Studying Personality

ATP, PAID 1, Studying PersonalityTom FarsidesStudying PersonalityATP, PAID 1, Studying PersonalityTom FarsidesLecture contents•Methods used to study personality•Characteristics of each•Relative strengths and weaknesses•Examples and demonstrations of eachATP, PAID 1, Studying PersonalityTom FarsidesConcerns of personality researchers•Human nature•Individual differences•The organisationof „bits‟ of people (e.g., goals, moods, actions, thoughts) “that gives direction and pattern (coherence) to” those people‟s (common and unique) existences (Pervin, 2002, p. 447)•Psychology (I.e., anything to do with individuals‟ psyches)ATP, PAID 1, Studying PersonalityTom Farsides3 approaches to studying personality•Clinical•Correlational•ExperimentalATP, PAID 1, Studying PersonalityTom FarsidesWhat’s the story?ATP, PAID 1, Studying PersonalityTom FarsidesThe clinical approach•Essential feature: IdeographicUnderstanding individuals uniquely and holistically.•Key question: “What is thisperson like?”Individual differences: “To what extentare other people like this?”Human nature: “Does this person have anycharacteristics in common with all humans?”ATP, PAID 1, Studying PersonalityTom FarsidesThe clinical approach•Common characteristicsSecondary to a non-research purpose (e.g., therapy, selection)Conducted by researchers aligned with therapeutic schoolsSmall sampleSocially interactiveOpen-ended (verbal) dataMultivariateNegotiated focusNon-consensual conventions of analysisATP, PAID 1, Studying PersonalityTom FarsidesThe clinical approach+ Breadth and depth of data+ Naturalistic+ Structure and process+ Discovery+ Justice to concept of “person”-Idiosyncratic situation and social effects-Researcher errors and biases-Evaluation by othersATP, PAID 1, Studying PersonalityTom FarsidesThe correlational approachATP, PAID 1, Studying PersonalityTom FarsidesThe correlational approach•Essential feature: Attribute covariance(i) Finding within-sample patternsof similarities and differences among lots of personality variables, and then (ii) seeing how reliably these patterns are obtained acrosssamples, and (iii) seeing how individuals vary withinsamples in the extent to which they manifest each pattern•Key question: “On what personality dimensions may all individuals be compared?”Individual differences: “Does this individual have more or less of this personality attribute than other people?”Human nature: “Have we parsimoniouslyidentified each set of attributes that allpeople have?”ATP, PAID 1, Studying PersonalityTom FarsidesThe correlational approach•Common characteristicsNormativeLarge samplesQuestionnaire measuresSelf-completionFixed-response alternativesHighly intelligent and educated participantsFactor analytic methodsEstablished items from previous researchReliability focusATP, PAID 1, Studying PersonalityTom FarsidesFactor Analysis•Principle statistical method of „correlation approach.‟•It clusters lower-level items according to „redundancy‟.•Two crucial skills:Factor labelingInput variable selectionATP, PAID 1, Studying PersonalityTom FarsidesSteps in developing a correlational personality measure1.Develop a pool of face-valid items2.Factor analyse3.Pick or develop questions that have high and unique loadings on the factor of interest4.Establish scale reliability 5.Establish scale validity6.Establish scale utilityATP, PAID 1, Studying PersonalityTom FarsidesSWLS: How are you doing?A. ___ In most ways my life is close to my ideal. B. ___ The conditions of my life are excellent.C. ___ I am satisfied with my life.D. ___ So far I have gotten the important things I want in life.E. ___ If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing.**********************************************1 -Strongly disgree2 -Disgree3 -Slightly disagree 4 -Neither agree nor disgree 5 -Slightly agree6 -Agree7 -Strongly agreeATP, PAID 1, Studying PersonalityTom FarsidesThe correlational approach+ Large samples+ Considerable replication+ Semi-complex-Largely self-report-Descriptive-Procrustean-Risk of trivialityATP, PAID 1, Studying PersonalityTom FarsidesThe experimental approachATP, PAID 1, Studying PersonalityTom FarsidesThe experimental approachEssential feature: Identifying causesExperimental demonstration of a causal relationship between a personality variable and another variable.Key questions: “What causes personality and what does personality cause?”Individual differences: “Can stable dispositional differences be predicted/controlled?” Human nature: “Are any aspects of personality unresponsive to situational changes?”ATP, PAID 1, Studying PersonalityTom FarsidesThe experimental approach•Common characteristicsNormativeLarge samplesObjective measuresFew variablesATP, PAID 1, Studying PersonalityTom FarsidesNon-emotional writing is bad for you?00.050.10.150.20.250.3Pre-testPost-testTraumaBPSBothControlATP, PAID 1, Studying PersonalityTom FarsidesThe experimental approach+ Causal identification+ Low interpretation-Restricted to observable phenomena-Artificiality-Focus on testing rather than discovering or importance-Relevance to “personality”-Risk of trivialityATP, PAID 1, Studying PersonalityTom Farsides