IWP Week 8 Individual Differences Personality PDF

“There is very little difference between one person & another. But what little there is, is very important.” William James William James WEEK 8: INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES Introduction to Work Psychology Dr. Angelique Fu Lesson Outline Early history of personality and individual differences Definin...

“There is very little difference between one person & another. But what little there is, is very important.” William James William James WEEK 8: INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES Introduction to Work Psychology Dr. Angelique Fu Lesson Outline Early history of personality and individual differences Defining personality Approaches To Personality Identifying Traits Approaches to Measuring Traits & The Big 5 Personality and Work Criticisms of the Big Five Summary Early history: Individual differences Sir Francis Galton, invented “eugenics” in 1883 – “The science of improving racial stock” Programme aimed to produce ‘a better human race’ through regulating marriage and procreation Eliminate “social ills” through genetics and heredity The physically and mentally superior members of the population were encouraged to reproduce with each other Even at the time, was considered wildly racist Just outlier opinions? Became a global movement in the 1920s Most embraced by the Nazi German racial state (1933-1945) Less spoken about, but also continued in post-war era Individuals deemed to be unfit, “feebleminded”, “of lesser worth” or anti-social were forcibly sterilized Laws passed in the US, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Australia, and Canada 60,000 people in the US by the 1970s 700,000 German citizens during Nazi German racial state Just outlier opinions? Became a global movement in the 1920s Most embraced by the Nazi German racial state (1933-1945) Less spoken about, but also continued in post-war era Individuals deemed to be unfit, “feebleminded”, “of lesser worth” or anti-social were forcibly sterilized Laws passed in the US, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Australia, and Canada 60,000 people in the US by the 1970s 700,000 German citizens during Nazi German racial state The Equality Act (2010) Individual differences What makes us different from one another? “They have big personality” “They have no personality at all!” What makes you YOU? How do you describe what makes you uniquely you? Make list of 5-10 characteristics that describes who you are “Personality” From “Persona” (latin) = masks Used to indicate character as tragic/comedic Characteristics that are stable over time and across situations Personality ≠ ability Refers to behaviours, thinking, feelings, attitudes, and habits Varies between individuals – “Different people are different people” Themes of definitions What are some recurring (and important) themes in the definitions? −Personality differs between people −Personality within persons is reasonably stable across situations and over time −Involves behaviour, thinking, feelings, habit, style Approaches to Personality Why don’t people react in the same way to the same situation? Approaches to Personality What might influence your characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviour? Individual Reflection: − Make a list of the things that you think might influence your characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviour: Approaches to Personality Key Influences on Personality: Nature (Genes) vs. Nurture (Environment) You will see that each of these are represented in the approaches and theories discussed Approaches to Personality (Funder, 2001) Psychoanalytical (e.g.,Freud, Jung, Adler) – basic human drives Social-Cognitive learning theories (Bandura; Skinner; Kelly; Rotter-Mischel; Eriksen), i.e., shaped by our environment (including reinforcement and learning): Humanism Biological (e.g., Maslow; Rogers) – fundamental needs & values (e.g., Eysenck; Gray; Cloninger) – underlying biological nature & genetic predispositions Trait / Psychometric (e.g., Allport; Cattell; Eysenck; Costa & McCrae) – basic dimensions on which people differ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy_mIEnnlF4 Approaches to Personality: The Trait Approach The main idea behind the trait approach to personality is that there exists within people consistent personality characteristics that can be identified, measured, and studied. Approaches to Personality Trait Type No one is completely one or Distinct groups (e.g., MBTI: Myers Briggs Type Indicator) the other Emphasis on differences between people Emphasis on similarities within types vs Approaches to Personality: PersonSituation Debate (Mischel 1983; Kenrick & Funder, 1988) Trait State Stable characteristics – personality psychology Varied, changes often – social psychology Based on tendencies of behaviour Situational or contextual vs Concept Check: You become very, very nervous whenever you have a statistics test scheduled. Are you experiencing “trait anxiety” or “state anxiety?” State anxiety Identifying Traits How do we identify traits? Allport & Odbert (1936) - The Lexical Hypothesis − “Those individual differences that are most salient and socially relevant in people’s lives will eventually become encoded into their language; the more important such a difference, the more likely is it to become expressed as a single word.” − Happy, anxious, uptight, curious, trusting, outgoing, etc., − Therefore, to assess personality… Examine distinct adjectives − Survey revealed 17,953 potential personality words − 4,500 personality adjectives in English The Five Factor Model of Personality (FFM) AKA “Big Five” Developed by Goldberg (1990), Costa & McCrae (1980s/90s) and others One of the most popular models of personality, both in research and practice Proposes that there are five fundamental traits of personality … Openness to experiences Conscientiousness Extraversion Agreeableness Neuroticism The Five Factor Structure Hughes et al (2020): Figure 1. Illustrative model of the Big Five Domains, the ten Big Five Aspects, and example facets Missing traits? Many investigations have focused on traits that fall outside the FFM (Ashton, Lee & Son, 2000; Jackson, Ashton & Tomes, 1996; Jackson, Paunonen, Fraboni & Goffin, 1996; Lee & Ashton, 2004; Lee, Ashton, Hong & Park, 2000). For example: conventionality, egotistical, integrity, femininity, seductiveness, manipulativeness, humour, thriftiness and religiosity (Paunonen & Jackson, 2000) Some of this research has led to the development of the six factor HEXACO model, which has the Big Five plus Honesty-Humilty. Missing traits? Dark Traits Similarly, there is a lot of interest in the ‘dark triad’ (O’Boyle, Forsyth, Banks & McDaniel, 2012) Psychopathy Antagonism + Impulsive Narcissism Antagonism + Extravert, Grandiose Machiavellianism. Antagonism + Strategic, Disciplined Personality Measurement Approaches Projective approaches Questionnaire Observation Measuring Personality Thematic Apperception Test (Murray, 1935) Ink Blot Test (Rorschach, 1921) What do you see??? Measuring Personality Graphology Projective Measures All… – Require “expert interpretation” All lack … – Reliability (consistency of measurement) – Validity (accuracy of measurement) Personality questionnaires Important measurement criteria: −Reliable: Is it consistent? −Valid: Does it measure what it’s supposed to measure? −Sensitive: Does it correctly class people? −Fair: Will it work the same on most people? −Utility: Is it easy to use and/or appropriate? Using Psychometrics for Personality Most common method: personality questionnaires Identifying Your Own Personality Traits Individual Activity: Complete the BFI Personality Inventory − Download the document on BB Week 8 Lecture Materials Folder − There is a word version and a pdf version − Complete the 44 item Big Five Personality Inventory − I will run through with you how to score your answers Your answer goes here Question # Reverse code shaded questions 5 5 5 5 5 5 (1) 5 5 (1) 5 5 50 5 Openness to experiences Conscientiousness Extraversion Agreeableness Neuroticism Openness to experience Intellectual, artistic, philosophical, deep, etc. Statements: −Is curious about many different things −Has few artistic interests (R) Openness to experience High OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE Low OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE Creative or innovative Traditional or conservative Curious Practical Intellectual/abstract Down to earth Eager to try new things Prefers stable, routine work Associated fields: Arts Entrepreneurship Academia Possible jobs: Engineering Finance Technology Conscientiousness Preference for order, achievement-striving, self- discipline, deliberative Statements: − Does a thorough job − Can be somewhat careless (R) Conscientiousness High CONSCIENTIOUSNESS Low CONSCIENTIOUSNESS Organised More disorganised Perfectionists Easy-going Thorough-thinkers Impulsive Associated fields: Healthcare Science Law Possible jobs: Creative jobs Extraversion Warmth, assertiveness, activity, sociability Statements: − Is full of energy − Tends to be quiet (R) Extraversion High EXTRAVERSION Low EXTRAVERSION Outgoing Shyer Assertive Withdrawn Social, energetic Reserved Associated fields: Sales Acting Hospitality Possible jobs: Librarian Engineering Programming Agreeableness Trusting, straightforwardness, altruistic, compliance, modesty Statements: − Likes to cooperate with others − Tends to find fault with others (R) Agreeableness High AGREEABLENESS Low AGREEABLENESS Trusting Suspicious of others Helpful Self-preserving tendencies Keen to maintain group harmony Less compliant Associated fields: Healthcare Education Non-profit/charity Possible jobs: Scientists Artists Critics Soldiers Neuroticism Also known as “Emotional stability” Anxiety, angry, depression, self-consciousness Statements: − Is depressed, blue − Is emotionally stable, not easily upset (R) Neuroticism High NEUROTICISM Low NEUROTICISM Sensitive Relaxed Self-conscious Practical Anxious Calm Associated fields: Academia Art Possible jobs: Healthcare Public safety Do you think your results are accurate? https://pages.uoregon.edu/sanjay/bigfive.html#where Types of Personality Data Self-Report Data – Information provided by the person of interest regarding how they view their own personality – Individuals have access to a wealth of information about themselves that is inaccessible to anyone else Limitations? – Socially desirable or dishonest responding – People may lack accurate self-knowledge Types of Personality Data Observer data – Information provided by someone else about another person. – Questionnaire data & Multiple observers favourable Selecting observers – Professional personality assessors (common for mental illness or job selection) – Family, friends, colleagues Often in better position to observe target’s natural behaviors than professional personality assessors Rater bias? Naturalistic vs. Artificial Observation – Naturalistic: Ratings based on everyday life – Artificial: Occurs in artificial settings or situations Personality & Work Studies have shown relations between real behaviours (Soldz & Vaillant, 1999): − E related to maximum income − O to creativity Feist’s (1998) meta-analysis: − Most creative have high O and lower A − Artists are more neurotic − Scientists are more conscientious Personality & Work Personality and job performance (Barrick & Mount, 1991): − C+ showed consistent relations with job performance across all job types studied − N- showed consistent relations with job performance across all job types studied − O+/E+ were valid predictors of training proficiency across all job types − E+ associated with high performance in interpersonal jobs (like sales and managers) − Agreeableness is unrelated to job performance But…effects are small Personality & Work Personality and teamwork: (Neubert, 2004) − N very negatively correlated with leadership skills − High C/A/E associated with co-operative behaviour − Agreeableness can be negatively correlated with career success! Does Personality predict Job Performance well? Self-rated personality predicting overall job performance Other-rated personality predicting overall job performance 5% 30% 70% 95% 1 2 1 2 Criticisms of the Big Five Mostly done via self-report -> how well do you know yourself? How honest are you? Very prone to changes in health, mood, personal situation Not as comprehensive as we think? − Evidence of 6+ factors? HEXACO: includes factor on honesty/humility Some argue that spirituality is a factor (Piedmont, 1999) 11+ Factor Model: includes 74 personality traits (Irwing & Booth, 2012) Summary Personality implies traits and behaviours that are stable, endure over time, and are expressed differently depending upon the situation Personality study has long history and has been studied from many angles. An interactionist trait + state approach is currently the most satisfactory Big 5/FFM is the currently the consensus model to describe traits and way to measure personality The most popular method of measuring personality currently is self-report and other-report personality questionnaires