Transcript Personality
Introduction to Personality Psychology Research Methods Issues in Personality Assessment Theories of Personality Dr. Stephen Weiss January 24, 2003 Class #1 Personality Chapter 1: What is personality psychology? What do we mean??? So, when we say “she has a great personality” or “he’s a jerk”…what do we really mean? A generic definition "Personality may be defined as the underlying causes within the person of individual behavior and experience" Assumptions and Implications of this Definition… Personality is a construct that can be used to explain and predict human behavior Requires no specific inherent assumptions about the nature or origins of personality Assumptions and Implications of this Definition… There is little in such a definition that would be challenged by proponents of opposing theories of personality The definition is not sufficiently specific to make predictions that are empirically testable in the sense that they can be compared with available research data about human behavior Gordon Allport (1897-1967) “The father of personality psychology” Allport (1961) Personality is defined as "the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his characteristic behavior and thought" Assumptions and Implications of this Definition: Personality is dynamic Personality is biologically based Personality is persistent across situations Much controversy… Each of these elements suggest a relatively specific theoretical view of about the nature and origins of personality which are not universally accepted Each of the elements has, at one time or another, been challenged by other theorists Each of the elements is at least potentially testable in the sense that they make certain predictions that can be compared with known empirical data about human behavior WHICH IS BETTER: SPECIFIC OR GENERIC? It depends … What's the purpose of the definition or theory: how are you going to use the definition? What is the "level of analysis": what questions are you asking and at what level of detail? What are you trying to predict or explain and at what level of detail? Is the primary intent to explain and predict human behavior (experimental or theoretical psychology)? Or to change or modify human behavior (applied or clinical psychology)? We’ll be looking at several different perspectives of personality… Dispositional Perspective Biological Perspective Personality is inherited Psychoanalytic Perspective Stable qualities even in different settings Our friend Dr. Freud Neoanalytic Perspective Ego development, etc. We’ll be looking at several different perspectives of personality… Learning Perspective Phenomenological Perspective Behavior changes because of experience Inner uniqueness plus choice Cognitive Self-Regulation Perspective We are like machines Perspectives of Personality These perspectives each give us differing angles concerning how to view personality Most pertain to a certain aspect of personality – while others are grand theories that claim to give us the total model of personality (Freud intended his theory to be such) Real-world applications… We’ll be spending the entire semester delving into personality psychology…we’ll look at it mainly as the experimental psychologists that we are We’ll try to make sense of all this and then we’ll “give” our information to the organizational psychologists and clinical psychologists who can use it in the real world Personality Psychology: Fundamental issues Individual Differences Intrapersonal Functioning Fundamental Issues Individual differences – no two people are the same “Why are some children more afraid of strangers than others” “Why do some people attribute success to their abilities and failure to bad luck, and others attribute successes to luck and failures to their lack of abilities?” Fundamental Issues Intrapersonal functioning What Allport called “dynamic organization” – same processes are being engaged but different inner motives are constantly at work depending on the situation – the reason why sometimes we go out and party and sometimes we stay in to read Scientific Method Continuous cycle between theory and research – constant modifications Parsimony – keep theories simple – excess baggage is confusing (never-mind boring) Methods in the Study of Personality Theories of Personality Chapter 2 Henry Murray (1893-1988) At this time most of his American experimental psychologist contemporaries were studying rat behavior Murray studied individuals at a variety of levels Murray’s Personology Refers to his unique interdisciplinary approach to the study of the individual Employs a wide range of clinical, psychoanalytic, and experimental methods Attempted to understand the whole person Idiographic approach to personology… Centers on the individual, using techniques appropriate to understanding the uniqueness of each person Diaries, autobiographies, letters, etc.– case studies Murray focused mainly on this idiographic approach Nomethic approach to personology… Study of large groups of individuals in order to infer general variables or universal principles Others focused on this approach Murray’s approach Contributed to the multidisciplinary approach to understanding personality but does his case study approach have any flaws? Case Studies Features: Strengths: Intensive examination of the behavior and mental processes associated with a specific person or situation Provide detailed descriptive analysis of new, complex, or rare phenomenon Pitfalls: May not provide representative picture of phenomena Research Participants 90% of researchers work at college universities Most participants (subjects) come in research studies are college students mostly from Intro to psych courses Often a requirement in most universities Sears (1986) Looked at the major journals in social psych from 1980-1985 and found this: 74% are college undergrads 51% from psych classes 8% are other students (probably grad students)…so that means more than 8 out of every 10 subjects are students Problems with this??? So, we have the majority being 17-19 year-olds and overloaded with white, middle-class as well Are they representative of the general population? Sears (1986) says no! The participants in the many research studies are all college students, and college students do differ from other people in some respects Therefore, an important question is whether these findings generalize to other groups of people Orne (1962) Orne (1962) looked at this issue and raised some serious questions about psychological studies in general… (1) Do people behave differently just because it’s a psychological study? (2) Must be careful of “experimenter bias” which can occur when the experimenter knows the conditions participants are in Variables: Dependent and Independent DV = Variable (behavior) you are measuring Anger IV = variable or variables being manipulated Age Gender Educational level Socioeconomic level Experiments Features: Strengths: Manipulation of an independent variable and measurement of its effects on a dependent variable Can establish a cause-effect relationship between independent and dependent variables Pitfalls: Confounding variables may prevent valid conclusions Correlations Features Strengths Statistically speaking, it refers to how strongly one variable is related to another Allows researcher to better formulate their hypothesis – gives ideas that we can explore further Weaknesses Data can sometimes fool us (we’ll get to this in a second) Correlations Positive Correlations Two variables either increase or decrease together Hypothetical Example: During 1988, the number of pregnancies increased at the same rate as did the number of rainy days Correlations Negative Correlations The variables move in opposite directions Hypothetical Example: During 1988, the number of pregnancies increased at the same rate as the number of rainy days decreased Correlations do not mean cause and effect Correlation not Causation Research issues… Research generates more questions than answers… Frustrating…yes at times Challenging…almost always Fun…if you’re crazy like me Humility vs. Arrogance Use humility please We don’t “prove” anything We can infer that an effect is real Research issues… Statistical Significance If it can be shown that an effect is highly unlikely to have occurred by chance or random factors – the researcher infers that the effect is real Use words like: appears evidence supports or if you have gathered extremely convincing evidence you might use: strongly indicates Issues in Personality Assessment Theories of Personality Chapter 3 A tough job? Why? Assessment The measuring of personality Methods for obtaining data… Observations Observer ratings (overt-behavioral assessments) Used mostly with children Self-reports The individual records their behaviors Inventory Tests such as the MMPI which access several dimensions of personality – easy-going, highly motivated, type A or B, etc. Making sure things are consistent… Reliability Degree of consistency or repeatability Internal Reliability Inter-rater Reliability Test-Retest Reliability Making sure things are meaningful… Validity Are we measuring what we intend to measure? Construct Validity Criterion Validity Convergent Validity Discriminate Validity Face Validity Making sure things are meaningful… Operational Definitions A definition that explains how you will measure a construct Clearly stated descriptions of physical events Takes all guess-work out of the equation Problems that get in the way of assuring validity When we get a response set of acquiescence This is the tendency to say yes to everything Remedy? Response set aimed at achieving social desirability -- people want to see themselves as good, important, etc. Remedy? How do they decide what to measure? Empirical approach Relies more on data to decide on the items making up the assessment device Inductive approach Data decides which qualities are worth measuring Criterion keying – find out which items are being answered differently by different groups For example: do normals answer the items differently than patients, etc.