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Trait theories of personality
- Formal theories that aim to identify common traits that can be used to describe personality in a population
- Personality is organised into hierarchies of higher-order traits that are made up of surface traits
- Traits describe characteristics that are relatively stable in people across time and circumstance
- Examples: Cattell’s 16PF, Costa and McCrae’s NEO-PI and Goldberg’s Big 5
- Importance
- Maps personality for populations which can predict behaviours in individuals
- Psychometric tests arising from trait theories are used for job selection etc
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Psychometrics
- Measurements of behavioural and psychological characteristics of an individual using standard tests
- First investigated by Galton (1884
- Enable large datasets to be built, typically using questionnaires
- Hans Jurgen Eysenck (1967) Eysenck Personality Questionnaire
- Psychometric tests are expensive to construct, and access to them is carefully controlled by their owners.
- Importance
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Psychometric tests add to scientific and empirical assets of psychology - Tests are very influential
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Heritability
- Extent to which genetics are responsible for variability of a characteristic in a particular population
- Statistical concept so does not apply to individuals· Remainder of effect attributed to environment, e.g. 0.3 heritability implies 0.7 environment
- Studies carried out in behaviour genetics with most research studying twins, since we know the proportion of genes they have in common
- Assumption that shared environments are always the same is flawed
- Importance
- Show a high biological/genetic influence on temperament and personality
- Measures the relative combination of genetics and environment
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Extraversion
- An outgoing, sociable personality type. Often incorporates risk-taking, active, sensation-seeking behaviour
- The tendency to direct ones energy outwards and to be concerned with or derive pleasure from the physical and social environment
- Outgoing, sociable personality type
- Often risk-taking, active, sensation-seeking
- Tendency to direct ones energy outwards
- Eysenck’s type theory of personality suggests that personality can be expressed on two dimensions, one of which is extroversion-introversion
- Importance
- Important characteristic as shown by appearance in many personality theories
- Universality may suggest that there is a biological basis for extraversion.
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Implicit personality theories
- Informal theories that we have about what kinds of personality exist
- Lexical hypothesis states everyday language contains the words that we find most meaningful to describe characteristics
- The surface factors influence behaviour and beliefs
- Importance
- Used in everyday life to describe ourselves and others
- Used to understand what people do, and to predict what they might do, aiding smooth social interaction
- Implicit trait theories form a foundation for formal personality trait theories
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