1. Social Cognitive & Trait Theories
Module 20
Social Cognitive & Trait Theories

2. SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY
Definition
says that personality development is shaped primarily by three forces:
environmental conditions (learning)
cognitive-personal factors
behavior
all interact to influence how we evaluate, interpret, organize, and apply information

3. SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY (CONT.)
Interaction of three factors
Cognitive-personal factors
cognitive factors
Include our beliefs, expectations, values, intentions, and social roles
personal factors
include our emotional makeup and our biological and genetic influences
Behaviors
include a variety of personal actions, such as the things we do and say

4. SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY (CONT.)
Interaction of three factors
Environmental factors
include our social, political, and cultural influences, as well as our particular learning experiences

5. SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY (CONT.)

6. SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY (CONT.)
Bandura’s social cognitive theory
assumes that personality development, growth, and change are influenced by four distinctively human cognitive processes:
highly developed language ability
observational learning
purposeful behavior
self analysis
Bandura: much of human personality and behavior is shaped by our own thoughts and beliefs

7. SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY (CONT.)
Four cognitive factors
Language ability
powerful tool for processing and understanding information that influences personality development
Observational learning
we observe parents, brothers, sisters, peers, friends, and teachers
we learn a great deal

8. SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY (CONT.)
Four cognitive factors
Purposeful behavior
capacity to anticipate events, plan ahead, and set goals influences our personality development, growth, and change
4. Self-analysis
internal process
allows us to monitor our own thoughts and actions
deciding to change our goals or values, we can significantly affect our personality development

9. SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY (CONT.)
Locus of control
refers to our beliefs about how much control we have over situations or rewards
Internal locus of control
believe that we have control over situations and rewards
External locus of control
believe that we do not have control over situations and rewards and that events outside ourselves (fate) determine what happens

10. SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY (CONT.)
Delay of gratification
refers to not taking an immediate but less desirable reward and instead waiting and using an object or completing a task that promises a better reward in the future
Self-efficacy
refers to the confidence in your ability to organize and execute a given course of action to solve a problem or accomplish a task
use previous experiences
compare
listen
use feedback

11. TRAIT THEORY Definition
an approach for analyzing the structure of personality by measuring, identifying, and classifying similarities and differences in personality characteristics or traits
Trait
relatively stable and enduring tendency to behave in a particular way
Gordon Allport
found 18,000 terms; out of these 4,500 were considered to fit definition of personality traits
stable and consistent tendencies in how and individual adjusts to his or her environment

12. TRAIT THEORY (CONT.) Raymond Cattell
took Allport’s list of 4,500 traits and used factor analysis to reduce the list to the most basic traits
factor analysis
complicated statistical method that finds relationships among different or diverse items and allows them to be grouped together
35 basic traits Cattell called source traits
describe all differences among personalities

13. TRAIT THEORY (CONT.) Finding traits: big five
Five factor model organizes personality traits and describes differences in personality using five categories
openness
conscientiousness
extraversion
agreeableness
neuroticism

14. TRAIT THEORY (CONT.)

15. TRAIT THEORY (CONT.) Person Versus Situation
person-situation interaction
person’s behavior results from an interaction between his or her traits and the effects of being in or responding to cues from a particular situation
example: Rush Limbaugh could be righteous in criticizing Jerry Garcia’s drug use while being a drug addict himself

16. GENETIC INFLUENCES ON TRAITS
Behavioral genetics
study of how inherited or genetic factors influence and interact with psychological factors to shape our personality, intelligence, emotions, and motivation and also how we behave, adapt, and adjust to our environment
Studying genetic influences
Heritability
statistical measure that estimates how much of some cognitive, personality, or behavioral trait is influenced by genetic factors

17. GENETIC INFLUENCES ON TRAITS
Influences on Personality
one reason for brothers and sisters developing different personalities is:
50% of their genes are different
50% are shared
another reason is:
each brother’s or sister’s unique set of genetic factors interacts differently with his or her environment

18. GENETIC INFLUENCES ON TRAITS
Researchers have broken down the contributions to personality development into the four factors:
40% genetic factors
27% nonshared environmental factors
26% error
7% shared environmental factors

19. APPLICATION Objective personality tests (self-report questionnaires)
specific written statements that require individuals to indicate (example) checking “true” or “false” whether the statements apply to them
Objective personality tests are used in:
business settings
clinical settings

20. APPLICATION Integrity Tests
supposed to assess whether individuals have high levels of the trait of honesy
focus on measuring a single personality trait
honesty
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2
true-false self report questionnaire that consists of 338 statements describing a wide range of normal and abnormal behaviors
measures the personality style and emotional adjustment in individuals with mental illness

21. APPLICATION Horoscopes 78% of women 70% of men
believe that horoscopes are so correct that they were written especially for them
Reliability and Validity
Barnum principle (Named after P. T. Barnum)
method of listing many general traits so that almost everyone who reads the horoscope thinks that these traits apply specifically to him or her
traits are so general that they apply almost to everyone

22. APPLICATION Reliability and Validity Validity:
tests measures what it claims or is supposed to measure
Reliability:
Consistency
person’s score on a test at one point in time should be similar to the score obtained by the same person on a similar tests later in time