CHAPTERh1—PERSONALITYhANDhTHEhSCIENTIFIChOUTLOOK
CHAPTERhOUTLINE
I.hWhyhstudyhpersonality? hhThehstudyhofhhumanhpersonalityhhelpshushunderstandhourselveshandhothe
rhpeoplehbetterhandhgiveshushahgreaterhappreciationhforhthehcomplexityhofhhumanhexperience.
II.hDefinitionhofhPersonality:hPersonalityhishthehdynamichandhorganizedhsethofhcharacteristicshposse
ssedhbyhanhindividualhthathuniquelyhinfluenceshhishorhherhcognitions,hmotivationshandhbehaviorshi
nhvarioushsituations.
III.hPersonalityhandhScience:hPersonalityhishahscientifichenterprisehconcernedhwithhthehdescription,he
xplanation,hprediction,handhcontrolhofhevents.
A.hComponentshofhScience:hTheorieshandhResearchhMethods
1.hWhatharehtheories?hhAhtheoryhishahsystemhofhinterrelatedhconceptualhstatementshthatharehcrea
tedhbyhinvestigatorshtohaccounthforhahphenomenonhorhahsethofhphenomena.
2.hKindshofhtheories
a.hinductive-setshofhgeneralhsummaryhstatementshabouthphenomenahderivedhfromhfacts.
b.hdeductive-
theorieshinhwhichhspecifichhypothesesharehderivedhfromhabstracthpropositionshandhthenhtes
tedhhbyhthehcollectionhofhdata.hDeductivehtheorieshconsisthofhpostulates,hpropositions,hcon
ceptualhdefinitions,hoperationalhdefinitions,hhypotheses,handhempiricalhobservations.
1.hpostulates-thehfundamentalhorhcorehassumptionshofhahtheory.hTheyharehtakenhashself-
evidentlyhtruehinhorderhtohprovidehahclearhandhfocusedhdirectionhforhtheorizinghandhresearch.
2.hpropositions-
hgeneralhrelationalhstatementshthathmayhbehtruehorhfalse.hTheyharehnothtestedhdirectly;hinstead
,hhypothesesharehderivedhfromhthem.
3.hhypotheses-
specifichpropositionshcontaininghconstructshthatharehconceptuallyhdefinedhandhoperationaliz
edhsohtheyhcanhtestedhandhconfirmedhorhdisconfirmedhthroughhempiricalhtesting.hHypotheses
harehtentativehtheoreticalhstatementshabouthhowheventsharehrelatedhtohonehanother,hoftenhstate
dhashpredictions.h
a.hahpriorhpredictions-predictionshmadehbeforehthehcollectionhofhdata.
4.hconceptualhdefinitions-
hconceptshinhthehhypothesesharehdefinedhpreciselyhsohthathaccuratehmeasureshofhthehconceptsh
canhbehdevised.h
5.hoperationalhdefinitions-hproceduresh(orhoperations)husedhtohdefinehparticularhconstructs.h
6.hempiricalhobservations-observationshofhphenomenahmadehbyhinvestigators.
1
,1V.hResearchhMethodshUsedhtohTesthTheories
A.hExperimentalhMethod-techniquehforhstudyinghcause-and-
heffecthrelationshipshbetweenhvariables.h Ithinvolveshthehmanipulationhofhindependenthvariablesh
andhobservationhofhtheheffectshofhthehmanipulation(s)honhdependenthvariables.
1.hindependenthvariables-
thehvariableshactivelyhmanipulatedhbyhthehexperimenterhsohthaththeirheffectshonhindividualhb
ehaviorhcanhbehobserved.
2.hdependenthvariables-
changeshinhbehaviorhthathoccurhashahresulthofhthehmanipulationhofhconditionshbyhanhexperime
nter.
3.hcontrolhgroup-
thehgrouphthathdoeshnothreceivehthehexperimentalhtreatment.hIthishdesignedhtohprovidehbaselin
ehdatahagainsthwhichhtheheffectshofhthehexperimentalhmanipulation(s)honhthehdependenthvaria
ble(s)hcanhbehaccuratelyhjudged.
B.hCorrelationalhMethod-
generalhprocedurehforhestablishinghanhassociationhorhrelationshiphbetweenhevents.h
1.hpositivehcorrelation-
increaseshinhthehscoreshonhonehvariableharehassociatedhwithhincreaseshinhthehscoreshonhthehoth
erhvariable.
2.hnegativehcorrelation-
increaseshinhthehscoreshonhonehvariableharehassociatedhwithhdecreaseshinhthehscoreshonhthehot
her.
3.hnohrelation-thehdistributionshofhscoreshonhthehtwohvariablesharehrandom
C.hCasehStudyhMethod-
techniquehinvolvinghthehintensivehstudyhofhahsinglehpersonhinhorderhtohunderstandhhishorhherhuni
quehpersonalityhandhbehavior.h
1.hpost-hochexplanation-explanationhofhahphenomenonhgivenhafterhitshoccurrence.
V.hEthicshforhConductinghResearch
A.hinformedhconsent-
thehpracticehofhtellinghstudyhparticipantshabouththehnaturehofhtheirhparticipationhinhahproposedhe
xperimenthandhthenhobtaininghtheirhwrittenhagreementhtohparticipate.
B.hdebriefing-
informinghstudyhparticipantshofhthehtruehnaturehandhpurposehofhahstudyhafterhithishcompleted.
VI.hCriteriahforhEvaluatinghTheories
A.hComprehensiveness-
theoriesharehjudgedhashmorehadequatehandhusefulhifhtheyhencompasshandhaccounthforhahwidehran
gehandhvarietyhofhphenomena.
B.hPrecisionhandhtestability-
hadequatehtheorieshshouldhcontainhconstructshandhrelationalhstatementshthatharehclearlyhandhexp
licitlyhstatedhandhmeasured.hUnderhsuchhconditions,htheorieshcanhbehmorehaccuratelyhtested.
2
,C.hParsimony-
hadequatehtheorieshshouldhbehasheconomicalhashpossible,hwhilehstillhadequatelyhaccountinghforht
hehphenomenahinhtheirhdomain.
D.hEmpiricalhvalidity-
hthehhypotheseshofhtheoriesharehtestedhbyhthehcollectionhofhdatahtohdeterminehwhetherhorhnoththe
yharehaccurate.
E.hHeuristichvalue-
hadequatehtheorieshshouldhbehchallenging;htheyhshouldhstimulatehnewhideashandhnewhresearch.
F.hAppliedhvalue-
hadequatehtheoriesharehcapablehofhprovidinghcreativehsolutionshtohproblemshthatharehofhinteresth
andhconcernhtohpeoplehinhsociety.h
3
, CLASSROOMhTOPICShFORhLECTURE,hDISCUSSION,hANDhDEMONSTRATION
JudginghthehScientifichWorthhofhahTheory:hWhichhCriterionhishMosthImportant?hhPresenththeh6hcri
teriahforhjudginghthehscientifichworthhofhahtheoryhandhaskhthehstudentshwhichhonehofhthemhishtheh
mosthimportant.hSincehmosthstudents,hespeciallyhthosehwhohhavehtakenhseveralhcourseshinhpsych
ology,harehimbuedhwithhthehneedhtohhavehdatahtohsupporthwhateverhconclusionshtheyhreachhandh
willhimmediatelyhsayhempiricalhvalidity.hYouhcanhthenhmentionhthathyou'rehnothsohsure.hhYouhcanhc
reatehahtheoryhonhthehspoththathlackshcomprehensivenesshbuthhashmassivehempiricalhsupport.hhW
alkhuphthehclassroomhaislehuntilhyouhfindhahmalehandhahfemalehsittinghnexthtohonehanother.hhThenht
ellhthehstudentshyouhwillhcreatehahtheoryhofhinfatuation,hsayinghthathifhthehfemalehlikeshthehmalehsi
ttinghnexthtohher,hshehwillhfigurehthathifhshehsitshnexthtohhimhatheachhsession,hthaththeyhwillhbeginht
ohtalk,hcomehtohlikehonehanother,handhthathhehwillheventuallyhaskhherhout.hhThenhtellhthehclasshthat
hyouhpredicthonhthehbasishofhyourhtheoryhthat,hclasshafterhclass,hshehwillhsithnexthtohhim.hhAndhshehd
oes;hthus,htherehishmassivehempiricalhsupporthforhyourhtheory.hhPointhouththathwhilehthehtheoryhha
shmassivehempiricalhsupport,hit'shnoththehmosthusefulhtheoryhinhthehuniverse.hhIt'shtoohlimited.hIthca
n'thcomparehwithhthehcomprehensivenesshofhFreud'shtheoryhwhichhexplainshvasthnumbershofhphe
nomena,he.g.,hmarriage,hwar,hfriendship,hincest,hdreams,haccidentshonhthehjob,hevenhthoughhempi
ricalhsupporthforhthehtheoryhishmixed.hAshanotherhexample,hyouhcanhmentionhthat,hifhahtheoryhishi
mprecisehandhthereforehthehscientisthishunablehtohtesthithadequately,hithwillhveryhlikelyhyieldhdataht
hatharehquestionable.hSohthehtheory'shempiricalhvalidityhdependshonhitshprecisionhandhtestability.hh
Youhcanhthenhdrawhthehconclusionhthathallhofhthehcriteriaharehimportanthandhinterrelatedhandhthat
hithmakeshlittlehsensehtoharguehthathanyhonehcriterionhbyhitselfhishmosthimportant.
LEARNINGhGOALS
AththehconclusionhofhChapterh1,hyourhstudentshshouldhbehablehto:
1. definehpersonalityhfromhthehperspectivehofhprofessionalhpersonalityhpsychologistshandhfr
omhthehperspectivehofhlaypeoplehandhtohexplainhwhyhpersonalityhpsychologistshseehlaype
ople'shdefinitionhofhthehtermhashinadequatehandhunscientific.
2. definehscientifichtheoryhandhtohdescribehthehdifferenceshbetweenhdeductivehandhinductiv
ehtheories.
3. definehresearchhmethodshandhtohexplainhthehdifferenceshbetweenhthehexperimental,hcorr
elational,handhcasehstudyhtechniques.
4. describehthehdifferenceshbetweenhahpriorihandhposthhochexplanations.
5. namehthehsixhcriteriahthatharehusedhbyhpersonalityhpsychologistshtohjudgehthehscientifichw
orthhofhtheorieshandhtohbehablehtohgivehahrationalehforhwhyhthehcriteriaharehallhinterrelate
4
CHAPTERhOUTLINE
I.hWhyhstudyhpersonality? hhThehstudyhofhhumanhpersonalityhhelpshushunderstandhourselveshandhothe
rhpeoplehbetterhandhgiveshushahgreaterhappreciationhforhthehcomplexityhofhhumanhexperience.
II.hDefinitionhofhPersonality:hPersonalityhishthehdynamichandhorganizedhsethofhcharacteristicshposse
ssedhbyhanhindividualhthathuniquelyhinfluenceshhishorhherhcognitions,hmotivationshandhbehaviorshi
nhvarioushsituations.
III.hPersonalityhandhScience:hPersonalityhishahscientifichenterprisehconcernedhwithhthehdescription,he
xplanation,hprediction,handhcontrolhofhevents.
A.hComponentshofhScience:hTheorieshandhResearchhMethods
1.hWhatharehtheories?hhAhtheoryhishahsystemhofhinterrelatedhconceptualhstatementshthatharehcrea
tedhbyhinvestigatorshtohaccounthforhahphenomenonhorhahsethofhphenomena.
2.hKindshofhtheories
a.hinductive-setshofhgeneralhsummaryhstatementshabouthphenomenahderivedhfromhfacts.
b.hdeductive-
theorieshinhwhichhspecifichhypothesesharehderivedhfromhabstracthpropositionshandhthenhtes
tedhhbyhthehcollectionhofhdata.hDeductivehtheorieshconsisthofhpostulates,hpropositions,hcon
ceptualhdefinitions,hoperationalhdefinitions,hhypotheses,handhempiricalhobservations.
1.hpostulates-thehfundamentalhorhcorehassumptionshofhahtheory.hTheyharehtakenhashself-
evidentlyhtruehinhorderhtohprovidehahclearhandhfocusedhdirectionhforhtheorizinghandhresearch.
2.hpropositions-
hgeneralhrelationalhstatementshthathmayhbehtruehorhfalse.hTheyharehnothtestedhdirectly;hinstead
,hhypothesesharehderivedhfromhthem.
3.hhypotheses-
specifichpropositionshcontaininghconstructshthatharehconceptuallyhdefinedhandhoperationaliz
edhsohtheyhcanhtestedhandhconfirmedhorhdisconfirmedhthroughhempiricalhtesting.hHypotheses
harehtentativehtheoreticalhstatementshabouthhowheventsharehrelatedhtohonehanother,hoftenhstate
dhashpredictions.h
a.hahpriorhpredictions-predictionshmadehbeforehthehcollectionhofhdata.
4.hconceptualhdefinitions-
hconceptshinhthehhypothesesharehdefinedhpreciselyhsohthathaccuratehmeasureshofhthehconceptsh
canhbehdevised.h
5.hoperationalhdefinitions-hproceduresh(orhoperations)husedhtohdefinehparticularhconstructs.h
6.hempiricalhobservations-observationshofhphenomenahmadehbyhinvestigators.
1
,1V.hResearchhMethodshUsedhtohTesthTheories
A.hExperimentalhMethod-techniquehforhstudyinghcause-and-
heffecthrelationshipshbetweenhvariables.h Ithinvolveshthehmanipulationhofhindependenthvariablesh
andhobservationhofhtheheffectshofhthehmanipulation(s)honhdependenthvariables.
1.hindependenthvariables-
thehvariableshactivelyhmanipulatedhbyhthehexperimenterhsohthaththeirheffectshonhindividualhb
ehaviorhcanhbehobserved.
2.hdependenthvariables-
changeshinhbehaviorhthathoccurhashahresulthofhthehmanipulationhofhconditionshbyhanhexperime
nter.
3.hcontrolhgroup-
thehgrouphthathdoeshnothreceivehthehexperimentalhtreatment.hIthishdesignedhtohprovidehbaselin
ehdatahagainsthwhichhtheheffectshofhthehexperimentalhmanipulation(s)honhthehdependenthvaria
ble(s)hcanhbehaccuratelyhjudged.
B.hCorrelationalhMethod-
generalhprocedurehforhestablishinghanhassociationhorhrelationshiphbetweenhevents.h
1.hpositivehcorrelation-
increaseshinhthehscoreshonhonehvariableharehassociatedhwithhincreaseshinhthehscoreshonhthehoth
erhvariable.
2.hnegativehcorrelation-
increaseshinhthehscoreshonhonehvariableharehassociatedhwithhdecreaseshinhthehscoreshonhthehot
her.
3.hnohrelation-thehdistributionshofhscoreshonhthehtwohvariablesharehrandom
C.hCasehStudyhMethod-
techniquehinvolvinghthehintensivehstudyhofhahsinglehpersonhinhorderhtohunderstandhhishorhherhuni
quehpersonalityhandhbehavior.h
1.hpost-hochexplanation-explanationhofhahphenomenonhgivenhafterhitshoccurrence.
V.hEthicshforhConductinghResearch
A.hinformedhconsent-
thehpracticehofhtellinghstudyhparticipantshabouththehnaturehofhtheirhparticipationhinhahproposedhe
xperimenthandhthenhobtaininghtheirhwrittenhagreementhtohparticipate.
B.hdebriefing-
informinghstudyhparticipantshofhthehtruehnaturehandhpurposehofhahstudyhafterhithishcompleted.
VI.hCriteriahforhEvaluatinghTheories
A.hComprehensiveness-
theoriesharehjudgedhashmorehadequatehandhusefulhifhtheyhencompasshandhaccounthforhahwidehran
gehandhvarietyhofhphenomena.
B.hPrecisionhandhtestability-
hadequatehtheorieshshouldhcontainhconstructshandhrelationalhstatementshthatharehclearlyhandhexp
licitlyhstatedhandhmeasured.hUnderhsuchhconditions,htheorieshcanhbehmorehaccuratelyhtested.
2
,C.hParsimony-
hadequatehtheorieshshouldhbehasheconomicalhashpossible,hwhilehstillhadequatelyhaccountinghforht
hehphenomenahinhtheirhdomain.
D.hEmpiricalhvalidity-
hthehhypotheseshofhtheoriesharehtestedhbyhthehcollectionhofhdatahtohdeterminehwhetherhorhnoththe
yharehaccurate.
E.hHeuristichvalue-
hadequatehtheorieshshouldhbehchallenging;htheyhshouldhstimulatehnewhideashandhnewhresearch.
F.hAppliedhvalue-
hadequatehtheoriesharehcapablehofhprovidinghcreativehsolutionshtohproblemshthatharehofhinteresth
andhconcernhtohpeoplehinhsociety.h
3
, CLASSROOMhTOPICShFORhLECTURE,hDISCUSSION,hANDhDEMONSTRATION
JudginghthehScientifichWorthhofhahTheory:hWhichhCriterionhishMosthImportant?hhPresenththeh6hcri
teriahforhjudginghthehscientifichworthhofhahtheoryhandhaskhthehstudentshwhichhonehofhthemhishtheh
mosthimportant.hSincehmosthstudents,hespeciallyhthosehwhohhavehtakenhseveralhcourseshinhpsych
ology,harehimbuedhwithhthehneedhtohhavehdatahtohsupporthwhateverhconclusionshtheyhreachhandh
willhimmediatelyhsayhempiricalhvalidity.hYouhcanhthenhmentionhthathyou'rehnothsohsure.hhYouhcanhc
reatehahtheoryhonhthehspoththathlackshcomprehensivenesshbuthhashmassivehempiricalhsupport.hhW
alkhuphthehclassroomhaislehuntilhyouhfindhahmalehandhahfemalehsittinghnexthtohonehanother.hhThenht
ellhthehstudentshyouhwillhcreatehahtheoryhofhinfatuation,hsayinghthathifhthehfemalehlikeshthehmalehsi
ttinghnexthtohher,hshehwillhfigurehthathifhshehsitshnexthtohhimhatheachhsession,hthaththeyhwillhbeginht
ohtalk,hcomehtohlikehonehanother,handhthathhehwillheventuallyhaskhherhout.hhThenhtellhthehclasshthat
hyouhpredicthonhthehbasishofhyourhtheoryhthat,hclasshafterhclass,hshehwillhsithnexthtohhim.hhAndhshehd
oes;hthus,htherehishmassivehempiricalhsupporthforhyourhtheory.hhPointhouththathwhilehthehtheoryhha
shmassivehempiricalhsupport,hit'shnoththehmosthusefulhtheoryhinhthehuniverse.hhIt'shtoohlimited.hIthca
n'thcomparehwithhthehcomprehensivenesshofhFreud'shtheoryhwhichhexplainshvasthnumbershofhphe
nomena,he.g.,hmarriage,hwar,hfriendship,hincest,hdreams,haccidentshonhthehjob,hevenhthoughhempi
ricalhsupporthforhthehtheoryhishmixed.hAshanotherhexample,hyouhcanhmentionhthat,hifhahtheoryhishi
mprecisehandhthereforehthehscientisthishunablehtohtesthithadequately,hithwillhveryhlikelyhyieldhdataht
hatharehquestionable.hSohthehtheory'shempiricalhvalidityhdependshonhitshprecisionhandhtestability.hh
Youhcanhthenhdrawhthehconclusionhthathallhofhthehcriteriaharehimportanthandhinterrelatedhandhthat
hithmakeshlittlehsensehtoharguehthathanyhonehcriterionhbyhitselfhishmosthimportant.
LEARNINGhGOALS
AththehconclusionhofhChapterh1,hyourhstudentshshouldhbehablehto:
1. definehpersonalityhfromhthehperspectivehofhprofessionalhpersonalityhpsychologistshandhfr
omhthehperspectivehofhlaypeoplehandhtohexplainhwhyhpersonalityhpsychologistshseehlaype
ople'shdefinitionhofhthehtermhashinadequatehandhunscientific.
2. definehscientifichtheoryhandhtohdescribehthehdifferenceshbetweenhdeductivehandhinductiv
ehtheories.
3. definehresearchhmethodshandhtohexplainhthehdifferenceshbetweenhthehexperimental,hcorr
elational,handhcasehstudyhtechniques.
4. describehthehdifferenceshbetweenhahpriorihandhposthhochexplanations.
5. namehthehsixhcriteriahthatharehusedhbyhpersonalityhpsychologistshtohjudgehthehscientifichw
orthhofhtheorieshandhtohbehablehtohgivehahrationalehforhwhyhthehcriteriaharehallhinterrelate
4
