Personality
What is personality? —> psychologists invented it. You try to put a label on people when you
meet them. It’s what defines an individual’s characteristic, style of behaving, thinking and
feeling
My personality:
- Stubborn
- Independent
- Insensitive
- Determined
- Reserved
- Ambitious
Myers-Briggs personality types
Four dimensions:
1. Where you focus your attention —> extraversion or introversion
2. The way you take in information —> sensing or intuition
3. How you make decisions —> thinking or feeling
4. How you deal with the world —> judging or perceiving
PERSONALITY
It’s a construct, can’t be seen directly but is inferred from patterns of cognitive, emotional and
behavioral responses to various contexts
Self-esteem —> to what extent an individual les, values and accepts the self. The higher the
self-esteem, the higher the confidence and security
Self-serving bias —>
Personality theories:
Trait theory —> personality is a relatively stable disposition to behave in a particular way
MEASURING PERSONALITY
We have personality inventory —> multiple choice or forced choice
Self-report —> a series of answers to a questionnaire that asks people to indicate the extent
to which a statement or adjective describes themselves
MMPI-2 —> clinical questionnaire
Projective test —> Rorschach Inkblot
Thematic apperception test —> responders reveal underlying motives, concerns and feelings
that apply to their personality based on some ambiguous images
The big five: OCEAN —> openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness,
neuroticism
BIOLOGY AND PERSONALITY
Hans Eysenck postulated the extraversion is most relevant to neurophysiological mechanisms,
variations in alertness (arousal).
Two brain systems —> activation and inhibition
There are genetic correlations
,Do animals have personality? —> Sam Gosling identified five different traits
Personality characteristics might differ based on cultural standards and expectations between
the genders
Psychodynamic approach —> dynamic unconscious is an active system of hidden memories,
the individual’s deepest instincts and desires and the inner struggle to control these forces
Structure of the mind:
Id —> natural impulses
Ego —> restricts us and mediates between the two
Superego —> internalization of cultural rules
Defense mechanisms:
Unconscious coping mechanisms that reduce anxiety from unacceptable impulses because Id,
Ego and Superego fight. Denial is popular, refusal to admit the reality of a situation
Psychosexual stages —> distinct early life stages through which personality is formed as
children
Humanistic-existential approach —> focus on how healthy choice create personality.
Positive, optimistic view of human nature. Self-actualizing tendency
Existential approach —> personality as ongoing choices under the reality of life and death
(Victor Frankl). Finding meaning in life and death
Social cognitive approach —> how the person thinks about the situations encountered and
behaves in response
, History Research
EMPIRICAL RESEARCH
Empirical —> we observe
In research we take a small group of subjects called representative samples. However, if we
take a student of a certain class, they cannot be considered as representatives since
everybody in the class is different.
We elaborate a theory and make an hypothesis about it, then look for subjects to test our
hypothesis.
Experiment —> involves a set of conditions in order to prove an hypothesis
Theory —> music affects arousal (this is our idea)
Hypothesis —> exposure to sound will change arousal level on a group of subjects (this is the
prediction of the outcome of the experiment)
Subjects —> 24 (participants in experiment)
Baseline —> control score that we use for comparison, related to a scale
Independent variable —> characteristic of an experiment which is investigated by the
researcher (music)
We want to determine if changes in the independent variable result in changes in the
dependent variable (test results).
Dependent variable —> change in score after applying the independent variable (music) to the
initial hypothesis (baseline)
Mean score —> average score before and after the experiment
Result —> comparison between scores
It is crucial to state that environment can affect the results and the results are not applicable to
every human being. It is only applicable to a small group of subjects (participants).
STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Research —> foundation of science and we need it in order to show evidence of your claims.
We get a more accurate idea of how things go in the world.
Statistical significance —> term used to indicate whether or not the difference between
groups in an experiment can be attributed to chance or if the result is likely due to experimental
influences.
Empirical research —> based on observation
- Control group
- Experimental group
- Placebo group
Unbiased sample representative —> random selection
Random —> there is no particular bias and everybody has the same chance to be selected for
the experiment
We all have biases. This is why the subjects in this case are randomly selected, so as not to
influence the results.
Three separate groups:
- Control group —> baseline for comparison (does not get the special treatment)
- Experimental group —> is exposed to the independent variable (gets the special treatment)
What is personality? —> psychologists invented it. You try to put a label on people when you
meet them. It’s what defines an individual’s characteristic, style of behaving, thinking and
feeling
My personality:
- Stubborn
- Independent
- Insensitive
- Determined
- Reserved
- Ambitious
Myers-Briggs personality types
Four dimensions:
1. Where you focus your attention —> extraversion or introversion
2. The way you take in information —> sensing or intuition
3. How you make decisions —> thinking or feeling
4. How you deal with the world —> judging or perceiving
PERSONALITY
It’s a construct, can’t be seen directly but is inferred from patterns of cognitive, emotional and
behavioral responses to various contexts
Self-esteem —> to what extent an individual les, values and accepts the self. The higher the
self-esteem, the higher the confidence and security
Self-serving bias —>
Personality theories:
Trait theory —> personality is a relatively stable disposition to behave in a particular way
MEASURING PERSONALITY
We have personality inventory —> multiple choice or forced choice
Self-report —> a series of answers to a questionnaire that asks people to indicate the extent
to which a statement or adjective describes themselves
MMPI-2 —> clinical questionnaire
Projective test —> Rorschach Inkblot
Thematic apperception test —> responders reveal underlying motives, concerns and feelings
that apply to their personality based on some ambiguous images
The big five: OCEAN —> openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness,
neuroticism
BIOLOGY AND PERSONALITY
Hans Eysenck postulated the extraversion is most relevant to neurophysiological mechanisms,
variations in alertness (arousal).
Two brain systems —> activation and inhibition
There are genetic correlations
,Do animals have personality? —> Sam Gosling identified five different traits
Personality characteristics might differ based on cultural standards and expectations between
the genders
Psychodynamic approach —> dynamic unconscious is an active system of hidden memories,
the individual’s deepest instincts and desires and the inner struggle to control these forces
Structure of the mind:
Id —> natural impulses
Ego —> restricts us and mediates between the two
Superego —> internalization of cultural rules
Defense mechanisms:
Unconscious coping mechanisms that reduce anxiety from unacceptable impulses because Id,
Ego and Superego fight. Denial is popular, refusal to admit the reality of a situation
Psychosexual stages —> distinct early life stages through which personality is formed as
children
Humanistic-existential approach —> focus on how healthy choice create personality.
Positive, optimistic view of human nature. Self-actualizing tendency
Existential approach —> personality as ongoing choices under the reality of life and death
(Victor Frankl). Finding meaning in life and death
Social cognitive approach —> how the person thinks about the situations encountered and
behaves in response
, History Research
EMPIRICAL RESEARCH
Empirical —> we observe
In research we take a small group of subjects called representative samples. However, if we
take a student of a certain class, they cannot be considered as representatives since
everybody in the class is different.
We elaborate a theory and make an hypothesis about it, then look for subjects to test our
hypothesis.
Experiment —> involves a set of conditions in order to prove an hypothesis
Theory —> music affects arousal (this is our idea)
Hypothesis —> exposure to sound will change arousal level on a group of subjects (this is the
prediction of the outcome of the experiment)
Subjects —> 24 (participants in experiment)
Baseline —> control score that we use for comparison, related to a scale
Independent variable —> characteristic of an experiment which is investigated by the
researcher (music)
We want to determine if changes in the independent variable result in changes in the
dependent variable (test results).
Dependent variable —> change in score after applying the independent variable (music) to the
initial hypothesis (baseline)
Mean score —> average score before and after the experiment
Result —> comparison between scores
It is crucial to state that environment can affect the results and the results are not applicable to
every human being. It is only applicable to a small group of subjects (participants).
STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Research —> foundation of science and we need it in order to show evidence of your claims.
We get a more accurate idea of how things go in the world.
Statistical significance —> term used to indicate whether or not the difference between
groups in an experiment can be attributed to chance or if the result is likely due to experimental
influences.
Empirical research —> based on observation
- Control group
- Experimental group
- Placebo group
Unbiased sample representative —> random selection
Random —> there is no particular bias and everybody has the same chance to be selected for
the experiment
We all have biases. This is why the subjects in this case are randomly selected, so as not to
influence the results.
Three separate groups:
- Control group —> baseline for comparison (does not get the special treatment)
- Experimental group —> is exposed to the independent variable (gets the special treatment)
