Studying Personality: Research Methods and Key Concepts PDF

Studying Personality: Research Methods and Key Concepts MODULE 1 What is Personality?  “The dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustment to his environment” (Gordon Allport, 1937, p. 48).  “A branch of psychology which p...

Studying Personality: Research Methods and Key Concepts MODULE 1 What is Personality?  “The dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustment to his environment” (Gordon Allport, 1937, p. 48).  “A branch of psychology which principally concerns itself with the study of human lives and the factors which influence their course, [and] which investigates individual differences” (Henry Murray, 1938, p. 4)  An individuated personality: “The supreme realization of the innate idiosyncrasy of a living being. It is an act of high courage flung in the face of life, the absolute affirmation of all that constitutes the individual, the most successful adaptation to the universal conditions of existence coupled with the greatest possible freedom for self-determination” (Carl Jung, 1954, para. 289)  “An individual’s unique variation on the general evolutionary design for human nature, expressed as a developing pattern of dispositional traits, characteristic adaptations, and integrative life stories complexly and differentially situated in culture.” (McAdams & Pals, 2006) Questions Relevant to Personality  Why do people behave the way they do?  Do people have choice in shaping their own personality?  What accounts for similarities and differences among people?  What makes people act in predictable and unpredictable ways?  Is human behaviour shaped more by heredity or the environment/context?  Are unconscious, or hidden, forces relevant to people’s personalities?  Concepts of Personality in Histories and Cultures  Interest in enduring characteristics of “individuals” can be found in many cultures across human history through distinct literatures and artifacts  The presentation of a “personality” in theatre and ceremony  In Ancient Greece, Theophrastus, a pupil of Aristotle, is one of the earliest known creators of “character sketches” in Western culture  Wearing “masks” to denote particular “characters” is common in the rituals, ceremonies and traditions of numerous cultures worldwide  Philosophical, religious and spiritual traditions have contributed many different views to understandings of selfhood and personality  Some Western traditions (e.g., Christianity, Judaism) suggest people were created “in God’s image” and fulfill a “Divine Purpose” as they struggle for good against evil  Some Eastern traditions (e.g., Buddhism, Hinduism) emphasize the quest towards self-fulfillment and the expansion of consciousness (sometimes through multiple “lives”)  Many psychological theories have been developed within the context of these different religious and philosophical traditions Psychological Definitions of Personality  Psychologists differ among themselves in terms of how they define or describe the meaning of the term personality  Persona: Latin word referring to a theatrical mask worn by Roman actors in Greek dramas  Seen by some psychologists as a root word for the term personality  In psychology, unique theories of personality have developed in relation to differing views of the nature of humanity  Personality theories also differ in the assumptions about use of the scientific method to explore personality and about what counts as evidence  A working definition (from our text): Personality is a pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique characteristics that give both consistency and individuality to a person’s behaviour Some Important Concepts and Definitions  Trait: A relatively permanent disposition of an individual, which is inferred from behaviour  Contribute to individual differences in behaviour as well as constancy and stability over time  Can be unique, common to a group or species, but in all cases the pattern of traits is different across individuals  Characteristics: unique qualities of an individual that include attributes such as temperament, physique, intelligence and other aptitudes  Characteristic Adaptations: the wide range of motivational, social-cognitive and developmental adaptations that are contextualized in time, place and/or social role (McAdams & Pals, 2006)  Includes motives, goals, plans, strivings, strategies, values, virtues, schemas, self-images, mental representations of significant others, developmental tasks, among other aspects of individuality  Life Narratives: the integrative life stories, or personal narratives that individuals construct to make meaning and build identities in their social world (McAdams & Pals, 2006)  Human beings often construe their lives as ongoing stories and these stories help shape behaviour, establish identity and integrate individuals into social life What is a Personality Theory?  Theory: A set of related assumptions that permit people to use logical deductive reasoning to formulate testable hypotheses  Theories can be considered useful tools employed by scientists to give meaning and organization to their observations  A set of related assumptions:  A single assumption does not fulfill the requirements of an adequate theory  Assumptions should be related to each other, single or isolated assumptions do not generate meaningful hypotheses (predictions)  Components of a theory are not proven facts, they are assumptions that are treated as if they were true  This helps the theorist build hypotheses and conduct meaningful research  Logical deductive reasoning: Scientists begin with a general theory and through deductive reasoning arrive at particular hypotheses that can be tested.  Hypotheses should be testable (falsifiable), or at least suggest the possibility that scientists of the future may develop the means to test them. Deductive and Inductive Reasoning in Personality Theory  Deductive reasoning in personality theories:  Theorist begins with a general theory explaining behaviour or individual differences  Hypotheses (testable predictions) flow from the theory  Inductive reasoning in personality theories:  Theorist collects observations and empirical data relevant to hypotheses or behaviours and individual differences  Collection and analysis of the data leads personality theories to be refined and/or new theories to be built  Different Perspectives on Personality Psychodynamic Humanistic - Dispositional Biological - Learning – (Social) Existential Evolutionary Cognitive -Early life shapes -People are -Predisposed -Understanding -Behaviour explained personality Motivated by personality traits biological, by the environmental -Unconscious forces meaning, growth help us understand adaptive and conditions that are important and individual genetic create it -Neurosis involves psychological differences foundations for -Learning occurs unhealthy relationships health -The big five trait thought and through association -Personality is dimensions of behavior and consequences shaped by personality -The role of -Personality involves freedom of evolutionary interactions between choice, anxiety forces (natural internal and external and awareness and sexual characteristics of death selection) in personality Freud Maslow Allport Eysenck Skinner Jung Rogers McCrae & Costa Buss Bandura Horney May What Makes a Theory Useful  A useful theory has a dynamic interaction with research data  Theories generate hypotheses  Hypotheses guide research and data collection  Data and evidence restructure or reshape theories  This cyclical relationship continues if the theory continues to prove useful Evaluating Personality Theories  A number of questions can be asked of personality theories to evaluate their usefulness  1) Does it generate research?  2) Is it falsifiable?  3) Does it organize a wide range of relevant data?  4) Can it provide a guide for action or intervention?  5) Is it internally consistent?  6) Is it parsimonious? Personality Theories and Concepts of Humanity  Personality theories in psychology differ in terms of several basic issues or assumptions that concern the nature of humanity  Six dimensions to help with comparing theories:  1) Determinism vs free choice  2) Pessimism vs optimism  3) Causality vs teleology  4) Conscious vs unconscious determinants of behaviour  5) Biological vs social influences on personality  6) Uniqueness vs similarities  Though for the purpose of comparison these dimensions are discussed in opposition with one another, some personality theories do incorporate both sides of these dimensions