Personality Chapter 3 Student Version PDF

Traits and Trait Taxonomies Chapter 3 Rylee Oram (PhD) University of Ottawa © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 1 Learning Objectives 1. Identify and describe the two basic formulations of a trait. 2. Describe the act frequency formulation of traits. 3. Explain and evaluate the three fundamental...

Traits and Trait Taxonomies Chapter 3 Rylee Oram (PhD) University of Ottawa © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 1 Learning Objectives 1. Identify and describe the two basic formulations of a trait. 2. Describe the act frequency formulation of traits. 3. Explain and evaluate the three fundamental approaches to identifying the most important traits. 4. Name and summarize the leading taxonomies of personality © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 2 The Dispositional Domain How should we conceptualize traits? How can we identify which traits are the most important from among the many ways that individuals differ? How can we formulate a comprehensive taxonomy of traits—a system that includes within it all the major traits of personality? © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 3 What Is a Trait?: Two Basic Formulations Traits are formally conceptualized and measured by most psychologists Dimensions on which people differ In contract to categorical approach (e.g., Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) Traits as Internal Causal Properties Traits as Purely Descriptive Summaries © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 4 Traits as Internal Causal Properties Traits are presumed to be internal in that individuals carry their desires, needs, and wants from one situation to next Desires and needs are presumed to be causal in that they explain behaviour of individuals who possess them Traits can lie dormant in that capacities are present even when behaviours are not expressed © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 5 Traits as Purely Descriptive Summaries Traits are descriptive summaries of attributes of a person No assumption about internality, nor is causality assumed Argue that we must first identify and describe important individual differences and Subsequently develop casual theories to explain them © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 6 The Act Frequency Formulation of Traits An Illustration of the Descriptive Summary Foundation Starts with the notion that traits are categories of acts A trait is a descriptive summary of the general trend in a person’s behaviour relative to other people © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 7 Act Frequency Research Program Act nominations: Designed to identify which acts belong in which trait categories Prototypicality judgments: Involves identifying which acts are most central or prototypical of each trait category Recording of act performance: Securing information on actual performance of individuals in their daily lives © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 8  Evaluation of the Act Frequency Formulation Does not specify how much context should be included in the description of the trait-relevant act Seems applicable to overt actions, but what about failures to act or covert acts not directly observable? © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 9 Accomplishments of Act Frequency Formulation Helpful in: Making explicit the behavioural phenomena to which most trait terms refer Identifying behavioural regularities Exploring the meaning of some traits that are difficult to study, such as impulsivity and creativity © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 10 Identification of the Most Important Traits: Three Approaches 1. Lexical Approach 2. Statistical Approach 3. Theoretical Approach © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 11 Lexical Approach Starts with lexical hypothesis: All important individual differences have become encoded within the natural language Trait terms are important for people in communicating with others Two criteria for identifying important traits 1. Synonym frequency 2. Cross-cultural universality © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 12 Lexical Approach 2 Problems and limitations Personality is conveyed through different parts of speech (not just adjectives), including nouns and adverbs Lexical approach is a good starting point for identifying important an individual difference, but should not be the exclusive approach used © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 13 Statistical Approach 2 Starts with a large, diverse pool of personality items Most researchers using lexical approach turn to statistical approach to distill ratings of trait adjectives into basic categories of traits Goal of statistical approach is to identify major dimensions of personality © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 14 Statistical Approach 3 Factor analysis: Identifies groups of items that covary or go together, but tend not to covary with other groups of items Provides means for determining which personality variables share some property or belong within the same group Useful in reducing the large array of diverse traits into smaller, more useful set of underlying factors © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 15 Theoretical Approach Starts with a theory, which then determines which variables are important No prejudgment about which variables are important © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 16 Evaluating the Approaches for Identifying Important Traits The theoretical approach lets the theory determine which dimensions of individual differences are important Strengths and limitations depend on those of the theory Many researchers use a combination of the three strategies © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 17 Taxonomies of Personality Eysenck’s Hierarchical Model of Personality Circumplex Taxonomies of Personality: The Wiggins Circumplex (1979) Five-Factor Model The HEXACO Model © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 18  Eysenck’s Hierarchical Model of Personality Model of personality Three traits met criteria: based on traits that 1. Extraversion-Introversion Eysenck believed were: (E) Highly heritable with a 2. Neuroticism-Emotional psychophysiological Stability (N) foundation 3. Psychoticism (P) © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 19 Eysenck’s Hierarchical Model of Personality 2 Hierarchical Structure of Eysenck’s System Super traits (P, E, N) at the top Narrower traits at the second level Subsumed by each narrower trait is the third level— habitual acts At the lowest level of the four-tiered hierarchy are specific acts Hierarchy has the advantage of locating each specific, personality-relevant act within increasingly precise nested system © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 20 Eysenck’s Hierarchical Model of Personality 3 Biological Underpinnings— Key Criteria for “Basic” Dimensions of Personality Heritability: P, E, and N have moderate heritability, but so do many other personality traits Identifiable physiological substrate Biological Underpinnings—Limitations Many other personality traits show moderate heritability Eysenck may have missed important traits © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 21 Eysenck’s Hierarchical Model of Personality 4 Critiques of Eysenck’s Biological Underpinnings Argued that racial differences in IQ were not due to social factors but genetic factors instead This idea has been debunked by modern science Racial differences in IQ can be explained entirely by environmental factors Served to perpetuate false beliefs that White people were genetically superior © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 22 Circumplex Taxonomies of Personality Wiggins (1979) Circular model with modern statistical techniques Started with the lexical assumption Argued that trait terms specify different kinds of ways in which individuals differ: Interpersonal, temperament, character, material, attitude, mental, and physical © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 23 The Wiggins Circumplex Wiggins (continued) Concerned with interpersonal traits and carefully separated these out Defined “interpersonal” as interactions between people involving exchanges Two resources that define social exchange are love and status Dimensions of status and love define axes of Wiggins circumplex © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 24 The Circumplex Model of Personality © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 25 The Wiggins Circumplex 2 Three key advantages 1. Provides an explicit definition of what constitutes “interpersonal” behaviour 2. Specifies relationships between each trait and every other trait in the model (adjacency, bipolarity, orthogonality) 3. Alerts investigators to “gaps” in work on interpersonal behaviour © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 26  The Wiggins Circumplex 3 Key limitations Interpersonal map is limited to two dimensions Other traits may have important interpersonal consequences © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 27  Five-Factor Model Five broad factors: 1. Extraversion (surgency) 2. Agreeableness 3. Conscientiousness 4. Neuroticism (Emotional Stability) 5. Openness to Experience (intellect-openness) © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 28 Five-Factor Model 2 Table 3.3 Norman’s Markers for the Big Five I. Neuroticism II. Extraversion III. Openness to Anxiety Gregariousness Experience Anger/Hostility Warmth Ideas Depression Excitement Fanasty Self- Seeking Aesthetics Consciousness Positive Actions Vulnerability Emotions Feelings Impulsiveness Activity Level Values Assertiveness IV. Agreeableness V. Trust in Others Conscientiousness Atruism Competence Tender- Self-Discipline mindedness Achievement Compliance Striving Modesty Order Straightforwardn Dutifulness ess Deliberation © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 29 Five-Factor Model 3 Five Broad Factors: Originally based on the combination of lexical and statistical approaches Has achieved a greater degree of consensus than any other trait taxonomy in the history of personality trait psychology © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 30 Five-Factor Model 4 Empirical Evidence for Five-Factor Model Replicable in studies using English language trait words as items Found by more than a dozen researchers using different samples Replicated in different languages Replicated in every decade for the past half century, suggesting five- factor solution replicable over time Replicated using different item formats © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 31 Five-Factor Model 5 The identity of the fifth factor: Some disagreement remains about the content and replicability of the fifth factor Openness-Intellect/Openness to Experience Empirical correlates of the five factors Personality-descriptive nouns © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 32 Five-Factor Model 6 Is the five-factor model comprehensive? Critics argue it omits important aspects of personality: Positive evaluation Negative evaluation Religiosity or spirituality Attractiveness Sexiness and faithfulness Personality-descriptive nouns © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 33  The HEXACO Model Identified a sixth factor: honesty-humility Organized hierarchically Honesty-humility contains four facts: Sincerity Fairness Greed avoidance Modesty People low on H tend to be egotistical and interpersonally exploitative A key differences between the HEXACO model and other five-factor models is The inclusion of anger under agreeableness rather than emotionality © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 34  The HEXACO Model 2 Table 3.3 Norman’s Markers for the Big Five 1. Honesty–Humility (H): sincere, honest, faithful/loyal, modest/unassuming, fair- minded (versus sly, greedy, pretentious, hypocritical, boastful, pompous) 2. Emotionality (E): emotional, oversensitive, sentimental, fearful, anxious, vulnerable (versus brave, tough, independent, self-assured, stable) 3. Extraversion (X): outgoing, lively, extraverted, sociable, talkative, cheerful, active (versus shy, passive, withdrawn, introverted, quiet, reserved) 4. Agreeableness (A): patient, tolerant, peaceful, mild, agreeable, lenient, gentle (versus ill-tempered, quarrelsome, stubborn, choleric) 5. Conscientiousness (C): organized, disciplined, diligent, careful, thorough, precise (versus sloppy, negligent, reckless, lazy, irresponsible, absent-minded) 6. Openness to Experience (O): intellectual, creative, unconventional, innovative, ironic (versus shallow, unimaginative, conventional) © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 35  The HEXACO Model 3 Honesty-humility captures several unpleasant social traits This cluster of negative traits is called the “Dark Triad” of personality This was not well captured by the Big Five model Allows psychologists to better understand problematic aspects of human personality © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 36  Highlight On Canadian Research The “Dark” Side of Personality Del Paulhus - Canadian psychologist (UBC) His career focused on understanding the “dark” expressions of human personality Three traits associated with disruptions and transgressions in social relationships 1. Machiavellianism 2. Narcissism 3. Subclinical psychopathy © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 37 Summary and Evaluation Two basic conceptualizations of traits: Internal properties of persons that cause behavior Descriptive summaries of overt behavior Three major approaches to identifying traits: Lexical approach Statistical approach Theoretical approach Several theories have tried to formulate an overarching taxonomy of personality traits: Eysenck’s Hierarchical Model of Personality Circumplex Taxonomies of Personality: The Wiggins Circumplex (1979) Five-Factor Model The HEXACO Model © 2023 McGraw Hill Limited 38