Psychology 305 1 Psychology 305B: Theories of Personality Lecture 20
Psychology 305 2
• Papers are due on Tuesday, April 6, 2010.
• Students are expected to submit their papers at the start of class. If you are unable to attend class on the day the paper is due, please have someone hand it in for you at the start of class. Papers left in mailboxes or submitted via e-mail will not be accepted.
• In addition to submitting a hardcopy in class, you must also submit your paper electronically to TurnItIn.
Reminders
Psychology 305 3Psychology 305 3
What is TurnItIn?
• TurnItIn is a plagiarism detection system that scans and compares your paper to online content (e.g., other students’ papers, websites such as wikipedia).
• It provides an “originality report” that documents the overlap between your paper and online content.
• It indicates the source of plagiarized content (note that overlap is acceptable if it is properly cited—see APA guidelines).
Psychology 305 4Psychology 305 4
• Go to www.turnitin.com
• To create your own account, click on “New User” in the upper right hand corner of the screen.
• You will need the following information to create your account or add this course to your existing account:
Class ID: 3206801Password: personality
TurnItIn Instructions
Psychology 305 5Psychology 305 5
• Step-by-step instructions are available in the “Student Quickstart Guide” at http://www.turnitin.com/static/
support/guides_manuals.html
• You must submit your paper to TurnItIn by the due date of the paper. You will receive 0 on your paper if you
do not submit it to TurnItIn by midnight on April 6, 2010.
• Please contact Lauren if you have any questions or difficulties submitting your paper to TurnItIn.
Additional Notes on TurnItIn
Psychology 305 6
Lecture 20
Questions That Will Be Answered In Today’s Lecture
Sex Differences in Personality, continued
5. What theories have been proposed to explain sex differences in personality?
Psychology 305 7
Cultural Differences in Personality
1. What are the major value dimensions on which cultures vary?
2. Does cultural variation on the dimension of individualism-collectivism influence the way in which the self is conceptualized?
3. Do trait theories adequately describe personality in non-Western cultures?
Psychology 305 8
What theories have been proposed to explain sex
differences in personality?
1. Social Theories
(a) Socialization Theory
Most widely held theory of sex differences in personality.
Assumes that the characteristics of boys and girls diverge because their caregivers and friends
reinforce them for adopting sex-appropriate characteristics.
Psychology 305 9
(b) Social Learning Theory
Based on Bandura’s work.
Assumes that the characteristics of boys and girls diverge because they learn “how to behave” from different models within their environment.
Maintains that, even in the absence of direct reinforcement, children learn from same-sex
models the classes of characteristics that are appropriate for their sex.
Psychology 305 10
(c) Social Role Theory
Assumes that the characteristics of boys and girls diverge because they learn that different sets of
characteristics are required for the social roles (e.g., familial roles, occupational roles) that they will ultimately assume in society.
Psychology 305 11
2. Hormonal Theories
• Studies suggest that some sex differences in personality emerge as a result of hormones encountered in utero:
• Assume that personality differences between males and females are the result of sex differences
in hormonal levels.
Psychology 305 12
For example, female fetuses with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) are exposed to excessive levels of testosterone due to hyperactivity of the adrenal gland. Research has shown that, as young girls, these females demonstrate a marked preference for “male” toys and, as adults, exhibit a strong preference for “masculine” occupations.
Psychology 305 13
• Other studies suggest that some sex differences in personality are due to circulating levels of
hormones.
For example, research has shown that, among females, higher levels of testosterone circulating within the bloodstream are associated with higher levels of aggressiveness and dominance.
Psychology 305 14
3. Evolutionary Theories
• Assume that sex differences in personality are due to the different reproductive problems faced by
males and females over the course of human evolutionary history.
Psychology 305 15
• Given the limited reproductive capacity of females and the great parental investment that is required of females, a preference would have evolved among females for males who possessed characteristics
that enabled the acquisition of resources (e.g., dominant).
These males would have been preferentially selected for mating. As a result, the frequency of their characteristics would have increased within the population until they came to characterize most males.
Psychology 305 16
• In contrast, given the unlimited reproductive capacity of males and the small parental investment that is required of males, a preference would have evolved among males for females who possessed
characteristics that were indicative of an ability to nurture offspring (e.g., empathetic).
These females would have been preferentially selected for mating. As a result, the frequency of their characteristics would have increased within the population until they came to characterize most females.
Psychology 305 17
• Values: (a) are concepts or beliefs, (b) pertain to desirable end states or behaviors, (c) transcend
specific situations, (d) guide selection or evaluation of behavior and events, and (e) are ordered by relative importance” (Schwartz and Bilsky, 1987).
What are the major value dimensions on which
cultures vary?
• Culture: “information capable of affecting individuals’ behaviour that they acquire from other members of their species through teaching, imitation, and other forms of social transmission” (Richerson and Boyd, 2005).
Psychology 305 18
Identified 4 value dimensions on which these cultural groups varied: Power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, and individualism.
Examined values among IBM employees in 40 countries (e.g., Canada, China, Columbia, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, New Zealand, Poland, Uruguay, U.S., West Africa).
• A number of studies have examined the major value dimensions on which cultures vary. Among the most influential of these is Hofstede’s (1980) study:
19
Value DimensionHighest Scoring
CountriesLowest Scoring
Countries
Power distancePhilippines, Mexico,
VenezuelaDenmark, Israel,
Austria
Uncertainty avoidanceGreece, Portugal,
BelgiumSweden, Denmark,
Singapore
MasculinityJapan, Austria,
VenezuelaNetherlands, Norway,
Sweden
IndividualismU.S., Australia,
Great BritainPakistan, Columbia,
Venezuela
Countries High and Low on Hofstede’s (1980) Value Dimensions
20
Value Dimension Maximum Score Average Score Canada’s Score
Power distance 104 55 39
Uncertainty avoidance
112 64 48
Masculinity 95 50 52
Individualism 91 43 80
Canada’s Scores on Hofstede’s (1980) Value Dimensions
Psychology 305 21
• Of the various value dimensions on which cultures have been found to vary, the dimension that has been most studied is the dimension of individualism, or individualism-collectivism (IC).
• In recent years, there has been a proliferation of research on the impact of IC on a variety of psychological constructs, most notably the self-concept.
Psychology 305 22
• Self-concept: a cognitive schema (i.e., organized knowledge structure) that contains beliefs about the self and controls the processing of self-relevant
information.
• Theorists have come to believe that cultural variation on IC has a profound influence on the self-concept.
Does cultural variation on the dimension of IC
influence the way in which the self is conceptualized?
Psychology 305 23
• Specifically, theorists have come to believe that the emphasis on independence and personal goals in individualistic cultures leads people to develop an “independent self-construal.”
• In contrast, the emphasis on interdependence and collective goals in collectivistic cultures leads
people to develop an “interdependent self- construal.”
24
X XX X SELFX X X X X
FATHER
FRIEND
FRIEND
CO-WORKER
SIBLING
MOTHER
STRANGER
STRANGERX X X X
X X X
X X
X
X X X X
X
X
Out-Group
In-Group
The Independent Self-Construal
25
X X SELF X X
FATHER
FRIEND
FRIEND
CO-WORKER
SIBLING
MOTHER
STRANGER
STRANGERX X X
X X
X
X
X X
X X
X
XX
X
X
X
Out-Group
In-Group
The Interdependent Self-Construal
26
Independent Self-Construal
Interdependent Self-Construal
Definition of self
Free from social context. Tied to social context.
Structure of self
Stable, bounded, unitary. Variable, flexible, fluid.
Primary tasksUniqueness, self-expression,
realization of internal attributes, promotion of personal goals.
Fitting in, self-restraint, assuming one’s “proper” place,
promotion of others’ goals.
Role of othersSelf-evaluation (i.e., social
comparison).Self-definition.
Basis of self-esteem
Ability to express oneself and one’s internal attributes.
Ability to restrain oneself and maintain harmony with others.
Independent Versus Interdependent Self-Construals (Markus & Kitayama, 1991)
Psychology 305 27
• The distinctions between the self-construals promoted in individualistic cultures and collectivistic cultures are reflected in the following proverbs from North America and Japan, respectively:
Japanese proverb: “The nail that stands out gets pounded down.”
North American proverb: “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.”
Psychology 305 28
• A number of studies have provided support for the theory that individualistic cultures and collectivistic cultures promote distinct self-construals.
• Among these studies are those that have compared: (a) the self-descriptions of people from different
cultures and (b) the degree of self-consistency among people from different cultures.
Psychology 305 29
• These differences are exemplified in the following passages (Markus & Kitayama, 1998):
(a) Self-descriptions:
• Research has shown that individualists tend use abstract, global, and stable attributes (e.g., traits) to describe themselves, whereas collectivists tend to use social categories or affiliations (e.g., social roles) to describe themselves.
Psychology 305 30
Response of a student from the U.S.:
I like to live life with a lot of positive energy. I feel like there is so much to do and see and experience. However, I also know the value of relaxation. I love the obscure. I play ultimate Frisbee, juggle, unicycle, and dabble on the recorder. I have a taste for the unique. I am very friendly and in most situations very self-confident. I’m almost always happy and when I am down, it is usually because of stress.
Instructions: Describe yourself briefly.
Psychology 305 31
Response of a student from Japan:
I cannot decide quickly what I should do, and am often swayed by other people’s opinions, and I cannot oppose the opinions of people who are supposed to be respected because of age or status. Even if I have displeasure, I compromise myself to the people around me without getting rid of the displeasure. When I cannot make a decision I often do it according to other people’s opinions. Also, I am concerned about how other people think about me and often decide on that consideration. I try to have a harmless life. I calm down be being the same as others.
Psychology 305 32
• Studies that have compared the self-descriptions of people from different cultures have primarily
employed the Twenty Statements Test (TST; Kuhn & McPartland, 1954).
• The TST is an unstructured measure that requires participants to write 20 statements in response to the question “Who am I?”
Psychology 305 33
Administered the TST to Americans and Indians:
(a) 65% of the statements generated by Americans referred to attributes, whereas 34% of the
statements generated by Indians referred to attributes.
(b) 26% of the statements generated by Americans referred to social categories, whereas 42% of the statements generated by Indians referred to social categories.
Dhawan et al. (1995)
Psychology 305 34
(a) 58% of the statements generated by Americans referred to attributes, whereas 18% of the statements generated by Japanese referred to attributes.
(b) 9% of the statements generated by Americans referred to social categories, whereas 27% of the statements generated by Japanese referred to social categories.
Cousins, 1989
Administered the TST to Americans and Japanese:
Psychology 305 35
• Research has shown that the self-beliefs of individualists tend to be more consistent across social contexts than the self-beliefs of collectivists.
• Moreover, research has shown that there is a greater correlation between consistency of self-beliefs and psychological adjustment among individualists than collectivists.
(b) Self-consistency:
Psychology 305 36
Campbell et al. (1996)
Recruited participants from Canada and Japan.
In each study, had participants complete measures of “self-concept clarity” (SCC) and self-esteem (SE). SCC refers to the “extent to which self-beliefs are clearly and confidently defined, internally consistent, and [temporally] stable.”
Conducted 3 studies.
37
1. My beliefs about myself often conflict with one another. *2. On one day I might have one opinion of myself and on another day I
might have a different opinion. *3. I spend a lot of time wondering about what kind of person I really am. * 4. Sometimes I feel that I am not really the person that I appear to be. *5. When I think about the kind of person I have been in the past, I’m not
sure what I was really like. *6. I seldom experience conflict between the different aspects of my
personality. 7. Sometimes I think I know other people better than I know myself. *8. My beliefs about myself seem to change very frequently. *9. If I were asked to describe my personality, my description might end
up being different from one day to another day. *10. Even if I wanted to, I don’t think I could tell someone what I’m really like.
*11. In general, I have a clear sense of who I am and what I am. 12. It is often hard for me to make up my mind about things because I
don’t really know what I want. *
Campbell et al’s SCC Scale
* Reverse-scored item.
Psychology 305 38
Across the 3 studies, found that:
(a) the SCC scores obtained by the Canadians were higher than the SCC scores obtained by the Japanese.
(b) the correlations between SCC and SE were higher among the Canadians than the Japanese.
39
StudyMean SCC Score
Canadian ParticipantsMean SCC Score
Japanese Participantsp
1 41.72 34.41 <.01
2 39.30 35.01 <.01
3 38.02 34.35 <.01
SCC Scores for Canadian and Japanese Participants (Campbell et al. 1996)
40
StudyCorrelation Between
SCC and SE Canadian Participants
Correlation Between SCC and SE
Japanese Participantsp
1 .69 .37 <.001
2 .63 .46 <.07
3 .59 .08 <.001
Correlations Between SCC and Self-Esteem for Canadian and Japanese Participants
(Campbell et al., 1996)
Psychology 305 41
Do trait theories adequately describe personality in
non-Western cultures?
• In light of research suggesting that the self-beliefs of people from collectivistic cultures are relatively variable across social contexts, some theorists (e.g., Shweder, 1991) have argued that the study of personality in collectivistic cultures is misguided.
Psychology 305 42
• Consistent with this view, Hsu (1985) stated “… the concept of personality is an expression of the Western ideal of individualism.”
• Similarly, Cross and Markus (1999) claimed that personality psychology is “an ‘indigenous psychology’
of Western Europeans and North Americans rather than a universal psychology of human behavior.”
Psychology 305 43
• Indeed, Hirschfeld (1995) has noted that “in many … cultures there is a marked absence of discourse that explains human behavior in terms of transsituationally stable motivational … properties captured by
explanations of trait and disposition.”
Psychology 305 44
• In contrast, other theorists have argued that the concept of personality is universally relevant. In support of their argument, they note that all cultural groups possess terms to describe individuals’ enduring characteristics:
Pakikiramdam (Filipino; sensitive, empathetic)
Ren qin (Chinese; relationship-oriented)
Simpatico (Mexican; avoiding of conflict)
Mitratapurne (Hindi; friendly)
Psychology 305 45
• In particular, researchers have examined two trait theories across cultures: Eysenck’s Theory of
Personality and the Five Factor Model of Personality.
• Although a number of theories of personality have been proposed, researchers who have studied
personality across cultures have largely focused on trait theories.
Psychology 305 46
(a) Eysenck’s Theory of Personality
Eysenck’s (1967, 1970) theory of personality was developed on the basis of research conducted in Great Britain. Moreover, Eysenck developed his measure of personality—the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ)—in Great Britain.
Psychology 305 47
For example, Barrett et al. (1998) administered Eysenck’s measure to participants in 34 countries (e.g., Australia, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, Israel, Japan,
Singapore, Sri Lanka, Uganda, U.S.). Consistent with Eysenck’s theory, they found that each of the 3 dimensions could be reproduced in all of the
countries surveyed.
A number of studies have used the EPQ to test Eysenck’s theory in countries outside of Great Britain.
Psychology 305 48
Similarly, Lynn and Martin (1997) administered a modified version of Eysenck’s measure to
participants in 37 countries (e.g., Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Egypt, Finland, Iran, Japan, Nigeria, Russia, Uganda, Yugoslavia) and found that each of the 3 dimensions could be reproduced in all of the countries surveyed.
49
Personality Dimension
Highest Scoring Countries
Lowest Scoring Countries
PsychoticismCzechoslovakia, India,
YugoslaviaSpain, Portugal,
Norway
ExtraversionIsrael, United States,
Puerto RicoRussia, Iran,
China
Emotional InstabilityGreece, Russia,
EgyptNorway, Nigeria,
Israel
Countries High and Low on Psychoticism, Extraversion, and Emotional Instability (Lynn & Martin, 1997)
50
Personality Dimension
Maximum Possible
Score
Average Score for
Males
Average Score for Females
Canada’s Score for
Males
Canada’s Score for Females
Psychoticism 30 5.3 4.1 4.7 3.8
Extraversion 30 18.9 18.1 18.3 17.8
Emotional Instability
30 13.0 15.7 11.5 14.0
Canada’s Scores on Psychoticism, Extraversion,and Emotional Instability (Lynn & Martin, 1997)
Psychology 305 51
Consistent with the results obtained for Canada, Lynn and Martin (1997) found that:
(a) in 36 of the 37 countries surveyed, men obtained higher means than women on psychoticism.
(c) in all of the countries surveyed, men obtained lower means than women on emotional instability.
(b) in 30 of the 37 countries surveyed, men obtained higher means than women on extraversion.
Psychology 305 52
van Hemert et al. (2002), however, administered Eysenck’s measure to participants in 24 countries (e.g., Bangladesh, Chile, China, Germany, Iran,
Ireland, Nigeria, Russia) and found that only 2 of the dimensions—extraversion and emotional instability—could be reproduced in all of the countries surveyed.
Thus, at this point, only 2 of Eysenck’s dimensions may be of universal importance in describing
personality—extraversion and emotional instability.
Psychology 305 53
(b) The Five Factor Model of Personality
The five factor model emerged from several independent lines of research conducted in North America. Moreover, the most commonly used measure of the “Big 5”—the NEO-PI-R (Costa & McCrae, 1992)—was developed in the United States.
Psychology 305 54
A number of studies have used the NEO-PI-R to test the Five Factor Model in other countries.
For example, McCrae et al. (2005) administered the NEO-PI-R to participants in 51 countries (e.g.,
Belgium, Canada, China, Croatia, Iceland, Indonesia, Kuwait, Nigeria, Russia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey). Consistent with the FFM, they found that each of the 5 dimensions could be reproduced in all of the countries surveyed.
Psychology 305 55
On the basis of their findings, McCrae et al. (2005) developed the following diagram to depict the
“personality profiles” of different nations.
Psychology 305 57
Note that the largest difference that McCrae et al. (2005) found was in E:
E.g., Mean scores on E:
Americans: 52.3Belgians: 52.2Canadians: 52.5English: 53.7French Swiss: 51.0Irish: 55.6Portuguese: 51.3
Chinese: 46.6Ethiopians: 47.0Filipinos: 48.9Indians: 48.5Moroccans: 44.8Nigerians: 44.4Ugandans: 46.5
Psychology 305 58
Questions That Were Answered In Today’s Lecture
Sex Differences in Personality, continued
5. What theories have been proposed to explain sex differences in personality?
Psychology 305 59
Cultural Differences in Personality
1. What are the major value dimensions on which cultures vary?
2. Does cultural variation on the dimension of individualism-collectivism influence the way in which the self is conceptualized?
3. Do trait theories adequately describe personality in non-Western cultures?