Individual Differences in Psychology

Individual Differences in Psychology

• Psychology studies general rules of behaviour, focusing on average behaviours.
• Differential psychology studies how individuals differ in thoughts, feelings, and behaviours.
• Psychological traits are long-lasting ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving, relatively stable over time.
• Psychological states are short-term ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving, varying across time and situations.
• Differential psychology contrasts with cognitive psychology (which studies the processes underlying memory) by examining why some people have more memory capacity than others.
• It also contrasts with social psychology (studying obedience) and developmental psychology (studying theory of mind development) by focusing on individual differences in these areas.
• Differential psychology explores how individuals differ on psychological traits, why these differences exist, and their impact on their lives.

Defining Personality

• Personality is a collection of distinctive and enduring ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving.
• People exhibit consistent behaviour across time and situations.
• Personality offers long-lasting internal explanations for our behaviours.

Historical Perspectives of Personality: Psychodynamic

• Freud's psychodynamic perspective is a first formal theory of personality, developed through studying patients with conversion hysteria.
• Freud posited that repressed memories, often sexual or aggressive, contributed to psychological symptoms.
• The unconscious mind plays a vital role in influencing behaviour.
• Techniques are used to retrieve unconscious memories and feelings.
• Personality is a system of energy that constantly seeks release.
• Instincts generate psychic energy, powering mental processes. This energy seeks direct or indirect release.

Mental Processes and Awareness (Freud)

• Conscious: current awareness.
• Preconscious: unaware but retrievable.
• Unconscious: beyond awareness.

Freud's Structural Model of Personality

• Id: source of psychic energy (libido), entirely unconscious, irrational, seeking immediate gratification.
• Ego: in contact with reality, functions primarily consciously, operating on the reality principle to balance id and superego needs, develops by age 3.
• Superego: the moral arm, internalizing parental values, moralistic over realistic, develops by ages 4-5, tries to block id gratification.

Defence Mechanisms

• Defence mechanisms are unconscious mental operations that protect against anxiety.
• Repression: pushing anxiety-arousing memories and impulses into the unconscious.
• Denial: refusing to acknowledge anxiety-arousing thoughts/impulses.
• Displacement: redirecting dangerous impulses to a safer target.

Psychosexual Stages of Development

• Freud proposed that adult personality is shaped by early childhood experiences.
• Children pass through four psychosexual stages, where id pleasure-seeking tendencies focus on specific erogenous zones.
• Fixation at any stage can result in specific adult personality traits.
• Regression to an earlier stage can occur during times of stress.

Psychosexual Stage Summaries

• Oral: infancy, pleasure from sucking and feeding.
• Anal: ages 1-2, pleasure from elimination; toilet training is crucial.
• Phallic: ages 4-5, pleasure from genitals; Oedipus and Electra complexes.
• Genital: begins around age 6, sexuality re-emerges in adolescence, focusing on sexual relationships.

Evaluating Freud's Theory

• Limitations include ambiguous concepts, difficulty in empirical testing, overemphasis on childhood experiences and sexuality, and cultural/gender bias.

Historical Perspectives of Personality: Phenomenological-Humanistic

• Phenomenological-humanistic perspectives contrast with Freud by emphasizing conscious experience and the self.
• Phenomenology focuses on our experience of the world.
• Humanism is a positive view of human nature.

The Self (Rogers)

• Rogers believed internal forces drive behaviour toward self-actualization (highest potential).
• The self is an organized and consistent set of perceptions about oneself.

Self-Consistency and Congruence

• Individuals are motivated to maintain self-consistency (self-perceptions align) and congruence (experiences and self-perceptions align).
• Well-adjusted people adapt self-perceptions; others may distort experiences for congruence.

Self-Concept

• Self-verification: seeking information confirming self-concept.
• Self-enhancement: maintaining a positive self-image (tendency to view oneself better than average).

Evaluating Phenomenological-Humanistic Perspectives

• Limitations include reliance on self-reports, difficulty measuring concepts objectively, and lack of testable predictions.

Trait Theories of Personality

• Trait theories attempt to explain personality in terms of quantifiable traits (stable characteristics)
• Allport and Odbert identified many traits (1936)
• Trait theorists aim to identify relatively few fundamental traits representing personality differences.

Factor Analytical Approaches

• Factor analysis identifies clusters of correlated traits that form basic dimensions.

Cattell's 16 Personality Factors

• Cattell used factor analysis to identify 16 basic personality factors.

Eysenck's Extraversion-Stability Model

• Eysenck proposed two basic dimensions: extraversion and stability.

Five-Factor Model (Big Five)

• McCrae and Costa (2003) developed a model of five higher-order personality factors (The Big Five): openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.

HEXACO Model

• The HEXACO model extends the Big Five.

Stability of Personality

• Personality is relatively stable across time, increasing with age.

Consistency across Situations

• Personality doesn't always predict behavior consistently across situations.

Evaluating Trait Theories

• Trait theories are useful for describing personality differences, but they don't fully explain why these differences exist and often focus on the effects of traits rather than the interactions between them.

Biological Foundations of Personality

• Twin studies suggest genetics contribute to personality differences.
• Heritability estimates for the Big Five are around 40-50%.

Culture and Personality

• Culture significantly influences personality through norms, values, and social expectations.
• Individualistic cultures emphasize individual choice, while collectivist cultures focus on group decisions.

Culture and Big Five

• The Big Five dimensions appear to be universal, though cultural variations exist.

Gender Differences in Personality

• Generally, women tend to score higher on neuroticism and agreeableness; little difference in conscientiousness.
• Men tend to score higher on assertiveness and excitement-seeking.
• Gender differences are often small to medium.

Personality Assessment

• Various methods such as interviews, behavioral observations, and personality scales.

Methods for Evaluating Personality

• Interviews: Structured or unstructured.
• Behavioral Observations: Observing behavior, requiring trained observers.
• Personality Scales (questionnaires): Standard sets of questions, advantages: collecting data from many people, standard conditions, disadvantages: lengthy, possible dishonesty.