Individual Differences and Personality

376 Pages·2010·5.55 MB·English

by  Colin Cooper

Individual Differences
and Personality
Third edition
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Individual Differences
and Personality
Third edition
Colin Cooper
School of Psychology, Queen’s University, Belfast
First published in Great Britain in 2010 by
Hodder Education, An Hachette UK Company,
338 Euston Road, London NW1 3BH
© 2010 Colin Cooper
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To Wesley
Summary 5
Suggested additional reading 55
Contents Answers to self-assessment questions 56
References 57
Preface ix
5 Emotional intelligence
1 Introduction to individual differences
Background 60
Introduction 1 Introduction 60
Main questions 2 Goleman’s contribution 61
How can we discover individual The nature of emotional intelligence 62
differences? 3 Models of emotional intelligence 63
Summary 6 Can tests of emotional intelligence
References 6 predict behaviour? 71
Validity of measures of trait EI 71
2 Kelly and Rogers Suggested additional reading 74
Background 7 Answers to self-assessment questions 74
Introduction 7 References 75
An introduction to George Kelly’s
personal construct theory 8 6 Narrow personality traits
The person-centred theory of Carl
Background 78
Rogers 17
Introduction 78
Evaluation 20
Sensation seeking 80
Suggested additional reading 21
Schizotypy 84
Answers to self-assessment questions 21
Conservatism and authoritarian
References 23
atitudes 87
Morningnes 89
3 Depth psychology Self-estem 90
Background 25 Summary 91
Freud’s theories 25 Suggested additional reading 92
Testing Freud’s theories 32 Answers to self-assessment questions 92
Summary 35 References 93
Carl Jung 36
Alfred Adler 38 7 B iological, cognitive and social bases
Suggested additional reading 39 of personality
Answers to self-assessment questions 39
Background 96
References 40
Introduction 96
Social determinants of personality 97
4 Broad trait theories of personality
Biological bases of personality:
Background 43 Eysenck’s theory 99
Introduction 43 Problems with Eysenck’s theory 101
Factor analysis applied to personality 44 Eysenck’s biological theory of
Discovering the origins of personality 45 personality: empirical results 102
The lexical hypothesis and Cattell’s Reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST) 106
theory 46 Summary 112
The ‘big five’ model of personality 50 Suggested additional reading 113
The work of Eysenck 52 Answers to self-assessment questions 113
vi Disenting voices 54 References 115
8 Structure and measurement of abilities Politics of individual differences 172
Methods of studying the nature/
Background 118
nurture debate 174
Introduction 118
Genetic influences over the lifespan 176
Structure of human mental abilities 119
Methods of quantitative genetics 177
Factor analysis of ability 122
Multivariate genetics 179
Empirical results 123
Molecular genetics 179
Spearman and Thurstone: one ability
Genetics of ability 180
or 12? 123
Genetics of personality 182
Guilford’s model 128
Summary 185
Gardner’s theory of multiple
Suggested additional reading 185
inteligences 129
Answers to self-assessment questions 186
Sternberg’s triarchic theory of ability 131
References 186
Notion of IQ 132
Suggested additional reading 134
12 Psychology of mood and motivation
Answers to self-assessment questions 134
Background 189
References 136
Introduction 189
9 Ability proceses Mood 190
Motivation 197
Background 138
Summary 203
Introduction 138
Suggested additional reading 203
Neural processing and general ability 139
Answers to self-assessment questions 203
Direct measurement of neural
References 204
conduction velocity 140
Indirect measurement of neural 13 Applications of individual differences
conduction velocity 140
Background 207
General ability and cognitive tasks 147
Introduction 207
Working memory and the
Practical problems using tests 207
neuropsychology of intelligence 149
Occupational psychology 211
Summary 150
Educational psychology 219
Suggested additional reading 151
Clinical/counselling psychology 220
Answers to self-assessment questions 152
Forensic psychology 221
References 153
Health psychology 222
Summary 225
10 Personality and ability over the lifespan
Suggested additional reading 225
Background 156
Answers to self-assessment questions 226
Introduction 156
References 227
Ability change 158
Personality change 164 14 Measuring individual differences
Summary 167
Background 230
Suggested additional reading 167
Introduction 230
Answers to self-assessment questions 168
Traits and states 232
References 168
Measuring traits 233
Scoring tests 237
11 E nvironmental and genetic determinants
Use of test scores to predict behaviour 241
of personality and ability
Obtaining and using tests 241
Background 171 Summary 243
Introduction 171 Suggested additional reading 243 vii
Answers to self-assessment questions 243 Methods of test construction 311
References 244 Next steps 314
Summary 315
15 Reliability and validity of psychological tests
Suggested additional reading 315
Answers to self-assessment questions 315
Background 246
References 316
Introduction 246
Random errors of measurement 247
19 Problems with tests
Systematic errors of measurement 248
Reliability 251 Background 317
Validity 256 Introduction 317
Summary 261 External bias in tests 318
Suggested additional reading 261 Internal bias in tests 321
Answers to self-assessment questions 261 Response styles 322
References 262 Factors that affect performance on
ability tests 324
16 Factor analysis
Summary 325
Suggested additional reading 326
Background 264
Answers to self-assessment questions 326
Introduction 264
References 327
Exploratory factor analysis by inspection 266
A geometric approach to factor analysis 268
20 Conclusions
Factor analysis and component analysis 275
Uses of factor analysis 278 Generally agreed issues 329
Summary 279 Controversial issues 330
Suggested additional reading 280 Under-researched issues 332
Answers to self-assessment questions 280 Conclusions 333
References 282 References 333
17 Performing and interpreting factor analyses Appendix A
Background 283 Correlations 334
2
Introduction 283 The importance of r 338
Exploratory factor analysis 283 Correlation and causality 338
Factor analysis in matrix notation 298 Correlations and group differences 338
Confirmatory factor analysis 299 Dichotomous data 339
Summary 302 References 340
Suggested additional reading 302
Appendix B
Answers to self-assessment questions 302
References 303 Code of Fair Testing Practices in
Education: prepared by the Joint
18 Constructing a test
Committee on Testing Practices 341
Background 306
Subject index 346
Introduction 306
Writing test items 307 Author index 361
viii
Preface
This book is all about personality, intelligence, mood and motivation
– the branches of psychology that consider how (and, equally impor-
tantly, why) people are psychologically very different from one another.
It also considers how such individual differences may be measured using
psychological tests and other techniques. The book is primarily aimed
at undergraduate students in psychology departments who are taking
courses such as individual differences, personality, intelligence and abil-
ity, psychometrics or the assessment of individual differences. However,
students in other disciplines (such as education) and at other levels (e.g.
postgraduate courses in occupational psychology) are also likely to find
much to interest them – as is anyone else who is interested in the nature,
causes and assessment of personality and intelligence.
The book sprang from a course of lectures that I have taught at Queen’s
University, Belfast, and it was written largely out of a sense of frustration
with existing texts. There are plenty of excellent textbooks covering per-
sonality theory, but using one of these in isolation has always seemed to
me to be inadequate, since students graduating in psychology should
surely also know something about the psychology of abilities, mood,
motivation, and so on.
Moreover, several texts confine themselves to a historical survey of
theories and are remarkably non-evaluative – they offer a selection of
theories and leave it to the reader to try to discover which are useful.
Several theories are now recognized as deadends and I think that it is
important that students should be aware of promising modern work,
rather than what seem now to be ancient follies. Furthermore, few texts
consider how individual differences can be assessed or how tests can be
evaluated. Given that a statistical method (factor analysis) underpins
most modern attempts to describe personality and mental abilities and
that theories can only be tested through the use of well-designed psy-
chological tests to measure personality, mood, mental abilities and so
on, it is also necessary to consider how these characteristics should best
be measured. It is otherwise quite possible to draw wrong conclusions
from studies based on ill-conceived tests. In addition, most readers of
this book are likely to use tests in some shape or form (e.g. as a part of
their project work or in their professional careers).
The book, therefore, comprises two sections, as such: the first deals
with theories and applications of individual differences and the second
with the necessary methodology. However, this is not a psychometrics
textbook, so readers will search the second section in vain for the math-
ematical formulae that are fundamental to this branch of psychology.
Given psychology students’ notorious dislike of matters mathemati-
cal, I have instead tried to provide a conceptual understanding of the ix