ReferenceChapter 1Chapter SummaryPersonality is a difficult concept to define. Even the best definitions are quite abstract. Thinkingabout how people use the concept, however, suggests three reasons for its use. People use it toconvey a sense of consistency or continuity within a person, to convey the sense that the personis the origin of behavior, and to convey the sense that the essence of a person can besummarized or captured in a few salient qualities.The field of personality addresses two fundamental issues. One is the existence of differencesamong people. The other is how best to conceptualize intrapersonal functioning—the processesthat take place within all persons, giving form and continuity to behavior.Much of this book deals with theories. Theories are summary statements, sets of principles thatpertain to some class of events. Theories have two purposes: to explain things that are knownand to predict possibilities that haven’t yet been examined. One way to evaluate the worth of atheory is to ask whether research supports its predictions. Scientific psychology represents acontinuing cycle between theory and research, as theories are tested, modified on the basis ofresults, and tested again.Theories can be evaluated on several grounds other than research. For example, a theoryshouldn’t be based on a single kind of information. Theories also benefit from being parsimonious—from needing relatively few assumptions (or concepts). Apart from these considerations,theories are given greater weight when they fit well with one’s intuitions, and they have a greaterimpact if they stimulate interest (and thus efforts to test them).The theories addressed in this book are based on seven different perspectives, or viewpoints, onhumannature.Theyareidentifiedwiththeterms dispositional,biological, psychoanalytic, neoanalytic, learning, phenomenological, and cognitive selfregulation. Each theory chapter focuses on the assumptions about the nature of personalitywithin a particular theoretical framework. Also included are a discussion of assessment from theviewpoint of the theory under discussion, and a discussion of problems in behavior and how theycan be remedied.Chapter 6 Inheritance, Evolution, and…Chapter SummaryThe approach to personality rooted in inheritance and evolution has two facets. One of thememphasizes that your personality is tied to the biological body you inherit. This idea goes far backin history, but today’s version of the idea is quite different, emphasizing the role of genes.Behavior genetics provides ways to find out whether personality differences are inherited. In twinstudies, correlations among identical twins are compared with correlations among fraternal twins;in adoption studies, children are compared with their biological and adoptive families. Studies ofidentical twins raised apart provide yet a different look at the effects of inheritance andenvironment.Twin research has been used to look at genetic contributions to a variety of dispositions. Recenttheorists define temperaments as broad inherited traits that appear early in life. At least threeseem to be genetically influenced: activity level, emotionality, and sociability. There also isevidence of genetic influence in the big five supertraits and other variables. It’s unclear whetherthe big five derive from (or duplicate) the temperaments studied under other names. It is alsounclear whether other hereditary influences depend on associations between the other variableand a temperament. Recent developments in molecular genetics provide a new tool in the searchfor genetic influences on personality. Now there is evidence of specific genes playing roles intraits, including novelty seeking and neuroticism. The idea that dispositions are genetically influenced can be extended a step further, to thesuggestion that many aspects of human social behavior are products of evolution. This idea isbehind an area of work termed sociobiology or evolutionary psychology. Sociobiologists proposeways to account for various aspects of human behavior, even behavior that on the face of itseems not to provide an evolutionary advantage. Altruism, for example, is understood as peopleacting for the benefit of their family groups, so that the family’s genes are more likely to becontinued (kin selection). This idea has been extended to the notion that people are attracted toother people who share their genetic makeup.The evolutionary view also has implications concerning mate selection, including the idea thatmales and females use different strategies. The male strategy is to mate whenever possible, andmales are drawn to signs of reproductive capability. The female strategy is to seek the best maleavailable, and females are drawn to signs of resources. People use the relevant strategies andact in ways that make them seem better candidates as mates. Mating pressures also may lead toaggression among young men. Theory suggests that violence is most likely among men ofreproductive age who are in poor reproductive circumstances. Evidence seems to bear this out,along with the idea that much violence concerns conflicts over status.The genetic approach to personality says little about assessment except to suggest whatdispositions are particularly important to assess—those that have biological links. Assessmentdirectly from genes seems unlikely, due to the probable involvement of many genes in any giventrait. With regard to problems in behavior, there is substantial evidence that schizophrenia andmanic-depressive disorder are affected by heredity. As elsewhere, this area is beginning to usethe tools of molecular biology to search for genetic influences.With regard to therapeutic behavior change, this approach raises a question on the basis ofstudies of temperament: How much can people be expected to change, even with therapy, indirections that deviate from their biological makeup?Chapter 7 Biological Processes and Personality.Chapter SummaryThe idea that personality is tied to the biological functions of the body leads to avariety of possibilities involving the functions of the nervous system and theendocrine (hormone) system. An initial approach of this sort was Eysenck’stheory that brain processes underlie extraversion. He argued that introverts aremore cortically aroused than extraverts. Thus, introverts avoid overstimulation,whereas extraverts seek out stimulation.Others have taken issue with this, arguing that personality rests on an approachsystem (BAS) that responds to incentives and an inhibition system (BIS) thatresponds to threats. Work on emotions suggests that the approach system,which produces positive feelings, involves the left prefrontal cortex, and that thewithdrawal system, which produces feelings such as fear, involves the rightprefrontal cortex. The BIS seems to represent the biological basis for the trait ofneuroticism. Some suggest that the BAS represents the biological basis forextraversion. Differences of opinion about extraversion relate to the involvementof sociability (which isn’t intrinsically part of BAS theories) and the placement ofimpulsivity.Questions about impulsiveness introduce another biological variable: sensationseeking, the tendency to seek out novel, complex, and exciting stimuli. Sensationseeking relates to Eysenck’s dimension of psychoticism and Tellegen’s dimensionof constraint. Research suggests that sensation seeking relates to biologicalsystems that regulate exposure to stimulation (as a defense process), with people scoring low in sensation seeking being those who show defenseresponses.Another aspect of the biological view on personality focuses on the role inbehavior played by male hormones. Exposure to such substances before birthcan cause people years later to choose more aggressive responses to conflict; itcan also increase girls’ preference for boys’ toys. Testosterone in adults relates todominance behavior, sometimes expressed in antisocial ways. Testosterone alsofluctuates, increasing with challenges and victories, decreasing with failures.An emerging area of work examines the possibility that another hormone, calledoxytocin, is important in human social behavior. Oxytocin appears to relate tofemale responses to stress, termed a "tend and befriend" response. The roots ofthis response may be in the attachment system, and it may relate to socialbonding more generally.This approach to personality suggests it may be possible to assess personalitythrough biological functions. Although the attempt to do this is in its infancy, somebelieve recordings of brain activity—particularly fMRIs—hold great promise forthe future.With regard to problems in behavior, high levels of BIS activity promote disordersinvolving anxiety. Either high BIS or low BAS may contribute to depression. HighBAS function, or low BIS, can yield symptoms of antisocial personality, whichalso relates to sensation seeking and testosterone. This orientation to personalityalso suggests that therapy based on medication is a means to bring aboutbehavioral change. The idea is that medication can influence the underlyingbiological system, thereby altering the person’s behavior and subjectiveexperience.
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