Table of Contents

Personality Theory

Theories

Theories of Personality and Individual Differences

The study of personality includes multiple approaches to the question of who we are and how and why we are similar and different to other indivduals. Some of the ways in which we study personality are developing descriptive taxonomies of individual differences. These approaches use basic psychometric and assessment techniques developed for the study of personality and ability. These approaches emphasize the "who" question of how people are similar to and yet differ from each other.

At least five different theoretical approaches address the "why" question. That is, why are there individual differences. Evolutionary Psychology emphasizes universals of human behavior and attempts to explain individual variability in terms of alternative adaptive strategies. Behavior genetic approaches analyze the variation in behavior in terms of the complex interplay between genetic and environmental influences. Systematic work in biological theorizing has emphasized the continuity of behavior across species and searches for the biological underpinnings of temperament and complex behavior. Social cognitive theories emphasize the importance of socialization and the effect of cognitive processes to create one's unique patterning of behavior. Traditional psychoanalytic techniques, although not a major area of current personality theory, did have an influence in the theories developed throughout much of the 20th century.

The following selections from each of these approaches are meant to lead the interested reader to some of the current literature. These are certainly not meant to be a complete selection, but are rather important readings that provide good overviews of the separate approaches. The interested reader is encouraged to first consult the overviews of personality before delving into these more specialized readings.

Some of the most interesting results of the past decade have been the demonstrations of the moderate to strong heritability of personality and ability. Using techniques of quantititative behavior genetics, it has become commonplace to show that roughly 40-60% of the variation in most personality traits have a genetic base. The most exciting and counter-intuitive findings have been that the shared environment is much less important than previously thought but that the unique environment is very important.

Genes do not code for thoughts, feelings, or behavior, but rather code for proteins that regulate and modulate biological systems. Although promising work has been done searching for the biological bases of individual differences it is possible to sketch out these bases only in the broadest of terms. Specific neurotransmitters and brain structures can be associated with a broad class of approach behaviors and positive affects while other neurotransmitters and structures can be associated with a similarly broad class of avoidance behaviors and negative affects. Reports relating specific alleles to specific personality traits emphasize that the broad personality traits are most likely under polygenic influence and are moderated by environmental experience.

Subtle differences in neurotransmitter availability and re-uptake vary the sensitivity of individuals to cues about their environment that predict future resource availability and external rewards and punishments. It is the way these cues are detected, attended to, stored, and integrated with previous experiences that makes each individual unique. Current work on the bases of individual differences is concerned with understanding this delicate interplay of biological propensities with environmental opportunities and constraints as they are ultimately represented in an individualÕs information processing system. With time we can expect to increase our taxonomic and predictive power by using these causal bio-social theories of individual differences.

  • Biological Approaches
  • Behavior Genetics and Personality Theory
  • Evolutionary Psychology
  • Personality Taxonomies

    Dimensional representations of personality dimensions have emphasized between three to seven fundamental dimensions. These dimensions are, in turn, used to organize research across different laboratories. Although there is strong agreement about the importance of Introversion/Extroversion and Emotional Stability, Psychoticism, the third factor in the "Giant 3", is seen as being composed of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness in the "Five Factor Model." The lexical work of Goldberg and Norman and their associates emphasizes a descriptive taxonomy, while the biologically driven models of Gray and Eysenck emphasize a theoretical organization of personality traits.

  • Social-Cognitive Approaches emphasize the effect of cognitive processes upon individual differences. Recommended readings include:
    • Cervone, D. & Shoda, Y. (1999) The Coherence of Personality, Guilford, New York. "This volume reveals how social-cognitive structures and processes serve as a basis of personality coherence--the unique patterns of experience and action that make each of us who we are. In doing so, the volume demonstrates how a personality theory can be built on psychology's broader foundation of knowledge about cognitive and affective systems and the interactions between persons and the sociocultural environment. Presenting novel theoretical developments from leaders in personality, social, cultural, and developmental psychology, chapters show how personality coherence arises from the ways people assign meaning to social information, gain causal agency over their lives through self-knowledge and self-reflective processes, and organize multiple life events within a framework of goals and life tasks. The book stands as the most definitive presentation to date of the social-cognitive theories of personality." (from the marketing page).
    • Mischel, W, & Shoda, Y, (1997) Annual Review of Psychology.
  • Psychoanalytic Reading Lists
  • Other
    • The Annual Review of Psychology has excellent review chapters on personality. Many universities have site licensed the Annual Review so that you can read it on line. If not available, most libraries will have a copy.
    • The Narrative Guide to Personality by Vincent Hevern at Le Moyne College reviews the work of George Kelly and Henry Murray.
    • Everett Water's pages on attachment theory provides an excellent starting place for those interested in extensions of Bowlby's and Ainsworth's theories. Phil Shaver provides a discussion of measurement issues in attachment and provides a review of the current literature.
    • Chris Brand has collected a fascinating set of quotes from personality researchers about almost everything. His "Resource Manual of Quotations about the Psychology of Individual and Group Differences" includes introductory comments and quotes that range from discussions of situational versus personological approaches and discussions of the most appropriate number of dimensions of personality, to discussions of the measurement of intelligence and nature and nuture.
    • A thoughtful review of multiple theories of temperament in children and adults has been prepared by Peter Heineman at the University of Omaha. This includes a very good bibliography as well as short reviews of many personality temperament inventories. Tests reviewed include many of the popular tests such as the Meyers Briggs (MBTI), the Keirsey Temperament Sorter and the Kolb Learning Style Inventory. Not reviewed, nor discussed, are those tests more frequently used by personality researchers such as the Eysenck Personality Inventory, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, or Costa and McCrae's NEO-PI-R inventory.
    • Daryl Bem's guidelines for writing a Psychological Bulletin paper are of use to students and faculty.
    • Bem's Writing an empirical article is also a gem of insight for students and faculty alike.
    • Conversations with Neil's Brain is a fascinating online book on brain structure and function by William Calvin and George A. Ojemann.