Introduction to Personality and Intelligence (SAGE Foundations of Psychology series)

337 Pages·2007·8.65 MB·English

by  Professor Nick Haslam

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Introduction to Personality
and Intelligence
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SAGE Foundations of
Psychology Series
Series Editors: Craig McGarty, Murdoch University, S. Alexander Haslam,
University of Exeter
SAGE Foundations of Psychology is a major new series intended to provide intro-
ductory textbooks in all the main areas of psychology. Books in the series are
scholarly, written in a lively and readable style, assuming little or no back-
ground knowledge. They are suitable for all university students beginning psy-
chology courses, for those studying psychology as a supplement to other
courses, and for readers who require a general and up-to-date overview of the
major concerns and issues in contemporary psychology.
Already published:
Statistics with Confidence: An Introduction for Psychologists
Michael J. Smithson (Australian National University)
An Introduction to Child Development
Thomas Keenan (Niagara College, Canada)
Research Methods and Statistics in Psychology
S. Alexander Haslam & Craig McGarty (University of Exeter, UK &
Murdoch University, Australia)
Forthcoming:
An Introduction to Child Development 2nd Edition
Thomas Keenan (Niagara College, Canada)
An Introduction to Social Psychology
John Turner (Australian National University)
An Introduction to Biological Psychology
Lisa Wise (University of Melbourne, Australia)
Understanding Cognitive Neuropsychology: Studying Damaged Brains
Ashok Jansari (University of East London)
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Introduction to Personality
and Intelligence
Nick Haslam
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© Nick Haslam 2007
First published 2007
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private
study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright,
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prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of
reprographic reproduction, in accordance with the terms of licences
issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning
reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-0-7619-6057-7
ISBN 978-0-7619-6058-4 (pbk)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2006930600
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Printed in Great Britain by The Alden Press, Witney
Printed on paper from sustainable resources
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Contents
Acknowledgements viii
A Word on Statistics, by WisÂawa Szymborska ix
Guided Tour x
Introductory Remarks xii
SECTION 1 DESCRIBING PERSONALITY 1
1 What is Personality? 3
The concept of personality 4
‘Personality’ in psychology 5
Related concepts 9
Putting it together 10
Personality psychology’s place in psychology 10
Overview of the book 12
2 Trait Psychology 17
What is a trait? 18
Defining the trait universe: Part 1 19
A statistical digression 21
Defining the trait universe: Part 2 25
Alternatives to the Big Five 28
Three factors or five? 31
How do models of basic traits advance the field? 33
An illustrative broad trait: Conscientiousness 35
Personality and emotion 36
Specific traits 38
3 Challenges and Alternatives to Trait Psychology 46
Do traits exist, and do they matter? 48
Are trait dimensions culturally universal? 50
Traits or types? 53
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vi Introduction to Personality and Intelligence
Do traits explain behaviour? 56
Are traits sufficient for describing personality? 58
Alternatives to traits 59
SECTION 2 EXPLAINING PERSONALITY 73
4 Biological Approaches to Personality 75
The genetics of personality 77
Personality and brain functioning 84
Personality and evolution 89
5 Psychoanalytic Approaches to Personality 96
Biographical details 98
Elements of psychoanalytic theory 99
Post-Freudian developments 110
Critiques of psychoanalysis 115
6 Cognitive Approaches to Personality 126
Behaviourism 128
Humanistic theories 130
Social learning theories 131
Construing: personal constructs 133
Explaining: attributional style 136
Coping: coping strategies 139
Representing the self: self-esteem and self-complexity 142
Thinking about emotions: emotional intelligence 147
SECTION 3 PERSONALITY IN PRACTICE 155
7 Personality Change and Development 157
The stability of personality 159
Sources of stability 160
Personality change 162
Temperament and personality 167
Personality development 170
8 The Assessment of Personality 181
Measuring personality 182
Interview methods 185
Personality inventories 187
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Contents vii
Projective methods 189
Alternative methods 195
Making use of personality assessments 197
9 Personality and Mental Disorder 204
Vulnerability to mental disorders 206
Personality disorders 219
Multiple personality 223
Personality and physical illness 226
10 Psychobiography and Life Narratives 233
Psychobiography 235
Weaknesses of psychobiography 236
Improving psychobiographies 241
Life narratives 243
Making sense of self-narratives 244
Final notes on self-narratives 251
SECTION 4 INTELLIGENCE – Authored by 257
Timothy Bates
11 Intelligence and Cognitive Abilities 259
Binet and the origins of intelligence testing 261
Mental age 263
The concept of ‘IQ’ 264
The WAIS-III: an example of a modern IQ test 266
The structure of ability 269
Cognition and biology 274
Environmental effects on intelligence 278
Genetic effects on intelligence 281
Correlates of ability 285
Stability of IQ 287
Bias 287
Group differences in intelligence 288
Glossary 294
References 301
Index 315
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Acknowledgements
Many people deserve hearty thanks for helping me to imagine, plan, and finish
this book. Craig McGarty and Alex Haslam convinced me that I was up to the
task, and showed superhuman patience and faith when all the evidence
seemed to suggest otherwise. Michael Carmichael, Claire Reeve, and Natalie
Aguilera at SAGE gave good-natured encouragement and steered me towards
completion. Bill Gottdiener, Bill Hirst, Nick Humphrey, and Louis Rothschild
read chapters and corrected some of my errors. Timothy Bates strengthened the
book by stepping in to write an excellent chapter on intelligence and cognitive
abilities. The spirit of Charles Langley, who got me started in the field, sat like
an amused parrot on my shoulder while I wrote. Vikki sustained me through-
out the writing period, which included two intercontinental moves, two chil-
dren, two academic positions, two muggings, and one terrorist incident. Max
and Alastair made concentration difficult, laughter easy, and life interesting for
the duration. This one is for them: fascinating little personalities both.
Every effort has been made to trace the copyright holders but if any have
been inadvertently overlooked the publisher will be pleased to make the neces-
sary arrangement at the first opportunity.
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A Word on Statistics by
WisÂawa Szymborska
Out of every hundred people Cruel
those who always know better: when forced by circumstances:
fifty-two. it’s better not to know,
not even approximately.
Unsure of every step:
almost all the rest. Wise in hindsight:
not many more
Ready to help,
than wise in foresight.
if it doesn’t take too long:
forty-nine. Getting nothing out of life except
things:
Always good,
thirty
because they cannot be otherwise:
(though I would like to be wrong).
four – well, maybe five.
Balled up in pain
Able to admire without envy:
and without a flashlight in the dark:
eighteen.
eighty-three, sooner or later.
Led to error
Those who are just:
by youth (which passes):
quite a few, thirty-five.
sixty, plus or minus.
But if it takes effort to understand:
Those not to be messed with:
three.
four-and-forty.
Worthy of empathy:
Living in constant fear
ninety-nine.
of someone or something:
seventy-seven. Mortal:
one hundred out of one hundred –
Capable of happiness:
a figure that has never varied yet.
twenty-some-odd at most.
Harmless alone,
turning savage in crowds:
more than half, for sure.