Personality Types and Humorism

Historical Background of Personality Theories

• Hippocrates proposed that an imbalance of the four humors (blood, bile, black bile, and phlegm) results in distinct personality types: sanguine (optimistic), choleric (irritable), melancholic (depressed), and phlegmatic (calm).
• Galen expanded on this, suggesting that these humors influence both physical health and temperament.

Strelau's Regulative Theory of Temperament (RTT)

• RTT focuses on the energetic and temporal characteristics of behavior.
• Strelau's research demonstrated that temperamental traits are observable from early infancy and are primarily biologically determined.
• His work emphasizes the importance of these traits in extreme situations and their genetic basis, evidenced by studies on twins.

Eysenck's PEN Model

• Hans Eysenck's PEN model of personality includes three major dimensions: Psychoticism, Extraversion, and Neuroticism.
• His work is grounded in a biological basis of personality, suggesting that these traits are universally present across cultures.
• His theory also borrows from the Hippocrates-Galen typology and Jung's concepts of extraversion and introversion.

Thomas and Chess's New York Longitudinal Study (NYLS)

• Alexander Thomas and Stella Chess identified three types of children based on temperament: easy, difficult, and slow to warm up.
• Their research highlighted the interaction between a child's temperament and environmental demands, emphasizing the concept of "goodness of fit" for optimal development.

Zuckerman's Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS)

• Marvin Zuckerman developed the SSS to measure individual differences in the need for varied, novel, and complex sensations and experiences.
• These dimensions are considered to capture the most significant variations in human personality.

Objections to Personality Theories

• Ignoring the role of the environment and social conditions in shaping mental characteristics.
• Treating traits such as tolerance or eating culture as hereditary traits.
• Unjustified claim that healthy people harbor the seeds of mental illness.
• False notion that the difference between health and disease is only quantitative.
• Lack of empirical evidence that there is a correspondence between body structure and specific temperament traits.
• Methodological errors in the conducted research.
• Social costs – these typologies became the scientific basis of racism.

Pavlov's Typology (Pavlov's Types of Nervous System)

• Pavlov's studies on the nervous system emphasize the fundamental properties of the central nervous system (CNS) responsible for individual differences in conditioning and behavior.
• These properties include the strength of excitation, strength of inhibition, mobility of nervous processes, and balance of nervous processes.
• Pavlov identified four types of nervous systems based on these properties:
  • Strong, balanced, mobile (sanguine)
  • Strong, balanced, slow (phlegmatic)
  • Strong, unbalanced, with domination of strength of excitation (choleric)
  • Weak (melancholic)

Studies on Emotional Intelligence

• Yale Research (1990s): EI is a major indicator of personal and professional achievement, contributing significantly to success in various life domains.
• Goleman's Studies: Competencies related to EI account for 80-90% of the competencies that differentiate top performers from average ones.
• TalentSmart Studies: EI alone explains 58% of a leader's job performance, and 90% of top performers have high EI, while only 20% of low performers possess high EI.

Studies on Creativity

• Definitions of creativity vary, and measuring creativity is challenging due to its subjective nature.
• Common tests include the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking, Unusual Uses Test, and Product Improvement Test.
• Creativity is linked to various mental health conditions, including affective disorders, anxiety, and substance abuse.
• Society benefits from a balance of creative and non-creative individuals, as excessive creativity can sometimes lead to impractical or socially disruptive ideas.

Exam Questions

• According to Carroll's hierarchical model, the second-level manifestation of g factor is fluid intelligence, crystallized intelligence, and processing speed.
• According to the alternative DSM-5 model, the pathological factor for personality disorders is a specific trait.
• The Trait Theory is a dominant direction in contemporary research, emphasizing individual differences, and describing personality in terms of traits.
• Divergent thinking is crucial for creativity, involving generating multiple, diverse ideas or solutions to a problem.
• The determinants of individual differences in humans are related to the interaction between heredity and environment.