Unit 11: Personality

Module 46

Contemporary Research• Trait: A relatively permanent characteristic of our personality that can be used to predict our behavior.• Trait Theory of Personality: People’s personalities are composed of many of these traits.

Contemporary Research•Myers-Briggs Type Indicator: widely used personality test developed by Karen Briggs. • Categorized people and predicts future careers based on their responses.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

• The MBTI is reliable and valid.• There are no right or wrong answers.• This was developed to help people understand Jung’s theory of psychological type preferences.• Jung said you can predict behavior if you knew what was in their mind

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Orientation to the World:• Extraverted (E): energized by others.

VS.• Introverted (I): Energized by ideas, emotions, memories…

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Take in Information:• Sensing (S): Using five senses.

VS.• iNtuition (N): Using gut or instincts.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Make Decisions:• Thinking (T): Logical, problem solver.

VS.• Feeling (F): Considerate of others, compassionate.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Take in Information or Decide:• Perceiving (P): Taking in information.

VS.• Judging (J): Organizing information and making decisions.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

• From these four categories, there are a total of 16 possible “types”.• Ex. Extraverted, Sensing, Thinking, and Judging is ESTJ.• Each type has strengths and weaknesses. No type is better.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

• Knowing your type can help you:•Choose a career•Understand others•Understand your own behavior•Work more cooperatively•Manage people better

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

•We will take the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (short version)!• Answer the questions quickly…do not over analyze them.• Answer the question as “the way you are”, not “the way you’d like to be seen by others”.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

• Score your results.• You will be given a 4 letter personality type.•We will look at the characteristics of your personality type.

Contemporary Research• Factor Analysis: A statistical procedure that has been used to identify clusters of related items.• Groups of related behaviors…• Ex. Outgoing, enjoys excitement, dislike quiet reading, may be classified as an “extravert”.

Contemporary Research• Hans Eysenck Three Factor Model: We can describe personality with 3 central dimensions:• 1. Extraversion/Introversion: measures our sociability. • Are you outgoing, talkative, energetic? (Extravert).• Do you prefer being alone, enjoy thinking and exploring your own thoughts? (Introvert).

Contemporary Research• 2. Neuroticism: measures our level of instability and stability.• Instability: how moody, anxious, and unreliable we are.• Stability: how calm, even-tempered, and reliable we are.

Contemporary Research• 3. Psychoticism: measures our level of tough mindedness and tender mindedness.• Tough mindedness: how hostile, ruthless, and insensitive we are.• Tender mindedness: how friendly, empathetic, and cooperative we are.

Eysenck Two Personality Factors

Contemporary Research• Personality Inventories: Questionnaire on which people respond to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors.•Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI): The most widely used personality test.• Originally used to assess abnormal personalities. • Had 566 questions!

Contemporary Research• The Big Five Personality Factors: •Conscientiousness•Agreeableness•Neuroticism•Openness•Extraversion

• Currently the best approximation of the basic trait dimensions.

Contemporary Research• Conscientiousness: A tendency to be organized and dependable .• Agreeableness: A tendency to be compassionate and cooperative. • Neuroticism: The tendency to experience anger/anxiety easily. • Openness: Open to new experiences. • Extraversion: Energy, positive emotions, sociability, talkativeness.

Contemporary Research• Social-Cognitive Perspective: (Bandura) views behavior as influenced by the interaction between persons and the environment.•We learn how to behave by watching others and copying what they do.

Contemporary Research• Personal Control: our sense of controlling our environment rather than feeling helpless.• External Locus of Control: Belief that outside forces determine our fate.• Internal Locus of Control: Belief that we control our own fate.

Contemporary Research• Self-control: the ability to control impulses and delay gratification.• If we have self-control, we are better adjusted, have better grades, and better social success.• Also lower risk for depression.

Contemporary Research• People who feel helpless and oppressed often see control as external.• Learned Helplessness: when repeatedly faced with trauma of which you have no control, you give up and stop trying.• Feeling helpless, hopeless, and depressed.

Contemporary Research•When given little control have lower morale and increased stress.• Under conditions of personal freedom and empowerment, people thrive, but becareful…• Tyranny of Choice: When given too many choices, a greater likelihood of regret over our choices occur.

Contemporary Research• Optimism: positive thinking and outlook.• Pessimism: negative thinking and outlook.• Optimists outlive pessimists.• The incompetent are often overconfident because they don’t know that they are incompetent and think they are competent!

Contemporary Research• Spotlight Effect: overestimating others’ noticing and evaluating our appearance.• Ex. Rarely do people notice your bad hair or poor clothing choices.• Fewer people notice than we think!

Contemporary Research• Self-esteem: one’s feelings of high or low self-worth.• People who feel good about themselves are happier.• People with low self-esteem are unhappy, frustrated, and lose hope.• People who are down on themselves tend to be down on other things and people! • So, be happy with yourself!

Contemporary Research• Ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, and women maintain their self-esteem because they:•Value the things at which they excel.•Attribute problems to prejudice.•Compare themselves with those in their own group.

Contemporary Research• Self-serving bias: to see ourselves favorably.•We see the good we do more than the bad.•We see ourselves better than average.• Unrealistically high self-esteem can become dangerous when self-esteem is threatened!