psy 239 401 chapter 2 slides
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© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
The Personality PuzzleSixth Edition
by David C. Funder
Chapter 2: Clues to Personality:
The Basic Sources of Data
Slides created byTera D. LetzringIdaho State University 1
Objectives
• Discuss four ways to “look at” personality (BLIS—behavior, life, informants, self)
• Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each type of data
• Discuss why it is important to collect as many types of data as possible
2© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Think About It
• If you wanted to know all about the personality of the person sitting next to you, what would you do?
3© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Clues to Personality
• All parts of the psychological triad (thoughts, feelings, behaviors)
• “There are no perfect indicators of personality; there are only clues, and clues are always ambiguous” (p. 21)– Funder’s Second Law– Psychologist’s job
• “Something beats nothing” (p. 23)– Funder’s Third Law
4© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
S Data: Self-Judgments or Self-Reports
• Definition: a person’s evaluation of his or her own personality
• Usually questionnaires or surveys• Most frequent data source• High face validity (the degree to which an
assessment instrument appears to measure what it is intended to measure)
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Advantages of S Data
• Based on a large amount of information– You are always with yourself.– People are usually their own best expert.
• Access to thoughts, feelings, and intentions• Definitional truth
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• Causal force– Efficacy expectations (what you think you are
capable of and the kind of person you think you are)
– Self-verification
• Simple and easy data
8© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Advantages of S Data
Disadvantages of S Data• Maybe people won’t tell you• Maybe people can’t tell you
– Memory is limited and not perfect– Fish-and-water effect– Active distortion of memory– Lack of self-insight
• Too simple and too easy
9© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Informant Report (I) Data
• Definition: judgments by knowledgeable informants about general attributes of the individual’s personality
• Acquaintances, coworkers, clinical psychologists, etc.
• Based on observing people in whatever context they know them from
• Used frequently in daily life
10© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Advantages of I Data• Based on a large amount of information
– Many behaviors in many situations– Judgments from multiple informants are possible
• Based on observation of behavior in the real world– Not from contrived tests or constructed situations– More likely to be relevant to important outcomes
11© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Advantages of I Data• Based on common sense about what
behaviors mean– Takes context into account
• Definitional truth• Causal force
– Reputation affects opportunities and expectancies– Expectancy effects/behavioral confirmation
12© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Disadvantages of I Data
• Limited behavioral information• Lack of access to private experience• Error: more likely to remember behaviors that
are extreme, unusual, or emotionally arousing• Bias: due to personal issues or prejudices
14© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Life Outcomes (L) Data
• Definition• Obtained from archival records or self-report
– Advantages and disadvantages of archival records
• The results or “residue” of personality
15© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Advantages and Disadvantages of L Data
• Advantages– Objective and verifiable– Intrinsic importance– Psychological relevance
• Disadvantage– Multidetermination
16© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Behavioral (B) Data
• “The most visible indication of an individual’s personality is what she does” (p. 44).
• Definition
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Natural B Data• Based on real life• Diary and experience-sampling methods • Reports by acquaintances• Naturalistic observation• Advantage: realistic• Disadvantages: difficult and expensive; desired
contexts may seldomly occur
18© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Laboratory B Data
• Experiments– Make a situation happen and record behavior– Examine reactions to subtle aspects of situations– Represent real-life context that are difficult to
observe directly
19© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Laboratory B Data
• (Certain) personality tests– To see how a person responds– Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
(MMPI), Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), Rorschach Inkblot test
• Physiological measures: biological “behavior”
20© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Advantages and Disadvantages of B Data
• Advantages– Range of contexts in the lab– Appearance of objectivity
• But subjective judgments must still be made
• Disadvantage– Uncertain interpretation
21© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Mixed Types of Data
• Data do not always fit into only one category• There is a wide range of possible types of data• Each type has advantages and disadvantages
22© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
No Infallible Indicators of Personality
• “There are only clues, and clues are always ambiguous” (p. 55).
• It is important to collect more than one type.• Consistent findings increase confidence.• Discrepancies can be interesting and informative.• There are only two kinds of data: terrible data
and no data.– Funder’s Fourth Law
23© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Identify Each Type of Data
1. How much money a person spends on groceries in a month based on receipts
2. What type of food a student purchases from dining areas and vending machines on campus
3. Reports from parents about what kind of food people ate as children
4. Answers to a “Healthy Foods, Healthy People" survey about one’s self
24© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Think About the Sources of Influence on Data
• What are some aspects of personality that people are likely and unlikely to accurately and honestly report about themselves?
• What influences your best friend’s, coworkers’, and mother’s impressions of you?
25© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Think About the Sources of Influence on Data
• What influences whether you will apply to graduate school? get a traffic ticket?
• What influences how long a child will wait to receive a better food?
26© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Clicker Question #1
Data area) clues to personality.b) always ambiguous.c) how researchers can “see” personality.d) all of the above.
27© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Clicker Question #2
If you are interested in what a person does, rather than what a person says about himself, then you are collectinga) S data.b) L data.c) B data.d) I data.
28© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Clicker Question #3What does it mean to say that S data have causal force?a) S data cause personality.b)What people think about themselves influences how they behave.c)How people behave is caused by what others think of them.d)People’s environments cause their self-perceptions.
29© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
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