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Stability

Stability. How consistent is personality. Longitudinal studies show consistencies, e.g. childhood behaviourally-rated aggression relates to adult aggression levels. Even behavioural styles at age 3 link to adult personality.

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Stability

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  1. Stability

  2. How consistent is personality • Longitudinal studies show consistencies, e.g. childhood behaviourally-rated aggression relates to adult aggression levels. Even behavioural styles at age 3 link to adult personality. • Over a few years, test-retest reliabilities of personality scales tend to be high (e.g. N 0.83, E 0.82, O 0.83, A 0.63, C 0.79). • Over longer timescales, there are lifespan changes. O, E, N decline while A and C increase (McCrae et al., 1999) • Childhood to adulthood consistency presents some methodological problems: relevant behaviours and measurement methods change.

  3. HOW CONSISTENT IS PERSONALITY? (2) EFFECTS OF SITUATIONS • Mischel (1968) criticised personality theory on the grounds that traits are not strongly predictive of behaviour on a single occasion (correlations of around 0.3). • But aggregrate! • Single-situation measurements are error-prone (e.g. a person who is normally cheerful and outgoing may just have had some bad news). • A given situation may suppress expression of a trait (e.g. extraverted behaviour in a library).

  4. Adult personality: stability and change • Unstable trait isn’t a trait • Valid trait must predict accurately behaviour in a future event (reliable variance in that event)

  5. Mean stability/change N E O A C Age 18 Age 30 30+

  6. Stability II • Individuals complete different personality questionnaires • Is it just one measure/questionnaire that is stable or the actual trait? • Conley (1984, 1985) used the multitrait-multimethod theory. • Developed to obtain stability estimates which are not dependent on the use of a specific personality measure

  7. Conley proposed: • A trait can be observed under more than one experimental condition • A trait can be differentiated from other traits • Individual differences in traits are stable over time

  8. Multitrait-multimethod (Conley, 1985) • 1935-1955, 300 (189) engaged couples • Different raters, several scales • Factor analysis – assessing N, A, Social Extraversion, Impulse control • Self-partner across 20 years correlations: • N, SE, IC , 0.30-0.40 • A, 0.16-0.17 • Self-self: 0.30-0.50 • Scales did not correlate with other scales

  9. Eysenckian 3 and Big 5 • N, 0.83 • A, 0.63 • C, 0.79 • Combining studies: 6-30 year interval • all 5 factors (median stability) around 0.64

  10. Cross Cultural Perspectives: The universality of personality traits

  11. Trait structure and universality • Biological traits • Human nature • Therefore: universal traits

  12. Cross-Cultural Perspectives • Studies have focused on Western cultures. • Triandis and Suh (2002) • the major personality dimensions are also found in non-Western cultures. • Cheung and Leung (1988) • the Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory. • Katigbak et al. (2002) • a Filipino version of the Big Five. • Norenzayan et al. (1999) • people from Western cultures regard personality traits as stable • East Asians regard traits as much more flexible and changeable.

  13. Obstacles • Different societal value of traits • Translated scales • may not reflect values • response style culture-bound • Etics – search for common structure • Emics – search for culturally specific traits

  14. EPQ translations • 25 countries, incl Bangladesh, Brazil, Japan (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1982) • Four factors extracted • Good internal consistency for E and N, lower for P

  15. NEO translations • NEO-PI-R translations (German, Chinese, Japanese) – 5 factors extracted • Review: 26 cultures, 23,031 subjects, similar structures in almost all • Spain and Italy- factor loadings different: eg. assertiveness and activity on C rather than E

  16. Lexical approach • Terms not always translatable • Indigenous Chinese questionnaires - only moderate relationships with translated Q’s • Factor structures not directly comparable • Dutch, Italian, Hungarian – 5 factors, but 5th different

  17. Emics • Big 5 plus indigenous measures • Concept of wisdom in China quite different from America • Correlates of happiness – Taiwan – social integration, human-heartedness • Differences in collectivist/individualistic societies • Values rather than traits – or are they separate?

  18. Personality stability cross-culturally • McCrae et al (2000): German, British, Spanish, Czech, Turkish samples • 14 years + • Good internal consistency on E, N & C • Same patterns of change as in US samples

  19. Cross cultural traits • Lexical and questionnaire approaches – good, if imperfect correspondence • Levels of stability & patterns of sex differences similar • More work on simultaneous administration of big five and culture-specific measurements

  20. Stability/change/culture • Traits stable short & long term • More stable with age • Modest agreement of factor structure across cultures • Sex differences do exist in traits: biology/socialisation? • Longitudinal, childhood-adulthood cross-cultural co-operative studies needed

  21. Personality across the Lifespan

  22. What is temperament and how can we measure it? • Biologically based individual differences in behaviour that are present in early life, and are relatively stable across situations and time (Bates, 1987) • What are the issues about measuring personality/temperament in children?

  23. Type of study • Prospective vs Retrospective - what are the advantages and disadvantages of each type of study? • What are the problems with retrospective reports?

  24. Types of study II • Volunteer, birth cohort, selected sample – what are the issues with each type of study? • Longitudinal studies versus cross-sectional? • Confounding factors may be?

  25. Method of measurement • Self versus other report? • Observer report • Parent versus carer report?

  26. Tool of measurement • Test-retest? • Developmental change with maturation and learning – what would this affect? • Can not use the same tool • What tools are available?

  27. Predictions of temperament • What aspects of behaviour do you think temperament can predict? • From what age? • How would you go about designing such a study?

  28. Are there differences in children? • Behavioural differences can be noticed in children • Are these individual differences due to differences in temperament / personality or due to parenting style or other factors?? • Does the behaviour in childhood predict the personality of the adult?

  29. Approaches • First approach pioneered by Thomas and Chess (1977) • Distinction between personality and temperament is blurred. • Some researchers see temperament and personality traits as almost the same • Second approach pioneered by Strelau (1983) • Draws a distinction between temperament and personality, between biological and socialisation

  30. (Thomas and Chess 1977; Chess and Thomas, 1996) • 9 categories of behaviours: • Activity-level • Rhythmicity • Approach-withdrawal • Adaptability • Threshold of responsiveness • Intensity of reaction • Quality of mood (predominant) • Distractability • Attention span/persistence

  31. Normal temperaments(Thomas and Chess) Temperament Types • Easy (40%) • Slow-to-warm-up (15%) • Difficult (10%) • ?35%

  32. Categorical and Dimensional approaches to personality • Categorical models: people can be divided into types eg.astrology • Dimensional models: assume that scores are distributed continuously in the population

  33. Further work on temperament • Problems with Thomas and Chess – small samples • Rothbart and Bates asked parents about specific behaviours in specific contexts • Rothbart and Bates asked questions such as: • “When put in the bath, how often did the baby kick and splash? Or: “When meeting a stranger, how often did the baby cry?” Response on 7 point scale, never to always. • They had two strands of behavioural-type research • parental report • home observations.

  34. Rothbart and Bates • Two main dimensions: • positive (smiling, laughter, activity) • negative reactivity (fear, frustration) • BUT: problems – Can you think of any???? • They had no control in either self-reports or observations for actual level of stimulus baby experienced: eg. Bath time: • They developed the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Inventory

  35. Laboratory Temperament Assessment Inventory • Goldsmith & Rothbart (1991) • Assessed • Smiling and laughter • Fear • Frustration • Attention • Soothability

  36. Seven factor Model of Temperament? Martin, Wisenbaker and Hattunen (1994) • Activity level • Negative emotionality • Task persistence • Adaptability / agreeableness • Inhibition • Rhythmicity • Threshold

  37. Why different Dimensions • Different raters? • Different behaviours shown at different times? • Parental Bias? • Individual differences in raters?

  38. Psychobiological approaches • Rothbart & Derryberry • Children’s Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ) • Strelau

  39. Reactivity and self-regulation: (Rothbart, Bates, Derryberry) • Temperament (and personality) has basis in neural systems • Motivation, attention and emotion

  40. Reactivity and self-regulation: (Rothbart, Bates, Derryberry) • Temperament (and personality) has basis in neural systems • Motivation, attention and emotion • Children’s Behaviour Questionnaire: • higher order factors: extraversion/surgency, negative affectivity, effortful control

  41. Defensive/fearful motivation system. Novel stimuli, fear, punishment. Appetitive system: approach Affiliant/nurturant system. Social rewards Vigilance system. Alertness Temperament Frustrative/aggressive behaviour system. Irritation, rage. Rothbart & Derryberry

  42. Distinctions between temperament and personality (Strelau)

  43. Linking temperament, later outcomes, personality • Can be related psychometrically • NEO-FFI, EAS-TS: • N: Fearfulness, distress, anger • E: Sociability • O: Activity • A: Anger • C: ?Impulsivity • Longitudinal studies

  44. Can Behaviour in childhood tell us about adulthood • Temperament • Personality • Learning styles • Cognition • Can it predict mental health?

  45. Temperament and personality from childhood to adulthood • New Zealand: Dunedin Study (Caspi et al) • 1037 infants, 1972-73 • longitudinal study assessed at age 3 then again at 5,7,9,11,13,14,15,18 and 21 • Prospective Longitudinal study • Epidemiological Study of a birth cohort • Attrition

  46. Temperament types • Children - divided into three temperamental types • Well-adjusted (capable of self-control, adequately self-confident, not unduly upset in new situations or with new people) • Undercontrolled (impulsive, restless, negativistic, distractible and labile) • Inhibited (socially reticent, fearful, and easily upset by strangers)

  47. Age-3 temperament and later outcomes • What outcomes would you predict? • What aspects of life? • Children’s behaviour problems • ‘Adult’ Personality • Interpersonal Relationships • Employment • Psychiatric Disorders • Criminal Behaviour

  48. Basic reading • Personality Traits Matthews, Deary and Whiteman Further Reading Caspi, A. (2000) The child is the father of the man: personality continuities from childhood to adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 158-172. (not on reserve, see journal in psych library) Rothbart, M.K,Ahadi, S.A., & Evans, D.E. (2000). Temperament and personality: origins and outcomes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 122-135. (see journal in psych library). McCrae, R.R., Costa, P.T., Pedrosa de Lima, M, et al (1999) Age differences in Personality Across the Adult Life Span: Parallels in Five Cultures

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