Personality: Definition and Theory

Personality Definition

• The term "personality" comes from the Latin word "persona," which referred to theatrical masks in Greek dramas.
• Ancient Roman actors utilized the "persona" mask to project a role or false appearance.
• Psychologists define "personality" as something beyond surface-level roles, but there is no single agreed definition among personality theorists.
• Personality is a pattern of relatively consistent traits and unique characteristics.
• Characteristics are the unique qualities of an individual, like temperament, physique, or intelligence.

Scientific Theory Explained

• A scientific theory uses related assumptions, logical deductive reasoning, and testable hypotheses.
• A theory is a set of assumptions; single assumptions are inadequate and should integrate observations.
• Theories need related assumptions, otherwise they are not meaningful or internally consistent

Assumptions in Theory

• The components are assumptions, not proven facts, but accepted as true
• Logical reasoning is used to formulate hypotheses, which flow from the theory.
• Testability is a key qualifier; a hypothesis needs potential for future testing to be worthwhile.

Theory's Relationship to Philosophy

• Philosophy encompasses epistemology, the nature of knowledge
• Theory aligns with epistemology as a scientific tool for gaining knowledge.
• Theories rely on unbiased scientific evidence and are not value-free.
• Philosophy concerns what should be, while theory is neutral.
• Theories involve broad "if-then" statements, without judging the outcomes as good or bad.
• A theory explaining the impact of isolated upbringing on language and behavior has nothing to say about the morality of the method of child rearing.

Theory's Relationship to Science

• Science involves observation, data classification, and verification of laws through hypothesis testing.
• Theories provide meaning to observations.
• Essential components of theory building are speculation and empirical observation.

Theory vs. Hypothesis

• Theory is narrower than philosophy but broader than a hypothesis.
• Good, comprehensive theories generate numerous hypotheses.
• A hypothesis is a specific, educated guess.
• Hypotheses can be tested via the scientific method.
• Theories are too broad for direct verification.
• Hypotheses are more specific than the theories from which they originate.

Deductive and Inductive Reasoning

• Deductive reasoning (general to specific) involves deriving testable hypotheses from theories.
• Testing confirms or contradicts the hypotheses, which then feeds back into the theory.
• Inductive reasoning (specific to general) involves altering the theory based on the test results.
• As theories evolve, they give rise to more hypotheses, which, after testing, reshape the theory once more.

Taxonomies

• A taxonomy classifies things based on natural relationships.
• Taxonomies are essential for scientific growth, enabling data to be classified
• Taxonomies can become theories by generating testable hypotheses and explaining research.
• McCrae and Costa began by classifying people into five personality traits, eventually creating a theory capable of producing hypotheses and explanations.

Usefulness of a Theory

• The usefulness of any theory depends on its ability to generate research and explain research data and observations.

Perspectives in Theories of Personality:

Psychodynamic Theory

• Psychoanalytic and psychodynamic approaches emphasize early childhood experiences and parental relationships.
• The unconscious mind is seen as highly influential
• Psychoanalysis uses dream interpretation to reveal unconscious impulses to treat conditions like neurosis
• Theorists following Freud shifted focus from sexuality to social and cultural factors.

Humanistic-Existential Theory

• A core tenet of the humanistic perspective (positive psychology) is the pursuit of psychological health, happiness, meaning, and growth.
• Positive feelings and emotions support psychological and prosocial behavior.
• Analyzing positive human traits offers as much insight as studying pathological traits.
• Existential theorists believe negative experiences and the search for meaning cause psychological growth.

Dispositional Theories

• Dispositional theorists assert that personality stems from enduring tendencies to act in specific ways.
• Individual dispositions, like extraversion or anxiety, are called traits.
• There is consensus of identifying five primary trait dimensions within human personality.
• Traits play a large role in making certain behaviors more probable in specific individuals.

Biological-Evolutionary Theories

• Genetic, epigenetic, and neurological distinctiveness shapes behavior, thoughts, and feelings.
• Variations in brain structure and genetics influence traits/thinking.
• Evolution through natural and sexual selection shapes human traits over millions of years.
• An important aspect of this perspective is the interaction of biological factors (nature) and environmental influences (nurture) impacts experiences.

Learning-(Social) Cognitive Theories

• Understanding behavior involves focusing only on actions and not internal states like thoughts or feelings.
• Behaviors are learned through associations and consequences.
• Desired behaviors are possible through the right conditions.
• Thoughts, assumptions, and problem-solving shape behavior and personality.
• Perceptions and beliefs about the world shape personality.

Useful Theories

Generating Research

• A useful theory will generate two forms of research: descriptive and hypothesis testing.
• Descriptive research expands theories via measurement, labeling, and categorization in theory building.
• Descriptive research and theory have a symbiotic relationship.
• Hypothesis testing, indirectly verifies the usefulness of the theory.

Falsifiability

• A theory should be able to be confirmed or disconfirmed and should be precise with suggesting testable research.
• A theory is not useful if both positive and negative research can be interpreted as support.
• Theories based on unobservable ideas are hard to verify or falsify.
• Freud's theory that emotions are derived from unconscious tendencies is hard to validate.
• A theory's ability to explain everything ultimately explains nothing

Organize Data

• A useful theory organizes compatible research data to create a framework that scientists can use to ask intelligent questions and pursue knowledge.
• A theory of personality needs to integrate information on human behavior and personality.
• It loses utility if the theory fails to explain certain behaviors.

Guides Action

• A good theory can guide practitioners through day-to-day.
• Practitioners like parents, teachers, and psychotherapists need reliable questions for which they can get workable answers.
• It involves the extent that the theory stimulates thought and action in fields like art, movies, law, sociology, education, etc.

Internal Consistency

• An internally consistent theory's components should be logically compatible, with carefully defined limitations of scope.
• An internally consistent theory uses language in a consistent manner, meaning the use of the same term to mean two different things is avoided.
• Good theories use clearly and operationally defined terms.
• An operational definition defines units in terms of measurable events or behaviors.
• For example, an extravert can be operationally defined if they reach a predetermined score on a personality test.

Parsimony

• When theories are equal, the simpler theory is preferred, which is the law of parsimony.

Dimensions for Concept of Humanity

• Determinism versus Free Choice: Behaviors are determined, or can people choose?
• Pessimism versus Optimism: Are people doomed, or can they change?
• Causality (past experiences) versus Teleology (future goals/purposes): Are people driven by the past, or future expectations?
• Conscious versus Unconscious Determinants: Are people aware and in control, or are they driven by unconscious forces?
• Biological versus Social Influences on Personality: Are people driven by biology, or social relationships?
• Uniqueness versus Similarities: Do we focus on individuality, or common traits?

Personality Theory and Research

• Reliability is the extent to which results are consistent.
• Validity is the degree to which an instrument measures what it is supposed to.
• Personality psychologists primarily focus on construct and predictive validity.

Construct Validity

• Construct validity measures a hypothetical construct.
• Constructs need to relate to measurable behavior
• Three types of construct validities are: convergent, divergent, and discriminant.
• Convergent: an instrument correlating highly with other measurements of the same construct
• Divergent: low or insignificant correlations with inventories that do not measure that construct
• Discriminant: an inventory that discriminates between pre-known groups of people

Predictive Validity

• Predictive validity is the extent that the test predicts future behavior.
• The early theorists, like Freud, Adler, and Jung, did not use standardized assessments, meaning they did not use techniques with sufficient precision to establish reliability and validity.