I. Personality: refers to a person's characteristic patterns of behaving, thinking, and feeling (e.g., honesty would be a personality trait)
II. this concept has been debated
1. Personality researchers disagree regarding whether personality
actually exists in
people
A. Walter Mischel has suggested that how we behave,
think, and feel depends
primarily on the situation
we are in, not on internal characteristics.
III. Other researchers have argued about how many personality traits there are
1. Gordon Allport felt that there were over 4500 personality
traits and he
distinguished 3 levels of traits
A. cardinal traits: a dominant trait that characterizes
nearly all of a person's
behavior. One
example may be Mother Theresa's altruism. Allport felt that
very few people have
these (they are rare)
B. central traits: these are prominent dispositions
that exist in anyone. These are
very influential but
they do not dominate behavior as cardinal traits do. Allport
felt that most people
have 5-10 of these.
C. secondary traits: these are dispositions that
surface in some situations but not
others. e.g.,
a person may be hostile only when dealing with subordinates
(Dorthy from CWRU) but pleasant
otherwise.
IV. How do psychologists think that personality develops
1. PSYCHODYNAMIC -- SIGMUND FREUD
A. STRUCTURES OF PERSONALITY"
a. ID: AT BIRTH, THE INFANT IS DOMINATED
BY INSTINCTUAL
(BIOLOGICAL) IMPULSES.
b. EGO. THE EGO CONSISTS OF RATIONAL
THOUGHTS,
PERCEPTIONS,
AND PLANS TO HELP COPE WITH REALITY.
c. SUPEREGO: THE FINAL MENTAL SYSTEM
TO DEVELOP IS THE
SUPEREGO,
WHICH CONSISTS OF MORAL RULES TO GUIDE THE
CHILD'S
ACTIONS
B. LEVELS OF AWARENESS:
a. CONSCIOUS: THIS CONSISTS OF WHATEVER
ONE IS AWARE OF AT A PARTICULAR POINT IN TIME
b. PRECONSCIOUS: MATERIAL BENEATH AWARENESS
THAT CAN BE BROUGHT INTO
CONSCIOUSNESS
(A DISCUSSION WITH A FRIEND YESTERDAY).
c. UNCONSCIOUS: CONTAINS THOUGHTS, MEMORIES,
AND DESIRES THAT ARE WELL BELOW THE
LEVEL OF CONSCIOUS
AWARENESS. HOWEVER, THESE EXERT A GREAT DEAL OF
INFLUENCE OVER
OUR BEHAVIOR
C. DEFENSE MECHANISM:
a. FREUD FELT THAT THERE ARE CONSTANTLY
INTERNAL BATTLES
BETWEEN THE
ID , EGO, AND SUPEREGO.
b. considered self-deception
2. BEHAVIORAL SOCIAL LEARNING PERSPECTIVE
A. EMPHASIZES THE IMPORTANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES.
B. PERSONALITY IS SHAPED THRU
a. LEARNING BY ASSOCIATION (CLASSICAL
CONDITIONING)
b. REINFORCEMENT BOTH NEGATIVE &
POSITIVE (OPERANT
CONDITIONING)
c. PUNISHMENT
d. SHAPING
e. EXTINCTION
f. IMITATION OR MODELING
3. THE HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE
A. HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGISTS BELIEVE THAT HUMANS
NATURALLY STRIVE TOWARD
SELF-ACTUALIZATION
(PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH)
AND TO REACH THEIR FULL
POTENTIAL
B. CARL ROGERS FELT THAT HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT REQUIRES
UNCONDITIONAL POSITIVE
REGARD
C. MASLOW: SUGGESTED THAT WE HAVE A HIERARCHY OF
NEEDS.
THE NEEDS AT THE LOWEST
LEVEL MUST BE SATISFIED BEFORE
WE CAN MOVE UP.
4. Genetics and Personality:
A. It is generally accepted that genes influence
personality e.g., identical twins are
more similar than
fraternal twins even if the identical twins are reared apart.
B. Several decades ago, Sheldon suggested that certain
body types were
genetically linked
to personality.
a. endomorphy (fat, round, and soft
bodies) was associated with
being sociable,
relaxed and affectionate.
b. ectomorphy (thin and frail bodies)
was associated with anxiety,
being inhibited,
and intelligence
c. mesomorphy (hard, strong, muscular
bodies) was associated
with being energetic,
aggressive, and competitive.
V. HOW DO PSYCHOLOGISTS ASSESS AN INDIVIDUALS
PERSONALITY:
1. OBJECTIVE PERSONALITY TESTS (SELF REPORTS): THESE ARE
PAPER AND PENCIL TESTS THAT CONTAIN
QUESTIONS (eg., do you
wet the bed) OR STATEMENTS: (e.g., my
feelings are not easily hurt).
A. The most well known objective test is the Minnesota
Multiphasic Personality
Inventory (MMPI).
2. Projective Personality Tests: These involve the presentation
of ambiguous stimuli
to an individual: these stimuli can
be interpreted in a number of ways.
A. Thematic Apperception Test (TAT):
B. Rorschach Test (Inkblot):
C. Problems with projective tests
VI. Do scores on personality tests distinguish athletes from non-athletes
or predict
athletic skill or performance?
1. athletes do differ from non-athletes (e.g., athletes are
usually more confident)
2. does sports involvement cause our personalities to develop
in this way or do
people with these traits gravitate toward
athletics?
3. one problem with this research involves the definition of athlete
4. Do people who participate in team sports tend to differ from
those who are
active in individual sports?
5. some personality test differences between people playing different
positions on a team (linemen & quarterback)
6. Can you distinguish skill level with personality tests?
VII. the interactional model: introduced by Bowers (1973)
1. traits vs states
A. personality trait: a permanent tendency toward
thinking & behaving in a
certain way (e.g.,
being aggressive)
B. psychological state: situational specific and transitory thoughts and behavior
2. personality traits by themselves do not predict performance well
3. psychological states (mood states) assessed before competition
do not predict
performance well (weak prediction)
4. however, situational factors (states), personality (traits),
and the interaction
between these 2 are better predictors
of athletic ability.