, such as their strength, duration
  etc.
• Temperament is linked with features of function
  of central nervous system and/or construction of
  the body.

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Form of experience

• Strength weak/strong
• Depth shallow/deep
• Duration transient/durable
• Time course regular (steady)/irregular
  (unsteady)

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Typology of personality

• Temperament
• physician Galen (129-199) on the basic of older
  Greek sources - Hippocrates (460-370 B.C.)

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Hippocrates

• Hippocrates describes four basic temperamental
  types. They are a function of four basic bodily
  saps blood, phlegm, bile, and black bile. The
  Greeks believed that all of nature was composed
  of four basic elements air, earth , fire, and
  water)
• Sanguine blood
• Phlegmatic phlegm
• Choleric bile
• Melancholic black bile

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• Sanguine - animated, fluctuant, he/she seeks for
  a frequent change of impressions, fast reaction
  to events, easily copes with unpleasantness and
  shame.
• Phlegmatic slow, calm, steady moods and
  efforts, unimpressive external expression of
  mental states.
• Choleric fast, intensive, unbalanced,
  inclination to emotional eruptions, and fast
  changes of emotions.
• Melancholic - vulnerable, deep experiences (even
  less important events), weak reactions.

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Constitution and temperamentearly view

• German psychiatrist E. Kretchmer (Physique and
  Character,1925)
• He studied the relation between body type and
  personality.
• Three fundamental types
• Pyknic (plumb, round physique)
• Athletic (muscular, vigorous physique)
• Asthenic (frail, linear physique)

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• Kretchmer assumed a relation between physique and
  normal personality (e.g. Pyknic and extraversion,
  Asthenic and introversion)
• Criticism
• His work suffered from faulty methodology.

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Constitution and temperament

• Sheldon (1940)
• He suggested that each person has an inherited
  basic biological structure that determines ones
  temperament.
• A study of 200 subjects.
• He found a correlation between physique and
  temperament.

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• Endomorph love of physical comfort love of
  eating amiable complacent need for people when
  troubled.
• Mesomorph assertive love of physical adventure
  energetic love of dominating lust for power
  love of risk and chance competitive.
• Ectomorph love of privacy fast reactions
  emotional restraint sensitive to pain chronic
  fatigue apprehensive self-conscious

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• Criticism
• His work suffered from faulty methodology.

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C. G. Jung

• introvertion x extravertion
• Introvertion a mental energy is oriented
  inwards
• Extravertion - a mental energy is oriented
  outwards .

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H.J. Eysenck

• Theory of personality traits
• Relatively stable behavior.
• Classification of traits on the basis of
  statistical technique of factor analysis.

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• Large number of test items are administered to
  many subjects.
• Individuals who agree with the item I often go
  to large and noisy parties also tend to agree
  with the item I enjoy spending time with others
  and disagree with the item I would rather stay
  home than go out at night..
• Factor analysis identifies groups, clusters, or
  factors of related items.

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• According to the trait theory, there are natural
  structures of personality, and factor analysis
  allows to detect them.
• If test responses covary (they appear and
  disappear together, then one can infer that they
  have some common feature behind them.
• Thus, they belong to the same aspect of
  personality functioning.

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Basic dimensions of personality

• Two basic dimensions of personality labeled
• 1. introversion - extraversion
• 2. neuroticisms (emotionally stable-unstable)
• There is the relationship of these basic
  dimensions of personality to the four major
  temperamental types distinguished by Hippocrates
  and Galen.

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Introversion - extraversion
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Neuroticisms (emotionally stable-unstable)
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Psychoticisms

• Later Eysenck added a third dimension
• Psychoticisms
• People high on this dimension tend to be
  solitary, insensitive, uncaring about others, and
  opposed to accepted social customs.

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Psychoticisms
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The biological basis of personality (Eysenck)

• The trait of extraversion was due to the general
  state of excitation of the cerabral cortex.
• How much the neurones in the cortex were likely
  to fire in response to a particular set of
  stimuli.
• Extraverts had inherited a strong nervous
  system, which meant that the person would qickly
  become bored by one set of stimuli, and would
  look for variation and novelty, whcih would
  usually be provided by socialising with other
  people.

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The biological basis of personality

• Introverts had a weak nervous system, which
  meant that Reticular Activating System would tend
  to amplify incoming information, so that they
  were less likely to become bored by one set of
  stimuli.
• Because an introvert was able to maintain
  cortical activity with comparatively little
  stimulation, they would be happy with solitary
  pursuits and with their own company or the
  company of just a few other people.

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Extraverted x Introverted managers

• Extraverted manager
• They like diversity and action. They tend to be
  a quick-fire. They avoid to complicated
  procedures. They are often impatient
• Introverted manager
• They prefer tranquillity for their concentration.
  They pay attention to details. They think before
  a proper action.

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Research Findings

• Extraversion is probably the most extensively
  studied of all traits, in part because relevant
  behaviors are relatively easy to observe.
• Introverts are more sensitive to pain that are
  extraverts
• Introverts become fatigued more easily that do
  extraverts, excitement interferes with their
  performance, whereas it enhances performance for
  extraverts.
• Introverts tend to be more careful but less fast
  that extraverts.

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Further research findings

• Introverts do better in school that extraverts,
  particularly in more advanced subjects.
• Also, students withdrawing from college for
  academic reasons tend to be extraverts, whereas
  those who withdraw for psychiatric reasons tend
  to be introverts.
• Extraverts prefer jobs involving interactions
  with other people, whereas introverts tend to
  prefer more solitary vocations. Extraverts seek
  diversion from job routine, whereas introverts
  have less need for novelty.

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Further research findings

• Extraverts enjoy explicit sexual and aggressive
  humor, whereas introverts prefer more
  intellectual forms of humor such as puns and
  subtle jokes.
• Extraverts are more active sexually, in terms of
  frequency and different partners, that
  introverts.
• Extraverts are more suggestible that introverts.

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College students

• Extraverts more often chose to study in library
  locations that provided external stimulation that
  did introverts.
• Extraverts took more study breaks than did
  introverts
• Extraverts reported a preference for a higher
  level of noise and for more socializing
  opportunities while studying than did introverts.

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The five-factor model of personality

• L. R. Goldberg (1981)
• Big Five

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The Big Five Trait Factors

• NEUROTlCISM (N)
• Assesses adjustment vs. emotional instability.
  Identifies individuals prone to psychological
  distress, unrealistic ideas, excessive cravings
  or urges, and maladaptive coping responses.
• EXTRAVERSION (E)
• Assesses quantity and intensity of interpersonal
  interaction activity level need for
  stimulation and capacity for joy.

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• OPENNESS (O)
• Assesses proactive seeking and appreciation of
  experience for its own sake toleration for and
  exploration of the unfamiliar.
• High scorer Curious, broad interests, creative,
  original, imaginative, untraditional
• Low scorer Conventional, downto-earth, narrow
  interests, unartistic, unanalytical

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• AGREEABLENESS (A)
• Assesses the quality of one's interpersonal
  orientation along a continuum from compassion to
  antagonism in thoughts, feelings, and actions.
• High scorer Soft-hearted, goodnatured,
  trusting, helpful, forgiving, gullible,
  straightforward
• Low scorer Cynical, rode, suspicious,
  uncooperative, vengeful, ruthless, irritable,
  manipulative

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• CONSCIENTIOUSNESS (C)
• Assesses the individual's degree of organization,
  persistence, and motivation in goal-directed
  behavior. Contrasts dependable, fastidious people
  with those who are apathetic and sloppy.
• High scorer Organized, reliable, hardworking,
  selfdisciplined, punctual, scrupulous, neat,
  ambitious, persevering
• Low scorer Aimless, unreliable, lazy, careless,
  lax, negligent, weak-willed, hedonistic.

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Leadership

• Globe Research Project - 60 countries
• Results
• Integrity of personality, trustworthiness,
  honesty
• Charismatic, vision, positive approaches,
  motivating
• Team orienting, team-building
• Excellence-oriented, decisive, intelligent
• Win-win problem solver