Theories of Personality Eysenck Mc Crae and Costa

Theories of Personality Eysenck, Mc. Crae and Costa Chapter 14 © Mc. Graw-Hill © 2009 by The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

Outline • • Overview of Factor and Trait Theories Biography of Hans J. Eysenck The Pioneering Work of Raymond Cattell Basics of Factor Analysis Eysenck’s Factor Theory Dimensions of Personality Measuring Personality Biological Bases of Personality Cont’d © Mc. Graw-Hill

Outline • Personality as a Predictor • The Big Five: Taxonomy or Theory? • Biographies of Robert R. Mc. Crae and Paul T. Costa, Jr. • In Search of the Big Five • Evolution of the Five-Factor Theory • Related Research • Critique of Trait and Factor Theories • Concept of Humanity © Mc. Graw-Hill

Overview of Factor and Trait Theories • Utilize Factor Analytic Methods to Determine How Many Traits or Dispositions • Disagreement on How Many Personality Traits – Cattell: Many Factors – Eysenck: Three Factors – Mc. Crae and Costa: Five Factors © Mc. Graw-Hill

Biography of Eysenck • Born in Berlin, Germany in 1916 • As a teenager, moved to England to escape Nazis • Received his Ph. D in psychology at the University of London in 1940 • Published Dimensions of Personality in 1947 • One of the most prolific and controversial psychologists in the world • Died in 1997 at age 81 © Mc. Graw-Hill

Cattell’s Trait Theory • Cattell’s Method – Used inductive method to gather data – Used three different media of observation • L data • Q data • T data – Divided traits into common and unique traits – His approach yielded 35 primary or first-order traits © Mc. Graw-Hill

Basics of Factor Analysis • • Correlation coefficient Factor analysis Factor loadings Unipolar and bipolar traits Eysenck orthogonal rotation Cattell oblique rotation © Mc. Graw-Hill

Eysenck’s Factor Theory • Criteria for Identifying Factors – – Psychometric evidence Heritability Must make sense from a theoretical point of view Must possess social relevance • Hierarchy of Behavior Organization (from lowest to highest) – – Specific acts or cognitions Habitual acts or cognitions Traits Types or superfactors © Mc. Graw-Hill

Dimensions of Personality • Three General Superfactors – Extraversion – Neuroticism – Psychoticism © Mc. Graw-Hill

Measuring Personality • Eysenck created four inventories for measuring superfactors: – Maudsley Personality Inventory (MPI) – Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) – Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), which was revised (EPQ-R) © Mc. Graw-Hill

Biological Basis of Personality • Three fourths of personality dimensions can be accounted for by heredity • Found these factors to exist crossculturally • Stability of traits over time • Twin research suggests strong similarities on these dimensions © Mc. Graw-Hill

Personality as a Predictor • Personality and Behavior – Eysenck & Eysenck (1985) – Eysenck & Eysenck (1975) • Personality and Disease – Several studies have found an association between personality and disease • These do not prove that psychological factors cause disease, but they may interact with other factors to create risk © Mc. Graw-Hill

The Big Five: Taxonomy or Theory? • Taxonomies are not theories • The Five-Factor Model began as an attempt to identify basic personality traits as revealed by factor analysis • Evolved into a taxonomy • The model then became a theory – It can predict and explain behavior © Mc. Graw-Hill

Biographies of Robert R. Mc. Crae and Paul T. Costa, Jr. • Robert Mc. Crae was born in Maryville, Missouri in 1949 • Youngest of three children • Completed Ph. D in psychology at Boston University, where he was referred to Paul Costa • Began collaborating in 1976 • Costa was born in Franklin, New Hampshire in 1942 • He received his Ph. D in human development from the University of Chicago in 1970 • The collaboration between Mc. Crae and Costa has been fruitful, producing over 200 joint publications © Mc. Graw-Hill

In Search of the Big Five • Five Factors Found – Costa and Mc. Crae utilized every major personality inventory and came up with a five-factor solution – Most personality psychologists have opted for this model • Cross-cultural • Demonstrate stability over time • Description of the Five Factors – – – Extraversion Neuroticism Openness Agreeableness Conscientiousness © Mc. Graw-Hill

Evolution of the Five-Factor Theory • Units of the Five-Factor Theory – Core Components of Personality • Basic tendencies • Characteristic adaptations • Self-concept – Peripheral Components • Biological bases • Objective biography • External Influences • Basic Postulates – Postulates for Basic Tendencies – Postulates for Characteristic Adaptations © Mc. Graw-Hill

Related Research • Biology and Personality – – – Beauducel et al. (2009) Eysenck (1990) Stelmack (1990, 1997) Doucet & Stelmack (2000) Dornick & Ekehammer (1990) • Personality and Culture – Mc. Crae (2002) – Poortinga et al. (2000) • Traits and Academics – Noftle & Robins (2007) • Traits and Emotion – Mc. Niel & Fleeson (2009) – Robinson & Clore (2007) © Mc. Graw-Hill

Critique of Trait and Factor Theories • Trait and Factor Theories are: – Very High on Generating Research and Parsimony – High on Organizing Knowledge – Moderate on Falsifiability – Moderate to Low as a Guide for Practitioners and Internal Consistency © Mc. Graw-Hill

Concept of Humanity • Eysenck, Mc. Crae and Costa are not concerned with concepts of determinism versus free choice, optimism versus pessimism, and causality versus teleology • Biology over Social Influence • Conscious over Unconscious • Uniqueness over Similarity © Mc. Graw-Hill