This Document Contains Chapters 13 to 15 Chapter 13 Emotion and Personality Chapter Outline Introduction Emotions include three components Associated with distinct subjective feelings or affects Accompanied by bodily changes, mostly in the nervous system Accompanied by distinct action tendencies, or increases in probabilities of certain behaviors People differ in emotional reactions, even to the same event, so emotions are useful in making distinctions between persons Issues in Emotion Research Emotional States Versus Emotional Traits Emotional states: Transitory, depend more on the situation than on a specific person Emotional traits: Pattern of emotional reactions that a person consistently experiences across a variety of life situations
Categorical Versus Dimensional Approach to Emotion Categorical approach Focus on identifying a small number of primary and distinct emotions Lack of consensus about regarding which emotions are primary Lack of consensus is attributable to different criteria used for defining an emotion as primary Dimensional approach Based on empirical research rather than theoretical criteria People rate themselves on a variety of emotions, then the researcher applies statistical techniques (mostly factor analysis) to identify dimensions underlying ratings Consensus among researchers on two basic dimensions: Pleasant/Unpleasant and High Arousal/Low Arousal Two-dimensional model suggests every emotion can be described as a combination of pleasantness/unpleasantness and arousal
Content Versus Style of Emotional Life
Content refers to the specific kinds of emotions that a person experiences Style refers to how emotions are experienced Content and style have trait-like properties (stable over time and situations, meaningful for making distinctions between people) Content of Emotional Life Pleasant Emotions Happiness and life satisfaction Researchers have defined happiness in two complimentary ways Life-satisfaction component: Judgment that life has purpose and meaning Hedonic component: Predominance of positive relative to negative emotions Self-report and non-self-report measures of happiness correlate with self-report scores on social desirability Part of being happy is to have positive illusions about the self, an inflated view of the self as a good, able, desirable person Survey measures of happiness and well-being predict other aspects of people’s lives we would expect to relate to being happy Compared to unhappy people, happy people are less abusive, less hostile, report fewer diseases, are more helpful, creative, energetic, forgiving, and trusting Thus, self-reports of happiness are valid and trustworthy What we know about happy people No sex difference in overall happiness, global well-being, life satisfaction, and across cultures and countries No age differences in overall happiness, although circumstances that make people happy change with age Ethnic group membership is unrelated to subjective well-being National differences in subjective well-being People in poorer countries are less happy People in countries that provide citizens fewer civil and political rights are less happy Differences in economic development of nations may be a key source of differences in happiness of countries Personality and well-being High extraversion and low neuroticism contribute more to happiness than gender, ethnicity, age, and all other demographic characteristics Two different models of relationship between personality and well-being Indirect model: Personality causes a person to create a certain lifestyle, and lifestyle causes emotional reactions Direct model: Personality causes emotional reactions Research by Larsen et al. to assess the direct model Best predictor of responsiveness to positive mood induction is extraversion Best predictor of responsiveness to negative mood induction is neuroticism Thus, it is easy to put an extravert into a good mood and a high neuroticism person into a bad mood Suggests personality had a direct effect on emotions Unpleasant emotions Anxiety, negative affectivity, or neuroticism Person high on neuroticism is moody, touchy, irritable, anxious, unstable, pessimistic, and complaining Eysenck’s biological theory Neuroticism is due primarily to the tendency of the limbic system in the brain to become easily activated Limbic system is responsible for emotion and for “fight-flight” reaction Neuroticism is highly stable over time Neuroticism is a major dimension of personality found with different data sources in different cultures and by different researchers Neuroticisms shows moderate heritability Cognitive theories Neuroticism is caused by styles of information processing—preferential processing of negative (but not positive) information about the self (not about others) Related explanation holds that high neuroticism people have richer networks of association surrounding memories of negative emotion—unpleasant material is more accessible One type of unpleasant information is poor health—link between neuroticism and self-reported health complaints Major diseases categories are not related to neuroticism But neuroticism is related to diminished immune functioning during stress Matthews’ attentional theory that high neuroticism people pay more attention to threats and unpleasant information in environments Depression and melancholia Diathesis-stress model: Stressful life event triggers depression among those with pre-existing vulnerability, or diathesis Beck’s cognitive theory: Certain cognitive style is a pre-existing condition that makes people vulnerable to depression Vulnerability lies in the particular cognitive schema, a way of looking at the world Three areas of life most influenced by depressive cognitive schema—Cognitive triad: Information about self, world, future Explanatory style Depressed people maintain an internal, stable, and global explanatory style—pessimistic explanatory style Anger-proneness and potential for hostility Type A personality and heart disease Research identified Type A personality as a predictor of heart disease Research subsequently identified hostility as a trait of Type A most strongly related to heart disease Style of Emotional Life Emotional content refers to the “what” of person’s emotional life, whereas style refers to the “how” of an emotional life Affect intensity as an emotional style High affect intensity people experience emotions strongly and are emotionally reactive and variable Low affect intensity people experience emotions only mildly and only gradual fluctuations and minor reactions Assessing affect intensity and mood variability In early studies, affect intensity was assessed using a daily experiential sampling technique Affect Intensity Measure (AIM): Questionnaire measure that allows quick assessment of emotional style in terms of intensity Research findings on affect intensity High (relative to low) affect intensity people display greater mood variability or more frequent fluctuations in emotional life over time Affect intensity relates to personality dimensions of high activity level, sociability, arousability, high extraversion, high neuroticism Interaction of Content and Style in Emotional Life Hedonic balance between positive and negative emotions represents the content of emotional life Affect intensity represents the style of emotional life Hedonic balance and affect intensity are unrelated to each other and interact to produce specific types of emotional lives that characterize different personalities Positive hedonic balance, low affect intensity Positive hedonic balance, high affect intensity Negative hedonic balance, low affect intensity Negative hedonic balance, high affect intensity SUMMARY AND EVALUATION Emotion states versus emotional traits Emotional content versus emotional style Content and style interact within persons to produce distinct varieties of emotional lives KEY TERMS Emotions Anterior Cingulate Action Tendencies Prefrontal Cortex Functional Analysis Depression Emotional States Diathesis-Stress Model Emotional Traits Cognitive Schema Categorical Approach Cognitive Triad Dimensional Approach Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Content Neurotransmitter Theory of Depression Style Hostility Happiness Affect Intensity Positive Illusions Mood Variability Reciprocal Causality Mood Induction Neuroticism Limbic System Chapter Overview This chapter introduces students to theory and research at the interface of emotion and personality. The authors begin by defining emotion, noting that emotions have three key components. They are accompanied by distinct subjective feelings, bodily changes, and distinct action tendencies. The authors review several key issues in emotion research, beginning with the distinction between emotions as temporary states and emotions as enduring characteristics of a person. Next the authors discuss and differentiate the categorical and dimensional approaches to emotion. There is little consensus about the primary emotions among those working from the categorical approach, but the dimensional approach has identified two key dimensions—pleasantness/unpleasantness and arousal. The authors then distinguish emotional content and emotional style, noting that content refers to the “what” of emotional life, whereas style refers to the “how” of emotional life. The authors then review research on the content of emotional life, beginning with a review of research on pleasant emotions. In this section, the authors review empirical work on happiness and life satisfaction, including what we know about happy people, the relationship between money and happiness, and the relationship between personality and happiness. The authors present an empirically informed program to increase happiness. The authors then review theory and research on unpleasant emotions, beginning with anxiety, negative affectivity, and neuroticism. The authors review Eysenck’s biological theory and several cognitive theories of neuroticism. Next the authors address work on depression, and review diathesis-stress models of depression, and Beck’s cognitive theory of depression. The authors then review work on anger-proneness and hostility, highlighting research on the relationships between Type A personality and heart disease. The authors turn to a discussion of emotional style, highlighting theory and research on affect intensity. The authors close with a discussion of the interaction of emotional content (hedonic balance) and emotional style (affect intensity) as a way of understanding the distinct varieties of emotional lives. Learning Objectives Define emotion, and identify and discuss the three key components of emotions. Distinguish emotion states from emotion traits. Differentiate and discuss the categorical and dimensional approaches to emotions. Differentiate and discuss the content and style of emotional life. Discuss theory and research on happiness and life satisfaction. Discuss what we know about the characteristics of happy people. Discuss the results of research designed to investigate the relationship between income and happiness. Discuss the relationships among personality traits and well-being. Identify and discuss the key elements of an empirically informed program to increase happiness. Discuss theory and research on anxiety (also known as negative affectivity or neuroticism). Discuss Eysenck’s biological theory of neuroticism. Discuss several cognitive theories of neuroticism. Discuss theory and research on depression, including the diathesis stress model and Beck’s cognitive theory of depression Discuss theory and research on anger-proneness and the potential for hostility, including work on the relationship between Type A personality and heart disease. Discuss theory and research on affect intensity as an emotional style. Discuss how personality researchers assess affect intensity. Discuss the interaction between content and style in emotional life. Lecture Topics and Lecture Suggestions The Evolution of Happiness (Buss, 2000). This lecture presents the key ideas laid out in an interesting paper that provides an evolutionary psychological analysis of happiness. This lecture will encourage students to think in terms of integrating the different domains of personality that have been covered in the course. In particular, this paper and the associated lecture guide students to consider the interface of evolutionary psychology and the study of emotion. Following the lecture, encourage students to discuss the ideas, including arguing in favor of them or against them. As always, be sure to help students fashion logical arguments rather than knee-jerk arguments that are not scientifically defensible. According to Buss (2000), an evolutionary perspective offers novel insights into some major obstacles to achieving happiness Impediments to achieving happiness include Large discrepancies between modern and ancestral environments The existence of evolved mechanisms “designed” to produce subjective distress, and The fact that evolution by selection has produced competitive mechanisms that function to benefit one person at the expense of others On the positive side, people also possess evolved mechanisms that produce deep sources of happiness These include mechanisms designed to initiate and maintain mating bonds, deep friendship, close kinship, and cooperative coalitions According to Buss (2000), understanding these psychological mechanisms—the selective processes that designed them, their evolved functions, and the contexts governing their activation—offers the best hope for holding some evolved mechanisms in check and selectively activating others to produce an overall increment in human happiness Reference: Buss, D. M. (2000). The evolution of happiness. American Psychologist, 55, 15–23. Emotional Reactions to Infidelity (Shackelford, LeBlanc, & Drass 2000). This lecture presents research investigating the emotional reactions to a long-term partner’s sexual infidelity or emotional infidelity. The research is empirically guided and represents an example of the categorical approach to emotions in the sense that the researchers sought to identify the basic or primary emotions that underlie emotional reactions to a partner’s infidelity. Research on conflict in romantic relationships is a favorite topic of students, and this research is squarely within this topic. Use this lecture as a springboard for discussing and distinguishing between the categorical and dimensional approaches to emotion. Shackelford et al. (2000) sought to identify emotional reactions to a partner’s sexual infidelity and emotional infidelity In a preliminary study, 53 participants nominated emotional reactions to a partner’s sexual and emotional infidelity In a second study, 655 participants rated each emotion for how likely it was to occur following sexual and emotional infidelity Principal components analysis (similar to factor analysis) revealed 15 emotion components These emotion components included Hostile/Vengeful, Depressed, and Sexually Aroused. The researchers then conducted repeated measures analyses of variance on the 15 components, with participant sex as the between-subjects factor and infidelity type as the within-subjects factor A main effect for sex was obtained for nine components For example, men scored higher on Homicidal/Suicidal, whereas women scored higher on Undesirable/Insecure A main effect for infidelity type obtained for 12 components For example, participants endorsed Nauseated/Repulsed as more likely to follow sexual infidelity and Undesirable/Insecure as more likely to follow emotional infidelity The researchers address limitations of this research, including reliance on self-report and imaginary infidelities, and highlight the need for an integrative theory of emotional reactions to infidelity Reference: Shackelford, T. K., LeBlanc, G. J., & Drass, E. (2000). Emotional reactions to infidelity. Cognition and Emotion, 14, 643–659. Classroom Activities and Demonstrations Larsen and Buss differentiate categorical and dimensional approaches to emotion. Those using the categorical approach seek to identify the primary, basic, or fundamental emotions. Before lecturing on the work that has been done in this area, ask students to generate their own list of primary emotions. Distribute Activity Handout 13–1 (“What are the Primary Emotions?”). Give students about five minutes to complete the handout. Ask several students to volunteer the emotions they nominated as primary. Use this activity as a springboard for discussing theory and research on primary emotions. Challenge students to consider whether researchers will ever agree on a single set of primary emotions—why or why not? What research needs to be done that might reveal such a single set of primary emotions? One way to define happiness is to examine how researchers measure it. Several questionnaires have been developed to assess self-reported happiness. Some of these questionnaires focus on the balance between pleasant and unpleasant emotions in a person’s life. An example of this type of questionnaire is the Fordyce Scale. In this activity, students will complete this scale. Distribute Activity Handout 13–2 (“Fordyce Scale”). Give students a minute or so to complete this handout. Ask students to volunteer the percent of time they are happy, neutral, and unhappy. Note for students that research indicates that the average college student reports feeling happy 65 percent of the time, neutral 15 percent of the time, and unhappy 20 percent of the time. Use this activity as a springboard for discussing self-report assessments of happiness, and for discussing, more generally, the correlates of self-reported happiness. Larsen (1984) developed the Affect Intensity Measure (AIM) that allows a relatively quick assessment of a person’s emotional style in terms of intensity. In this activity, students will complete a few of the items from the AIM. Distribute Activity Handout 13–3 (“Affect Intensity Measure”). Give students about five minutes to complete this handout. Note for students that higher scores reflect relatively greater affect intensity, whereas lower scores reflect relatively lower affect intensity. Use this activity as a springboard for discussing the correlates of affect intensity, including the relationships of affect intensity with personality traits. Chapter 14 Approaches to the Self Chapter Outline Descriptive Component of the Self: Self-Concept Self-concept is the basis for self-understanding Self-concept forms an answer to the question, “Who am I?” Development of the Self-Concept Gradually, infant comes to realize that it is distinct from the rest of the world—distinction forms a rudimentary sense of self-awareness of one’s own body Around age two to three, among the first aspects of self that children learn to identify and associate with themselves are sex and age Children ages two to three also expand self-concept to include the reference to family From ages three to four, children’s self-concept is based mainly on developing skills and talents From ages five to six, children increasingly begin to compare their skills and abilities with those of others (social comparison) Also from ages five to six, the child learns that he can keep secrets and lie—based on the development of the private self-concept During teen years, perspective taking: Ability to take perspectives of others, to see oneself as others do including objective self-awareness—seeing oneself as the object of others’ attention Objective self-awareness is the beginning of social identity Shyness: When Objective Self-Awareness Becomes Chronic Shy people desire friendships and social interactions but are held back by insecurities and fears Shy people are not introverts Kagan’s research indicates that parents of formerly shy children encouraged children to socialize Shyness is also referred to as social anxiety—discomfort related to social interactions, or even to the anticipation of social interactions Shy people tend to interpret social interactions negatively—they expect others to dislike them Evaluation apprehension: Shy people are apprehensive about being evaluated by others Self-Schemata: Possible Selves, Ought Selves, and Undesired Selves Self-concept provides a person with a sense of continuity and framework for understanding her past and present, and for guiding future behavior Self-concept is like a network of information in memory that organizes and provides coherence for how we experience the self Self-concept also guides how we each process information about ourselves Self-schema: Specific knowledge structures, or cognitive representations, of the self-concept Self-schemas are built on past experiences and guide the processing of information about the self, particularly in social interaction Possible selves: Schemata for selves in the future; many ideas each person has about who they might become, hope to become, or fear they will become Possible selves act as inspiration and incentive for behavior Some possible selves are undesired—these are the possible selves the person does not want to become Ideal self (what a person herself wants to be) versus ought self (person’s understanding of what others want her to be) Ideal and ought selves are self-guides—they represent standards a person uses to organize information and motivate appropriate behavior Evaluative Component of the Self: Self-Esteem First glimmer of self-esteem occurs when a child identifies expectations for behavior and either does or does not fulfill expectations In later childhood, the next shift in the source of self-esteem occurs when the child begins to engage in social comparison Later, people develop internal standards as part of self-concept—behaviors or experiences inconsistent with internal standards can cause a decrease in self-esteem Evaluation of Oneself Self-esteem refers to your general evaluation of your self-concept along a good-bad or like-dislike dimension How we feel about ourselves can vary from day-to-day, hour-to-hour, but always around some average level of self-esteem People can evaluate themselves differently in different areas of life or different aspects of self Average levels of self-esteem fluctuate across the lifespan in predictable ways.
Research on Self-Esteem Reactions to criticism and failure feedback Following failure feedback, low self-esteem people are more likely to perform poorly and to give up earlier on subsequent tasks For a high self-esteem person, in contrast, failure feedback spurs them into action on subsequent tasks, where they are less likely to give up, and work just as hard as they did on the first task High self-esteem people are concerned with projecting successful, prosperous, and thriving self-image Low self-esteem people are most concerned with avoiding failure Following failure in one area of life, high self-esteem people focus on successes in other areas of life, whereas low self-esteem people generalize failure to other areas of life
Protecting Versus Enhancing the Self Low self-esteem people are motivated to protect their self-concept by avoiding failure, whereas high self-esteem people are motivated to enhance their self-concept by taking risks and striving for successes Low self-esteem people evade new negative information about themselves One strategy is defensive pessimism: Expect to fail; when failure occurs, no new negative information about the self is revealed Self-handicapping: Person deliberately does things that increase the probability of failure—when failure occurs, they have the excuse for failure (and hence failure is not attributable to self)
Self-Esteem Variability Individual difference characteristic that refers to the magnitude of short-term fluctuations in self-esteem Self-esteem variability is thought to result from particular vulnerability of a person’s self-worth to events of everyday life Social Component of the Self: Social Identity Identity is the self that we show to others, part of ourselves that we use to create impression, to let others know what to expect from us Different from self-concept because identity contains elements that are socially observable, publicly available expressions of self Social identity includes sex, ethnicity, and height Identity has an element of continuity because many of its aspects, such as sex and ethnicity, are constant The Nature of Identity Identity provides the social definition of a person, refers to social knowledge or what others think of person Identity has two key features: Continuity and contrast Continuity: People can count on you to be the same person tomorrow as you were today Contrast: Your social identity differentiates you from others, makes you unique in the eyes of others
Identity Development According to Erikson (1968), identity can be achieved in several ways Experimenting with different identities Many people struggle with identities, particularly during late adolescence, early adulthood People “try on” different identities Adopting a ready-made social role (e.g., taking over the family business, arranged marriages in India)
Identity Crises Coined by Erikson, “identity crisis” refers to the anxiety that accompanies efforts to define or redefine one’s individuality or social reputation Can occur anytime, but more likely in adolescence, middle adulthood Baumeister argues for two distinct types of identity crises: Identity deficit—arises when a person has not formed adequate identity and thus has trouble making major decisions Often occurs when a person discards old values and goals People in identity crisis are vulnerable to propaganda of groups such as cults Identity conflict—involves an incompatibility between two or more aspects of identity These are “approach-approach” conflicts, in that the person wants to reach two mutually contradictory goals Resolving identity crises Whether in adolescence or adulthood, resolution identity crisis involves two steps: Person decides which values are most important to him Person transforms abstract values into desires and behaviors SUMMARY AND EVALUATION Three core components of self: Self-concept, self-esteem, and identity In evolution of language, we developed a rich vocabulary for talking about the self—this reflects people’s preoccupations with themselves The self plays an important role in organizing a person’s experiences of the world The self is a major organizing force within a person KEY TERMS Self-Concept Defensive Pessimism Self-Esteem Social Anxiety Social Identity Amygdala Social Comparison Self-Handicapping Private Self-Concept Self-Esteem Variability Perspective Taking Continuity Objective Self-Awareness Contrast Self-Schema Identity Crisis Possible Selves Identity Deficit Ideal Self Identity Conflict Ought Self Self-Guides Self-Complexity Chapter Overview This chapter introduces students to empirical and theoretical work at the interface of personality and the self. The authors begin by reviewing work on self-concept, the descriptive component of the self. Self-concept is the basis for our self-understanding, and it forms the answer to the question, “Who am I?” In this section, the authors review work on the development of the self-concept, and address shyness and self-schema, including differentiating among possible selves, ought selves, and undesired selves. Next the authors review theory and research on self-esteem, the evaluative component of the self. Self-esteem refers to your general evaluation of your self-concept along a good-bad or like-dislike dimension. The authors review the results of recent empirical work on self-esteem, including reactions to criticisms and failure feedback. Also in this section, the authors distinguish between protecting versus enhancing the self and discuss research on self-esteem variability. The authors then turn to a review of theory and research on identity, the social component of the self. Social identity is the self that is shown to other people. It is the part of the self that we use to create an impression, to let other people know who we are and what they can expect from us. The authors review work on the nature and development of identity and the experience and resolution of identity crises. Learning Objectives Define and identify the key components of self-concept. Discuss work on the development of the self-concept. Discuss social comparison, including when it develops as a self-relevant process. Discuss private self-concept, including when it develops. Discuss the development of perspective taking during the teen years. Define objective self-awareness and discuss how it relates to social identity. Discuss recent work on shyness. In what sense might shyness result from chronic self-awareness? Define self-schema, and distinguish between the different types of possible selves. Discuss and differentiate the ideal self and the ought self. Define and discuss self-esteem. Discuss recent research on self-esteem, including work on reactions to criticism and failure feedback and work on protecting versus enhancing the self. Discuss and distinguish between defensive pessimism and self-handicapping. Discuss work on self-esteem variability. Discuss the nature and development of identity, the social component of the self. Discuss the key features of identity crises, and differentiate identity deficits from identity conflicts. Discuss how identify crises might be resolved. Lecture Topics and Lecture Suggestions Shyness and Symptoms of Illness in Young Children (Chung & Evans, 2000). This lecture is designed to give students an example of just one of the fascinating lines of research on shyness. This particular study is notable for its focus on children and on the health correlates of shyness. This research can be used as a springboard for discussing shyness, in general, and the health implications of shyness, in particular. Encourage students to discuss why they think shyness predicts symptoms of illness, at least among children. Do they think shyness also predicts symptoms of illness among adults—why or why not? Chung and Evans (2000) investigated the association between shyness and symptoms of illness in young children and the types of symptoms differentiating shy and nonshy children 16 shy children and 16 non-shy children (mean age seven years) were matched on sex, parental education, familial stress, and height-weight ratio For four weeks, parents recorded their children’s health complaints and their own observations and conclusions of their children’s health Results There were more days on which shy children complained of unwellness and parents observed symptoms of unwellness than for non-shy children Shy children made more affective complaints and were observed to experience more gastrointestinal upset Several interpretations of the results are presented including the possibilities that Lower thresholds for arousal in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axes of shy children affected their immunocompetence Parents of shy children and the children themselves were more sensitive to symptoms of illness, and Feeling unwell may contribute to shy behavior Reference: Chung, J. Y. Y., & Evans, M. A. (2000). Shyness and symptoms of illness in young children. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 32, 49–57. Self-Esteem in Marriage (Shackelford, 2001). There is a remarkably large literature on self-esteem, yet a very small literature on the function of self-esteem—that is, what problems self-esteem might be designed to solve. An evolutionary psychological perspective has been applied to self-esteem, and this lecture presents the results of research that tested two hypotheses about the evolutionary function of self-esteem, with special reference to the marital context. Students will find the research intriguing and should be encouraged to consider alternative evolved functions of self-esteem, in addition to those proposed by the researcher. Shackelford (2001) tested two hypotheses about the evolutionary function of self-esteem, with reference to the marital context Self-esteem evolved as a psychological solution to the adaptive problem of tracking reproductively-relevant costs inflicted by a spouse, and tracking a person’s own value as a long-term mate 214 17–41 year olds evaluated their self-esteem and provided information about marital conflict and marital satisfaction Couples were interviewed by two interviewers who independently assessed each participant’s mate value and physical attractiveness Results provide support for both hypothesized functions of self-esteem. Key findings include Husbands’ self-esteem is negatively correlated with the wives’ sexual infidelity and with the wives’ complaints of husbands’ abuse and jealousy Wives’ self-esteem is negatively correlated with the husbands’ derogation of the wives’ physical attractiveness and positively correlated with interviewer ratings of the wives’ physical attractiveness Discussion integrates the two hypothesized functions of self-esteem with the “sociometer hypothesis” of M. R. Leary et al. (1995) that self-esteem tracks social rejection Reference: Shackelford, T. K. (2001). Self-esteem in marriage. Personality and Individual Differences, 30, 371–390. Classroom Activities and Demonstrations The self-concept, the descriptive component of the self, is the basis for our self-understanding, and it forms the answer to the question, “Who am I?” The purpose of this activity is to get students actively involved in thinking about their own self-concept. Distribute Activity Handout 14–1 (“Who am I?”). Give student about five minutes to complete the handout. Ask students to volunteer some of their responses to this question. Use this activity as a springboard for discussing self-concept, including the nature and development of the self-concept. Encourage students to consider how their self-concept influences how they experience and react to the world around them. This activity is designed to give students an opportunity get an indication of their own self-reported self-esteem. The items in this measure are adapted from a measure presented by Marsh (1996; see reference in the textbook). Distribute Activity Handout 14–2 (“Measuring Self-Esteem”). Give students about five minutes to complete the handout. The measure is straightforward to score—higher scores indicate high self-esteem, and lower scores indicate low self-esteem. Emphasize that this measure is not an actual measure of self-esteem, but may provide students with an indication of how they might score on a standardized measure of self-esteem. Use this activity as a springboard for discussing self-esteem, in general, and self-reported assessments of self-esteem, in particular. Challenge students to consider the limitations and benefits of using a self-report measure to assess self-esteem. Larsen and Buss discuss Erikson’s work on “identity crisis.” According to Erikson, an identity crisis refers to the feelings of anxiety that accompany efforts to define or redefine one’s own individuality and social reputation. This activity provides students with an opportunity to apply this concept to their own lives, or to the life of someone they know. Distribute Activity Handout 14–3 (“An Example of Identity Crisis”). Give students about five minutes to complete the handout. Ask students to volunteer some of the behaviors they wrote down that reveal that the person was going through an identity crisis. Use this activity as a springboard for discussing Erikson’s concept of identity crisis, and Baumeister’s argument that there are two distinct types of identity crises—identity deficit and identity conflict. Chapter 15 Personality and Social Interaction Chapter Outline Introduction Three Mechanisms of Social Interaction Personality interacts with situations in three ways Selection Personality characteristics of others influence whether we select them as dates, friends, or marriage partners Own personality characteristics play role in kinds of situations we select to enter and stay in Evocation Personality characteristics of others evoke responses in us Own personality characteristics evoke responses in others Manipulation Personality is linked to ways in which we try to influence or manipulate others Selection
Personality Characteristics Desired in a Marriage Partner (Buss et al., 1990) Over 10,000 participants, from 37 samples in 33 countries, six continents, five islands Mutual attraction/love is the most favored characteristic Almost as important are personality characteristics of dependable character, emotional stability, pleasing disposition Assortative Mating for Personality: The Search for the Similar Assortative mating: People are married to people who are similar to themselves Are these positive correlations caused by active selection of mates who are similar, or by-products of other causal processes (e.g., sheer proximity) To answer questions, Botwin et al. (1997) studied dating and married couples Correlated preferences for personality characteristics desired in a potential mate, and our own personality characteristics Correlations are consistently positive: Positive correlations between spouses are due, in part, to direct social preferences, based on personality characteristics of those doing the selecting Do People Get the Mates They Want? And Are They Happy? Botwin et al. (1997): Correlations between preferences for ideal personality characteristics in a mate and the actual personality characteristics of an obtained mate Consistently positive correlations: People seem to get mates they want in terms of personality Partner’s personality had a large effect on marital satisfaction People are especially happy if they are married to partners high on agreeableness, emotional stability, and openness But difference in scores between partner’s personality and one’s ideal for that personality did not predict happiness Personality and the Selective Breakup of Couples According to violation of desire theory (Buss, 1994), break-ups should be more common when one’s desires are violated than when they are fulfilled People actively seek mates who are dependable and emotionally stable, and those who fail to choose such mates are at risk for divorce Personality plays a two key roles in selection: it determines the mates to whom we are attracted and the mates whom we desire; it affects satisfaction with one’s mate and therefore determines the selective breakup of couples Shyness and the Selection of Risky Situations Shyness: Tendency to feel tense, worried, and anxious during social interactions or even when anticipating social interactions During adolescence, early adulthood, shy people tend to avoid social situations, resulting in a form of isolation Shy women are less likely to go to a gynecologist Shy women also are less likely to bring up contraception with potential sexual partner Shyness affects whether a person is willing to select risky situations in the form of gambles Shyness, in short, has a substantial impact on selective entry into, or avoidance of, situations Other Personality Traits and the Selection of Situations Personality affects situations to which people are exposed through selective entry into, or avoidance of, certain activities Evocation
Once we select others to occupy our social environment, second class of processes set into motion—evocation of reactions from others and evocation of our own reactions by others
Aggression and the Evocation of Hostility Aggressive people evoke hostility from others Hostile attributional bias: Tendency to infer hostile intent on the part of others in the face of uncertain behavior from others Because they expect others to be hostile, aggressive people treat others aggressively—people treated aggressively tend to aggress back Thus, hostility from others is evoked by an aggressive person
Evocation of Anger and Upset in Partners Person can perform actions that cause emotional response in a partner Person can elicit actions from another that upset the original elicitor Study by Buss (1991): Role of personality on evocation of anger and upset in married couples Assessed personality characteristics of husbands and wives Strongest predictors of upset are low agreeableness and emotional instability
The Evocation of Likability, Pleasure, and Pain Being liked by others is linked with higher levels of adjustment, mental health, and even academic performance Some personality traits consistently evoke likability in others--those linked with agreeableness, the sociable component of extraversion, and the humility/honesty factor Evocation Through Expectancy Confirmation Expectancy confirmation: People’s beliefs about personality characteristics of others cause them to evoke in others actions that are consistent with initial beliefs Snyder and Swann (1978): People’s beliefs led them to behave in an aggressive manner toward an unsuspecting target, then the target behaved in a more aggressive manner, confirming initial beliefs Manipulation: Social Influence Tactics Manipulation or social influence includes ways in which people intentionally alter, change, or exploit others Manipulation can be examined from two perspectives within personality psychology Are some individuals consistently more manipulative than others? Given that all people attempt to influence others, do stable personality characteristics predict tactics that are used?
A Taxonomy of 11 Tactics of Manipulation (Buss et al., 1987) Developed through a two-step procedure Nominations of acts of influence Factor analysis of self-reports and observer-reports of nominated acts 11 tactics identified, including charm, coercion, silent treatment, reason
Sex Differences in Tactics of Manipulation With exception of regression (crying, whining), men and women are similar in performance of tactics of manipulation
Personality Predictors of Tactics of Manipulation High surgency: Coercion, responsibility invocation Low surgency: Self-abasement, hardball High agreeable: Pleasure induction, reason Low agreeable: Coercion, silent treatment High conscientiousness: Reason Emotionally unstable people use a variety of tactics to manipulate others, but the most common is regression High intellect-openness: Reason, pleasure induction, responsibility invocation Low intellect-openness: Social comparison Narcissism and Social Interaction Those high on narcissism are exhibitionistic, grandiose, self-centered, interpersonally exploitative Selection: Associate with people who admire them, who will reflect positive view they hold of themselves Evocation: Exhibitionism splits people—some view them as brilliant and entertaining, others as selfish and boorish Manipulation: Highly exploitative of others Panning Back: An Overview of Personality and Social Interaction Three processes by which personality can influence an individual’s social environment selection evocation manipulation SUMMARY AND EVALUATION Personality does not exist solely in the heads of individuals Personality affects the ways in which we interact with others in our social world We select people and environments, choosing social situations to which we will expose ourselves—personality plays a key role in the selection process We evoke emotions and actions in others, based in part on our personality characteristics Personality plays a key role in which we use tactics to influence or manipulate others KEY TERMS Situation Selection Hostile Attributional Bias Complementary Needs Theory Expectancy Confirmation Attraction Similarity Theory Manipulation Assortative Mating Taxonomy Violation of Desire Machiavellian Shyness Narcissism Evocation Chapter Overview This chapter provides students with an introduction to the interpersonal aspects of personality. The authors begin with an overview of three mechanisms of social interaction. Personality interacts with situations in three ways: Through selection, through evoking responses, and through manipulation. The authors turn first to selection, highlighting the influence of personality on mate selection, marital satisfaction, and divorce. In addition, the authors review work on shyness and the selective entry into, or avoidance of, certain situations. The authors next review work on evocation. The authors highlight work on aggression and the evocation of hostility, and work on evoking upset in partners. The authors then discuss evocation through expectancy confirmation, reviewing work suggesting that beliefs about the personality characteristics of others can evoke behaviors in others that confirm those initial beliefs. The authors then review manipulation or social influence, which includes all the ways in which people intentionally alter, change, or exploit others. The authors review research that identified 11 tactics of manipulation, including charm, coercion, and silent treatment. Next the authors review work documenting that personality is linked with the tactics of manipulation that people use. Then the authors review research on the Machiavellian personality, using this research to illustrate the interpersonal aspects of personality, which center on selection, evocation, and manipulation. Finally, the authors review work at the interface of personality and social interaction, with a special focus on the personality dimension of narcissism. Learning Objectives Identify, define, and distinguish the three mechanisms of social interaction. Discuss the choice of marriage partner as an example of the mechanism of selection. Discuss assortative mating for personality as an example of the mechanism of selection. Address whether people get what they want in mates, and whether this has any impact on marital satisfaction and the likelihood of divorce. Discuss how shyness affects selection into, or selective avoidance of, certain situations, as an example of the mechanisms of selection. Discuss work on the relationships between personality characteristics other than shyness and the selective entry into, or avoidance of situations. Discuss aggression and the evocation of hostility as an example of the mechanism of evocation. Discuss the evocation of upset in partners as an example of the mechanism of evocation. Identify and discuss Gottman’s six principles of successful marriages, and relate these principles to the mechanism of evocation. Discuss evocation through expectancy confirmation. Identify two key questions that personality psychologists might ask about the process of manipulation. Discuss the identification of 11 tactics of manipulation. Discuss sex differences and similarities in tactics of manipulation. Discuss personality predictors of tactics of manipulation. Discuss the Machiavellian personality, including a review of how research on this personality style illustrates the three mechanisms of social interaction (selection, evocation, manipulation). Discuss narcissism as it relates to social interaction. Lecture Topics and Lecture Suggestions Assortative meeting and mating: Unintended consequences of organized settings for partner choices (Kalmijn & Flap, 2001). This lecture is designed to get students to think further about the process of selection. In this lecture and in this research, the focus is on mate selection. The authors present evidence that mate selection can be attributed, in part, to similarities in the environments that people inhabit. Use this lecture as a springboard for discussing the mechanisms of selection, in general, and mate selection, in particular. One hypothesis about why people generally interact with people who are socially or culturally similar to themselves is that the opportunities they have to meet similar others are greater than the opportunities they have to meet dissimilar others This research examines this supply-side perspective on social relationships by empirically linking marriage choices to the type of setting couples had in common before they married The focus is on five meeting settings and five types of homogamy or similarity Using data from 1,519 couples, the authors show that the five contexts account for a sizable portion of the places where partners have met They then examine whether couples who shared settings are more homogamous than couples who did not share a setting Results indicate that school settings promote most forms of homogamy Neighborhoods and common family networks promote religious homogamy, but they are not related to homogamy with respect to class origins While in some cases settings have unexpected effects on marriage choice, findings generally confirm the notion that mating requires meeting The pool of available interaction partners is shaped by various institutionally organized arrangements and these constrain the type of people with whom one forms personal relationships Reference: Kalmijn, M., & Flap, H. (2001). Assortative meeting and mating: Unintended consequences of organized settings for partner choices. Social Forces, 79, 1289–1312. Social Competition in School: Relationships with Bullying, Machiavellianism and Personality (Sutton & Keogh, 2000). This lecture focuses on social competition in elementary school children, highlighting the relationships of social competition with bullying, Machiavellianism and other personality characteristics. This research presents a fascinating example of manipulation in a particular social context, and demonstrates that personality is linked to the tactics people (in this case, children) use to manipulate and influence others. Use this lecture as a springboard for discussing the mechanism of manipulation. Bullying is investigated as part of the individual’s general framework of attitudes toward interpersonal relationships, social competition, and motivation in school Sutton and Keogh (2000) hypothesized that bullying behavior and pro-bullying attitudes would be associated with socially competitive attitudes in the classroom, Machiavellianism and the personality constructs of Psychoticism and Extraversion Participants were 198 9–12 year olds from two primary schools Participants completed a newly developed questionnaire assessing motivations behind social competition and effort in class, the Kiddie-Mach scale (R. Christie and F. L. Geis, 1970), the Pro-Victim scale (K. Rigby and P. T. Slee, 1991), the Olweus Bullying Questionnaire, and the Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire A “Desire for Social Success” factor was negatively correlated with support for victims of bullying Pro-victim attitudes were in turn negatively correlated with Machiavellianism and Psychoticism, and positively correlated with Lie score Finally, children categorized as bullies scored significantly higher than controls on Machiavellianism, and significantly lower in terms of pro-victim attitudes Results are discussed in terms of further study and implications for classroom practice and anti-bullying policy Reference: Sutton, J., & Keogh, E. (2000). Social competition in school: Relationships with bullying, Machiavellianism and personality. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 70, 443–456. Classroom Activities and Demonstrations One of the most widely used measures for assessing self-reported preferences in a long-term mate is the Factors in Choosing a Mate scale. This activity is designed to give students first-hand experience with this measure. Distribute Activity Handout 15–1 (“Factors in Choosing a Mate”). Give students about five minutes to complete the handout. Use this activity as a springboard for discussing the mechanism of selection, in general, and the research and theory on mate selection, in particular. Larsen and Buss present one measure for assessing the evocation of anger and upset in a romantic partner. This activity is designed to give students firsthand experience with this measure. Distribute Activity Handout 15–1 (“Evocation of Anger and Upset”). Give students about five minutes to complete the handout. After students have completed the handout, note for them that the 15 acts included on the measure represent items from a larger instrument of things that one can do to upset anger someone of the opposite sex. The 15 items correspond to the following factors (in order): (1) Condescending, (2) Possessive/Jealous, (3) Neglecting/Rejecting, (4) Abusive, (5) Unfaithful, (6) Inconsiderate, (7) Physically Self-Absorbed, (8) Moody, (9) Sexually Withholding, (10) Sexualizing of Others, (11) Abusive of Alcohol, (12) Disheveled, (13) Insulting of Partner’s Appearance, (14) Sexually Aggressive, and (15) Self-Centered. Use this activity as a springboard for discussing the mechanism of evocation, in general, and the research and theory on the evocation of anger and upset in a romantic partner, in particular. Larsen and Buss present one measure for assessing the tactics of manipulation people use to influence others. This activity is designed to give students firsthand experience with this measure. Distribute Activity Handout 15–1 (“Tactics of Manipulation”). Give students about five minutes to complete the handout. After students have completed the handout, note for them that the 11 acts included on the measure represent items from a larger instrument of things that one might do to attempt to influence someone. The 11 items correspond to the following factors (in order): (1) Charm, (2) Coercion, (3) Silent Treatment, (4) Reason (5) Regression, (6) Self-Abasement, (7) Responsibility Invocation, (8) Hardball, (9) Pleasure Induction, (10 Social Comparison, and (11) Monetary Reward. Use this activity as a springboard for discussing the mechanism of manipulation, in general, and the research and theory on the links between personality and tactics of manipulation, in particular. Instructor Manual for Personality Psychology: Domains of Knowledge About Human Nature Randy Larsen, David Buss 9780078035357
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