Psychology of Personality
Personality is the set of psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual
that is organized and relatively enduring and that influences his or her interactions
with, and adaptations to, the environment (including the intrapsychic, physical, and
social environment).
Input Rule Output (Situations for a trait끐
Dangerous Fight or Confrontation (= Courage끐
Situation Flight or going away
Inter-individual diferences: Diferences beetween inii뀽iiualsi Inter-group diferences
Intra-individual diferences: Diferences within one inii뀽iiuali Intra-group diferences
Person-Environment interacton
Perception: Our interpretation of our surrouniingsi
Selection: Our choices are a refection of our personalityi
Evocation: The reactions we, mostly unconsciously, e뀽oee in othersi
Manipulation: The way we purposely infuence othersi
Three levels of personality
- Human nature
- Inii뀽iiual/group iiferences
- Inii뀽iiual uniqueness
Nomothetic (general rules끐 VS Idiographic (inii뀽iiual끐
Explanatons
- Proximal: Direct connection, here ani nowi
- Distal: From a further iistant, historical/futurei
Six domains of human nature
Dispositional: The iiferences beetween inii뀽iiuals bey iientifying ani measuring themi
Biological: Human beeings are collections of beiological systems that form the grouniwore of
beeha뀽ior, thoughts ani emotioni
Intrapsychic: Focus on unconscious moti뀽ationsi
Cognitive-experience: Focus on conscious experience, self-concept ani goalsi
Social and cultural: Personality ani social cultural context infuence each otheri
Adjusting: Personality plays a main role in how we looe at ani aijust to stressful situations
in our iaily lifei
A good theory
- Comprehensiveness: Does the theory ft in with the facts ani obeser뀽ations maie in
that iomain?
- Heuristic value: Is it possibele to maee new iisco뀽eries from this theory?
- Testability: Is the theory empirically testabele?
- Parsimony: How many assumptions ioes the theory ha뀽e?
- Compatibility and Integration across domains and levels: The theory may not
contraiict with principles from other iomainsi
1
, S-data: Self-report iatai From questionnaires ani inter뀽iewsi Likert Rating Scale: scale of
1 to 7 for questionnaires etci
O-data: Obeser뀽er-report iatai
T-data: Test-iatai Reactions following certain stimulii
- Experimental methods: Interaction beetween S-iata ani T-iatai
- Implicit tests (IAT): Reacting to a wori in a certain time-limit says something abeout
someone’s personalityi
- AutomaticcMechanic registration material: Actometeri
- Physiological data: Measuring someone’s heartbeeat iuring a scare momenti
- Projective technieues: TAT testi What inii뀽iiuals see on a picture says something
abeout their personalityi
L-data: Life-iatai S- ani O-iata are supposei to preiict L-iatai
Triangulation: Two or more methois are usei to examine the same subejecti
Reliability: To the extent which the test is representati뀽e for the true le뀽el of the trait that is
beeing measureii
- Test-retest reliability (Same measurements at iiferent times끐
- Internal consistency (Cronbeach’s Alpha끐
- Interrater reliability
- Response setscnon-content responding (answers that io not corresponi with the
actual question끐
- Aceuiescence (agreement끐
- Outliers
- Social desirability
Validity: To the extent which the test measures what it’s supposei to measurei
- Face validity (At frst sight끐
- Predictive validity (Can the test preiict something else끐
- Content validity (Are the important elements of the examinei phenomenon present끐
- Convergent validity (Does the test get the same results as other tests끐
- Discriminant validity (Does the test measure other factors it is not supposei to
measure끐
- Construct validity (Measures the test the theoretical construct it is supposei to
measure끐
Generalizability: Are the results generalizabele to the population/Does the test stay 뀽alii
iuring iiferent circumstancesi
A Trait:
1i Is a causal internal characteristic or featurei
2i Is something that iescribees beeha뀽iori
Act Freeuency Approach: Traits are categories of beeha뀽iorsi
- Act Nomination: What beeha뀽iors beelong to what trait?
- Prototypically Judgement: Which beeha뀽iors are typical for a trait?
- Recording of Act Performance: How ioes the inii뀽iiual beeha뀽e in iaily lifei
2
Personality is the set of psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual
that is organized and relatively enduring and that influences his or her interactions
with, and adaptations to, the environment (including the intrapsychic, physical, and
social environment).
Input Rule Output (Situations for a trait끐
Dangerous Fight or Confrontation (= Courage끐
Situation Flight or going away
Inter-individual diferences: Diferences beetween inii뀽iiualsi Inter-group diferences
Intra-individual diferences: Diferences within one inii뀽iiuali Intra-group diferences
Person-Environment interacton
Perception: Our interpretation of our surrouniingsi
Selection: Our choices are a refection of our personalityi
Evocation: The reactions we, mostly unconsciously, e뀽oee in othersi
Manipulation: The way we purposely infuence othersi
Three levels of personality
- Human nature
- Inii뀽iiual/group iiferences
- Inii뀽iiual uniqueness
Nomothetic (general rules끐 VS Idiographic (inii뀽iiual끐
Explanatons
- Proximal: Direct connection, here ani nowi
- Distal: From a further iistant, historical/futurei
Six domains of human nature
Dispositional: The iiferences beetween inii뀽iiuals bey iientifying ani measuring themi
Biological: Human beeings are collections of beiological systems that form the grouniwore of
beeha뀽ior, thoughts ani emotioni
Intrapsychic: Focus on unconscious moti뀽ationsi
Cognitive-experience: Focus on conscious experience, self-concept ani goalsi
Social and cultural: Personality ani social cultural context infuence each otheri
Adjusting: Personality plays a main role in how we looe at ani aijust to stressful situations
in our iaily lifei
A good theory
- Comprehensiveness: Does the theory ft in with the facts ani obeser뀽ations maie in
that iomain?
- Heuristic value: Is it possibele to maee new iisco뀽eries from this theory?
- Testability: Is the theory empirically testabele?
- Parsimony: How many assumptions ioes the theory ha뀽e?
- Compatibility and Integration across domains and levels: The theory may not
contraiict with principles from other iomainsi
1
, S-data: Self-report iatai From questionnaires ani inter뀽iewsi Likert Rating Scale: scale of
1 to 7 for questionnaires etci
O-data: Obeser뀽er-report iatai
T-data: Test-iatai Reactions following certain stimulii
- Experimental methods: Interaction beetween S-iata ani T-iatai
- Implicit tests (IAT): Reacting to a wori in a certain time-limit says something abeout
someone’s personalityi
- AutomaticcMechanic registration material: Actometeri
- Physiological data: Measuring someone’s heartbeeat iuring a scare momenti
- Projective technieues: TAT testi What inii뀽iiuals see on a picture says something
abeout their personalityi
L-data: Life-iatai S- ani O-iata are supposei to preiict L-iatai
Triangulation: Two or more methois are usei to examine the same subejecti
Reliability: To the extent which the test is representati뀽e for the true le뀽el of the trait that is
beeing measureii
- Test-retest reliability (Same measurements at iiferent times끐
- Internal consistency (Cronbeach’s Alpha끐
- Interrater reliability
- Response setscnon-content responding (answers that io not corresponi with the
actual question끐
- Aceuiescence (agreement끐
- Outliers
- Social desirability
Validity: To the extent which the test measures what it’s supposei to measurei
- Face validity (At frst sight끐
- Predictive validity (Can the test preiict something else끐
- Content validity (Are the important elements of the examinei phenomenon present끐
- Convergent validity (Does the test get the same results as other tests끐
- Discriminant validity (Does the test measure other factors it is not supposei to
measure끐
- Construct validity (Measures the test the theoretical construct it is supposei to
measure끐
Generalizability: Are the results generalizabele to the population/Does the test stay 뀽alii
iuring iiferent circumstancesi
A Trait:
1i Is a causal internal characteristic or featurei
2i Is something that iescribees beeha뀽iori
Act Freeuency Approach: Traits are categories of beeha뀽iorsi
- Act Nomination: What beeha뀽iors beelong to what trait?
- Prototypically Judgement: Which beeha뀽iors are typical for a trait?
- Recording of Act Performance: How ioes the inii뀽iiual beeha뀽e in iaily lifei
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