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Individual Differences
There will be one question on intelligence and two on personality – answer one of the three
...

It doesn’t matter whether this information comes from lectures, textbooks, other modules, or
scientific papers
...
g
...
This essay will discuss the evidence for the heritability of
personality, and the methodological limitations of the approaches that have been
used
...
there were some errors in detail, the errors pulled the marks down”
• “essays with lower marks typically had factual errors”
• “I deducted the largest number of points for factual errors”
...
”
• “Best essays were not necessarily the longest ones
...

How to fix it:
• Link everything back to the question: be (boringly?!) obvious
• Signpost: e
...
use same words as in question
• Check your plan before starting to write: does it address question?
• Check wording: Discuss? Compare and contrast?
• Reiterate answer in conclusion
3) Structure - Noted problems:
• “Poorer scripts displayed
...
”
• “Other things that were the mark of a good exam script included a clear writing style”
...
g
...
’’ (Carlson et al
...
g
...


What is the current predominant ‘essential-trait’ model? - The Big Five (e
...
Costa & McCrae)
What traits does the Big Five model identify? - Openness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism,
Extraversion, Agreeableness

Costa & McCrae’s Big Five
Trait

Description

O penness

Being curious, original, intellectual, creative, imaginative,
eccentric

C onscientiousness Being organised, systematic, dependable, achievement
oriented
E xtraversion

Being outgoing, talkative, sociable, enthusiastic

A greeableness

Being affable, tolerant, sensitive, trusting, kind, warm,
empathic

N euroticism

Being anxious, prone to stress and worry

Measuring the Big Five
• NEO-PI 5-factor: 300 items, 1-5 scale
• Many alternatives
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g
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1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly agree
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_____ Extraverted, enthusiastic
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_____ Critical, quarrelsome
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_____ Dependable, self-disciplined
...

5
...

6R
...

7
...

8R
...

9
...

10R
...
”
Extraversion: 1, 6R; Agreeableness: 2R, 7; Conscientiousness; 3, 8R; Emotional Stability: 4R,
9; Openness to Experiences: 5, 10R
...

o Explaining ‘why’ comes from other theories
...

Big Five: life outcomes
Higher extraversion:
• Greater happiness
• Better psychological health
• More success in dating & relationships
• Greater community involvement
• Use more positive than negative words (e
...
dreadful)

• More argumentative
• Worse at time management
HEXACO
• Some personality studies found a sixth factor
...

• Within HEXACO model: ‘honesty-humility’
...

• Honesty-humility: truthful, honest, fair, just, sincere, faithful, loyal, humane
Criticisms of HEXACO
Is ‘Honesty-humility’ too similar to ‘Agreeableness’? Other options for a sixth trait:
• Spirituality?
• Sexuality?
• Other traits that might not fit within Big Five:
o Sly, deceptive, manipulative
...

o Conservative, traditional, down-to-earth
...
V
...
N
...
What is beyond the Big Five? Plenty! Journal
of Personality, 68, 821-835
...

• Behaviourism - emphasis of enviroment
...

How much does situation influence behaviour?
Resolution
• Aggregation of behaviour
...

Influences on consistency of behaviour:
1
...

2
...

3
...

4
...

5
...

Self-monitoring behaviour
“I’m going out now
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If anyone comes by, just tell them I’m not here
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• Sadness
...

• Fear
...

• Remorse
...

(Snyder, M
...
The self-monitoring of expressive behavior
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Self-monitoring behaviour: Gangestad & Snyder (1985)

1
...

2
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3
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4
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5
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6
...

7
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8
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9
...

10
...

11
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12
...

13
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14
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15
...

16
...

17
...

18
...

Scoring
Score one point if you wrote F for:
1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16
Score one point if you wrote T for:
4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 17, 18
11 or more: probably high self-monitor
...

High self-monitors tend to be better at projecting emotion in test phrases
...
W
...
(1985)
...
Psychological Review,
92, 317-349
...

o Perform better in job interviews, make more new friends
...

o Less prone to environmental manipulations (e
...
advertising tricks)
...
adoptive parent
Assess on
scale

Child & biological parent (rvalues)

Child & adoptive parent (rvalues)

Social
presence

0
...
12

Vigorous

0
...
06

Sociable

0
...
02

Sociability

0
...
04

Active

0
...
02

Loehlin, J
...
, Willerman, L, & Horn, J
...
(1985) Personality resemblances in
adoptive families when the children are late-adolescent or adult
...


• Correlation stronger between biological than adoptive
parents - genetics has more influence than upbringing
on personality similarity
...

• Almost complete lack of similarity with adoptive
parents
...

• Can’t tell us if angry/stressed parenting leads to
angry/stressed children!
• Random allocation to adoptive parents?
• Age of adoption
...

• Non-identical twins: share (on average) 50% genes
...


Correlation coefficients: psychoticism
Research study

Age

identicaltwin non-i
...

s
twins

Loehlin & Nichols
(1976)

18


...
32

Eaves & Young (1981)

31


...
28

Tellegen et al
...
58


...
(1988)

14-34


...
41

• Similar results for Big Five traits, across countries; and for other behaviours
...
2001
...
d
...
36


...
37

-
...
53


...
38


...
50


...
37


...
(2001) study tell us? - Attitudes depend on biological factors
...


Age
Loehlin & Nichols
(1976)
•
•
•
•
•

Identical
twins

Non-identical
twins

18


...
25

Often used
...
“less nurture, more nature!”
“Genes vs
...

h2 is only an estimate, and only applies to the population under study
...

When the environment is more variable, genetic differences become less important
...
g
...

“Equal environmental similarity assumption” assumes that two identical twins have same
amount of NON-SHARED environment as two non-identical twins
...

Equal environmental similarity assumption

Identical twins might have bigger proportions of shared environments
Social effects of looking/ being ‘identical’
Identical twins more likely than non-identical twins to…
• share friends
...

• appearance - more equal treatment
...

Heritability estimates assume that non-identical twins share (on average) 50% of genes
• This might be an underestimate
...


Parental random mating
• On average, 50% of genes in
common
...

• Non-identical twins, > 50% genes in common
...

• Note! This is simply a demonstrative schematic: gist
is correct, but exact details are more complicated!

Another problem with heritability estimates: gene interactions
Individuals
Child 1

Genes
Child 2

Child 1

Behaviour
Child 2

Child 1

Child 2

Heritability estimates are much lower with non-twin samples, probably in part because effects
of genes are interactive and multiplicative, rather than additive
...

These different environments in turn can shape the individual
...

• Evocative: individual’s genes evoke different responses from the environment http://
www
...
com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=MMldVZOxW64
...

Genes predispose ongoing series of behavioural choices
...
which shape scope of later choices
...
g
...


• In addition: skills, attitudes, religion, customs etc can be learnt from parents
...

• Genetic correlations tend to persist across lifespan
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• Non-shared environment bigger measurable impact than shared environment
Exam revision: you must read beyond the lecture material
...
g
...
’s Personality, Individual Differences and
Intelligence); other textbooks are also fine
...
Genetic and environmental influences on human psychological
differences
...
Excellent, readable: reviews & critiques
behav genetics studies & approach
...
Beyond heritability: Twin studies in
behavioral research
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Great, clear,
short article
...
open
...


3: Appearance and Personality
History

William Sheldon (1942): 3 somatotypes
Somatype

Character

Shape

Endomorph

tolerant, comfort-loving,
peaceful, sociable, goodhumored, relaxed

plump, buxom,
soft, round

Mesomorph

assertive, vigorous,
courageous, competitive, risktaker

combative,
muscular,
mature, thick
skin

Ectomorph

fragile, restrained, nonassertive, introverted, artistic,
preference for privacy

Picture

delicate, slight,
tall, younglooking

History
Taboo in psychological science until the 1970s
...
Cultural learning:
• Appearance links to behaviour
...

• Language
...
Tendency to categorise
...
Overgeneralisation:
• Masculine vs
...

The attractiveness halo effect
Attractive people judged to be more kind, warm, responsible, communicative, honest, sociable,
intelligent, assertive and less naive

4
...

• baby animals & soft toys
...
Because personality and appearance are linked?
Can people judge ‘Big Five’ from facial appearance?
• More often: extraversion, conscientiousness
...

• Holistic rather than feature-based
...

• Female judges more accurate than male
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• Women? (extraversion & positive emotionality)
...

• Women: independent, diverse interests
...

Trustworthiness in facial appearance
Wide faces:
• less trusted!
• less trustworthy!
BUT help group more during group competition
• Men not women (Stirrat, M
...
I
...
Face structure predicts cooperation: Men with wider

faces are more generous to their in-group when out-group competition is salient
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Stirrat, M
...
I
...
Valid facial cues to cooperation and trust: Male facial width and
trustworthiness
...
)

•

Company profits: CEOs with wider faces (Wong, E
...
, Ormiston, M
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, & Haselhuhn, M
...
(2011)
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Psychological Science, 22(12),
1478-1483)

Many traits can be judged with some accuracy from facial appearance
• Profitability of company (Rule & Ambady (2008)
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Psychological Science 19, 109-111)
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submissiveness (Berry & Wero (1993)
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Journal of Personality 61, 497-520)
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homosexual (Rule & Ambady (2008)
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Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 44, 1100-1105)
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34); Extraversion (r =
...
29)
• Not accurate: Openness to Experience (r =
...
01);
Agreeableness (r = -
...
Sorokowska, A
...
, & Szmajke, A
...
Does personality smell? Accuracy of
personality assessments based on body odour
...


Possible links between personality and appearance
•
Personality influences appearance?
o George Orwell: “at fifty, everyone has the face he deserves”
o Dorian Gray - portrait ages and warps when he’s a dick
...

o Self-defeating prophecy
...

•‘Interviewers’ rate
competence higher in mock
interview
...
R
...
J
...
J
...
Power posing brief nonverbal
displays affect neuroendocrine levels and
risk tolerance
...
http://
www
...
com/talks/
amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are?language=en

Biological factor
Men’s facial masculinity
• Premise: linked to testosterone
• Perceptions:
▪ More attractive in some contexts?
▪ Dominance, coldness, dishonesty (Perrett et al, 1998)
...

• Low testosterone,
▪ Marriage, marital harmony, lower divorce
...

The ‘attractiveness halo’: outcomes?
• Attractive vs
...

• Punishment & crime
...

• Meta-analysis:
o Mental health
...

o Sexual activity
...

o Social anxiety
...
Psychological Bulletin 111, 304-311
...

•
1/10th second Willis, J
...
(2006)
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Psychological Science, 17(7), 592-598
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, & Trope, Y
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Facing faces: Studies on the cognitive aspects of
physiognomy
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doi:
10
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78
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837
• Naumann, L
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, Vazire, S
...
J
...
D
...
Personality judgments
based on physical appearance
...


4: Evolutionary Approaches

Sample Q: What do studies of non-human animals tell us about human
personality?
Do (non-human) animals have personalities?
Why do you think this?
How could we assess personality in non-human animals?
Animal personality
• Do (non-human) animals have personalities?
• Between species? Within species?
• Why do you think this?
• Observation? Phylogenetics? Behaviourists
• How could we assess personality in animals?
• Observation of behaviour
• Reliability + validity
The ‘big five’ in animals?
• 19 studies on 11 species
• Extraversion (17); neuroticism (15); agreeableness (14)
• Openness (4); conscientiousness (chimps)? Dominance (7)?
• Phylogeny of personality?
• Extraversion: behavioural activation
...

• Agreeableness: aggression/nurture
...
D
...
P
...
Personality dimensions in nonhuman animals: A cross-species
review
...

• Anthropomorphic projections
...
youtube
...

• Aggression or avoidance; vs tolerance
...

• Appearance
...

Russian Fox Experiment: distinguishing genes and parental practices:
Cross-fostering experiments in the foxes:
• Offspring swapped between parents
...

• BUT not always:
• Rodents & nurturance (Anisman et al 1998)
...


Natural selection in a nutshell
1
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2
...

3
...

4
...

Variation can also evolve! Darwin’s finches:
Finches: one species per island
...

Read that one personality book
...

Fluctuating Selection:
Selection pressures fluctuate over time:
• E
...
hot year, cold year; rainy year, dry year
...

• This leads to variation in physical traits
...
R
...
R
...
Unpredictable evolution in a 30-year study of Darwin's
finches
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ftp://ftp
...
hawaii
...
pdf

Can fluctuating selection pressures also explain behavioural variation?
• Personality variation: typical patterns of behaviours
That is, are some personality patterns advantageous in some environments but not others? (and
vice versa)
Wariness in Guppies
Tank with clear partition: Guppies classified into high, medium, low wariness, depending on
approach to pumpkinseed fish
...
A
...
Tendency to inspect predators predicts mortality risk in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata)
...

High wariness

Low wariness

After 36 hours

14/20 alive

7/20 alive

5/20 alive

After 60 hours

•
•
•
•
•
•

Medium wariness

8/20 alive

3/20 alive

0/20 alive

Guppies in Trinidad
...
✓
Downstream: predators are a problem
...
(2002): contrasts wariness in upstream and downstream guppy populations
...

Downstream, AND OFFSPRING: less likely to be eaten
...
Rapid evolution of escape ability in
Trinidadian guppies (Poecilia reticulata)
...


• Why aren’t all guppies more wary? Downside of wariness?
• hesitancy in taking food or mating opportunities
...

• Optimal level of wariness depends on environment
...

Exploratory Behaviour in Great tits
Bird personality test: number of flights/hops to explore new trees in lab
...
slow
explorers
...

• Heritable at about same levels as human personality
...
(2002)
...
PNAS 99, 309-14
...
Fast = compete when food scarce, but waste energy when lots of food
...
Fast = compete when competitors plentiful, but waste energy
when not
...

Extraversion, survival and reproduction:
545 adults
...

• ‘Reproduction’ questions: number of relationships
and children
...
Nettle, D
...
An evolutionary approach to the extraversion continuum
...


Extraverts more likely to have been hospitalised due to
illness or accident
...

Higher extraversion = more accidents among bus
drivers (Furnham, A
...
(1999)
...


‘Termites’: youthful optimism predicts early death
(Friedman, H
...
, et al
...
Psychosocial and behavioural predictors of
longevity: The aging and death of the ‘Termites’
...
)

“safer environment”: high extraversion does well
“harsh environment”: low extraversion does well

Adaptive function of neuroticism?
High neuroticism: increased depression, anxiety disorders, heart disease, etc
...

Low neuroticism: more risks?
High neuroticism: increased striving? increased realism?

Other traits & evolution
Trait

Pros

Cons

Openness

Novel solutions to problems; status

Psychosis

Conscientiousness

Good in stable environment

Bad in unpredictable
environment

Agreeableness

Interpersonal relationships; social
support

Others take advantage

Theory: the optimal level of each trait, in terms of survival and reproduction, depends on the
environment – and the environment changes, so maintaining individual differences
...
(2006)
...
 American Psychologist, 61(6), 622
...
(2002)
...
PNAS 99, 309-14
...
A
...
Tendency to inspect predators predicts mortality risk in the guppy (Poecilia
reticulata)
...

Maltby, J
...
, & Macaskill, A
...
Personality, Individual Differences and Intelligence
(2nd/3rd Ed
...
– see ‘animals and personality’ section,
Chapter 9
...
(2007)
...
Oxford: OUP
...
Evolutionary approaches to
personality
...
2 NET
...
Rapid evolution of escape ability in Trinidadian guppies (Poecilia reticulata)
...

Trut (1999)
...

American Scientist, 87(2),
160-169
...
americanscientist
...
A write-up of the fox domestication study
...


Sex differences in personality & behaviour?
Are there differences between the average behaviour (personality) of men and women and if so:
▪ How do they differ? Why are there differences?
Tinbergen’s four whys or four questions
1
...

2
...

3
...

4
...

Why does a baby cry?
1
...

2
...

Because her vocal folds are vibrating
...
Phylogeny: compare species - Because crying arose as a human
behaviour at some point in evolution
...
Adaptation (evolution): consequences for survival and
reproduction - Because babies who cried when they were
hungry got fed, and so survived better than those who didn’t
...
g
...
g
...

• Women: quality not quantity of partners
• Can we distinguish typical male and female behaviour along these
lines?
Clark & Hatfield (1989)

Gender differences in receptivity to sexual offers
...
Data from 1978 and 1982
...
I find you very
attractive
...


Sexual Strategies Theory: An Evolutionary Perspective on Human Mating
...


Sex differences: perceptions Abbey
(1982); Saal, Johnson & Weber (1989)

Time prior to sexual relationship

Buss & Schmidt
1993
...
Psychological Review 100(2), 204-232
...

Men can increase their reproductive output more than women can by aiming for more
reproductive partners
...

Of course these are generalisations, and don’t always apply as rules at the individual level!
Sex differences in relationship jealousy?
Background: no sex differences in relationship jealousy
...

Women: jealous about men’s emotional infidelity
...
1992) Cross-cultural replications (Buunk et al 1996)
Alternative explanation?
DeSteno & Salovey (1996)
• Sexual and emotional infidelity interlinked
...
” Symons (1979)

Further Reading
Buss, D
...
(2013)
...
Harlow: Pearson
Education
...
See in particular Chapters 6 and 12;
Chapters 4 and 5 are
also relevant
...
, & Reader, W
...
Evolutionary Psychology: An Introduction
...
Available as
an E-book through the library
...

Maltby, J
...
, & Macaskill, A
...
Personality, Individual Differences and
Intelligence (2nd/3rd Ed
...
– see ‘animals and
personality’ section, Chapter 9
...




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