Personality Theory & Research:

An International Perspective Gordon L. Flett

Prepared by Brenda Baird, University of Ottawa

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Chapter 3 Overview
The Development of Personality Personality Differences in Children Personality Stability: Plaster, Plastic or Both? Personality Development External Influences on Personality Development The Role of Culture in Personality Development Type A Behaviour in Children: An Illustration of Multiple Development Influences
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Personality Differences in Children

Imposter phenomenon results when people are encouraged by family to act in ways that are inconsistent with their true selves People also feel like imposters when they construct perfectionistic standards Personality development reflects multiple influences throughout the lifespan

Personality Differences In Children

Supertraits in Children: The Five-Factor Model Five Some individual differences are detected shortly after birth Type A behaviours are detected among 3-and 434years olds Evidence for the five factors can be seen in young people; referred to as the Little Five Little Five Studies using The California Child Q-Set have Qrevealed the five factors plus two others: irritability and activity (John et al., 1994) Lamb et al. (2002) suggested openness was not a meaningful factor until adolescence

Personality Differences In Children

Supertraits in Children: The Five-Factor Model Five Parents spontaneous description of their children has revealed only four factors Mervielde and De Fruyt (2000) revealed three factors using a peer nomination procedure Cross-cultural studies report five factors, but Crosssuggest cultural differences in the salience of certain traits
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Personality Differences In Children

Eysencks Big Three in Children Eysencks three dimensions have been assessed in children using the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Junior (EPQ-J) Questionnaire(EPQ The scale was supported, with individual differences on all three dimensions, but low reliability on psychoticism Existing data shows limited support for the openness factor
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Personality Stability: Plaster, Plastic, Or Both?

James formulated two hypotheses to address the issue of personality as stable or changing:

Plasticity Hypothesis Personality is changeable, like plastic Plaster Hypothesis Personality is enduring, like plaster

James supported the plaster hypothesis, stating that personality is set by age 2030. 20
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Personality Stability: Plaster, Plastic, Or Both?

Factors that Promote Personality Stability Life Experiences Genetic factors Caspi & Ben (1990) named three sources of stability: People are proactive People are reactive People are evocative

Personality Stability: Plaster, Plastic, Or Both?

Methods of Evaluating the Consistency of Personality Traits Mean-level stability Mean Test-retest correlation Test Rank-order stability RankMeta analysis shows a step-like increase in steprankrank-order stability until traits peak at 5070 50 yearsyears-old
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Personality Stability: Plaster, Plastic, Or Both?

Methods of Evaluating the Consistency of Personality Traits Ipsative stability focuses on comparing one variable with another Ipsative scoring occurs when a measure on one score influences or restricts the score on another measure Moskowitz (1998) examined dynamic stability: the stability: regularity of fluctuations over time in people Moskowitz and Zuroff (2004) introduced the concepts of flux, pulse, and spin to describe intraflux, pulse, intraindividual variability in interpersonal behaviour
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Personality Stability: Plaster, Plastic, Or Both?

Is Personality Set by Age 30?
Most dramatic changes occur in early adulthood but substantial personality change occurs after age 30 Social dominance increases with age Social vitality decreases with age Agreeableness and conscientiousness increase with age Neuroticism decreases with age Overall, evidence suggests both stability and change

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Personality Stability: Plaster, Plastic, Or Both?

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Personality Stability: Plaster, Plastic, Or Both?

Another Way of Examining Stability: The Stability of Character Vaillant (2002) defined personality as the sum of individual differences in temperament and character According to Vaillant, character can change due to environmental influences, but temperament is stable
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Personality Stability: Plaster, Plastic, Or Both?

Personality Stability and Change in Older People Elder and Caspi (1988) believe life stressors increase personality stability as outlined in their accentuation principle: principle:

People respond to stress by returning to familiar ways that serve to accentuate existing traits

However, stress can produce change if the stress is incongruent with the existing personality

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Personality Development
Genetic versus Environmental Factors Genotype refers to our inherited, genetic potential (unobservable) Phenotype refers to the behavioural expression of the genotype in the environment (observable) Heritability refers to the proportion of phenotypic variance in a sample explained by genetic factors
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Personality Development
Genetic versus Environmental Factors The role of genetic vs. environmental influences is assessed using twin studies and the adoptee method

Twin studies compare concordance rates between monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins Adoptee method determines the degree of shared characteristics between adopted children and their biological vs. adoptive parents

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Personality Development
Genetic versus Environmental Factors Equal environment assumption: the implicit assumption: assumption that MZ and DZ twins are treated equally by others It is important in behavioural genetic studies to determine the role of shared (common) versus nonshared (unique) environments Nonadditive genetic effects are clusters of genes that coexist in one person
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Personality Development
Genetic versus Environmental Factors Some identical twins have similarities despite being raised apart The two Jims showed remarkable similarities in behaviour and life choices The Germain quadruplets all developed schizophrenia by age 24

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Personality Development
Genetic versus Environmental Factors Research findings using data obtained from twin registries have provided evidence for the role of genetic factors in personality Heritability estimates for the five-factor fivemodel show 50% of the variance in most personality traits can be attributed to genetic factors This conclusion is supported crosscrossculturally
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Personality Development
Temperament Temperament refers to the style of expressing behaviour Most researchers view individual differences in temperament as biologically based Research has identified dimensions of temperament that reflect three types of easy, difficult, slow-to-warmchildren: easy, difficult, and slow-to-warmup
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Personality Development
Temperament Dimensions Theorists differ on the number and type of temperament dimensions Karp, Serbin, Stack, & Schwartzman (2004) identified six dimensions using the Behavioural Style Observation System (BSOS) Karp et al. support a strong relation between observation and maternal report of temperament
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Personality Development
The Stability of Temperament Research shows temperament is stable over time, but research findings also indicate that traits have more longitudinal stability Roberts and DelVecchio (2003) report more stability for traits than temperament in their meta-analysis meta Dimensions do seem to generalize crosscrossculturally, with effortful control gaining empirical notice
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Personality Development
The Stability of Temperament According to Strelau, temperament involves several trait factors that can modify stress-related situations stress Strelau (1998) studied the link between temperament and stress reactivity, and the interplay with situational, psychological, and physiological factors

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Personality Development

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External Influences on Personality Development

Parenting Styles Baumrind (1971) identified three parenting styles: Authoritarian (over controlling) Permissive ( uninvolved) Authoritative (discipline using reason) Colorosso (1994) identified three dimensions in terms of family types: Brick wall family: authoritarian Jelly fish family: permissive Backbone family: authoritative

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External Influences on Personality Development

Parenting Styles Metsapelto and Pulkkinen (2002) identified three parenting types:

Engaged Emotionally involved Emotionally detached

Metsapelto and Pulkkinen (2002) found that parents personalities were linked to parental tendencies
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External Influences on Personality Development

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External Influences on Personality Development

The Personality of Parents Traits in the five-factor model identified as fivebest predictors of maladaptive parenting are high neuroticism, low extroversion, neuroticism, extroversion, and agreeableness Personality factors that predict parenting behaviour may differ for mothers and fathers Cross-cultural research in parenting Crossbehaviour is presently limited
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External Influences on Personality Development

Parenting Styles and Child Outcomes across Cultures Scott, Scott, and McCabe (1991) explored the relation between the parents characteristics and the childs personality Self-reports from children indicated that Selfparental nurturance was related to a childs level of self-esteem and anxiety self-

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External Influences on Personality Development

The Directionality Issue The directionality issue refers to the impact of a child on the parent in shaping behaviours and experiences A developing child makes choices and influences others feedback through an selfactive process termed self-socialization This interplay of child and parent both impacting on each other is referred to as a transactional model
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External Influences on Personality Development

The Unimportance of Parents? Harris (1998) suggests that temperament plays a larger role than parenting in the development of a childs personality Parents may impact on self-concept, and selfattitudes toward gender schemas Overcontrolling parental practices predict anxiety in children

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The Role of Culture in Personality Development

Cultures can differ in mean levels of personality variables or in the amount of heterogeneity within the culture Cultures can also differ in the importance placed on specific dimensions of personality Individualism refers to an emphasis on personal goals; Collectivism refers to an emphasis on group cohesion

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The Role of Culture in Personality Development

It is important to be aware of stereotypes when describing the characteristics of a culture; characteristics should be regularly assessed It is also important to be aware of heterogeneity within a culture Holloway and Behrens (2002) found much variability in parenting style Holloway and Behrens also found differences between cultures in parenting self-efficacy self(viewing the self as a competent parent)
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Type A Behaviour in Children: Multiple Developmental Influences

Research in Type A behaviour has reported individual differences at a very early age The main characteristics of Type A competitiveness, behaviour are competitiveness, time urgency, impatience, urgency, impatience, and hostility Type A characteristics in children interact with the situation

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Type A Behaviour in Children: Multiple Developmental Influences

Familial Factors Type A behaviour in children may be attempts to gain approval from significant others There is a positive relation between Type A behaviour in children and their parents, but this relation is moderate and varies with the Type A component being assessed
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Type A Behaviour in Children: Multiple Developmental Influences

Genetic Factors Research suggests an inherited biological component for Type a behaviour Genetic factors may vary with the component being assessed, with the role of genetics most evident in cynical hostility Research showing that Type A behaviour may be a learned response to stressors is evidence of environment factors
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Type A Behaviour in Children: Multiple Developmental Influences

A Role for Culture? Cross-cultural research on Type A Crossbehaviour in children is limited, but studies with adults do suggest a role of culture Different cultures may have different forms of Type A behaviour that reflect a collective rather than an individualistic view (e. g., perfectionism vs. competitiveness in Japan)
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Copyright
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