Personality, 9eJerry M. Burger

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Chapter 7

The Trait Approach: Theory, Application, and

Assessment

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Chapter OutlineTrait approachImportant trait theoristsFactor analysis and the search for the structure of personality

Situation versus trait controversyApplication: The big five in the workplaceAssessment: Self-report inventoriesStrengths and criticisms of the trait approach

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Trait ApproachIdentifies personality characteristics that can be represented along a continuum

Trait: Categorizes people according to degree to which they manifest a particular characteristic

Assumptions - Personality characteristics are relatively stable over time and across situations

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Figure 7.1 - Trait Continuum

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Gordon AllportAcknowledged the limitations of the trait conceptBehavior is influenced by a variety of environmental factors

Traits have physical components in the nervous system

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Gordon Allport: Research Strategies

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Henry MurrayPersonology

Combination of psychoanalytic and trait concepts

Needs - Basic elements of personality

Focused on psychogenic needsReadiness to respond in a certain way under certain given conditions

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Henry MurrayPeople can be described in terms of a personal hierarchy of needs

Press - Situation that influences the activation of a need

Principal contributions to personalityThematic Apperception Test (TAT)Stimulated extensive research on psychogenic needs

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Factor Analysis and the Search for the Structure of PersonalityFactor analysis: Technique employed by Raymond Cattell to determine the structure of human personalitySource traits - Basic traits that make up the human personality

Limitation - Procedure is confined by the type of data chosen for analysis

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Donald Fiske’s Personality FactorsSocial adaptabilityEmotional controlConformityInquiring intellectConfident self-expression

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Table 7.1 - The Big Five Personality Factors

Source: Copyright © 1986 by the American Psychological Association. Reproduced with permission. McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. (1986). Clinical assessment can benefit from recent advances in personality psychology. American Psychologist, 41, 1001-1003. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.41.9.1001. No further reproduction or distribution is permitted without written permission from the American Psychological Association.

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NeuroticismPlaces people according to their emotional stability and personal adjustment

People with high scores are more vulnerable to anxiety and depression

Individuals with low scores tend to be calm and well adjusted

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ExtraversionPlaces extreme extraverts at one end and extreme introverts at the other

Extraverts are very sociable people

Introverts are reserved and independent people

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OpennessInvolves active imagination, divergent thinking, and intellectual curiosity

People on the high end are unconventional and independent thinkers

Individuals on the low end prefer the familiar rather than the imaginative

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AgreeablenessPeople with high scores are helpful, trusting, and sympathetic

Individuals with low scores tend to be antagonistic and skeptical

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ConscientiousnessPeople on the high end are organized, plan oriented, and determined

Individuals on the low end are careless, easily distracted from tasks, and undependable

Referred as will to achieve or work

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Ongoing Questions Related to the Big Five ModelDebate about what the five factors mean

Disagreement about the structure of the five factor model

Researchers have looked into the stability of the five factors over time

When to use scores from Big Five measures versus scores from specific trait scales

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Criticism of Trait ApproachTrait measures do not predict behavior well because both the person and the situation are related to behaviorPerson-by-situation approach: Individual traits as well as situations determine behavior

There is little evidence for cross-situational consistency

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Defense for Trait Approach

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Situation Versus Trait ControversyIdentifying relevant traits

Single trait can predict a person’s behavior if that trait is important, or central, for the person

Inclusion of secondary trait, dilutes the correlation between the trait score and the behavior

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Application: The Big Five in the WorkplaceEmployers use scores from personality tests to make hiring and promotion decisionsCritics complain that employers misinterpret test scores when making these decisions

Research provides stronger evidence for the relationship between personality and job performance

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Application: The Big Five in the WorkplaceResearch indicates that conscientiousness may be the best predictor of job performanceHighly conscientious people are organized, hardworking, persistent, and achievement oriented

People high in agreeableness are trusting, cooperative, and helpfulWork well in team jobs

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Application: The Big Five in the WorkplaceExtraverts have an edge in the business world over introverts

Test scores of applicants on the Big Five personality dimensions are useful when making a hiring decision

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Assessment: Self-Report InventoriesSelf-report inventories - Asks people to respond to a series of questions about themselvesWidely used form of personality assessment

Have greater face validityUsed by researchers, personnel managers, and clinical psychologists

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Assessment: Self-Report InventoriesMinnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)Prototypic self-report inventory used by clinical psychologists

Revised version, MMPI-2, was published in 1989

Widely used clinical assessment toolPsychologists debate the validity of scales0

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Figure 7.2 - Sample MMPI Profile

Source: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Profile Form. Copyright 1943, 1948, (renewed 1970), 1976, 1982 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission of the University of Minnesota Press.

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Assessment: Self-Report InventoriesProblems with self-report inventories

FakingTest takers intentionally give misleading

information on self-report inventoriesFake good - Presenting themselves as better

than they really areFake bad - Making themselves look worse

than they really areTest makers build safeguards into tests to

reduce fakingMMPI contains scales designed to detect faking

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Assessment: Self-Report Inventories

Carelessness and sabotageParticipants can get bored with long

tests and select responses randomlyTest takers sometimes report

incorrect information to sabotage a research project

Instruction explanation, surveillance and stressing the importance of the test can reduce the problem

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Assessment: Self-Report Inventories

Response tendenciesSocial desirability: Extent to which

people present themselves in a favorable light

Measuring social desirability enables a tester to adjust the interpretation of other scores accordingly

Acquiescence response can be a problem on some scales

People’s tendency to agree with test items can distort the meaning of scores

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Strengths and Criticisms of the Trait ApproachStrengths

Usage of objective measures to examine the constructs

Reduced level of the bias and subjectivity

Numerous practical applicationsEducational psychologists and employers use trait measures in their work

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Strengths and Criticisms of the Trait ApproachCriticisms

No explanation on how traits develop or how to help people who suffer from extreme scores

No schools of psychotherapy have originated from the trait approach

Lack of an agreed-upon framework

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