4. Stability vs. Change PDF

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Taught by Professor Zayas...

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STABILITY VS. CHANGE lecture, mccrae & costa reading

2 views of personality development

biological and contextual

biological view

personality characteristics are fixed, based on genes

contextual view

personality is the behavioral expression of dynamic interaction between internal attributes and sociohistorical context

difference between normative and normative (shared): social, cultural, historical contexts nonnormative environmental non-normative: idiographic, unique, hard to compare influences plaster hypothesis

traits reach mature form in adulthood, and are stable afterward

plasticity hypothesis

personality changes throughout lifetime

which finding does Srivastava support? but…

plasticity, but not an experiment. could have confound (social roles, historical context)

Srivastava findings

stability of Big Five over lifespan: C: M & F both increase O: M & F both decrease E: F higher, both decrease N: F higher, both decrease (esp. F) A: both increase, F higher later

changes in roles require…

changes in social skills

longitudinal research findings on between ages 25-56, high r =0.8 stability of relative personality maybe shared method factor (rank order) but… shared method factor in stability research

no change in method, can influence correlation ex. self-deception

cross-sectional design disadvantages

can’t include data on confounds

findings of the study by Nave and outsider rating, low r=0.2 colleagues (2010) on stability of personality assessed by others findings of the study by Caspi & Herbener (1990) on the effect of spouses on personality

higher inter spousal similarity led to greater stability

3 ways people shape situations

choosing situations

over time

attracting situations evoking situations FFT’s 4 assumptions about human nature

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relation between characteristic adaptations and self concept

6 postulates of FFT

knowability: proper object of scientific study rationality: people are capable of understanding themselves/others variability: people differ significantly proactivity: causation of human action comes from within

characteristic adaptations are concrete manifestations of basic abstract tendencies (ex. culturally conditioned phenomena. personal strivings). self-concept develops out of it -

basic tendencies characteristic adaptations objective biography self-concept external influences dynamic processes

Heading Biological vs contextual approaches to personality stability Biological view: exclusively from biological causes = genes. Personality characteristics seem to be fixed Contextual: Personality is the behavioral expression of dynamic interaction between internal attributes and sociocultural historical context (low stability) normative vs non-normative influences on personality Normative (shared): social, cultural, historical contexts Normative level: What is the typical pattern of stability/change over time? Non-normative: idiographic Plaster vs plasticity hypotheses regarding stability of traits Plaster: traits reach mature form in adulthood; thereafter they are relatively stable Plasticity: Personality continues to change after age 30; changes may not be linear How do socially-prescribed roles influence personality? How stable are the Big 5 traits over the lifespan? Changes in social roles require different social skills. Family/career = increases in agreeableness Describe the cross-sectional study by Srivastava discussed in lecture. Conscientiousness: Men and women both become more conscientious over time, gap becomes smaller as older Openness: Men and women both decline over time, gap decreases

Extroversion: Women more extroverted than men, decreases over time Neuroticism: Women significantly more neurotic than men, but gap declines as they age Agreeableness: Women more agreeable than men after a while C: increase O: decreases slightly E: stable N: decrease for women, no change for men A: increase Evidence: consistent with plasticity hypothesis: age and gender related social roles do affect personality What are the disadvantages of studying personality using a cross-sectional design? Cross-sectional studies using data originally collected for other purposes are often unable to include data on confounding factors, other variables that affect the relationship between the putative cause and effect. For example, data only on present alcohol consumption and cirrhosis would not allow the role of past alcohol consumption, or of other causes, to be explored. Most case-control studies collect specifically designed data on all participants, including data fields designed to allow the hypothesis of interest to be tested. However, in issues where strong personal feelings may be involved, specific questions may be a source of bias.

4. Stability vs. Change -

two views of personality development -

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biological view -

exclusively deterministic from genes

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relatively consistent and stable

contextual view = “plasticity” hypothesis -

McCrae & Costa: “plaster” hypothesis -

traits malleable throughout childhood, stable after late twenties

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personality inextricably linked with situational context

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two types of environmental influences -

normative (shared): social, cultural, historical contexts

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nonnormative (idiographic): situations → change personality 1.

selection

2. attract 3. evoke -

socially prescribed roles

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roles → context → personality

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changes in social roles require different social skills

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e.g. gender roles

Big Five over time by gender -

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conscientiousness increase -

F higher

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stable over time

extraversion stable -

F higher

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stable over time

neuroticism decrease for women, none for men -

F extremely high, sharp decrease over time

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M low, stable over time

openness slight decrease -

F lower

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slight decrease over time, esp. in M

agreeableness up -

F higher

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increase over time, esp. in F

→ seems to prove malleability, but NOT an experiment -

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3rd variable possible: social roles, historical context,

individual differences -

stability of rank ordering within group over time -

longitudinal study, looking at same person over time

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NEO-PI between ages 25-56 -

high correlation coefficients, around 0.80 except agreeableness around 0.60 -

but maybe shared method factor (self-deception, for example)

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prediction of how traits/behaviors would pan out, r=0.17 to 0.28

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medical professional interviews

effect of spouse on personality -

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interview study, outsider rating

higher interspouse similarity led to greater stability over time

personality resides within the person, but influenced by situation -

some stability in rank ordering over time

McCrae & Costa Reading -

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FFT’s 4 assumptions about human nature - knowability: proper object of scientific study - rationality: people are capable of understanding themselves/others - variability: people differ significantly - proactivity: causation of human action comes from within How are characteristic adaptations and self-concept related? - characteristic adaptations: concrete manifestations of basic abstract tendencies - vary based on changing social environment, but at the core of the individual - EX. culturally conditioned phenomena, personal strivings, attitudes - self-concept develops out of characteristic adaptations 6 postulates of FFT - basic tendencies - characteristic adaptations - objective biography - self-concept - external influences - dynamic processes...