Psyc 100 – Introduction to Psychology
What is Personality?
• Distinguishing pattern of psychological
characteristics (thinking, feeling,
behaving) that differentiates us from
others, leads us to act consistently
across situations
• Involves the study of psychological
differences in personality traits
Chapter 12: Personality
Module 12.1: What is Personality?
Psychology 100
Introduction to Psychology
• Trait: Stable predisposition to act or
behave in a certain way
Listen to the audio lecture while viewing these slides
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Psyc 100 – Introduction to Psychology
Psyc 100 – Introduction to Psychology
• What is the right way to conceptualize
and measure the traits that make us
consistent and unique?
• Why do personality traits develop?
• Are personality characteristics expressed
in a way that is independent of the
environment?
• Factor analytic approach
Overview of the Conceptual and Practical
Problems
Approaches to Conceptualizing and
Measuring Personality
• Cattell’s source traits
• Eysenck’s superfactors
• The Big Five
• Allport’s trait theory
• Cardinal, central, and secondary traits
• Personality tests
• Self-report inventories
• Projective personality tests
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Psyc 100 – Introduction to Psychology
Psyc 100 – Introduction to Psychology
The Factor Analytic Approach
Cattell’s Source Traits
• Factor analysis: Mathematical procedure
used to analyze correlations among test
responses
• Cattell used thousands of terms to
establish the existence of 16 main
personality traits
• Each a “dimension” or continuum
between two opposites
• Example: Asking people how well a
particular term (“brooding,” “friendly,”
etc.) describes them
• Examples: reserved--outgoing; trusting-suspicious
• Main question: Which terms cluster
together statistically?
• Terms that go together likely reflect
some general personality characteristic
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Psyc 100 – Introduction to Psychology
Psyc 100 – Introduction to Psychology
Eysenck’s Superfactors
Fig. 12.2
• Eysenck used a similar statistical approach as
Cattell, but argued that there are really only 3
main factors
• Called primary dimensions or superfactors
• Superfactors consist of these dimensions:
• Extroversion
• Neuroticism
• Psychoticism
Fig. 12.1
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Psyc 100 – Introduction to Psychology
Fig. 12.3
moody
anxious
rigid
sober
pessimistic
reserved
quiet
Introverted
passive
careful
thoughtful
peaceful
controlled
reliable
calm
Psyc 100 – Introduction to Psychology
Unstable
Stable
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touchy
restless
aggressive
excitable
impulsive
optimisitc
active
Extraverted
sociable
outgoing
talkative
responsive
easygoing
lively
leadership
The Big 5
• An intermediate between Cattell’s finegrained approach and Eysenck’s general
one
• Factor analysis approach in which there
are 5 personality dimensions, including:
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•
•
•
•
Extroversion
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
Neuroticism
Opennness
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Psyc 100 – Introduction to Psychology
Psyc 100 – Introduction to Psychology
Fig. 12.4
Allport’s Trait Theory
• Focus is on on individuals, not statistical
analysis of groups, in contrast to factor analytic
approach
• Everyone’s personality described by a set of
traits
• Central traits: 5-10 descriptive traits that
describe a person
• Secondary traits: Less obvious characteristics
that appear only under certain circumstances
• Some individuals have cardinal traits, “ruling
passions” that dominate their lives and
personalities
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Psyc 100 – Introduction to Psychology
Psyc 100 – Introduction to Psychology
Objective Personality Tests: Self-Report
Inventories
Fig. 12.5
trait-1
Cardinal trait
• Self-report inventories ask people to
answer groups of questions about how
they typically think, act, and feel
subtrait-1
subtrait-2
trait-2
subtrait-3
subtrait-4
subtrait-5
trait-3
subtrait-6
subtrait-7
• Responses compared to averages
compiled from large groups of prior test
takers
• Main uses include hiring decisions,
diagnosing psychological disorders
• Most widely used: MMPI (Minnesota
Multiphasic Personality Inventory)
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Psyc 100 – Introduction to Psychology
Psyc 100 – Introduction to Psychology
Fig. 12.6
Fig. 12.7
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Psyc 100 – Introduction to Psychology
Psyc 100 – Introduction to Psychology
Projective Personality Tests
Fig. 12.9
• Projective tests ask people to interpret unstructured or
ambiguous stimuli
• Idea is that you “project” true thoughts, feeling into
the interpretation, revealing personality
• Most widely used:
• Rorschach: “Ink blots”
• Thematic Apperception Test: Pictures of people,
situations
Fig. 12.8
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Psyc 100 – Introduction to Psychology
Psyc 100 – Introduction to Psychology
Fig. 12.10
Which Kind of Test is Better?
• Each kind has advantages and
disadvantages
• Self-report tests are highly standardized,
easy to score, reliable and valid, but their
accuracy depends on the accuracy,
honesty of the person taking the test
• Projective tests help people open up, talk
about themselves, but interpretation of
responses can vary widely across testers
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• Most psychologists agree that self-report
inventories are more reliable, but both
kinds are widely used
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