The Biological Perspective
Genetics & Personality:
Identical twins are more similar to each other than fraternal twins on many psychological characteristics
Identical twins reared together vs. apart
- Variation attributable to genetic factors
- Variation due to shared family environment
- Variation attributable to other factors (unique experiences)
Tellegen et al. (1988) study results
Most of the variance is explained by genetics and individuals unique environmental experiences
40-50% variation due to genetics
40-50% variation due to unique environmental experiences.
Shared home environment accounts for very little
- Finance, emotional, technology : accounts for 0-20%
Personality & the Nervous System
- Eysenck’s model (trait theorist)
* Research on temperament
Eysenck’s Extraversion-Stability Model:
Extraversion/ introversion & stability/instability
– brains work slightly different
Differences in customary levels of arousal- how much activity there is so Basic level of arousal – normal
introverts …
are over aroused too much activity, too much going on. So try to avoid too much activity and stimulation, try not to take too many risks.
extraverts…
are under aroused – take more risks try and stimulate more, socialise more, keep busy.
Suddenness of shifts in arousal
Unstable (neurotic) people show large and sudden shifts in arousal – prone to mental illness(depression). Difficulty being consistent in behaviour. Extreme example – bipolar.
Stable people do not have sudden shifts – much more consistent and in control
Temperament
individual differences in emotional and behavioural styles
Appear so early in life that they are assumed to have a biological basis
measures of temperament
Emotionality, activity level, sociability, impulsivity
evaluation of the model
The most cutting-edge approach, the one furthered most by technological advances, & the one that is most strongly supported by scientific research evidence. As technology improves our understanding of the role of biology is increased. Increasingly getting more and more insight on biological aspects of personality HOWEVER more research needed.
Social-Cognitive Perspective
Behaviourism emphasises environmental causes; views humans as reactors to external events
Behaviourists didn’t think there was such a thing as personality, its amount environments and that’s it.
Social cognitive theories…
combine the behavioural & cognitive perspectives into an approach that stresses the interaction of a thinking human with a social environment that provides learning experiences.
Reciprocal Determinism
the person, the person’s behaviour, & the environment all influence one another in a pattern of two-way causal links – interaction between people and environment.
Rotter
engaging in a particular behaviour in a given situation is influenced by 2 factors:
- Expectancy: our perception of how likely it is that certain consequences will occur- how likely we think we are going to make a difference. Eg voting in an election thing that determines if you’re going to make a difference.
- Reinforcement Value: how much we desire or dread the outcome that we expect the behaviour to produce – eg if you don’t care about the election less likely to vote. But if you think its really important you’re more likely to vote
Locus of control
an expectancy concerning the degree of personal control we have in our lives
- Internal: life outcomes are under personal control – if you believe you are responsible for your own fate you will do it and are internally locused.
- External: outcomes have less to do with one’s own efforts than with the influence of external factors. – eg luck or superstitious. Or e.g grades are down to lecturer or governments fault, things will always be the way they are
the I-E scale
which assesses a person’s LOC.
- It consists of 29 pairs of statements.
- Lower scores are indicative of greater internal LOC.
People with an internal locus of control
• more self determined fashion – more likely to get involved in important things-
-Research on African americans, people that got involved in social racial problems,
• Achieve better grades
Compares people with same academic ability, people who are internally locused do better. Because they see the merits of hard work. More likely to find out what they need to do to do well.
- Are more resistant to social influence-
- Experience less depression and anxiety
- Cope with stress in a more active and problem- focussed manner.
Self-Efficacy (Bandura
a person’s beliefs concerning their ability to perform the behaviours needed to achieve desired outcomes.
Four determinants:
- Previous performance expectancies in similar situations
- Observational learning:
- Verbal persuasion (whether or not people believe in us)
. - Emotional arousal that is interpreted as anxiety or fatigue can decrease self-efficacy
assessment of personality
interviews
Structured Interviews: contain a set of specific questions that are administered to every participant
Also look at general appearance, voice & speech patterns, facial expressions & posture, etc.
Behavioural Assessment
Psychologists devise an explicit coding system that contains the behavioral categories of interest
• Observers are then trained until they show high inter-judge reliability
• Requires precision in defining behaviours & the conditions under which they occur
Remote Behaviour Sampling
Researchers & clinicians can collect self-reported samples of behaviour from respondents as they live their daily lives
A device pages respondents at randomly determined times during the day
Respondents then rate or record the selected behaviour
Personality Scales
Objective measures: include standard sets of questions that are scored using an agreed-on scoring key
Projective Tests
Present ambiguous stimuli and ask the person for their interpretation
Since the meaning of the stimulus is unclear, the person’s interpretation must come from within
Projects inner needs, feelings and ways of viewing the world onto the stimulus
