1

Psychology 305ALecture 12

Big Trait TaxonomiesPersonality Change and Stability

2

Major Trait Taxonomies: Hans Eysenck

• Theoretical approach– Personality taxonomy should be rooted in

biology • PEN: 3 major traits of interest

– Psychoticism (related to testosterone level)– Extraversion (related to central nervous

system arousal)– Neuroticism (related to lability of autonomic

nervous system)

3

Eysenck’s PsychoticismPsychoticism

Aggressive Cold Egocentric Impersonal

Impulsive Unempathic Creative Anti-social

Tough-minded

Low end of psychoticism: Impulse control/Agreeableness

4

Eysenck’s Extraversion

Extraversion

Sociable Lively Active Assertive

Carefree Dominant Surgent Venturesome

Sensation-seeking

Low end of extraversion continuum: Introversion

5

Eysenck’s NeutroticismNeuroticism

Anxious Depressed Tense Irrational

Shy Moody Emotional Low self-esteem

Guilt-feelings

Low end of neuroticism: Emotional Stability

6

Circumplex TaxonomiesEysenck’s ‘Big Two’

Neurotic

7

Circumplex Taxonomies

• Two broad factors– Extraversion and Neuroticism

• Factors are statistically independent– Your level on one factor does not have any

relation to your level on another factor– Possible to be high E + high N, high E + low N,

low E + low N, or low E + high N

8

Circumplex TaxonomiesEysenck’s ‘Big Two’

Neurotic

9

How are the 3 broad factors related to each other?

10

Problems with PEN

• Not all-inclusive– Other empirical studies found more than 3 factors

• Other traits show heritability– e.g., conscientiousness

• Several other taxonomies developed to address these issues– Cattell’s 16 – Wiggins’ theory of interpersonal traits– The Five Factor Model (FFM)

11

The Five-Factor Model (FFM)or “Big 5”

Costa & McCrae (1992); Goldberg (1981)• Openness

– Curious, unconventional, intellectual• Conscientiousness

– Orderly, persistent, traditional• Extraversion

– Exuberant, sociable, assertive• Agreeableness

– Caring, polite, modest• Neuroticism

– Emotional, anxious, aggressive-hostile

12

FFM has received most empirical support of any model

• Based on lexical studies of the dictionary– Started with 17,953 trait terms (Allport & Odbert)

• Factor analyses found 5 factors– Replicated MANY times, in many different samples

• Cross-cultural replication• Cross-species replication (e.g., dogs, hyenas, monkeys)

– High correlations between self and other ratings– Genetic links

13

Importance of Facets

• Mini-traits within broader traits• e.g., C = Orderliness & Industriousness

– Different predictive validity– Correlate ~r = .50-.70 with factor– Correlate ~r = .30-.60 with other facets– Six per trait (Big Five)– Two per trait

14

FFM: Extraversion

Extraversion

Gregariousness Activity level Assertiveness Warmth

Excitement Seeking

Positive Emotions

Extraverts love social attention, are happier, live fast-paced lives, and make good leaders.

15

FFM: Agreeableness

Agreeableness

Trust Altruism Modesty Compliance

Straight-forwardness

Tender-mindedness

Agreeable people resolve conflicts, are well-liked and easy to live with, and care about others.

16

FFM: Conscientiousness

Conscientiousness

Competence Order Dutifulness Achievement-striving

Self-Discipline Deliberation

Conscientious people work hard in school and jobs, follow rules and norms, and live orderly, planned lives.

17

FFM: Neuroticism

Neuroticism

Anxiety Depression Vulnerability Impulsiveness

Self-consciousness

AngryHostility

Neurotic people are highly emotional, have mood swings, have instability in relationships, and are more fatigued.

18

FFM: Openness to Experience

Openness

Fantasy Aesthetics Feelings Ideas

Actions Values

Open people remember dreams better, are more creative, enjoy novel experiences, and play with big ideas.

19

• Extraversion– PEN Extraversion

• Neuroticism– PEN Neuroticism

• Agreeableness– PEN Psychoticism (low)

• Conscientiousness– PEN Psychoticism (low)

• Openness to Experience– PEN?

• Questions on Big Five?

FFM and PEN

20

Personality Stability and Change

1991------------------------------------------------2006

- By definition, traits are stable dispositions across situations & time- Personality not completely “set like plaster”

21

Personality Change in College

• Have you increased, decreased, or stayed the same in: – Extraversion: ___– Agreeableness: ___– Conscientiousness: ___– Neuroticism: ___– Openness: ___

22

Personality Change in College

• Study compared personality scores at beginning and end of university

• Two Assessments– Year 1 (beginning of first year)

• Students filled out the NEO-Five Factor Inventory– Year 4 (end of senior year)

• Students filled out the NEO-FFI again

23

Big Five Dimension Change during university

Extraversion

Agreeableness

Conscientiousness

Neuroticism

Openness

Longitudinal University Study

0

+

+

-+

24

I’ve decreased

I’ve stayed the same

I’ve increased

Extraversion (0) 12% 34% 54%

Agreeableness (+) 17% 42% 41%

Conscientiousness (+) 9% 40% 51%

Neuroticism (-) 44% 32% 24%

Openness (+) 10% 35% 55%

Perceived Personality Change

25

- 98% of participants perceived they had changed on at least one dimension

- Only 64% of participants actually had changed significantly on at least one dimension

People seem to overestimate how much they’ve changed

Perceived Personality Change

26

Personality Change Across Lifespan

• People tend to increase or decrease on certain traits over time– Most change occurs between ages 20-40

• Change follows a maturity principle– People adopt productive social roles

• Work, marriage, community, etc.– Increased O, C, E, A– Decreased N

27

Do we ever stop changing?• Costa & McCrae: “After the age of 30,

personality is set in plaster.”• Roberts & Del Vecchio (2000)

– Meta-analysis: Compiled results from all studies EVER done on personality change and development

– Compared “personality consistency” across ages• At which ages was the correlation between P at T1 and P at

T2 highest?

– Consistency increases across age– Peaks in the 50’s (r = .75)

289-12 13-17 18-22 23-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80

Lifespan Cross-Sectional Study

29

Lifespan Cross-Sectional Study

2.50

2.70

2.90

3.10

3.30

3.50

3.70

9 to 12 13 to 17 18 to 22 23 to 30 31 to 40 41 to 50 51 to 60 61 to 70 71 to 90

E

9-12 13-17 18-22 23-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80

30

Lifespan Cross-Sectional Study

2.50

2.70

2.90

3.10

3.30

3.50

3.70

3.90

4.10

9 to 12 13 to 17 18 to 22 23 to 30 31 to 40 41 to 50 51 to 60 61 to 70 71 to 90

E

A

9-12 13-17 18-22 23-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80

31

Lifespan Cross-Sectional Study

2.50

2.70

2.90

3.10

3.30

3.50

3.70

3.90

4.10

9 to 12 13 to 17 18 to 22 23 to 30 31 to 40 41 to 50 51 to 60 61 to 70 71 to 90

E

A

C

9-12 13-17 18-22 23-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80

32

Lifespan Cross-Sectional Study

2.50

2.70

2.90

3.10

3.30

3.50

3.70

3.90

4.10

9 to 12 13 to 17 18 to 22 23 to 30 31 to 40 41 to 50 51 to 60 61 to 70 71 to 90

E

A

C

N

9-12 13-17 18-22 23-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80

33

Lifespan Cross-Sectional Study

2.50

2.70

2.90

3.10

3.30

3.50

3.70

3.90

4.10

9 to 12 13 to 17 18 to 22 23 to 30 31 to 40 41 to 50 51 to 60 61 to 70 71 to 90

E

A

OC

N

9-12 13-17 18-22 23-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80

34

Events Lead to Personality Change

• College– More visits to health center increase in

Neuroticism – Valuing learning (vs. performance) increase in

Openness– Positive interactions with university increase

in Agreeableness– Valuing popularity over academics increase in

Extraversion– Higher GPA increase in Conscientiousness

35

• Adulthood– Being married increase in Conscientiousness– Smoking marijuana decrease in

Conscientiousness– Drug rehab (for addicts) decrease in N,

increase in A and C

• Life events require and bring out different personalities

Events Lead to Personality Change

Announcements

• Next Class: The Social Network– October 12 & 14

• Research assistants wanted!– Contact Aaron: acweidman@psych.ubc.ca

36