Personality: structure, theories, measurement

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Personality structure, theories, measurement

• 9.10.2007

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How would you describe yourself?

• cool, reserved or warm, easy going
• concrete thinking or abstract thinking
• easily upset or calm, stable
• not assertive or dominant
• sober, serious or happy-go-lucky
• expedient or conscientious
• tough-minded or tender-minded
• trusting or suspicious
• practical or imaginative
• forthright or shrewd
• self-assured or apprehensive
• conservative or experimenting
• group-oriented or self-sufficient
• undisciplined or self-disciplined
• relaxed or tense, driven

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Definition of personality

• Personality consists of all the relatively STABLE
  and DISTINCTIVE styles of thought, behavior and
  emotional response that characterize a persons
  adaptations to surrounding circumstances.

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2 questions

• Why dont people react in the same way to the
  same situation?
• early life experiences
• biological makeup
• learning
• Can we predict behavior? Does it depend on
  personality traits or on situation?
• is personality assessment meaningful?

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Different personality theories

• psychoanalytic approach
• trait theories
• social cognitive approach
• humanistic approach
• evolutionary/biological approach

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Psychoanalytic approach

• Sigmund Freud
• childhood experiences
• the role of unconscious in motivating human
  actions

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Trait theories

• What are fundamental elements of personality?
• A trait any relatively enduring way in which one
  individual differs from another
• stable in time
• consistent over situations
• their combination is the cause of the individual
  differences

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Social cognitive approach

• active, conscious aspects of our personality
• different ways in which individuals interpret
  events
• personality styles are shaped by observational
  learning
• self-efficacy

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Humanistic approach

• emphasizes human potential for growth, creativity
  and spontaneity
• self-concept

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Biological approaches

• evolutionary approach
• behavioral genetic approach

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The structure of the personality
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Assessment of personality

• observation
• interview
• rating
• personality inventory
• projective techniques

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History of personality assessment

• Pseudosciences phrenology, physiognomy,
  graphology

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History of personality assessment

• Type theories
• Galen theory of body humors (sanguine,
  choleric, melancholic, phlegmatic type)
• Kretschmer, Lombroso, Sheldon body type
  theories

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Contemporary assessment of personality

• Trait theories
• Allport, Cattel
• (factor analysis)
• Hans Eysenck 3 dimensions, biological basis of
  differences
• Big Five
• no theory of development
• relies too heavily on simple mathematical
  techniques
• exaggerate the consistency of human behavior
• can lead to circular reasoning

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Contemporary assessment of personality

• Humanistic theories
• self concept scales
• MMPI (empirical basis)

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Projective Testing Techniques
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Projective techniques

• not psychometric instruments
• used in clinical settings, special training
• study of personality and adjustment
• use symbolic, pictorial, verbal and expressive
  stimuli
• uncovering of covert, latent, unconscious
  aspects of personality

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The concept of projection

• unwittingly attributing ones own drives, needs,
  perceptions, attitudes and style to others
• giving meaning to relatively ambiguous or
  unstructured stimuli by drawing upon ones own
  private desires, traits, fears, and experience

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Projective techniques disguised tests

• no awareness of psychological interpretation
• responses should be free of personal censorship
• dominant psychological characteristics are
  hidden in the responses

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Classification of projectives

• Frank, 1948
• what they require or seek to evoke from the
  subject
• constitutive
• constructive
• interpretive
• cathartic
• refractive

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Rorschachs Ink blot test
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(No Transcript)
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Criticism

• Lack of satisfactory internal consistency, or
  test-retest reliability.
• Failure to provide cogent evidence for clinical
  validity.
• Failure of the individual Rorschach scoring
  categories to relate to diagnosis.
• Lack of prognostic, or predictive validity with
  respect to the outcome of treatment, or later
  behavior.
• Individual differences between groups of normal
  subjects.
• Failure to find any significant relationships
  between Rorschach scores and intelligence, or
  creative ability.

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Draw a person test
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TAT Thematic apperception test (Murray, 1943)
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Rozenzweigs Picture-frustration Study
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Make a Picture Story
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Thank you for your attention!