Personality Traits 4.17.24_preclass

Personality Traits I. Introduction to personality traits Patterns of emotions, thoughts, and behaviors that are relatively consistent across different situations and stable over time I am someone who... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 strongly disagree strongly agree...

Personality Traits I. Introduction to personality traits Patterns of emotions, thoughts, and behaviors that are relatively consistent across different situations and stable over time I am someone who... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 strongly disagree strongly agree  Is talkative  Can be tense  Is full of energy  Is depressed, blue  Has an assertive personality  Worries a lot  Traits exist on a continuum They do not form categories II. How do we determine what the most important traits are?  Lexical approach: important traits encoded in natural language  Synonym frequency: there should be a lot of words for important traits  Cross-cultural universality: important traits should appear in the languages of most cultures  Goal: identify important and universal traits Lexical approach continued: Where do we find these traits?  The dictionary, of course! 2800 English trait adjectives  People rate selves and others on shorter lists of traits  Factor analysis: statistical analysis that reveals what descriptors tend to correlate within people  Items 1, 3, and 5  Extraversion  Items 2, 4, and 6  Neuroticism  Big Five factors:  III. The Big Five Openness to Experience/Intellect Conscientiousness Extraversion Agreeableness Neuroticism A. Conscientiousness  Conscientiousness  High: Responsible, orderly, persistent, planful, having high standards  Low: Disorganized, careless, impulsive  Self-control in service of task completion  Predicts Duckworth & Seligman (2005)  What predicts academic achievement better--conscientiousness or IQ?  Conscientiousness in 8th graders: reports from self, teacher, parent, delay of gratification task  Outcomes--correlations Conscientiousness IQ Grades.66.34 Achievement test.43.36 Homework hrs..35 -.09 Time homework -.26.18 started Probability of remaining alive is predicted by gender and C B. Agreeableness  Agreeableness  High: Considerate, empathic, kind, generous, cooperative  Low: Aggressive, rude, spiteful, stubborn, cynical, manipulative  Motivation to maintain harmonious relationships  Willingness to forgo individual interests  A and life outcomes  A predicts  Fewer interpersonal conflicts  Lower rate of heart disease  Lower levels of explicit racial prejudice C. Openness-to-Experience Openness-to- Experience/Intellect  High: Intellectually engaged, imaginative, curious, creative  Low: Practical, conforming, narrow interests  Openness to ideas, actions, beauty  Moderately related to IQ  Is high O good? High O Complex emotional life Related to political orientations D. Extraversion Extraversion  High: Sociable, energetic, lively, assertive  Low: Quiet, reserved, shy  Predicts  Happiness  More friendships, higher social status  Longevity  Related to higher levels of dopamine  Dopamine Linked to more eager approach of Extraversion and positive emotions  Correlation of E and positive emotions?  r =.37  Fleeson et al. (2002): in lab setting  Experiment: discussion in groups of 3  Participants were told to either  Act outgoing, energetic, expressive  Or act quiet, lower energy, inhibited  Did people’s extraverted behavior affect their reports of positive emotions during the interactions?  Do effects vary for extraverts and introverts? How much did participants experience positive emotions during the discussions? Only look at the black bars! E. Neuroticism Neuroticism  High: Anxious, vulnerable to stress, insecure, moody  Low: Calm, emotionally stable, secure, self-satisfied  N predicts  Lower happiness  Many psychological disorders, especially depression and generalized anxiety disorder  Relationship problems  Predisposition to experience many  Neuroticism, continued  Associated with lower serotonin  Reflects how sensitive and reactive people are to potential threats that they encounter  High Neuroticism prompts people to  Tends to increase over time when people experience  (Shiner, Allen, & Masten, 2017) Traits are profoundly important for the course of our lives