Individual Differences in Social Behaviour PSY 424 Individual

Individual Differences in Social Behaviour PSY 424

Individual differences: Can you think of a concrete example?

Baby temperament �activity level �regularity of sleeping and eating patterns �adaptability to change �acceptance of new experiences (“approach- withdrawal”) �sensitivity �intensity of reaction �distractibility �persistence �usual mood (negative or positive)

Baby temperament

Overview �Situation versus disposition debate �Uses of personality variables in behavioural research �Interpersonal dispositions Extraversion Agreeableness

Situations versus Dispositions �Social psychology Stress is on the influence of situation Studies conducted under controlled laboratory conditions Behaviourism dominated middle 2 oth century � Extreme cases denied- the role of individual differences � Pavlov, Skinner, Bandura, Thorndike �Personality psychology Stress is on the impact of traits Investigate individual differences—how people are unique Investigate human nature—how people are alike � Allport: Established personality psychology as a legitimate intellectual discipline and introduced the first of the modern trait theories � Cattell, Goldberg

Situations versus Dispositions �Wundt, Titchener, Terman acknowledged the importance of both personality and the situation. Although Allport ( 1937) acknowledged both personality and situation, he also argued that personality and social psychology should be independent fields -more than 50 years

Situations versus Dispositions �Classical experiments in social psychology used experimental methods Asch Sherif Festinger Milgram

Situations versus Dispositions �Experiments versus correlational studies Lee Cronbach (1957) criticized the acceptance of these two methodologies as distinct. This is a limitation, scientific psychology should make use of both

The person-situation debate �Mischel (1968) Psychology should give up to explain behavior with traits and focus on the situation �JPSP- studies reported individual differences dropped 1966 -1977 - purely experimental rose from 50% to 70%

The person-situation debate �Mischel (1968) Psychology should give up to explain behaviour with traits and focus on the situation �JPSP- studies reported individual differences dropped 1966 -1977 - purely experimental rose from 50% to 70%

The person-situation debate �Mischel (1968) A lot of effort devoted to examine Mischel’s claims and these efforts lead to 4 important conclusions: 1 - Correlations between personality & behaviour and situation � Correlations between situation and behaviour below. 40 � Correlations between personality and behaviour. 30 2 - Epstein (1914) single measure of behavior is not a reliable indicator of a person’s general behavior Behaviours should be aggregated across situations as self report questions are aggregated across the items on a personality questionnaire

The person-situation debate �Mischel (1968) A lot of effort devoted to examine Mischel’s claims and these efforts lead to 4 important conclusions: 1 - Correlations between personality and behaviour. 30 � Correlations between situation and behaviour below. 40 � Correlations between personality and behaviour. 30 2 - Epstein (1914) single measure of behavior is not a reliable indicator of a person’s general behavior Behaviours should be aggregated across situations as self report questions are aggregated across the items on a personality questionnaire

The person-situation debate �Mischel (1968) 3 -Personality relates more strongly to behaviour in some situations than in others. Strong versus weak situations � Yet, even in strong situations such as Milgram’s studies (1963) individual differences were observed 4 - Behaviour can be strongly affected by situational factors and also show strong evidence of individual differences Behaviour and personality correlated. 30 Are the remaining variance is produced by the situation? By the mid 1980 s the percentage of articles in JPSP that examined personality had gained their importance In 2002 – more than the half of the articles in JPSP include some measure of personality

The person-situation debate �Personality and behaviour correlated. 30? Does it imply that remaining correlation is explained by situation? �Experimental and control group What about pre test measures?

Situations versus Dispositions �Behaviour is a function of both the person and the situation. Even the diehard behaviourists and psychodynamic and personological psychologist could not deny that attributes of the person influence how the person reacts.

Uses of personality variables in behavioural research �Individual difference variables can address five basic types of questions Main effects � How features of people’s personalities relate to social psychological phenomena. Gender differences in emotions, aggression, leadership behavior etc. Testing Theories about Situations � Moderation effect of personality Testing Theories about Dispositions � Testing hypotheses about the nature of a particular personality disposition How optimists versus pessimists process negative emotional stimuli?

Uses of personality variables in behavioural research �State or trait convergence Certain situational variables create differences in people's psychological states that are similar to individual differences Certain situations increase people’s motivation to obtain social approval and certain people are dispositionally more motivated to obtain approval than others. � We can study the relationship between the motive to obtain social approval and some behaviour either by experimentally varying factors that influence the desire for approval or by measuring individual differences in the need for approval.

Uses of personality variables in behavioural research �State by trait interactions Explaining thought, emotion or behaviour requires attention to both situational and dispositional factors. Many research tested state by trait interaction