Personality, 9e
Jerry M. Burger
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
The Biological Approach
Chapter 10
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
Chapter Outlines
 Heritability of personality traits
 Extraversion–introversion
 Evolutionary personality theory and mate
selection
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Heritability of Personality
Traits
 People are born with a potential for
intelligence that combines with
environmental influences to determine
adult intelligence levels
 Psychological disorders are affected by the
genes inherited
 People are born with a higher susceptibility to
disorders than others
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Separating Environmental
from Genetic Influences
 Twin-study method
 Procedure for separating the role of genetics
from the role of environment
 Takes advantage of Monozygotic (MZ) and
dizygotic (DZ) twins
 Researchers give personality trait measures to
members of both kinds of twins
 Generates correlation tables
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Figure 10.1 - Twin-Study
Research Diagram
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Interpreting the Heritability
Findings
 Key assumptions made by researchers using
twin-study method
 Twin pairs can be accurately identified as MZ or
DZ twins
 MZ and DZ twins have equally similar
environments
 Identical twins may be treated more alike than are
DZ twins
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Interpreting the Heritability
Findings
 Environmental influence on personality
traits may not be for MZ twins hampering
interpretation of the twin-study findings
 Discrepancies between the results of twin
studies and studies using other methods are
attributed to methodological issues
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Interpreting the Heritability
Findings
 Nonadditive effects
 Genetic influence of some personality traits
may not be seen unless a unique combination of
more than one gene is inherited
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Heritability of Extraversion
 Inherited differences between extraverts
and introverts remain constant throughout
one’s life
 Eventually develop into the adult behavior
styles of extraversion or introversion
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Extraversion and Preferred
Arousal Level
 Researchers demonstrated the phenomenon
by asking students studying in two kinds of
library sections described to complete an
extraversion inventory
 Students in the noisy, open area were tend to be
extraverts
 Students in isolated, quiet places were tend to
be introverts
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Extraversion and Preferred
Arousal Level
 Research outcomes
 Students in the noisy section said they preferred
amount of noise and the opportunities for
socializing
 Other students said they chose the quiet area to
get away from the distractions
 Findings are entirely consistent with the
descriptions of extraversion–introversion
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Extraversion and Happiness
 Relationship between extraversion and
happiness varies from culture to culture
 Extraverts experience more happiness than
introverts because they:
 Socialize more than introverts
 Are sensitive to rewards or enjoy the pursuit of
rewards more than introverts do
 Extraverts tend to be more impulsive which
can create problems
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Figure 10.2 - Happiness Ratings
of Extraverts and Introverts
Source: Adapted from Larsen and Kasimatis (1990).
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Evolutionary Personality
Theory and Mate Selection
 Men and women have different ideas about
parental investment
 Investment in selecting a mate is larger for
women than for men in evolutionary terms
 Men and women select their mates based in
part on what serves the needs of the species
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Evolutionary Personality
Theory and Mate Selection
 Intrasexual selection
 Competition among members of one gender
for mating access to the best members of the
other gender
 Lipstick effect
 Economic insecurity heightens the need to find
a mate with resources, which drives women to
try to make themselves more attractive
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What Men Look for in Women
Attractive
physical
features
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What Women Look for in Men
Financial resources required to raise children
Ability to transfer status or power to the
children
Dominant nature
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Conclusions and Limitations
 Research findings on preferences of men
and women are consistent with the
predictions from evolutionary personality
psychology
 Possibility exists that instincts inherited
from the ancestors are overshadowed by
learned preferences
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Conclusions and Limitations
 Gender differences in sexual behavior and
mate preferences are smaller in cultures that
promote gender equality
 Exceptions
 Evolutionary personality psychology is limited
to heterosexual mating choices
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Conclusions and Limitations
 Prediction of partner choice based on parental
investment fails to explain about choices for
lesbians and gays
 Analysis not applicable for women who are past
their reproductive years and older men
uninterested in raising a family
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
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