Theories of Personality
Trait Theorists:
Raymond Cattell
Reference: Schultz, D. P., &; Schultz, S. E. (2013). Chapter 8: Raymond Cattel, Hans Eysenck, and Other Trait Theorists. In Theories of Personality (Tenth, pp. 212–224). essay, Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Prepared by: Ma. Arnie Domingo
Later years
Childhood to Early Adulthood
- In his 70s, Cattell joined University of Hawaii
- Published more than 500 articles as well as 43 books, a monumental accomplishments that reflects his dedication and perseverance
- In 1997, he was guiven the Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in Psychological Science from APA.
- He died at the age of 92 in Honolulu
- He remembered a happy childhood.
- At 9, World War I hapened. Made him unusually serious for a boy, and aware of the "brevity of life and the need to accomplish while one might."
- These experiences may be the origin of his intense dedication to his work
- At 16, enrolled at University of London to study Physics and Chemistry (3 years)
- Increasing interest in social problems, entering Psychology
LIFE
Middle Life
1905
- After his Ph.D. in 1929, he realized that there are few opportunities in Psychology.
- Cattell resolved to apply the Factor Analysis developed by Spearman to the structure of personality.
- Experienced harships in life which made him to focus on practical problems than theoretical and experimental issues
- 8 years after his Ph.D., he was finally given an opportunity to work in full-time in Psychology with Thorndike
- He was given multiple professorial jobs in different universities
- Later on, he moved to Harvard where he said the "sap of creativity" rose.
- At 40, he settle at University of Illinois as a research professor
Born in Staffordshire, England
...In his study of
PERSONALITY
WORK
He made no reference to changing or modifying behavior from undesirable to desirable or from abnormal to normal
1.
His subjects are the "normal" people, which he aimed to study the personality of, and not to treat, believing that it is rather unwise to attempt to change a personality before understanding fully what was to be modified.
2.
3.
Used a rigorous scientific approach; Relied on Observations of Behavior and masses of data, in which he submitted to the statistical procedure called Factor Analysis.
FACTOR ANALYSIS is
Factor Analysis
a statistical treatment involving the assessment of the relationships between 2 or more factors.
Cattell referred these Factors as Traits.
Cattell's Approach to Personality Traits
TRAIT
Traits are the basic structural units of the personality.
COMMON TRAITS
COMMON TRAITS
- Traits that are possessed by everyone to some degree.
- Universal. (Hereditary potential and similar social pressures, at least within same culture)
Eg. Intelligence, Dependability
UNIQUE
TRAITS
- more distinguishing traits, and particularly apparent in our interests and attitudes.
Eg. Political interests, interest in a specific Sport.
ABILITY
TRAITS
- Traits that determine how efficiently we will be able towards our goal
Eg. Level of one's intelligence
TEMPERAMENT
TRAITS
- traits that describe the general style and the emtional tone of our behavior; also affects the way we act and react towards a certain situation
Eg. Assertiveness, Carefree, Irritability
DYNAMIC
TRAITS
- The driving forces of the behavior; They define our motivations, interest,a nd ambitions.
- 2 Kinds: the Ergs and the Sentiments
ERGS are the innate energy source or driving force for all behaviors, the basic units of motivation that direct us toward specific goal.
ERGS
11 identified Ergs:
- Anger
- Appeal
- Curiosity
- Disgust
- Gregariousness
- Hunger
- Protection
- Security
- Self-assertion
- Self-submission
- Sex
SENTIMENTS are patterns of learned attitudes that focuses on an important aspect of life.
Eg. Community, Spouse, Occupation, Religion, etc.
SENTIMENTS
SURFACE
TRAITS
- Traits that are composed of several elements; Manifested as a group of interrelated observable behaviors
- Less stable and permanent
Anxiety
Indecision
Irrational Fear
SOURCE
TRAITS
- The Basic Factors of Personality
- Unitary personality factors that are much moer stable and permanent.
- Individual factors derived from factor analysis that combine to account for surface traits
ENVIRONMENTAL-MOLD
TRAITS
Environmental-mold Traits were derived from influences in our social and physical environment
Constitutional traits originate in biological conditions but are not necessarily innate.
CONSTITUTIONAL
TRAITS
INFLUENCES OF HEREDITY AND ENVIRONMENT
INFLUENCES
- Created an investigation about the importance of hereditary and environmental factors
- The results showed that for some traits, heredity plays a major role.
- 1/3 genetically-based; 2/3 social and environmental influence
QUESTIONS ABOUT HUMAN NATURE
HUMAN
NATURE
- "Personality is that which permits a prediction of what a person will do in a given situation;
- Free will < Determinism
- Did not propose goals: no proposition about drive for self-actualization to pull toward the future; no psychosexual conflict to push from the past
- Nature = Nurture
ASSESSMENT IN CATTELL'S THEORY
ASSESS-
MENT
- Life Records (L-Data). Observer's ratings of specific behaviors exhibited by people in real-life settings such as classrooms and offices
- Questionnaires (Q-data). Relies on questionnaires answered by the subjects themselves.
- Personality tests (T-data). He uses "objective" tests, in which a person responds without knowing what aspect of behavior is being evaluated. -Rorschach and Thematic Apperception Test
16 PF TEST
- Most notable is the 16 Personality Factor Test (16 major source traits)
- Responses are scored objectively
- Widely used to assess personality for research, clinical diagnosis and predicting occupational success.
- Also used to predict marital stability.
- Can be faked if you want to present yourself in a more favorble light
- Can be used in many cultures (translated to over 40 languages) but literal translation os some items are not possible.
- Yielded results indicating some source of traits are primarily inherited, while others are determined by environmental influences.
REFLECTIONS ON CATTELL'S THEORY
based on:
REFLECTIONS
- Subjectivity
- Quantity and Complexity of his Method
- Remains as the Father of Personality Trait Approach