PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY – CHAPTER 2 Certainly people decorate their rooms to impress others or to create certain images—and there was a lot of that going around our first year—but at the heart of it all, to what extent does an individual’s personality manifest itself in the design and content of a dorm room? Gosling, Ko, Mannarelli, and Morris (2002) asked this very question in a systematic way. They reasoned that when people live in an environment they leave behavioral residue behind. Such physical traces left behind by everyday actions are hints or cues to the personality of the occupant (Gosling et al., 2002). Traits describe a person’s typical style of thinking, feeling, and acting in different kinds of situations and at different times Traits describe a person’s typical style of thinking, feeling, and acting in different kinds of situations and at different times (McCrae & Costa, 1997b). Although we might act differently in specific situations (e.g., a job interview compared to hanging out with a close friend), or at different times (e.g., think of what you were like in high school compared to now),
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PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY – CHAPTER 2
Certainly people decorate their rooms to impress others or to create certain images—and there was a lot of that
going around our first year—but at the heart of it all, to what extent does an individual’s personality manifest
itself in the design and content of a dorm room?
Gosling, Ko, Mannarelli, and Morris (2002) asked this very question in a systematic way.
They reasoned that when people live in an environment they leave behavioral residue behind.
Such physical traces left behind by everyday actions are hints or cues to the personality of the occupant (Gosling
et al., 2002).
o For example, specific items may be left behind either carelessly, like a snowboard that wasn’t put away
properly, or on purpose to convey a certain image (e.g.,“Hey, I’m cool, I’m edgy, I’m a snowboarder!”). Items
have personal meaning to them or reinforce their own self-views (e.g., “I’m a nature lover”).
ways we express personalities and leave, perhaps inadvertently, cues for observers
In this study, anywhere from 1 to 6 observers, ordinary folk with no particular training, visited actual rooms of
83 college student volunteers.
EXPERIMENT: The researchers covered names and any photos in the rooms so that observers would not know
for sure the race or gender of the occupant. The observers then glanced around the rooms and made ratings on
a 7-point scale of the extent to which they thought each of 44 descriptions applied to the occupant of the room.
Some of the descriptions included: (Anxious, easily upset, etc.)
RESULT: a great amount of consensus. That is, observers readily agreed on what they thought an occupant was
like. Even more amazing, observers were often very accurate in guessing the personality of the occupants.
(neatness=conscientious, books=open, creative)
Gosling repeated the same study on office spaces and got pretty much the same results , but rooms were
more accurate because you can creatively express yourself In your room
there are many ways of describing human personality: charming, sociable, flirty, outgoing, conservative, daring,
and tough-minded, low agreeableness and low conscientiousness
- The second factor is Extraversion - describes how outgoing people are, both to the social and the physical
environments. The narrow traits associated with extraversion are sociable, lively, active, assertive,
sensation-seeking, carefree, dominant, surgent, and venturesome
- In contrast to introverts, extraverts tend to be outgoing and experience many positive feelings such as
happiness and joy
- Neuroticism, refers to negative emotionality and emotional reactivity. The narrow traits associated with
Neuroticism are anxious, depressed, guilt feelings, low self-esteem,
- tense, irrational, shy, moody, and emotional
- People high in Neuroticism tend to be easily upset and vulnerable to negative emotions. In contrast, those
low in this trait are even-tempered, calm, relaxed, carefree, unworried, somewhat unemotional, and
recover quickly after an upsetting experience.
- prominence of his theory has been eclipsed by the explosion of
research on the five-factor model (John et al., 2008). One problem
with Eysenck’s theory is that many personality psychologists feel
that important traits are missing.
The big five and the five factor model
- The five factors that appear to be our best candidates for universal traits are Neuroticism,
- Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness
- Oliver John and his colleagues (John, 1990, p. 96; John et al., 2008, p. 139) suggested that we think of the five
factors using multiple words:
o N: Neuroticism, Negative Affectivity, Nervousness (Factor IV)
o E: Extraversion, Energy, Enthusiasm (Factor I)
o O: Openness, Originality, Open-mindedness (Factor V)
o A: Agreeableness, Altruism, Affection (Factor II)
o C: Conscientiousness, Control, Constraint (Factor III)
- Neuroticism, in contrast to Emotional Stability, refers to how well a person adjusts to the
- “slings and arrows of daily life.” It refers to emotionality, psychological distress, and reactivity.
- For example, does George worry a lot about what people think of him? Does Ally fall apart under stress? George
and Ally would be considered high in Neuroticism. Does Yang stay calm,
- cool, and collected under pressure? Does James keep his feelings under control? Yang and James are low in
Neuroticism, and would be considered high in Emotional Stability.
- People low in Neuroticism are even-tempered, calm, relaxed, and unruffled (McCrae & John, 1992).
- According to the NEO-PI-R, each of the five factors are made up of six subscales called facets. If we think of
Neuroticism as the superfactor, then the facets or narrow traits that
- make up Neuroticism are anxiety, angry hostility, depression, self-consciousness, impulsiveness
(immoderation), and vulnerability to stress
- People who are high in Neuroticism show poorer coping skills in stressful situations, poorer health, and are
likely to experience burnout and job changes (John et al., 2008).
- prone to negative emotions such as fear, sadness, embarrassment, anger, guilt, and disgust
- Emotionally stable people show more commitment to work and great satisfaction with their personal
relationships (John et al., 2008).
- high on impulsivity—an important facet of Neuroticism—spent more time on the phone, made more cell phone
calls in a day, and reported being more dependent on their cell phones than people who were low in
impulsiveness
- Extraversion, is contrasted with Introversion and describes how one “surges” or energetically engages with
the social world.
- Extraverted people just like other people. They are assertive, active, talkative, and cheerful, enjoy large groups
and gatherings, and enjoy excitement
- The factor of Extraversion is made up of the facets of warmth (friendliness), gregarious-
- ness, assertiveness, activity, excitement-seeking, and positive emotions
- Extraversion also refers to energetically seeking out and interacting with others
- Extraversion is agreement with the item “I am a cheerful, high spirited person”
- Keep in mind that an energetic, optimistic person who shows enthusiasm and cheerfulness
- is not necessarily low in anxiety or depression. Anxiety and depression are related to Neuroti-
- cism (McCrae & John, 1992).
- Extraverts are likely to hold leadership positions in groups, have many friends and a greater number of sexual
partners, and are more likely to be selected as foreperson of a jury than are Introverts.
- Introverts are more likely to experience poorer relationships with parents and peers (John et al., 2008).
- OPENNESS
- includes the facets of fantasy (imagination), aesthetics (artistic interests), feelings (emotionality), actions
(adventurousness), ideas (intellect), and values (psychological liberalism;
- Does Jim have a very active imagination? Does Ellen get completely absorbed in music she is listening to? Jim
and Ellen are high in openness. Is Rick pretty well set in his ways? Is Catherine against controversial campus
speakers?
- People high in Openness tend to be imaginative and creative, whereas people low in openness tend to be
more conventional, practical, and down-to-earth.
- People high in Openness tend to go further with their education, to succeed in creative jobs, and to create
distinctive work and home environments (John et al., 2008).
- Openness INDICATOR: is the experience of chills or goosebumps in response to an aesthetic experience
(McCrae, 2007). In sum, a person high in Openness is seen as
- Openness refers to an appreciation of the life of the mind in such things as ideas, thoughts, fantasies, art, and
beauty, and is not the same as intelligence.
- Openness includes an appreciation of a wide range of feelings in contrast to touchiness or defensiveness,
which is part of Neuroticism (McCrae, 1990). Openness refers to an openness to ideas and new things (NOT
PEOPLE = extroversion)
- Agreeableness refers to the quality of interpersonal relations—that is, how much a person
- feels for and gets along with others; whether he or she seeks out such enjoyment, as would an extravert, or
does not, as would an introvert.
- prosocial or communal orientation to others and is contrasted with antagonism or competitiveness (
- low in Agreeableness show hostility, self-centeredness, spitefulness, indifference, and even jealousy toward
others
- includes the facets of trust (of others), straightforwardness (honesty or morality as opposed to
manipulativeness), altruism, compliance (cooperation), modesty, and tender-mindedness
- Does Ramiro believe that most people are basically well intentioned? Does Betty have great empathy for people
in need? Ramiro and Betty would be high in Agreeableness, showing trust in and sympathy for other people, a
concern for social harmony, and getting along with others.
- people low in Agreeableness distrust the motives of others and are on the lookout for others who might be
trying to take advantage of them.
- For example, does Jasmine bully or flatter people into getting them to do what she wants? Does Darnell believe
that most people will take advantage of you if you let them? Jasmine and Darnell are low in Agreeableness.
- Some measure of Disagreeableness might be useful in situations requiring tough judgments
- Generally, people high in Agreeableness show better performance in work groups than do those low in
Agreeableness
- low in Agreeableness are often at risk for cardiovascular disease, juvenile delinquency, and interpersonal
problems
- Conscientiousness refers to an individual’s degree of organization, both physical organization, such as the
organization of one’s office, or mental organization, as in planning ahead and having goals to be achieved.
- Conscientiousness also includes how we regulate our own impulses such as thinking before acting, delaying
gratification, or following norms and rules
- For example, does Brittany have separate files for each of her classes? Does Dimitri put away his video games
after he plays with them? If so, Brittany and Dimitri are displaying aspects of Conscientiousness.
- Charlie who is not dependable and who even cheats at solitaire! Or Lonette, who often does things on the
- spur of the moment without thinking of the consequences.
- Both of these people are low in Conscientiousness and might be expected to place short-term pleasures ahead
of long-term accomplishments.
- Conscientiousness includes the facets of competence (self-efficacy), order, dutifulness, achievement-striving,
self-discipline, and deliberation (cautiousness; see Table 2.10
- people high in Conscientiousness are rated by their peers and even their spouses as well organized, neat,
thorough, and diligent
- They also have higher grade point averages and better on-the-job performance
- People low in Conscientiousness are more likely to smoke, abuse alcohol and other drugs, show attention
- deficit disorder, have a poor diet, and not exercise enough
- people high in Conscientiousness are more likely to adhere to doctor’s orders, and—when compared to those
low in Conscientiousness—live longer (John et al., 2008)!
- high in Conscientiousness; high levels of this trait may also lead to annoying habits such as fastidiousness,
compulsive neatness, or workaholic behavior
- Openness, look slightly different depending on the method used to identify them. When
- researchers start with the lexical approach, they get the Big Five of Surgency (Extraversion), Agreeableness,
Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Culture
- Generally, the phrase the Big Five refers to this lexical solution. The Big Five factors are identified by Roman
numerals that signify the frequency of the factor words in the lexicon.
- numbers are less memorable than mnemonics and so the OCEAN labeling has caught on more, especially
among students of personality psychology
- Costa and McCrae (1976), using factor analysis, discovered three factors: Anxiety-Adjustment (now called
Neuroticism), Introversion-Extraversion, and Openness to experience.--> created the five factor model
- Today, the five factors of the five-factor model—Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and
Conscientiousness—are measured using the revised version of the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R;
Costa & McCrae, 1992). This ordering of the factors, incidentally, reflects the amount of variance, from
largest to smallest, accounted for by each of the five factors
- One difference is the name of the individual factors. What the Big Five calls Emotional Stability the FFM
calls Neuroticism. Both terms refer to the same dimension; the only difference is in direction, or which end
of the pole researchers wish to emphasize.
- Second, the Big Five Culture factor is a narrower view of the FFM factor Openness, which refers to
openness to aesthetic or cultural tastes, a wide range of emotions, and a need for variety, and is not
limited to creativity and intellectual interests. both the Big Five and FFM solutions agree that creativity,
imagination, and originality are aspects of this factor
- the Big Five describes personality without attempting to explain where these attributes come from (i.e.,
they are in our language so they must be important).
- FFM theorizes, much in the tradition of Eysenck, that the five factors are biological traits
- Big Five is grounded in adjectives, it has been replicated cross-culturally in many different languages. The
NEO-PI-R, because it uses sentences, may be more dependent on language and culture and may lose
something in the translation
- Big Five (using adjectival measures) and the FFM (using the NEO-PI-R questionnaire) yield similar results
ONE FACTOR SOLUTION
- general personality factor or GPF -The GPF is hypothesized to explain all of human personality in much the
same way that g represents a general factor of intelligence underlying all mental abilities GPF lies at the very
top of a hierarchy of personality traits (see Figure 2.3).
- What exactly is the GPF? According to Musek (2007) this factor includes all the positive aspects of the five
factors: Emotional Stability, Agreeableness, Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Intellect. Further, the GPF
encompasses the two factors of Alpha (the emotional stability to get along with others) and Beta (the
flexibility to deal with change, challenges, and demands) (Musek, 2007).
- People who are high in GPF are altruistic, sociable, able to handle stress, relaxed, open to experience,
dependable, and task-focused (Rushton & Irwing, 2008).
- Rushton and his colleagues argued that these aspects of personality have been evolutionarily hard-wired as
they are necessary for survival
- Although this GPF sounds an awful lot like a general “social desirability” factor or a “conformity” factor,
Musek (2007) argued that the pattern of results—how this GPF correlates with other personality
measures—rules out both of these alternative explanations
- HEXACO (or six-factor)
o The six factors are Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, Extraversion, Agreeableness,
Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience.
o Five of the factors are very similar to their five-factor counterparts; the major difference is the
addition of Honesty-Humility as a separate factor (Ashton & Lee, 2005).
- HONESTY-HUMILITY->might be best thought of as a genuineness or trustworthiness factor in
- English , includes the facets of sincerity, fairness, greed avoidance, and modesty as contrasted with
arrogance and egotism
- Sounds similar to Agreeableness, the difference has to do with manipulation and power. For example, a
person high in Agreeableness is willing to help another person even when it might be against his or
her own self-interest (i.e., altruism).
- Someone high in Honesty-Humility would not take advantage of another person, especially if that
person is disadvantaged in some way (Lee & Ashton, 2004).
- sixth factor is just a variation of Agreeableness tapping more introverted aspects of Agreeableness,
whereas the standard facets of Agreeableness (trust, straightforwardness, altruism, cooperation,
modesty, sympathy) tap the more extroverted aspects of getting along with others. They believed that
the six-factor model is redundant with the five-factor model and not an improvement on it.
- seven-factor solution
o very similar to the Big Five, with the two additional factors of Negative Valence and Positive
Valence. These additional evaluative dimensions are especially useful for understanding
pathology
THEN AND NOW: FOUR TEMPERAMENTS AND THE FIVE FACTORS
- Empedocles proposed that all of nature is made up of the four elements of air, earth, fire, and water.
Hippocrates, building on this early work, further proposed that humans contained elements of the
cosmos, therefore we have within our bodies the corresponding “humors” that affected our
temperament or personality.
- A predominance of blood and one was cheerful and happy; too much yellow bile and one was quick to
anger.
- Galen, around AD 150, who linked these temperaments to diseases and is credited with being the first
to recognize a relationship between physiology and personality (see Table 2.11).
- Because our personality is expressed in our facial expressions, body movements, and gestures, Gordon
Allport showed illustrations of these four personality types to participants and found that most
people were able to correctly guess which temperament went with each picture
- Allport noted that the four temperaments fit easily into two-factor theories of personality, whether
the two factors be speed and intensity of emotional arousal or activity level and a tendency to
approach or withdraw from situations
- Eysenck noticed that the four temperaments matched the dimensions of emotional/nonemotional and
changeable/unchangeable, two important personality factors identified by the founder of modern
experimental psychology, Wilhelm Wundt in the 19th century
o these dimensions correspond to Neuroticism and Extraversion of both Eysenck and the current
five-factor taxonomy (see Figure 2.5).
- Today, while researchers have pretty much decided that the five factors—Neuroticism, Extraversion,
Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness—are the major dimensions of human personality;
others have suggested that these five are aspects of a two-factor solution, alpha and beta
- Factor alpha consists of Emotional Stability, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness whereas
- Extraversion and Openness to Experience make up beta
- two factors represent the major tasks of personality development: socialization and actualization
(although he didn’t use these labels).
- socialization he meant developing according to “society’s blueprint” (p. 1250), including learning how
to regulate one’s own emotions and impulses, living up to expectations, and not being too defensive
when interacting with others. By actualization he meant personality growth, or going out into the
world being open to new experiences
- all humans, regardless of culture, may seek to categorize people as benign versus
- harmful (socialized) and stimulating versus boring (actualized).
- They have found evidence for this two-factor solution in Greek samples using Greek trait terms
These two aspects of personality—socialization and actualization—are common themes in many
theories of personality.
- In fact, Wiggins (1968, p. 309) called Extraversion and Anxiety the “Big Two” because they appear in
numerous observations, theories, tests, and experimental results of personality psychologists.
- The two factors alpha and beta are very similar to the dimensions of emotional/nonemotional
- and changeable/unchangeable first identified as part of the four temperaments of personality over
- two millennia ago.
Chapter SUMMARY
In this chapter we defined traits as a person’s typical style of thinking, feeling, and acting. Traits can be organized into a hierarchy, moving up from specific responses to habitual responses to traits to a psychological type. Psychologists have studied traits through the idiographic approach, describing a single individual with all of his or her idiosyncrasies, or through the nomothetic approach, describing any personality using a set number of key traits. Within the idiographic approach, individuals may have central and secondary traits or, rarely, a cardinal trait. Allport’s analysis of Jenny illustrates the idiographic approach.Within the nomothetic approach, psychologists might start with a theory to which traits are most useful for describing personality or conduct an analysis of the lexicon to see which descriptions of personality have been coded into language, by statistical and mathematical techniques, or by a combination of any of these approaches. Factor analysis, where numerous traits are reduced to a few meaningful factors, is often used to identify the underlying structure among a set of traits. Psychologists have debated the right number of factors claiming that 1 to 7 or 16 factors best account for personality. For example, Eysenck identified the three factors of Psychoticism, Extraversion, and Neuroticism. Others have claimed that a single general personality factor explains all of personality, whereas still others identify just two factors of socialization (alpha) and actualization (beta). Today there is tremendous consensus that the five factors of Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness (OCEAN) best account for human personality. Some overlap occurs between the theories of Eysenck and the five factors, which, amazingly enough, is similar to ancient conceptualizations of the four temperaments (air, earth, fire, and water).