Personality and intelligence

29

Personality
Route map of the chapter
This chapter discusses the psychological factors that contribute to our personalities. We will
consider several important questions about the nature and development of your personality
characteristics in relation to the main theoretical paradigms in this field. Consideration will be
given to environmental, cognitive and biological factors that contribute to the shaping of our
personalities. We will also investigate personality in terms of gender difference, stability over the
lifespan and the influence of motivational forces on it.

Definitions of personality characteristics creates a unique psychological

These questions are those that psychologists have been signature).
looking for answers to in trying to understand what 4 Personality can be functional or dysfunctional – that is,
personality is. our characteristics can help us succeed and prosper in
Scientists have only explored the notion of personality some situations but they can also disadvantage us or
systematically since the 1930s. This represents a relatively make us vulnerable in others.
short period of time in terms of scientific study. As such,
psychologists are still finding their way in this area. So to Broadly speaking, much of the work by therapists and
some extent we are still struggling to identify the questions academics within the field of personality seeks to
and issues that need to be addressed if we are to fully understand what factors make us consistent in ourselves
understand what personality is. We have, however, made but at the same time different or individual from other
some inroads in our understanding. people (see Focus point 29.1).
Psychologists, generally speaking, view personality as the
unique combination of psychological and behavioural FOCUS POINT 29.1
characteristics by which each individual can be compared
and contrasted with everyone else. This is neatly
summarised by Mischel (1986) when he defines personality Defining personality
as ‘the distinctive patterns of behaviour (including thoughts Child (1968: 83) described personality as the ‘more or
and emotions) that characterise each individual’s adaptation less stable, internal factors that make one person’s
to the situations of his or her life’ (p. 4). behaviour consistent from one time to another, and
Copyright © 2008. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.

different from the behaviour other people would

Attributes of personality manifest in similar situations’.
Personality as a construct, therefore, has a number of
attributes (Peterson, 1992). In essence, these are:
FOCUS POINT 29.2
1 Personality is an integrated part of an individual – it is
something a person is, does or has. People bring their
personalities to situations and take them away with What makes us similar to/different from
them when they leave. others?
2 Personality is psychological – it refers to the individual As Kluckhorn and Murray (1953) stated, ‘every person
(actions, thoughts, feelings) and not to material things is in certain respects like all other people, like some
such as possessions or status. other people and like no other person’. Some of these
3 Personality is made up of smaller units called factors are illustrated in Figure 29.1.
characteristics (the combination of these individual

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 Personality

research offers valid and useful insights into human

ACTIVITY BOX 29.1 psychology. It is concerned with such questions as the role
played by personality in physical health and sickness, job
How shy are you? success, attraction and criminal behaviour. Are certain
Consider how shy you are and think about the individuals more prone to stress? Are specific personalities
following questions. How often do you get shy? Do you more likely to succeed in specific occupations? Are certain
tend to find yourself getting shy in lots of different personalities more attractive than others are? Is there such a
situations or is your shyness aroused by more specific thing as a criminal personality? We will consider some of
stimulus? Do you tend to feel shy in front of people you this applied research throughout this section (see Activity
know or strangers? Have you felt more or less shy at box 29.1).
different stages in your life?
The answers you give to these questions reveal much Self-test: According to Peterson (1992), what are the main
about you, in terms of whether your behaviour is attributes of personality?
motivated by your personality or people or events
around you. They also reveal how stable your
personality is in terms of consistency (for example, Perspectives of personality research
being shy in most situations with lots of different types There are many theories of personality and these can be
of people) and over time (for example, feeling less shy neatly categorised into sub-groups using two concepts. The
as you get older). two concepts that allow us to categorise theories of
We will now explore such questions in relation to personality are perspectives and paradigms.
personality as a whole. A perspective is an approach or outlook and it should be
recognised that there are two perspectives that guide work
relating to personality research. These two perspectives are
To appreciate what makes us individual we also need clinical psychology and academic psychology. Both have
therefore to consider what factors make us similar to or the made significant contributions to our understanding of the
same as others (see Focus point 29.2). nature of personality and both perspectives have well-
Armed with these considerations, modern personality known psychologists allied to them. While these two

Cognitive Learning
Attitudes Motivation
processes experiences

What makes us individual?

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PERSONALITY

What makes us similar to others?

Shared Shared Socialisation

genes environment culture

Figure 29.1 What makes us similar to/different from others?

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Many well-known personality theories have evolved out

of clinical practise and the idiographic approach. Indeed
many of the best-known personality theorists were
clinicians: Freud, Jung and Rogers, for example.
The advantages of this approach are that:

■ It recognises everyone has a unique combination of

personality characteristics and as such each person
should be studied in their own right.
■ Any attempts to improve people’s lives must be based
on individual study and intervention. To suggest an
intervention based on group prediction might be
inaccurate.
■ The study of individuals allows us to investigate
unconscious processes more accurately.
■ By studying an individual we can see how they
progress over time (if intervention works).

It is not without its suggested drawbacks, however:

different perspectives seek greater understanding of the ■ The clinical method poses methodological problems. It
formation, regulation and influence of personality, they has been criticised for being too subjective. There is
differ in a number of significant ways. over-reliance on the clinician’s observational abilities
and record-keeping skills.
Clinical psychology ■ Gaining insight from clinical populations only reveals
Clinical psychologists working within personality research information about clinically diagnosed individuals. It
tend to focus on how people generally adapt to everyday would be wrong to generalise any observed findings
life and how the individual copes with the stresses and to non-clinical populations. (See Class activity
challenges of daily life. Clinicians are primarily concerned box 29.1.)
with those individuals who fail to adapt. Clinical
psychologists therefore often seek to intervene by studying Academic psychology
each person in depth in order to improve the lives of these In contrast to the clinical perspective in studying
individuals through therapy. personality, academic personality researchers study groups
The study of one individual without comparing them to of people. They examine selected aspects of personality
any other is called the idiographic approach to studying rather than attempting to deal with the whole person. So for
personality. Gordon Allport, a well-known personality example they might see how shyness manifests itself across
theorist, argued that personality should be studied a variety of people (gender, age, culture, occupation) in a
idiographically, otherwise unique aspects of individuals variety of situations. This approach to studying personality
could be overlooked. is often called the nomothetic approach.

CLASS ACTIVITY BOX 29.1 This is one problem with personality research: simply relying
on observation of people does not allow us to gain a full three-
Copyright © 2008. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.

dimensional picture of that person. For example, we generally

Personality and observation see famous people in one setting: in the media. But would
Find three pictures of famous people, for example: Tony Blair, they be different in other settings? How would these individuals
Madonna and David Beckham. Write down one word that you describe themselves?
think best describes each of them. Ask someone else who is at Thus to understand the nature of personality we need to
hand to do the same. Compare the descriptions that different employ multiple methods of investigation, namely observation
people have given these three individuals. and self-report. In other words, we need to supplement what
Why do you think you have used the same or different we observe about other people’s personality characteristics
words to describe them? with the observations that these individuals make about
Do you really think these words best describe their themselves.
personalities or are they merely describing what you know of
them?

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 Personality

Researchers from this perspective try to describe There are five main paradigms/domains guiding research
personality in terms of sets of dimensions (personality into personality psychology and these are briefly outlined in
traits) that can be applied to describe any person. They thus Table 29.1.
tend to express their observations in quantitative terms such Each of the five paradigms focuses on different aspects of
as statistical means and other statistical concepts. By personality. If we are to have a better understanding of the
assigning quantitative scores to each individual, researchers whole concept of personality, we should see these domains
can then see how people compare with one another. So for as jigsaw pieces that collectively create a complete picture.
example, imagine you had just completed a questionnaire to We can evaluate each dimension’s contribution to our
find out how aggressive you were. The researchers give you understanding of personality within the context of a specific
a final score. This score is practically meaningless to you question about the nature of personality.
unless you can compare it with other people’s scores to see
where you fit in relation to them (e.g. less aggressive, as Self-test:
aggressive, more aggressive). ■ What has been the contribution of clinical psychology in
Well-known academic personality theorists are Eysenck, our understanding of personality?
Cattell, Allport and Costa and McCrae. ■ What are the main defining features of academic
The main advantages of the academic approach are: psychology’s approach to investigating personality?

■ It seeks to obtain precise, valid and reliable measures of

personality in an attempt to establish what is common
Personality: a conscious or unconscious process?
Are you always aware of why you have done something or
or usual across people.
what you will do or say next? There are times when even
■ Personality dimensions can be used to describe all
we are surprised by what we do and what we say. One of
people. Thus neuroticism is assumed to be a personality
the questions that is of interest to psychologists is whether
dimension on which all people can be located (some
personality is a conscious process (we have to actively think
people are highly neurotic, most people are average,
about being who we are) or whether the manifestation of
some are hardly neurotic).
our personality is unconscious (rather like an autopilot on a
plane). The interpersonal (psychodynamic) approach
It does, like the clinical perspective, have some suggested
contends that some elements of personality manifestation
weaknesses:
(particularly problem behaviour) reside in the person’s
unconscious (the part of the mind outside of the
■ Its focus on groups of people rather than individuals
individual’s immediate awareness). Focusing on the
tends to disadvantage itself in terms of being able to
unconscious will give us a better understanding of how
identify deep-rooted unconscious processes.
personality is individually manifested (Ellenberger, 1970).
■ Describing people’s personalities in terms of numbers
So memories of past traumatic events can be forgotten yet
rather than the richer and more in-depth method of
still cause psychological problems and influence our
words brings accusations of shallowness and
personality (Bass and Davis, 1988). Interpersonal theories of
reductionism.
personality have mainly developed out of clinical practice.
So what evidence is there to suggest that unconscious
Paradigms guiding personality theories mental processes are responsible for how our personalities
We are now aware of the perspectives that guide research develop?
into this area of psychology. However, before we can start
to evaluate the contributions of the various theories Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis
concerning personality we need to place them within the Freud (1856–1939) is credited as the father of
Copyright © 2008. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.

broad context of the differing paradigms they are psychoanalysis. He suggested that unconscious mental
influenced by. In other words, while there are many processes and experiences can shape the development and
individual personality theories many of them are manifestation of personality. Such processes, he maintained,
related by the strategies or methods they employ and start in infancy (with what he termed primary processes,
so can be placed into sub-groups, called paradigms or characterised by impulses) and develop into adulthood
domains. (secondary processes, the realisation that our impulses have
As you will remember from earlier chapters, a paradigm to fit into the demands of the world around us).
is ‘the language, theories, methods and limits of the science. For Freud, the unconscious part of human thinking was
It determines which aspects of the world the scientist one of the fundamental driving forces of personality. He
studies and the kinds of explanations he considers’ (McCain conceptualised the mind as being composed in a way
and Segal, 1973, p. 81). Domains are a ‘speciality area of similar to an iceberg (see Figure 29.2).
science and scholarship, in which psychologists have The smallest part of the mind, the tip of the iceberg,
focused on learning about some specific and limited aspects composed of conscious thought processes – those mental
of human nature’ (Larsen and Buss, 2002, p. 15). abilities that we are fully aware of.

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THE MAIN PARADIGMS GUIDING THEORIES INVESTIGATING PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY

TABLE 29.1 AND THEIR BASIC DEFINING PRINCIPLES
Characteristics Main theories Paradigm

Psychodynamic Sigmund Freud Assumes individuals’ personalities are motivated by

unconscious emotional conflicts (mainly originating in
Carl Jung
childhood)
Alfred Adler
Seeks understanding via case studies (in terms of dreams,
Anna Freud free association and creativeness)

Erik Erikson Aims to change individuals by freeing the energy devoted to

neurotic symptoms and therefore allowing the development
of a more positive personality
Example: a childhood experience that may be buried in the
unconscious and that affects negatively how an individual
might relate to others

Humanistic Abraham Maslow Interested in personality in terms of how people’s conscious

experiences and drives help or hinder their ability to reach
Carl Rogers
their full potential
George Kelly
Criticises scientific psychological methods in trying to
measure personality in that such an approach is too
mechanical and misses the essence of individuals; case
studies have been used by some humanistic personality
theorists as the favoured method of study
However, it remains mostly empirically unsubstantiated and
is criticised for this reason
Example: success in family life may give an individual
happiness, contentment, reward and satisfaction, which
they may take to other parts of their life (such as work), or
vice versa

Trait Gordon Allport Assumes that individuals have stable personality

characteristics evident in behaviour across a multitude of
Raymond Cattell
situations
Hans Eysenck
Tries to describe and predict how individuals might behave
Costa and McCrae based on their personality traits
Measures personality via questionnaires
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Example: using Eysenck’s Personality Inventory (EPI), which

measures introversion–extroversion to predict music-
listening choices

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 Personality

TABLE 29.1 CONTINUED

Characteristics Main theories Paradigm

Cognitive-behavioural Albert Bandura Assumes people’s thoughts and beliefs are central to
personality
Julian Rotter
Seeks to measure these thoughts/beliefs and to see how
George Kelly
they lead to behaviour in specific situations (personality),
Walter Mischel and how the expression of personality through behaviour
shapes future cognitive processes
Seeks to measure and understand personality using self-
report measures (questionnaires or interviews) and in some
cases via observation
Aims to facilitate harmony between individuals and the
world around them (by changing either the individual or the
environment)
Example: if a child learns that tantrums achieve a desired
result then the rewards for such behaviour condition and
establish a set of behaviours that will probably be used in
later life

Biological William Sheldon Assumes people’s personality characteristics are either

inherited and/or are biologically influenced by hormones
Robert Plomin
Seeks to understand personality via work with twins and
Hans Eysenck
through neurological research
C. Robert Cloniger
Aims to improve personality through medication or gene
manipulation/selection
Example: finding a relationship between the existence of a
specific gene and a personality trait, such as anxiety

Behavioural Burrhus Skinner Forces of conditioning and reinforcement have shaped

personality
John Dollard and Neal
Millar Seeks to understand personality via observation
Emphasises the role of learning in the development of
personality and aims to enhance positive personality
characteristics through reward and punishment
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Example: if a child learns that aggression in the playground

will bring immediate gratification of a need or goal then it
is likely that aggression will be reinforced and used more
often; if such aggression is punished, however, its use as a
strategy should diminish

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(power). Alfred Adler (1870–1937), by way of contrast, in

his ‘individual psychology theory’, emphasised the
Conscious mind
importance of social factors rather than sexual urges in the
EGO development of personality. He did not agree with Freud in
Preconscious mind the extent to which unconscious processes were influential
in personality. Unlike Freud, Adler saw conscious processes
SUPEREGO as the major contributing factor to personality but he did
recognise that one unconscious process might play a part
(Adler, 1930).
Unconscious mind Ego-psychologists such as Anna Freud (Sigmund Freud’s
ID
daughter) and Erikson emphasised the role of ego
development in personality. Anna (Freud, 1936) identified
three sources that the ego responds defensively to:
displeasure, danger in the outside world and unconscious
impulses from the Id. One of the ways in which her work
differed from that of her father was that, rather than trying
Figure 29.2 Freud’s view of the mind as an iceberg to derive childhood experiences from adult patients, Anna
worked directly with child patients. One of her main
contributions was that she helped adapt psychoanalytic
Freud referred to preconscious mental processes as those techniques for use with children. Other theorists developed
thoughts or memories that we may not be consciously Sigmund Freud’s work. Erikson’s lifespan theory
thinking of but that we can easily and readily bring into our (1902–1994) moved psychoanalytic thought out of
conscious awareness. So while you are not thinking of your childhood and he maintained that adulthood was a
telephone number, if I asked you what it is you should be continuing process of development that was influenced by
able to bring it into conscious thought. past experience. Like Freud he did propose a number of
According to Freud, however, by far the largest part of stages in terms of personality development (Erikson, 1978)
the mind is comprised of unconscious processes. For Freud, but he rejected Freud’s notion that identity was fixed in
evidence of the unconscious was provided by ‘slips of the childhood. He argued that identity was in actual fact a
tongue’ and through the interpretation of dreams. The lifelong process. He did not agree entirely that unconscious
unconscious contain instincts and drives, childhood processes accounted for personality manifestation entirely.
memories, traumatic events, which may, according to He also recognised the importance of the societies we live in
Freud, been deliberately forgotten (or cast out of conscious and their effect on our thoughts, beliefs and behaviour.
awareness) or even repressed. Freud’s work still arouses strong opinions. Some
personality theorists argue that his work (or major parts of
Stages of personality development it) is still very relevant (Westen, 1998), while others argue
Freud proposed that personality developed in early that psychoanalysis should be abandoned (Eysenck, 1985).
childhood through a series of what he called ‘psychosexual So what are the positives and negatives that can be taken
stages’ (see Table 29.2). A fixation at one stage or another from Freud’s work?
has implications at an unconscious level in adult life.
Evaluation of Freud’s theory
Development of Freud’s work There is no question that Freud was influential in the
Freud’s suggestion that unconscious mental processes are development of psychology and research on personality.
influential in how our personalities develop and are His theory of the stages of personality provided the
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manifested gave rise to an immediate debate. Many springboard for the field of developmental psychology. His
criticised his work (as we shall see later) and many of his work also provides the first comprehensive personality
initial followers disagreed with elements of his theories. theory and stimulated the development of personality
Psychodynamic theory then splintered into two groupings: assessment techniques. He also drew attention to the
the neo-Freudians and the ego-psychologists. possible influence of unconscious mental processes on the
The neo-Freudians maintained many of Freud’s initial development and manifestation of personality. Does
ideas but many went on to develop their own approaches to research support Freud’s ideas? There has been some
the study of personality and expanded them in new empirical support for facets of Freud’s work and recent
directions. Carl Jung (1875–1961), via his theory of ‘analytic research by Myers (2000) has provided support for concepts
psychology’, agreed with Freud’s proposal that the such as a repressive coping style.
unconscious played a significant part on personality, but Major critics of Freud’s theory maintain that his work is
disagreed with his theory in its entirety. Jung (1964) argued out of date and would not apply to the very different
that complexes resided in our unconscious. These society we live in today. He overemphasised the importance
complexes could either be positive (perfection) or negative of unconscious principles in respect of personality.
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 Personality

FREUD’S PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES AND IMPLICATIONS OF STAGE FIXATION FOR BEHAVIOUR

TABLE 29.2 IN ADULT LIFE
Adult signs of fixation Defining features Psychosexual stage

Oral First year after birth. Problems arise when oral needs are either under-
The mouth is the centre of pleasure at this or over-stimulated. So early or late weaning may
stage. Babies use their mouths to eat and lead to adult behaviours such as overeating,
explore everything around them. smoking and drinking to excess. Over-
dependence on others is also, according to
Freud, a by-product of fixation at this stage.

Anal During the child’s second year. Fixation at this stage can occur when toilet
Here, according to Freud, there is a clash training is too harsh or starts too early or too late.
between free bowel movements at will and Associated adult behaviours might be excessively
parental demands for appropriate toilet concerned with control and cleanliness, or they
training. might be reckless or impulsive.
Thus it is at this stage that the ego starts to
develop.

Phallic Between the ages of three and six. Freud believed that fixation at this stage could
Focus of attention diverts to the genital lead to problems later in life via unresolved
area. Here, according to Freud, boys conflicts with one’s same-sex parent. These could
develop sexual feelings for their mothers be manifested by aggression, difficulty with
and form a desire to eliminate the authority, inability to hold down a stable
competing affections of the father (known relationship and, in extreme cases, socially
as the Oedipus complex). Girls, on the disapproved-of sexual behaviour.
other hand, develop penis envy and try to
compensate for their lack of a penis by
identifying with the father (the Electra
complex). Here the superego starts to
develop.

Latency period Following on from phallic stage through to

the onset of puberty.
Here the ego represses sexual instinct
internally, and this is reinforced externally
by parents’ and teachers’ suppression of
sexual matters. Child learns values of
family and culture.

Genital At puberty and during adolescence and Individuals reach the genital stage only when
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spanning the rest of the individual’s life. they have successfully resolved the conflicts at
Via hormonal changes, sexual impulses the prior stages.
reappear. The genitals again become the
focus of pleasure.

However, it should be remembered that Freud lived in the years of age. Personality can dramatically change
Victorian era with very conservative attitudes towards sex throughout the lifespan. One of the most potent criticisms is
and towards women. His work is based on a small, select that Freud’s work and that of psychodynamic theory in
group of paying clients (mainly wealthy and educated general is not open to scientific investigation. It is hard to
women) and his observations restricted to therapy sessions disconfirm Freud’s theories since they deal with theoretical
only. His work on the stages of personality development concepts which are difficult to scientifically measure and
have been criticised by many psychologists who do not test (Holzman, 1994).
agree that personality stops developing at around 5 or 6

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Object relations theory: rethinking unconscious psychoanalysis in her research on the emotional and
influence personality development of second-generation refugees and
Freud’s emphasis on sexuality and unconscious processes by working on these unconscious thoughts and attitudes
has more recently been rethought. Contemporary has witnessed positive improvements in these groups.
psychodynamic theories instead focus on social Other research has contradicted the work of psychotherapy.
relationships and their origin within childhood For example, Pennington (2003, p. 50) states: ‘How can you
development. Object relations theory is one example and it have an unconscious if you are not aware of it?’ Wallerstein
deal with how individuals internally conceptualise (in terms (1989) reported a 30-year longitudinal study that compared
of feelings and attitude) people and objects around them. psychoanalysis with alternative forms of therapy that did
While there are several versions of this approach, which not focus on the unconscious. No significant differences
emphasise different aspects, all object relations theories were found between these. Daly and Wilson (1990), using
share some common assumptions. One assumption is that incidents of family murders, found that the oedipal
the child’s developing relationship with others around hypothesis (sons envying their fathers as they want to have
(external forces) them are more important that internal the sole attention of their mothers and daughters envying
urges and desires (internal forces). Children create their their mothers in terms of attention from their fathers) is not
own unconscious mental representation of others around supported. Rather than finding greater same-sex
them. So important others (e.g. the mother) become (son–father, daughter–mother) murder links, it was found
internalised by the child. Each child has an internal that males were the most frequent murderers of fellow
representation of their mother to whom they can relate. family members and they were also the most frequent
Thus children can have a relationship with this internalised victims! Such findings suggest that simply concentrating on
object (mother) even when she is not present (so children unconscious behaviour will not sufficiently account for
can still imagine what their mothers might say if they do explaining personality development.
something they are not supposed to even when the mother
is not physically present). So in essence object relations Self-test:
theorists attempt to understand personality in terms of how ■ What are the stages of personality development
children develop relationships with others around them according to Freud?
based on how they mentally represent this relationship. So ■ Evaluate Freud’s theory of personality development.
if children have formed the impression that they do not like ■ What has object relations theory contributed to our
someone, then this will influence how they behave with that understanding of personality?
person in the future. Melanie Klein (1964), John Bowlby
(1988) and Heinz Kohut (1977) developed their accounts of What is the function of personality?
personality based on the principles of object relations This question allows us to explore two other paradigms of
theory. Objects relations theory has been applied to personality research: the humanistic approach and the
investigating why children of divorced parents might cognitive-behavioural approach. The humanistic or
themselves have difficulty with relationships. Judith phenomenological theorists see personality as a tool for
Wallerstein et al. (2000) suggests the ghost images of their personal growth and development and suggest that our
parents failed marriages and the strong emotions of their characteristics can serve us in terms of seeking
own fear of subsequent relationship failure produce improvements in our quality of life (by, for example,
ambivalent internal images of relationships in general. gaining success, friends and satisfaction). The cognitive-
behavioural paradigm sees personality as an interface
Evaluation of the role of unconscious processes between what we would like and what the world will
on personality allow. In other words, personality allows us to interact with
Copyright © 2008. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.

One way of verifying if unconscious processes account for the world, form social relationships, learn what is right,
the way our personality develops is to evaluate what is wrong, and what is good and what is bad for us.
psychotherapy as a therapy technique. For example,
psychoanalysis focuses on unconscious processes. If this The humanistic or phenomenological paradigm
method of psychotherapy is seen to be effective then we Humanistic psychologists emphasise personality in terms of
might conclude that personality is largely influenced by growth potential and, like the psychodynamic
unconscious processes. So what is the evidence? It would psychologists, delve into self-understanding. However, this
seem that psychotherapy is neither more nor less effective attitude differs sharply with the negativity of the
than other forms of therapy that do not aim to uncover psychodynamic movement. It instead attempts to view on
unconscious mental processes. Some research has supported the positive aspects of human personality. Humanistic
the influence of unconscious processes. Fiona Gardner theorists look at the way ‘healthy’ people strive for their
(1991), for example, has used object relations theory in her own positive development through their personalities.
attempts to explore factors linked to self-harming behaviour MacDonald and Friedman (2002) provide an overview of
in young women. Jodeyr (2003) has employed the research findings exploring the relation of

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positive relationship between need fulfilment and

satisfaction with one’s life. She also reported that there was
True Self-actualisation
potential no relationship between need importance and need
deficiency.
Respect, pride Esteem
Applications of humanistic theory
Sonnekus (1998) has tried to develop a system to aid first-
year students in their academic environment using self-
Affection, friendships Belongingness and love
actualisation principles. Pennebaker (1990) has suggested
that the need to belong is an important concept in people
facing life-threatening illness. Such support groups include
Shelter, money Safety people suffering from all types of serious illness. Indeed,
Pennebaker suggests that membership of these groups may
even be life prolonging. Thus humanistic principles have
Food, water, oxygen Physiological been used successfully in areas such as health psychology.
Maslow’s need theory has also been applied to
Figure 29.3 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
employment. So, for example, if pay and security are
fulfilled, workers might then concentrate on improving
their relationships with their co-workers and then finally on
developing their own skills, thus moving up Maslow’s need
humanistic/transpersonal phenomena/concepts to human hierarchy (Muchinsky, 1997).
functioning.
The cognitive-behavioural paradigm
Abraham Maslow (1908–1970): hierarchy of Cognitive-behavioural theorists see personality as a package
needs of behaviours that people have acquired through learning
Maslow conceptualised individuals as being driven by and interaction with their environments and which they
needs, and that all needs were hierarchically organised. He employ to help them navigate their environments. While
divided human needs into five levels, with the most recognising that behaviour is learned through classical and
pressing needs starting at the base of the hierarchy (see operant conditioning, the cognitive-behavioural approach
Figure 29.3). Maslow proposed that we must satisfy the expands this by assuming that much of personality is
lower needs before we can progress and concentrate on learned through social interaction. So we gain both our
obtaining those higher up in the hierarchy. So finding food behaviour and cognitive processes via experience in our
and water in Maslow’s theory takes precedent over, for social worlds. We then use this experience to survive within
example, obtaining respect from our peers or fitting in with our environments. So the function of personality is to test
them. He also suggested that the levels develop with age – our theories of the world around us in order that we might
so that the first levels occur in childhood (such as need for learn how to survive and behave. The cognitive-behavioural
food, need for safety etc.) and the others develop approach to personality seeks to understand how learned
throughout the lifespan. Maslow (1968) recognised that the cognitive thought patterns influence behaviour and how the
higher-level needs were not necessary for survival and so consequences of a behaviour informs cognition for future
motivation to achieve these needs is weaker than for the actions.
more basic needs such as water. The final need stage is that
of self-actualisation, where an individual seems to know Do cognitive representations of the world
Copyright © 2008. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.

who they are and have little confusion regarding the route influence our personalities?
their life should take. Our personality is a tool that we use Kelly (1905–1967) maintained that to understand
to gain these needs and attempt to reach this self- personality we need to consider how people conceptualise
actualisation. the world around them and how this is represented
cognitively in their minds. He viewed people as informal
Research evidence and humanistic approaches to scientists, always generating and testing hypothesis about
personality the world around them. People are motivated to
Hagerty (1999) has provided some evidence from a cross- understand the world around them and predict what might
cultural perspective that people from different countries do happen. Kelly (1955) termed this process personal construct
try to achieve needs within the sequence Maslow suggested. theory. In order for us to interpret ad predict we develop
Baumeister and Leary (1995) have demonstrated that we do cognitive structures, which he termed personal constructs.
possess a need to belong to social groups (such as clubs, Through experience and learning in the world, everybody
gyms and teams, for example). Betz (1984) has mixed develops his or her own unique set of constructs (cognitive
support for Maslow’s theory. She found that there was a representations of people, events, environments). Kelly

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suggested that these personal constructs were represented personality affects how we react to environmental stimuli.
via a bipolar scale (either/or representation). So for example These were cognitive social learning theory (1977) and
personal constructs you might apply to your boss could be: reciprocal determinism (1986). He viewed behaviour,
internal personal factors and the influences of the
Helpful – Unhelpful Intelligent – environment as inseparable parts of each other. So people’s
UnintelligentEffective – Ineffective eating habits (past behaviour) influence their eating
preferences (personal factor) which, in turn, influence how
Kelly argued that we engage in a process of template different foods (environment) affect their behaviour. So
matching with these constructs. So if your boss engages in Bandura recognised that different people choose different
ways consistent with your construct then it is retained. If environments (some people like to go to a large cinema
the behaviour is not consistent then it is modified. We learn complex to watch a film, others prefer a smaller local
which descriptions to apply to which people and based on cinema, yet others prefer to watch it in the comfort of their
these descriptions, we react to them accordingly. So, for own home). He proposed that personality influences how
example, different people might use different personal we interpret and react to events/stimuli (so a snake is a
constructs to describe the same person. Some might cute pet to some people and a loathsome reptile to others).
describe Tony Blair as a decent, hard-working honest man, Bandura also argued that our personalities often contribute
while others might say he is arrogant, dishonest and power to situations that we react to (so if we expect someone to be
mad. rude to us, we may be offhand to them in the first place
The way in which we test these constructs is through our which then causes the behaviour we expected in the first
personalities and engagement with our environments. So if place). So in essence personality is a sum of our internal
you are hard working and hit a problem at work but your personal factors, our cognitions and the behaviours we use
boss refused to help you, you would form the construct that to deal with our environments.
your boss is unhelpful. Future behaviour will either One important concept that Bandura suggested was self-
reinforce or weaken this construct. efficacy. Self-efficacy is a person’s self-rated judgement of
Kelly proposed that some personal constructs were more success for any behaviour they may engage in. For example,
important than others for predicting and interpreting our before we try to lift anything heavy we ask ourselves what
world. He called these superordinate constructs. The less are our chances of succeeding. If we feel they are good we
important ones he called subordinate constructs. Subordinate will try, but if we judge the odds of lifting to be low, we
personal constructs for one person might be superordinate probably will not try and will instead seek help. Self-
for another person. So Jane might be conscientious in efficacy is therefore learned.
everything she does, but Karen can be conscientious in only Other psychologists have emphasised that personality
some of the things she does. Kelly also recognised that enables us to learn about the success or failure of our
everyone had a different perception of world reality and actions and the consequences of behaving in certain ways in
that this would influence the behaviour that people certain environments. Mischel (1984) believed that learned
engaged in. He called this constructive alternativism. expectations are different for each individual and therefore
make that individual unique. These expectation dimensions
Personality: a tool of social environmental Mischel labelled ‘person variables’. In Mischel’s view the
interpretation? most important person variables were: expectations (what
Bandura envisaged personality from a social-cognitive the individual expects to happen after a behaviour and
perspective. He proposed two theories that suggested what he/she thinks they are capable of doing – self efficacy;
perceptions (how the environment is perceived by each
individual); competencies (what thoughts and actions the
person can perform); values (the individual’s subjective
Copyright © 2008. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.

world ideals); and plans (a person’s plan for reaching their

goals). Mischel argued that it is not enough to measure
someone’s traits to predict how they might act, we also
need to take into account the situation in which it occurs. So
a helpful person might help someone who trips over in the
street but might not help someone who gets mugged at
knifepoint. The perception of the situation (in this example,
risk of injury for offering help), Mischel argues, can
override a trait.

What’s your view of Tony Blair?

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FOCUS POINT 29.3

personality differences have been reported. Nisbett
Personality and the environment (1993) reported that people from the northern United
States were less likely to engage in violence (physical)
Personality is also subject to environmental pressures.
to avenge a personal slur than were those from the
So while personality is usually expressed at an
southern United States. Homicide rates for crimes
individual level, the social relationships we have will
related to defending one’s own reputation were far
also guide and influence our behaviour. There are
higher in the southern United States than in the
examples to show that our personalities can be
northern part of the country.
influenced by the social groups we belong to (for
example, culture). The expression of our personalities
via behaviour can also be altered by these groups.
Conformity and obedience
There are times when it would be foolish or dangerous
Culture to follow our own personality. We might risk sanction
or punishment from society for doing so (for example,
Personality psychologists believe that exploring
breaking the formal laws in our society), or hostility
personality expression across cultures is important
and ostracism from the smaller groups we belong to
(Church, 2000). This allows us to investigate whether
(parents, friends). So despite being an individual there
certain personality concepts are prevalent in certain
are times when we abide by the rules and regulations
cultures. So, for example, western society is based on
provided to us, so that we resemble everyone else
individualistic principles – that is to say independence
around us.
and uniqueness are held as positive characteristics.
Our environment can, therefore, be quite potent in
(Most western films, for example, depict lone heroes
reining in our personalities. However, our personality
overcoming evil groups. Eastern society, however,
characteristics can regulate our obedience to rules. It
reflects a more collectivist ideology, where each
has been seen that people who score highly on
individual is a contributing member to a successful
authoritarianism tend to conform more often, as do
group.)
people who score highly on external locus of control
Do these differing cultural perspectives have an
(Blass, 1991). In addition, Forbes (2001) investigated,
impact on how our personality develops? It seems so.
among other factors, personality differences in
Kitayama et al. (1997) reported that Japanese students
individuals with and without tattoos or body piercings.
had a greater sense of positive feeling if they felt they
Results showed that tattoos and piercings in college
had contributed to establishing interpersonal
students are associated with significantly more risk-
relationships with others. In contrast, American
taking behaviour, greater use of alcohol and marijuana,
students associated feelings of positivity with their
and less social conformity.
individual personal accomplishments. It is not just
between different countries that overarching

Evaluation of the social learning approach to tool of personality) might develop two different
personality personalities depending on how the environment treats
Copyright © 2008. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.

The greatest strength of these cognitive and behavioural such outbursts. If the child gets scolded every time it throws
theories is the generation of empirical research based on a tantrum then this personality aspect should diminish. If
objective observations to test their assumptions. This the child gets rewarded with what it wants to stop the
approach to understanding personality has also yielded a tantrum then such reinforcement will only develop these
number of effective therapeutic approaches to the treatment tantrums as a useful personality tool.
for a variety of psychological disorders, such as depression
(Furlong and Oei, 2002) and obsessive compulsive disorders Self-test:
■ What have humanistic psychologists emphasised in
(Salkovskis, 1999). So it would seem that personality does
act to some extent as an interface between our cognitive terms of personality growth?
■ Describe Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
representation of the world and how we should behave in
■ How do cognitive-behavioural theorists see personality?
that world to succeed and survive. Personality is a tool by
■ What has been the social learning theory’s approach to
which we learn the trial and error of our behaviour in
relation to our environment (see Focus point 29.3). A child defining personality?
who throws tantrums to get what it wants (aggression as a

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What is personality? Trait theories are also concerned with three questions:
Just what does personality consist of? This is another
important question in the field of personality research – 1 How should traits be conceptualised? In other words
what constitutes personality? We have descriptive terms for how are traits defined?
personality such as dispositions or characteristics. The most 2 How can those traits that are most important to
widely accepted term in personality is ‘trait’ (see Definition personality be identified among the huge numbers of
box 29.1). ways people differ?
3 How can all personality traits be identified?

DEFINITION BOX 29.1 Just how many traits are important in personality?

Three traits?
Traits Jung (1875–1961), although a psychoanalyst, started work
Personality traits are the tendencies that we use to that influenced the trait movement. He proposed that
describe how someone thinks and behaves most of the individuals develop and vary along three important
time. dimensions (traits), introversion-extroversion, thinking
feeling and sensation intuition. So people can differ in their
levels of sociability, indicated by having different levels of
Exactly how many or how few traits make up our introversion (a tendency to reflect within oneself –
personality? Do we all have the same traits at the basis of characterised by shyness, submission and quietness) and
our personalities or do we have different combinations of extroversion (a tendency to focus on the world around us –
traits? Such questions have given rise to a fourth paradigm characterised by enthusiasm, sociability, dominance over
of personality research – the trait approach to understanding others). For Jung, extroversion was a focus on things,
personality. people and events outside of oneself and introversion
However, people do not always behave in accordance related to looking inside oneself and concentrating on our
with traits they possess. For example, if Matthew had a feelings and thought. Jung maintained that an individual
leadership trait, this does not mean that Matthew will take could have tendencies towards both introversion and
charge in all social situations. In some situations leaders extroversion, but that one would be dominant.
might already have been chosen and so Matthew will Like Jung, Eysenck (1991) proposed a model of
override his leadership trait’s need for expression. Also in personality based on three broad traits that he believed
situations where Matthew felt less confident (in new were inherited and had psychophysiological foundation.
scenarios) he might look to be led by others who have had These three broad traits are: extroversion, psychoticism and
more experience in such a situation. neuroticism. Extroverts have a high energy level and are
While there are many trait theorists, they all share three sociable and like activity and people around them.
common assumptions and are guided by three fundamental Introverts, contrariwise, like to spend more time alone,
questions. prefer routine and are more evenly paced. A person scoring
highly on the neuroticism dimension is anxious and can
The three assumptions are that: often be depressed as a result. Low scores reflect people
who are emotionally stable, cope better with stressful events
1 Individuals each possess particular personality traits to and can return to normality faster than a neurotic person.
either a greater or lesser extent. Perhaps the best People scoring high on psychoticism lack empathy and have
analogy here is to think of individual traits as having little sympathy for the suffering of others, can be aggressive
Copyright © 2008. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.

volumes. In some people the volumes on certain traits and are often described as antisocial loners. Each of these
are high, in others they are medium and in others they has a number of underlying associated sub-traits (see Figure
are low. So while we all possess the same personality 29.5). For Eysenck, the basic personality traits should have
traits, different combinations of sound volume across high heritability. He also linked his proposed traits to the
these traits create unique personalities. working of the central nervous system. So for example
2 Traits remain relatively stable across time. So a sociable introverts would be more easily aroused and show greater
person will probably remain generally sociable physiological arousal reactions.
throughout his or her lifetime. However, Eysenck’s work has been criticised on a
3 Traits remain stable across a wide diversity of number of grounds – and in particular in terms of the
environmental and social situations. So someone who is terminology employed in the theory. For example, the term
competitive will probably be competitive at work as ‘psychoticism’ is outdated and negative and might be better
well as on the tennis court. superseded with a more acceptable label such as ‘antisocial
personality’.

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(a) Hierarchical structure of the trait Extroversion–Introversion (E)

E
Sensation
Sociable
seeking

Lively Assertive
Active
Carefree Venturesome

Surgent Dominant

(b) Hierarchical structure of the trait Psychoticism (P)

P
Aggressive Cold

Impulsive Impersonal
Egocentric
Antisocial Tough-minded

Unempathetic Creative

(c) Hierarchical structure of the trait Neuroticism (N)

N
Anxious Tense

Low self-
esteem Feelings
Depressed of guilt

Shy
Irrational
Moody Emotional
Figure 29.5 Eysenck’s hierarchical model of personality

Sixteen traits? how many combinations would there be? Around 43

Cattell (1946) employed factor analysis to identify and million to be precise – that is 43 million different types of
describe the underlying structure of personality (see people! Cattell (1984) developed the 16 personality factor
Research methods box 29.1). He used a ‘psychometric’ test (16PF) based on these source trait groupings. He has
approach (a way of studying both personality and applied this test to investigation of structure of the
intelligence in terms of underlying structures) in his bid to ‘abnormal personality’. One major criticism has been that
Copyright © 2008. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.

describe the structure of personality. We will consider the many researchers have failed to replicate the existence of 16
psychometric method in more detail in a later chapter. main personality traits and others have suggested that a
Cattell therefore sees personality as a cocktail of smaller number of factors is sufficient in encompassing how
characteristics that can be used to predict behaviour. He the majority of people differ. There has also been criticism
also makes a distinction between what he calls surface traits that the 16PF is not applicable to all cultures, for example
and source traits. Surface traits represent the near infinite black mother-tongue speakers in South Africa (Abrahams,
differences that can be observed between people. He 2002).
suggested there are 171 surface traits, such as
conscientiousness, competitiveness, flexibility etc. These Five traits?
surface traits can be grouped together into related groups of It has been seen over the past 50 years that certain traits
traits, which he called source traits. Examples of source seem central to many personality theories and so there are
traits would be humble versus assertive or emotional versus those psychologists who suggest that the core of personality
stable. So if there are 16 of these, and people can either be is determined by five central traits (Costa and McCrae,
either high, medium or low on each of these source traits, 1982). The five that have been most commonly suggested

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key qualities. He proposed the existence of so-called

RESEARCH METHODS BOX 29.1 ‘common traits’ and ‘personal dispositions’. For Allport,
‘common traits’ are those characteristics shared by a
population (because of a biological similarity or common
Factor analysis cultural heritage). He viewed personality characteristics in
Factor analysis is a statistical procedure for analysing a terms of an individual’s goals or motives, which are
complex phenomenon with the aim of simplifying it governed by personality dispositions (a trait peculiar to
into more basic and more manageable patterns of each individual). Those traits that have the greatest
description. For example, take a sample of earth from influence on our behaviour Allport labelled cardinal traits.
your back garden. What is it made of? Well, if we Not everyone has these, but they are characterised as being
separated it all out into its basic elements we would the main driving passion in an individual’s life (so for
probably find soil, maybe traces of clay, peat, flint, example Mother Theresa’s desire to help the suffering of
granite, pebbles, leaves, roots, twigs and so on. This is a others governed her life). A second set of traits, called
very long-winded way of describing what earth is made central traits, form the main basis of personality and these
up of. are qualities that we all possess and that guide our
Why not instead make life simple by saying earth is behaviour. So the five words that you used to describe
made up of stones/rock, soil components and decaying yourself at the start of this chapter would be your central
vegetation? What we have done here is to form sub- traits. Lastly, he also suggested that we possess secondary
groups of related items. This idea can be applied to dispositions which do not appear in many situations or
psychology too. influence a variety of behaviours. For example, you may be
What if we wanted to describe personality? There are able to paint walls and ceilings and lay some tiles, but that
hundreds of potential personality traits but we could may just about sum up your relationship with DIY! Allport
make life simpler by seeing if certain traits are related to differed in his views from other theorists such as Cattell,
one another. For instance, nervousness, anxiety and by arguing that factor analysis (a statistical representation)
worrying are probably all related, so if you score highly could not do justice to the richness of an individual’s
on one of these you are likely to score highly on the personality (Allport, 1961).
others. We might call these three concepts ‘neuroticism’: Allport differs from most other trait theorists by
we have taken three separate descriptions and placed suggesting that we have these cardinal traits, which are
them into a category where we can now employ one unique to individuals. Most trait theorists as we will see
description. propose that people differ in their personalities due to
This approach can be useful for describing different combinations of traits. They argue we all possess
personality because, rather than describing each person the same traits in essence but the difference we see is that
in terms of all their traits (which would take a very long for some people the influence of a trait is high, while for
time), we can instead simplify things by describing their others it is medium and others still low. They do not, like
dominant traits. Allport, agree that some traits exist in some people and not
in others. Allport’s work on cardinal traits is also
problematic in terms of research evidence – deciding on any
are ‘extroversion’, ‘neuroticism’, ‘agreeableness’ one individual’s cardinal trait is a matter of subjective
(cooperation, trusting and helpful at one end of the trait, opinion. For example, one friend might describe my key
and critical, irritable and suspicious at the other), trait as ‘the desire to have fun’, while another might label it
‘conscientiousness’ (self-reliant, careful and knowledgeable as ‘recklessness’. Who is right?
at one end and carelessness, and ignorance at the other) and
‘openness’ (creative, daring and independent at one end Evaluation of the trait paradigm
Copyright © 2008. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.

with conforming, conventional and unadventurous at the There is evidence that traits provide stability in personality
other). Those of you with a good memory will already see in similar types of situation (Izard et al., 1993). People who
that this is very similar to Eysenck’s three-factor model. are confident meeting new people in a bar will generally be
While there has been considerable support for the fairly confident in that type of environment. However, are
existence of four out of the five factors (McCrae and John, traits stable across a diversity of situations? One of the
1992) there has been some disagreement over the fifth, leading criticisms of the trait perspective is that personality
which Costa and McCrae labelled as ‘openness’. This could traits may not be stable and enduring (see Activity box
be due to the fact that different cultures may attach 29.3). In other words, the assumption of the trait theorists
different meanings to the word ‘openness’ itself and that personality characteristics influence an individual’s
therefore it is difficult to pin down a definitive label which behaviour always in the same way, regardless of the
semantically reflects such a term cross culturally. situation they are in, might be optimistic. Such an approach
takes no account of the power of the environment to change
Are some traits more important than others? how our behaviour manifests itself. So, on the whole, you
Allport (1897–1967) suggested that each person has unique, might say you were fairly outgoing and socially confident.
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You might get a little nervous before you give a public about where our traits originate in terms of whether they
presentation. Trait theorists might argue that your social are learned, genetically coded or a combination of both.
confidence trait would be stable and so given all situations
where you might give a speech in public you should feel Self-test:
and perform in the same way. Yet when you gave the ■ What common assumptions do trait theorists share
leading speech at your best friend’s birthday party you about the nature of personality?
were the most nervous you had ever been speaking in ■ How did Eysenck view the structure of personality?
public. The fact that you were speaking in front of friends ■ Evaluate Costa and MacCrae’s Big Five-factor theory of
and relatives who knew you quite well made the whole personality.
situation much more nerve racking than when you made a ■ How stable is personality over time?
speech in front of strangers. So your perception that the
environment was now different caused a change in your Biological factors and personality
behaviour, which, according to the trait theories, should One of the most significant questions guiding personality
have been stable. Mischel (1984), a critic of the trait research is the extent to which our personalities are
paradigm, argues that people do not act with predictable influenced by biological factors such as heredity and
consistency. Another criticism levelled at the trait approach hormones. Such a question has been tackled by the last
is that it might be a good way of describing the structure of paradigm we will discuss, that of biological explanations of
personality but it offers little insight into the question of personality.
where our personalities come from. Trait theory says little

ACTIVITY BOX 29.2 results investigating the stability of Costa and McCrae’s
Big Five personality traits over time. He found that
Ageing and personality: is personality stable over personality tends to be less stable if (i) the time between
time? the tests is large, (ii) age at first measurement is low or
How stable are personality traits across the lifespan? If over 50, and (iii) a change in individual aspects of
there were evidence that traits are fairly consistent personality, rather than overall personality, is
across an individual’s life, then this would support the measured.
trait theorists’ proposals. How might we go about Srivastava et al. (2003) reported that in a large sample
researching this fact? There are two approaches we of adults aged 21 to 60 (129,515 people) who completed
might take. a Big Five personality questionnaire over several time
First, we might ask someone to judge how similar points, conscientiousness and agreeableness increased
their present personality is to their personality in their throughout early and middle adulthood at varying
past. This approach is called a ‘retrospective study’, so rates. Neuroticism declined among women but did not
called because it asks people to remember their past change among men. They concluded that the variety in
behaviour. However, an individual’s memory might not patterns of change suggests that the Big Five traits are
be very reliable and so the accuracy of their accounts complex phenomena subject to a variety of
might be questionable. developmental influences and therefore not completely
Second, some people may not want to view their independent of the influence of life-changing events.
personality as inconsistent. They might simply assume, Maiden et al. (2003) conducted a longitudinal study
then, that their present personality is very much like of 74 elderly women with a mean age of 80. They were
their personality was when they were younger because assessed on the personality traits of neuroticism,
Copyright © 2008. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.

they feel more comfortable with that image of stability. extroversion and openness, and were seen to be
A more reliable method of assessing the stability of moderately stable on all three traits over time. The
personality traits would be to assess someone’s authors also found that stability was influenced by
personality now and then assess it again after a period negative changes in life circumstances. For example,
of years has passed. This method of research is called a decreased social support and increased unmet needs
longitudinal study and is a popular method with were subsequently associated with more neuroticism.
personality theorists interested in assessing whether Lee and Hotopf (2005) reported that stability of
personality is indeed stable over a lifetime. neuroticism and extroversion increased with age. From
So the burning question, then, is ‘Is it?’ Recent this finding they suggested that it is the underlying
research evidence seems to suggest that traits are not traits that are less stable in the beginning but that these
completely fixed and can be changed over time by become more fixed in later life. This research therefore
events in a person’s life. suggests that traits might not be equally stable
Ardelt (2000) reviewed the findings from 206 sets of throughout our lifespan.

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TABLE 29.3 GALEN’S BODILY FLUID THEORY

Personality label Associated bodily fluid Description

Phlegmatic Phlegm Abundance of phlegm made a person calm, thoughtful and passive

Sanguine Blood Abundance of blood made a person happy, lively and sociable

Choleric Yellow bile Abundance of yellow bile made a person unstable, aggressive and excitable

Melancholic Black bile Abundance of black bile made a person pessimistic and unhappy

The notion that facets of personality are the products of

bodily or biological processes is not a modern concept. In
the second century AD Galen, a Roman physician,
proposed that it was the presence or absence of four bodily
fluids that determined personality (see Table 29.3). While it
remained in favour for many centuries, today it is
considered somewhat antiquated. It was, however, one
of the first recorded physiological approaches to
personality.
Biological approaches are founded on the premise that
psychological characteristics (such as aggression, shyness)
are based on an underlying physiological system. For
example, a biologically oriented personality psychologist
might argue that a person is introverted because they have
Photo 29.1 Some people seek out stimulation while others are happy to avoid it.
an overly sensitive nervous system (a physiological
characteristic) and thus try to avoid stimuli that might lead recognises a stimulus that offers a potential reward it
to over-stimulation. encourages approach behaviour. The other system that
Gray postulates is the behavioural inhibition system (BIS)
The role of arousal and personality which is responsive to punishment cues.
So you might be hungry after a night on the town and see
Arousability theory a kebab shop, which activates your BAS to encourage you
Eysenck first proposed the view that people can be to enter the shop to buy some food. However, in the past
described as being either introverted or extroverted. From a you were violently ill the last time you mixed alcohol with a
biological perspective introversion and extroversion have late-night kebab, so on nearing the shop the smell of the
been described in terms of arousal levels. That is, an food activates your BIS (memories of being ill), which
extrovert will seek more stimulation than an introvert terminates your approach towards the shop. Instead you
because their arousal system requires more stimulation to decide to go home and settle for a cup of tea and a biscuit!
become aroused. If this is true then we should see that So personality is determined to some extent by the balance
Copyright © 2008. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.

extroverts’ arousal levels respond less quickly to arousal between your BAS and BIS.
than introverts’ arousal levels. Studies by Bullock and
Gilliland (1993) and Brocke et al. (1997) have all supported Hebb and Zuckerman’s work on sensation seeking
this observation. It does seem to take extroverts more Hebb (1955) initially suggested people are motivated to seek
stimulation over a longer period to reach the same arousal out an optimal level of arousal, which they are personally
levels as introverts. comfortable with. So if they are under-aroused relative to
this level, further arousal will be considered rewarding and
Jeffrey Gray’s (1985) reinforcement sensitivity if they are over-aroused, a decrease in arousal will be
theory rewarding. Adopting sensory deprivation research
Gray has proposed a model of personality, which is based techniques, Zuckerman (1978) observed that some people
on two hypothesised biological systems within the brain. were not as distressed as others by depriving the senses of
The first of these is what he calls the behavioural activation stimulation. Zuckerman proposed the term ‘high need for
system (BAS) which responds to incentives and is sensation seeking’, which he applied to individuals who
responsible for behaviour engagement. Thus when the BAS actively seek out stimulation.

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 Personality

He developed the sensation-seeking scale, which

measures the degree to which people seek out stimulation. FOCUS POINT 29.4
His theory suggested that high sensation seekers sought
stimulation while low sensation seekers tended to avoid it
more often. He reports various findings to support this, Sex differences in personality
such as those police officers volunteering for riot duty have Are women from Venus and men from Mars? Not
higher sensation-seeking scores than those officers who do exactly. We often hear that men and women are
not volunteer for such duties (Zuckerman, 1991). different and think differently. This may be the case at
Zuckerman proposes a physiological basis for sensation- times. Men are seen to be more individualistic in their
seeking behaviour focusing on the role of neurotransmitters relationship with their environments, whereas in
(see the psychobiology section). To remind you: general women tend to be more collective and to foster
neurotransmitters are chemicals in the nerve cells that are more social networks (Triandis et al., 1990).
responsible for communication between cells using nerve What we are not reminded of as often, however, is
impulses. Monoamine oxidase (MAO) is an enzyme related that on closer examination there is greater within-sex
to maintaining proper levels of neurotransmitters – too difference in personality than there is between the sexes
much MAO and nerve transmission would be reduced. So, (Griffen, 1991). For example, Harris and Schwab (1990)
in other words, MAO acts like the brakes of the nervous report that individuals with high levels of masculinity
system (see Chapter 7). Zuckerman (1991) has reported that (regardless of whether they are male or female) seem to
people who score highly on sensation seeking seem to have experience lower levels of depression than those who
lower MAO levels – so they have less inhibition in their score more highly on femininity.
nervous system. So rather than two potential planets, we may have a
whole number of planets reflecting the different
Hormones and personality personalities that are evident both across the sexes and
Theorists working with hormones argue that sex differences within them.
between genders occur because each gender has different
levels of underlying hormones. Men, for example, have on are the biological father risk investing resources into
average 100 times the amount of testosterone in their blood offspring that is not their own. For women, the problem is
than females do (Hoyenga and Hoyenga, 1993). Higher securing reliable sources that will support them and their
testosterone levels have been linked to aggressive behaviour child through pregnancy and the period immediately after.
and Dabbs and Hargrove (1997) reported that female Evolutionary psychologists argue that it is these differing
prisoners with high levels of this hormone received more needs across the genders which motivate different types of
disciplinary punishments from the prison authorities than personality development. So it is different biological
those female inmates with lower testosterone levels. differences that might account for why people have
Cashdan (2003) investigated hormone levels and self- different personalities. Such biological differences can also
reported expressions of competitive feelings in a sample of shape within-sex differences in personality too (see Focus
women. Results indicated that women with low levels of point 29.4). For example, a muscular man might be more
androstenedione and testosterone were less likely to express confident using confrontational or aggressive behaviour to
their competitive feelings overtly, while women with high achieve his goals than a skinny one (as he has more muscles
levels of androstenedione were more likely than other and is physically stronger and more intimidating). The
women to express their competitive feelings through verbal skinny one might have too much to lose to employ such a
aggression. confrontational approach to life; after all he has not got the
However, we do need to be cautious when interpreting physical muscle to support or defend himself. Instead, the
Copyright © 2008. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.

such research, since the vast majority of the studies of this skinny man may opt for a more cooperative approach
nature are correlational and so we cannot be sure if the which does not have to rely on physical presence or fitness.
testosterone has caused the behaviour or if the behaviour So through the processes of reinforcement and punishment
has caused increases in the hormone. we learn what we can and cannot do based on our
biological makeup. Tall people have a greater chance of
Evolutionary perspectives on personality being more successful in playing basketball, a short person
Evolutionary psychology maintains that there will be might be loud as they feel they need to be heard if they
differences in behaviour between men and women in cannot be seen, for example.
behaviour domains where they have faced different sorts of
adaptive pressure (Buss, 1994). So for example men and Behavioural genetics
women face differing information-processing in What is the role of genetics in influencing personality? The
reproductive behaviour. For men, there is the question of human genome was first drafted in June 2000 and it refers
assured paternity as fertilisation occurs internally within the to the complete set of genes that humans possess (between
female. Men who fail to solve this problem of whether they 30,000–50,000 genes). Most of these genes are shared

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RESEARCH METHODS BOX 29.2 there was still evidence of strong similarities in
personality between identical twins who had been
reared apart. Bouchard also found that separated
How do geneticists research genetic influences fraternal twins do not exhibit similarities to the same
on personality? extent as separated identical twins.
Behavioural geneticists employ the notion of Similarly, Pederson et al. (1988) reported that of 99
heritability. Heritability refers to the extent to which separated identical twins and 200 fraternal twins,
genetic inheritance is responsible for the variability (the compared with equivalent numbers of non-separated
degree to which we differ) of a trait in a population of identical and fraternal twins, separated twins had more
people. So how much of the variability in scores on an dissimilar personalities. Thus identical twins reared
aggression test given to people might be accounted for apart appear to have more similar personalities than
by their inherited differences in aggression from their fraternal twins reared apart.
parents? The similarity between parents and children might
There are two general methods that have commonly also reveal something of the genetic bases of
been employed by behavioural geneticists investigating personality. It has been interesting to note that the
the genetic basis of personality. These are called twin behaviour of adoptive children in general resembles
studies and adoption studies. more their biological parents’ behaviour than that of
Twin studies investigate the similarity of identical their adopted parents (Rowe, 1990; Pederson, 1993).
(monozygotic, or MZ) twins – who share 100% of their Adoption studies have a number of recognised
genetic material – and fraternal (dizygotic, or DZ) twins methodological weaknesses, however. It is assumed
– those who develop from two separate eggs and are no that the adoptive children, their adoptive parents and
more related than normal brothers and sisters (i.e. they their circumstances are representative of the general
share only 50% of their genetic material) – in terms of population. But how can we be sure that people who
how similar or dissimilar their personalities are. adopt children are similar to those people who do not
Stein et al. (2002) examined the heritability of seek to adopt?
negative evaluation fears by using a twin sample (437 A second problem is the placement of the children
twin pairs aged between 18 and 86 years). Genetic themselves into an adoptive environment. Children
correlations between twin scores on submissiveness, who are placed with adoptive parents that are matched
anxiousness and social avoidance facets of a personality closely to their biological parents (as often happens)
test were high. A study in Germany by Borkenau, confuse matters further. Are the children behaving as
Riemann, Angleitner and Spinath (2002), testing 525 they do because of their genes (sharing similar genetic
identical twins and 268 fraternal twins, reported that make-up with their biological parents) or because of
identical twins were more alike in their personalities environmental influences, as their adoptive parents are
than fraternal twins. so similar to their biological parents. It would become
Adoption studies attempt to see if identical twins difficult to unravel this question.
who have been adopted by different families differ in
their personalities. (Obviously researchers cannot make
this happen – it would be rather unethical to storm into
someone’s house, take a set of twins, purposely separate
them and give them to two different families to see how
their personalities develop. Instead they have to wait
for natural separations of twins from their natural
Copyright © 2008. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.

parents for whatever tragic reason.)

If researchers observe that the separated adopted
twins are still similar in their behaviour as they grow
up, this would suggest a strong biological underpinning
to personality manifestation (as they share the same
biology but have different environments). If, on the
other hand, they grow up to have different
personalities, this would suggest, instead, that the
environment is more influential in shaping personality.
Bouchard et al. (2003), in a study called the
Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart, found that Photo 29.2 To what extent do our genes influence our personalities?

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 Personality

commonly between all humans, this is why we physically hemisphere involvement. Other areas of investigation
resemble one another in our main features. involving biological indicators of personality differences
However, a small number of genes are different for concern blood sugar levels. Svanborg (2000) investigated
different people (hair colour for instance). So while we have blood glucose levels and personality. Results indicated that
the sequence for our DNA we do not as yet fully in males, low blood glucose is associated with extroverted
understand the role these genes play in such things as and impulsive, acting-out behaviour that includes breaking
behaviour, cognitive ability and personality. societal norms. Such studies highlight the different kinds of
Work in this area is attempting to determine the extent to research exploring the biological link to personality.
which individual differences in personality are determined
by environmental or genetic factors. This is arguably one of Evaluation of the biological approach to
the most controversial areas of psychology for a number of personality
reasons. If scientists can identify set genes that are related to Theoretical concepts do not have a physical existence and so
personality then these findings might be used for political are difficult to prove or disprove. One main advantage in
purposes. For example, if we found that addiction was the biological approach is that physiological characteristics
related to a specific gene it could be argued that can be reliably measured (the brain, genes and blood are all
rehabilitation of drug and alcohol addicts may represent a physical entities). Brain activity and differences can be taken
thankless task because such programmes cannot override a via a positron emission tomography (PET) scan, which is a
genetic basis for this behaviour. powerful brain-imaging technique. For example, Johnson
There is also concern that if scientists identify certain et al. (1999) have shown that extroverts might seek more
behaviours with the presence of certain genes this will lead because their normal brain arousal (as measured via a PET
to misuse. For example, if criminal behaviour is related to scan) was relatively low (in the frontal lobe area) compared
the presence or absence of a specific gene, this may raise with introverts, which were higher. Introversion, by the
concerns that such information could lead to genetic same token, was associated with increased blood flow in the
screening at birth. This is known as eugenics and it espouses frontal lobes and in the anterior thalamus. So in this case a
the view that we can design the future of the human race by direct physiological indicator has demonstrated a difference
encouraging people to reproduce in a way which promotes in an aspect of personality.
‘so-called’ desired traits and discourages reproduction of The biological approach in terms of hormone and brain
‘undesired’ traits. The Nazi philosophy during the Second activity offers interesting insights into how biology is linked
World War, for example, reflected this extreme view. to the expression of personality, but there is a danger here
However, just because a personality trait is identified that the complexity of human nature is forgotten in such a
with a certain gene it does not mean the environment specifically focused area. Bunge (1990) among others would
cannot play a role in how this behaviour is shaped also (see argue that reduction to biological processes cannot fully
Research methods box 29.2). explain personality. Behaviour is rooted in a rich cocktail of
influential factors, with biological indicators being one
Molecular genetics along with others that can be equally as powerful – such as
Most recently biological research into personality has cognitive processes or environmental pressures.
moved away from the issue of whether genes influence The main problem with the biological approach to
personality towards a much more focused set of questions understanding personality is that a number of
such as ‘how much’ they influence personality and ‘which misconceptions have become attached to this view (see
precise genes’ influence which behaviour. One of the main Applications box 29.1). There is the misconception that
areas in which this is presently being applied is in the
search for genes that are associated with genetically
influenced disorders. So families with a history of these
Copyright © 2008. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.

disorders are studied, blood or saliva is taken from those

members of the family who have the disorder and those
who do not have the disorder so that a DNA comparison
can be made.

Other biological indicators of personality

Research on hormones and brain hemisphere use has also
been used to investigate influences on personality. For
example, Compton et al. (2003) investigated hemisphere
involvement in emotional people. Results indicated that
brooding and dwelling on the negative may be associated
with decreased left hemisphere involvement, whereas Photo 29.3 Brain activity and differences can be monitored using PET scans in an
openness to emotion may be associated with increased right effort to explain differences in personality.

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Psychology

APPLICATIONS BOX 29.1

Applications of personality research
Personality research has been applied to many areas of differences in violent, non-violent and sexual offenders
human behaviour. Presented below are research incarcerated at a medium-security federal penitentiary
findings snapshots from just three areas of application. in America. Violent offenders were found to be more
impulsive and less empathic than non-violent offenders.
Personality and health Sexual offenders were found to be less impulsive, more
Patients who demonstrate ‘fighting spirit’ in response to empathic and more attached than non-sexual offenders.
cancer diagnosis seem to fare better than those who do
not. Indeed, cancer patients who gave higher ratings of Personality and television violence
helplessness and negative beliefs about their future had Haridakis (2002) examined whether several viewer
poorer outcomes (Goodkin et al., 1986). personality characteristics (disinhibition and locus of
Personality seems to play an influential role in the control) mitigated how people view and respond to
post-treatment stage too. Allison, Guichard and Gilian watching television violence. Results supported the
(2000) investigated the role of dispositional optimism notion that individual characteristics and expectations
(DO) as a predictor of health-related quality of life influence the effects of exposure to televised violence.
(HRQL) in a sample of stomach cancer patients. Kiewitz and Weaver (2001) explored the short-term
Following treatment, optimists reported better role and impact of exposure to violent mass media content while
cognitive functioning, and less pain. accounting for personality (i.e. trait-aggression).
Following exposure to either a violent or non-violent
Personality and criminal behaviour film, 268 participants reported their perceptions of
Mak, Heaven and Rummery (2003) investigated the violent interpersonal incidents described in four written
impact of personality factors on self-reported scenarios. High-scoring trait-aggressive individuals
delinquency among 224 male and 196 female Australian generally displayed more callous and hostile tendencies
high-school students. Results indicated that the in their perceptions of interpersonal conflicts than low-
strongest predictor of delinquency among both males scoring trait-aggressive individuals. Moreover, high-
and females was Eysenck’s psychoticism factor, and scoring trait-aggressive males were found to be most
that extroversion scores predicted delinquency – but extreme in reporting aggressive thoughts and actions.
only for males. These studies suggest that personality can be influential
Nussbaum et al. (2002) reported personality in how we interpret and respond to social stimuli.

heredity means permanence – this is not the case as people Summary

can change over their lives due to environmental factors We have seen then how research within this field has been
(such as changing jobs, becoming a parent etc.). There is the directed by a number of significant questions regarding the
misconception that everyone inheriting a trait will act in the nature of personality. The term personality refers to the
same way. Again this is untrue. Only twins inherit all the unique sets of psychological and behavioural
same genes; the majority of us inherit different characteristics/dispositions by which individuals can be
combinations of traits. So two individuals might inherit that compared and contrasted with others. There are five main
particular trait, but they will also inherit other different approaches to personality research: psychodynamic,
Copyright © 2008. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.

traits from one another. So genes can be seen as a chemistry humanistic, trait, cognitive-behavioural and biological.
set – mix the same substance with lots of different Contrasting factors across gender and culture tend to exert
substances and you’ll get different results each time. some influence on the development of personality.
Biological factors also offer some insight into how
Self-test: personality develops. Applications of personality research
■ What has arousability theory said about the bases of are making positive contributions to our understanding of
personality? many applied areas of psychology (such as health, criminal
■ What is Jeffrey Gray’s (1985) reinforcement sensitivity behaviour and social issues).
theory?
■ What effect do hormones have on personality?
■ Have twin studies revealed anything significant about
the biological underpinning of personality?

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 Personality

Learning outcomes
When you have completed this chapter, you should be able to:

1 Describe the main personality theories and evaluate their contribution to our understanding of
personality.
2 Understand the role that biology might play in influencing personality.
3 Describe how social influences might impact on personality.
4 Describe some of the ways in which personality research has been applied to contemporary social
issues.

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Davey, G., Sterling, C., & Field, A. (2008). Complete psychology. Taylor & Francis Group.
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 Complete
Psychology

Essay titles and references

1 Trait theory is better at describing than explaining personality.
Chamorro-Premuzic, T. and Furnham, A. (2005) Personality and Intellectual Competence. London: Routledge.
Cooper, C. C. (2002) Individual Differences, 2nd edn. London: Arnold.
Maltby, J., Day, L. and Macaskill, A. (2006) Personality, Individual Differences and Intelligence. Harlow:
Pearson Education.
Matthews, G. and Deary, I. J. (1998) Personality Traits. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Pennington, D. (2003) Essential Personality. London: Arnold.
2 Compare and contrast three of the six paradigms guiding personality research.
Cooper, C. C. (2002) Individual Differences, 2nd edn. London: Arnold.
Funder, D. C. (2001) Personality, Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 197–221.
Matthews, G. and Deary, I. J. (1998) Personality Traits. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Pennington, D. (2003) Essential Personality. London: Arnold.
Pervin, L. (2003) The Science of Personality, 2nd edn. New York: Oxford University Press.
Pervin, L., Cervone, D. and John, O. (2005) Personality: Theory and Research, 9th edn. New York: John Wiley
& Sons.
Pervin, L. and John, O. (1999) Handbook of Personality. New York: Guilford Press.
Winter, G. and Barenbaum, N. (1999) History of modern personality theory and research. In L. Pervin and
O. John (eds) Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research. New York: Guilford Press.
3 What criticisms have been levelled at the trait approaches to personality? You should refer to particular
theories in your answer.
Chamorro-Premuzic, T. and Furnham, A. (2005) Personality and Intellectual Competence. London: Routledge.
Cooper, C. C. (2002) Individual Differences, 2nd edn. New York and London: Arnold.
Draycott, S. and Kline, P. (1995) The big three or the big five – the EPQ-R vs the NEO-PI: A research note,
replication and elaboration, Personality and Individual Differences, 18(6), 801–804.
Gustavsson, J. P., Weinryb, R. M., Göransson, S., Pedersen, N. L. and Åsberg, M. (1997) Stability and
predictive ability of personality traits across 9 years, Personality and Individual Differences, 22(6), 783–791.
Hjelle, L. A. and Ziegler, D. J. (1992) Personality Theories: Basic Assumptions, Research and Applications. New
York and London: McGraw-Hill.
Maltby, J., Day, L. and Macaskill, A. (2006) Personality, Individual Differences and Intelligence. Harlow:
Pearson Education.
Maraun, M. D. (1997) Appearance and reality: Is the big five the structure of trait descriptors? Personality
and Individual Differences, 22(5), 629–647.
Pennington, D. (2003) Essential Personality. London: Arnold.
Copyright © 2008. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.

4 Compare and contrast the two perspectives (academic and clinical psychology) that guide research into
personality.
Cooper, C. C. (2002) Individual Differences, 2nd edn. London: Arnold.
Maltby, J., Day, L. and Macaskill, A. (2006) Personality, Individual Differences and Intelligence. Harlow:
Pearson Education.
Pennington, D. (2003) Essential Personality. London: Arnold.
Pervin, L. (2003) The Science of Personality, 2nd edn. New York: Oxford University Press.
Pervin, L., Cervone, D. and John, O. (2005) Personality: Theory and Research, 9th edn. New York: John Wiley
& Sons.
Pervin, L. and John, O. (1999) Handbook of Personality. New York: Guilford Press.

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Davey, G., Sterling, C., & Field, A. (2008). Complete psychology. Taylor & Francis Group.
Created from londonmet on 2024-12-10 12:29:51.