Measuring Personality: Crash Course Psychology #22

Summary

This script delves into the complexities of personality, exploring ancient theories like Hippocrates' humors and Chinese elements, to Freud's psychoanalytic and Maslow's hierarchy of needs. It highlights modern trait theory, which categorizes personality into the 'Big Five' traits, and the social cognitive perspective, emphasizing the interplay of traits and environment. The video discusses various methods of personality assessment, from projective tests to questionnaires, pondering the elusive nature of the 'self' and its influence on our motivations and behaviors.

Takeaways

• 🧬 Personality theories have evolved over time, from ancient Greek humors to modern psychological perspectives.
• 🔍 Traditional Chinese medicine attributes personality to the balance of five elements: earth, wind, water, metal, and fire.
• 🌐 Ayurvedic medicine views personality as a combination of three doshas, or mind-body principles.
• 💭 Sigmund Freud believed personality was influenced by the interplay between the id, ego, and super-ego.
• 🏔 Abraham Maslow suggested that personality development is linked to fulfilling a hierarchy of basic needs.
• 🔑 Trait theory, initiated by Gordon Allport, focuses on defining personality through observable behavior patterns and conscious motivations.
• 🌊 The Big Five personality traits (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism) are seen as stable but flexible.
• 🤝 The social cognitive perspective, proposed by Albert Bandura, emphasizes the interaction between personality traits and social context.
• 🔮 Different personality theories use various methods for assessment, from projective tests like Rorschach's inkblots to self-report questionnaires.
• 🌟 The concept of 'possible selves', including ideal and feared selves, is a motivational factor in personality development.
• 🤔 The question of the self's nature and existence remains a profound and complex topic in psychology.

Q & A

What are the four humors that Hippocrates believed determined personality?

Hippocrates believed that personality was determined by the balance of phlegm, blood, yellow bile, and black bile.

How does Traditional Chinese Medicine view personality in terms of the five elements?

Traditional Chinese Medicine believes that personalities depend on the balance of five elements: earth, wind, water, metal, and fire.

What are the three mind-body principles, or doshas, in Hindu Ayurvedic medicine?

In Hindu Ayurvedic medicine, each person is viewed as a unique combination of three doshas, which are not specified in the script.

What are the 'Big Five' personality traits as defined by modern trait theory?

The 'Big Five' personality traits are openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.

What is the concept of 'reciprocal determinism' in the social cognitive perspective of personality?

Reciprocal determinism is the idea that people and their situations work together to create behavior, with the environment influencing personality and personality influencing the choice of environment.

What is the difference between an internal and external locus of control according to the social cognitive perspective?

An internal locus of control means that a person believes they have control over their environment and can make their own luck, while an external locus of control implies that a person feels guided by forces beyond their control.

How did Gordon Allport's interaction with Freud influence his approach to personality theory?

Gordon Allport's interaction with Freud led him to believe that sometimes behavior can be explained by motives in the present rather than unconscious influences from the past, leading him to describe personality in terms of fundamental traits and conscious motives.

What is the purpose of the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) in psychodynamic psychology?

The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) is used to present ambiguous pictures to subjects and ask them to tell a story about the scenes, revealing their concerns, motivations, and unconscious processes.

What types of questions are typically found in personality trait inventories?

Personality trait inventories often include true/false or agree/disagree questions that assess a range of traits, such as enjoyment of being the center of attention or the ability to empathize with others.

How do humanistic theorists like Maslow measure self-concept?

Humanistic theorists like Maslow measure self-concept through therapy interviews and questionnaires that ask subjects to describe both their ideal self and their actual self, focusing on the gap between the two.

What is the significance of 'possible selves' in understanding personality and motivation?

The concept of 'possible selves' includes both the ideal self and the feared self, and the balance between these potential best and worst versions of oneself motivates individuals throughout their lives.

Outlines

00:00

🔍 Exploring Personality Theories

This paragraph delves into various historical and modern theories of personality. It discusses ancient Greek physician Hippocrates' four humors, traditional Chinese medicine's five elements, and Hindu Ayurvedic medicine's doshas. It then transitions to Sigmund Freud's id, ego, and superego and Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs. The text emphasizes the long history and diversity of methods used to characterize personality.

05:03

🧩 Introduction to Trait Theory

This section introduces trait theory, contrasting it with psychoanalytic and humanistic theories. It tells the story of Gordon Allport's meeting with Freud, leading to Allport's focus on describing rather than explaining traits. Modern trait researchers Robert McCrae and Paul Costa's Big Five personality traits—openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism—are explained, emphasizing their spectrum nature and predictive power for behavior.

10:06

🌐 Social Cognitive Perspective

The paragraph explains the social cognitive perspective, introduced by Alfred Bandura, highlighting the interplay between traits and social context. It describes reciprocal determinism, where environments and personal interactions shape personality. The concept of locus of control is introduced, differentiating between internal and external locus. It also mentions how this perspective measures personality by observing behavior in various contexts, focusing on personal control.

🧪 Methods of Personality Assessment

This section compares different methods of personality assessment. It discusses projective tests like the Rorschach inkblot test and Thematic Apperception Test, used by psychodynamic theorists to reveal unconscious processes. It contrasts these with modern trait assessments, such as the Big Five and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), which use structured questionnaires to measure traits. The paragraph also touches on the humanistic approach, which favors interviews and self-report measures to gauge self-concept.

🔮 Understanding the Self

This final paragraph reflects on the concept of the self, discussing various theories and methods used to study it. It introduces the idea of possible selves—ideal and feared versions of oneself—that motivate behavior. The text concludes by acknowledging the complexity of defining the self, considering factors like environment, childhood experiences, culture, and biology. It emphasizes the ongoing debate and lack of a universal answer to what constitutes the self.

Keywords

💡Personality

Personality refers to the unique set of characteristics that form an individual's identity, influencing their behavior and thoughts. In the video, personality is the central theme, with various theories attempting to explain and categorize it, such as the ancient Greek humors theory and the Big Five personality traits.

💡Hippocrates

Hippocrates was an ancient Greek physician who is often considered the father of Western medicine. The script mentions him for his theory of the four humors, which posited that personality traits were determined by the balance of bodily fluids: blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile.

💡Trait Theory

Trait theory is a psychological framework that describes personality in terms of broad, stable patterns of behavior. The video discusses the Big Five traits—openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism—as a modern example of trait theory, emphasizing their role in predicting behavior.

💡Big Five

The Big Five, or the Five-Factor Model, is a widely used taxonomy in psychology that categorizes personality into five broad dimensions: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. The script uses the mnemonic 'OCEAN' or 'CANOE' to help remember these traits.

💡Social Cognitive Perspective

The social cognitive perspective, introduced by Albert Bandura, emphasizes the interaction between an individual's traits and their social environment. The video explains this theory by discussing how behavior is learned through observation and imitation, and how personal control and the environment can shape personality.

💡Reciprocal Determinism

Reciprocal determinism is a concept from Bandura's social cognitive theory, suggesting that behavior, environment, and personal factors influence each other in a dynamic and reciprocal manner. The script illustrates this by explaining how a person's choice of environment can reinforce their personality traits.

💡Locus of Control

Locus of control refers to an individual's belief about the factors that influence their life events and behaviors. The video distinguishes between an internal locus of control, where individuals believe they control their own fate, and an external locus of control, where they feel guided by forces beyond their control.

💡Psychodynamic

Psychodynamic theories, rooted in Freud's work, focus on unconscious mental processes and early childhood experiences to explain personality. The script mentions Freud's use of dream analysis and free association as methods to explore personality.

💡Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

The MMPI is a widely used personality test designed to assess a range of psychological conditions and traits. The video describes it as a series of true/false questions that can help identify emotional disorders and measure personality traits.

💡Humanistic Psychology

Humanistic psychology, associated with theorists like Abraham Maslow, emphasizes self-actualization and the individual's potential for growth and fulfillment. The script explains that humanistic theorists often reject standardized assessments, preferring to measure self-concept through therapy interviews and questionnaires.

💡Self-Esteem

Self-esteem refers to an individual's overall subjective evaluation of their own worth. The video touches on the concept of possible selves, including the ideal self and the feared self, and how these perceptions can motivate behavior and influence self-esteem.

Highlights

Personality has been characterized in various ways over time, from ancient Greek humors to modern psychological theories.

Hippocrates' theory of four humors suggested personality is a balance of phlegm, blood, yellow bile, and black bile.

Traditional Chinese medicine attributes personality to the balance of earth, wind, water, metal, and fire.

Ayurvedic medicine views personality as a combination of three doshas, or mind-body principles.

Sigmund Freud believed personality is influenced by the interplay between the id, ego, and super-ego.

Abraham Maslow proposed a hierarchy of needs must be met for self-actualization to occur.

Trait theory, initiated by Gordon Allport, defines personality through observable behavior patterns and conscious motivations.

The Big Five personality traits—openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism—were developed to categorize fundamental characteristics.

Personality traits are stable but can flex in different situations, affecting behavior.

Social cognitive perspective, proposed by Albert Bandura, emphasizes the interaction between personality traits and social context.

Reciprocal determinism explains how personality and environment influence each other.

Personality can be measured through various methods, including projective tests like Rorschach's inkblot test.

Trait inventories and questionnaires assess personality by asking respondents to self-report on various traits.

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory is a widely used test for identifying emotional disorders.

Humanistic theorists like Maslow reject standardized assessments, focusing on self-concept through therapy interviews.

The concept of possible selves, including ideal and feared selves, helps to understand what motivates individuals.

The self is considered the organizer of thoughts, feelings, and actions, central to personality.

The question of the self and its definition remains one of life's biggest questions, intertwined with environment, culture, and biology.

Transcripts

how would you describe your personality may be friendly creative quirky what

about nervous or timid or outgoing but has anyone ever called you a sanguine

what about a cava or full of metal ancient Greek physician Hippocrates

believed personality manifested itself in four different humors and basically

you are who you are because of your balance of phlegm blood and yellow and

black bile according to traditional Chinese medicine our personalities

depend on the balance of five elements earth wind water metal and fire those

who practice traditional Hindu Ayurvedic medicine view each other as unique

combinations of three different mind-body principles called doshas but

Sigmund Freud thought our personalities depended in part on who's winning the

battle of urges between the Ede ego and super-ego meanwhile humanistic

psychologist Abraham Maslow suggested that the key to self-actualization was

first successfully climbing a hierarchy of more basic needs and then you got

your BuzzFeed quizzes to determine what kind of pirate der font or sandwich or

Harry Potter character you are but I would never take one of those seriously

all this is to say the people have been characterizing one another for a long

long time and whether you're into blood or bile or ego or it or blt or PB&J

there are a lot of ways to describe and measure a personality and all these

theories all the years of research and cigar-smoking an inkblot gazing in the

fans debating whether they're more of a Luke or Leia they're all funneling down

the one big central question who or what is the self

last week we talked about how psychologists often study personality by

examining the differences between characteristics and by looking at how

these various characteristics combine to create a whole thinking feeling person

the early psychoanalytic and humanistic theorists had a lot of ideas about

personality but some psychologists questioned their lack of clearly

measurable standards like there was no way to really quantify someone's inkblot

response or how orally fixated they might be so this drive to find a more

empirical approach spawned two more popular theories in the 20th century

known as the trait and social cognitive perspective instead of focusing on

things like lingering unconscious influences or missed growth

opportunities trait theory researchers look to define personality through

stable and lasting behavior patterns and conscious motivations legend has it that

it all began in 1919 when young American psychologist Gordon Allport paid a visit

to none other than Freud himself Allport was telling Freud about his

journey there on the train and how there was this little boy who was obsessed

with staying clean and didn't want to sit next to anyone or touch anything

Albert wondered if the boy's mother had a kind of dirt phobia that had rubbed

off on him so yeah yeah yeah he's telling his tale and at the end of it

Freud looks at him and says hmm was that little boy you all port was basically

like no man that was just some kid on the train don't try to make this into

some big unconscious episode from my repressed childhood

Allport thought Freud was digging a little too deep and that sometimes you

just need to look at motives in the present not the past to describe

behavior so all-ports started his own Club describing personality in terms of

fundamental traits or characteristics and conscious motives it wasn't so much

interested in explaining traits as he was in describing them modern trait

researchers like Robert McRae and Paul Costa have since organized our

fundamental characteristics into what's casually known as the big five openness

conscientiousness extraversion agreeableness and neuroticism which you

can remember using the mnemonic ocean or canoe whichever one you prefer

each of these traits exists on a spectrum so for example your level of

openness can range on one end from being totally open to new things in variety or

one thing strict regular routine on the other end your degree of

conscientiousness can translate into being impulsive and care

lists are careful and disciplined someone high on the extraversion in will

be sociable while those on the low end will be shy and reserved a very

agreeable person meanwhile is helpful and trusting while someone at the

opposite end may be suspicious or uncooperative and finally on the

neuroticism spectrum an emotionally stable person will be more calm and

secure while a less stable person is often anxious insecure and self-pitying

the important idea here is that these traits are hypothesized to predict

behavior and attitude like an introvert might prefer communicating through email

more than an extroverted and agreeable person is much more likely to help their

neighbor move that couch then a suspicious one who's just glaring

through the window my adulthood trait theorists will tell you these

characteristics are pretty stable but isn't to say that they can't flex a

little in different situations like that same shy person might end up singing

Elvis karaoke in a room full of people under the right conditions so our

personality traits are better predicting our average behavior than what we do in

any specific situation and research indicates that some traits like

neuroticism seem to be better predictors of behavior than others this flexibility

that we all seem to have leads to the fourth major theory on personality the

social cognitive perspective originally proposed by our Bovo beading friend

alfred bandura the social cognitive school emphasizes the interaction

between our traits and their social context ventura noted that we learn a

lot of our behavior by watching and imitating others that's the social part

of the equation but we also think a lot about how these social interactions

affect our behavior which is the cognitive part so in this way people and

their situations basically work together to create behavior bandura referred to

this sort of interplay as reciprocal determinism meaning that for example the

kind of books you read or music you listen to or friends you hang out with

say something about your personality because different people choose to be in

different environments and then those environments in turn continue to

reinforce our personalities so if Bernice has a kind of anxious suspicious

personality and she has a serious Titanic crush on Sherlock Holmes she

might be extra attuned to potentially dangerous or fishy situations the more

she sees the world in that way the more anxious and suspicious she gets in this

way we're both the creators and the products of the situation's we surround

ourselves with that's why one of the key indicators of personality in this school

of thought has to do with our sense of personal

control that is the extent to which you perceive that you have control over your

environment someone who believes that they control their own fate or make

their own luck is said to have an internal locus of control while those

who feel like they're just guided by forces beyond their control are said to

have an external locus now whether we're talking about control versus

helplessness introversion versus extraversion calm versus anxious or

whatever each of these different personality perspectives have their own

methods of testing and measuring personality we talked before about how

the psychoanalyst super hunk Hermann Rorschach used his ink blot test to

infer information about a person's personality

we know that Freud used dream analysis and both he and Young were fans of free

association the broader school of theorists now known as the psychodynamic

camp that descended from Freud and pals also use other projective psychological

tests including the famous Thematic Apperception tests in this kind of test

you'd be presented with evocative but ambiguous pictures and then asked to

provide information about them you might be asked to tell a story about the

scenes considering things like how are the characters feeling or what's going

on or what happened before this event and what will happen after like check it

out is the woman crying because her brother just died from a bee sting or is

she a maid laughing because some royal just passed out drunk in his bed or

perhaps the object of her long burning affection has just confessed his love

and a fever hazel jane austen style and she's having a mini breakdown in the

hall the idea is that your responses will reveal something about your

concerns and motivations in real life or how you see the world or about your

unconscious processes that drive you by contrast with that approach though

modern trait personality researchers believe that you can assess personality

traits by having people answer a series of test questions there are lots of so

called personality trait inventories out there some provide a quick reading on a

particular enduring trait like anxiety or self-esteem

while others gauge a wide range of traits like our friends the Big Five

these tests like the myers-briggs which you might have heard of involve long

questionnaires of true false or agree/disagree questions like do you

enjoy being the center of attention do you find it easy to empathize with

others or do you value justice over mercy but the classic Minnesota

multiphasic personality inventory is probably the most widely used

personality test the most recent version asks a series of five

in 67 true/false questions varying from no one seems to understand me too I like

mechanics magazines too I loved my father and is often used to identify

emotional disorders and there's how bandura's social cognitive camp sizes

you up because this school of thought emphasizes the interaction of

environment and behavior rather than just traits alone

they aren't solely into questions and answers instead they might measure

personality in different contexts understanding behavior in one situation

is best predicted by how you acted in a similar situation like if Bernice

freaked out and tried to hide under the bed during the last five thunderstorms

we can predict the chip will do that again next time and if we conducted a

controlled lab experiment where say we looked at the effects of thunderstorm

noises on people's behavior we might get an even better sense of what baseline

psychological factors could best predict storm induced freak-outs and finally

there are the humanistic theorists like Maslow they often reject standardized

assessments altogether instead they tend to measure your self-concept through

therapy interviews and questionnaires that asked subjects to describe both how

they would ideally like to be and how they actually are the idea is that the

closer the actual and ideal are the more positive the subjects sense of self

which brings us back to that biggest motherlode question of them all who or

what is the self all the books out there about self esteem self-help self

awareness self control and so on are built upon one assumption that the self

is the organizer of our thoughts and feelings and actions essentially the

center of a personality but of course it's a sticky issue one way to think

about self is through the concept of possible selves like your ideal self

perhaps devastatingly attractive and intelligent successful and well loved as

well as your most feared self the one who could end up unemployed and lonely

and run down this balance of potential best and worst selves motivates us

through life. In the end, once you factor in environment and childhood experiences,

culture, and all that mess, not to mention biology, which we haven't even touched on

today, can we really firmly define self or

answer certainly that we even have one? That, my friend, is one of life's biggest

questions, insofar as it has yet to be universally answered. But you learned a lot,

anyway, today, right? As we've talked about the trait and social cognitive

perspectives and also about different ways these schools and others measure

and test personality we also talked about

what self is and how our self-esteem works thanks for watching especially to

our subbable subscribers who make crash course possible to find out how you can

become a supporter just go to subbable.com/crashcourse this episode

was written by Kathleen Yale edited by Blake de pastino and our consultant is

dr. Ranjit Bhagwat our director and editor is Nicholas Jenkins and the

script supervisor is Michael Aranda who is also our sound designer and the

graphics team is thought cafe

you