PSYSCHOLOGY PSY101
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PSY101Lecture41.pptxPSY101 Introduction to Cultural Psychology
Lecture 4
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Outline
Culture and Personality
Defining Personality
Cross-Cultural Studies of Personality Traits
The Five-Factor Model and Five-Factor Theory
Other Dimensions of Personality
Indigenous Personalities
Integrating Universal and Culture-specific Understandings of Personality
Conclusion
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Defining Personality
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Definitions
Personality: Aspects of an individual’s unique characteristics
Enduring behavioral and cognitive characteristics, traits, or predispositions
Trait: A characteristic or quality distinguishing a person
Identity - perceived roles in life, life experiences and narratives, values, and motives
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Perspectives
Psychological anthropology
Based on the ethnographic fieldwork by anthropologists who developed theories about culture and personality
Forms the basis for national character
National character: Perception that each culture has a modal personality type, and people in that culture share aspects of it
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Perspectives
Cross-cultural perspectives
Focus on traits
View personality as discrete and separate from culture, and as a dependent variable in research
Cultural indigenous perspective
Views culture and personality as combined entities that are interdependent on each other
Indigenous personalities: Constellations of personality traits and characteristics found only in a specific culture
Measuring Personality across Cultures
Based on the aspect of personality and the theoretical perspective of the researcher measuring it
The etic perspective assumes that personality can be measured and compared across cultures
The emic perspective suggests that it is difficult to create measures of personality with the same meaning (and validity) across cultures
Cross-cultural validation of personality measures requires psychometric evidence from all cultures
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Cross-Cultural Studies on Personality Traits: The Five-Factor Model and Five-Factor Theory
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Five-Factor Model
Model based on five distinct and basic personality dimensions that appear to be universal for all humans
Neuroticism
Extraversion
Openness to experience
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
Evidence for the Five-Factor Model
Found based on the similarities in personality dimensions within and between cultures
Support arose out of factor analyses of trait adjectives from English lexicon that were descriptive of self and others
Factors were similar to dimensions found in the analysis of questionnaire scales operationalizing personality
Widely used measure - Revised NEO Personality Inventory
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Major Traits and Subtraits
Neuroticism
Anxiety
Angry hostility
Depression
Self-consciousness
Impulsiveness
Vulnerability
Extraversion
Warmth
Gregariousness
Assertiveness
Activity
Excitement seeking
Positive emotions
Openness
Fantasy
Aesthetics
Feelings
Actions
Ideas
Values
Agreeableness
Trust
Straightforwardness
Altruism
Compliance
Modesty
Tender-mindedness
Conscientiousness
Competence
Order
Dutifulness
Achievement striving
Self-discipline
Deliberation
The Big 5
http://www.utpsyc.org/Big5/
The Big 5
Do you think the BIG 5 results accurately represent your personality?
Think about your family and friends. Do they have similar personality traits to you?
Is it reasonable to assume that all peoples/cultures can be placed into the 5 categories?
National Character and Aggregate Personality Traits
Source: McCrae, R. R., Terracciano, A., Leibovich, N. B., Schmidt, V., Shakespeare-Finch, J., Neubauer, A., et al., “Personality profiles of cultures: Aggregate personality traits,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, pp. 407–425, 2005, Copyright © American Psychological Association. Reprinted by permission.
Neuroticism
Extroversion
Figure 6.1- Graphic Display of Cultures from McCrae et al. (2005)
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Do Perceptions of National Character Correspond to Aggregate Personality Traits?
Perceptions of national character - Stereotypes about personalities of people of different cultures
Not correlated with actual, aggregate personality levels of individuals of those cultures
Function - maintenance of national identity
Sources: climate, national wealth, values and social desirability
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Five-Factor Theory
Provides a theoretical explanation about the source of traits
Not entirely dependent on five-factor model
Core components
Basic tendencies
Characteristic adaptations
Self-concept
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Five-Factor Theory
Basic Tendencies
Neuroticism
Extraversion
Conscientiousness
Agreeableness
Openness to experience
Characteristic Adaptations
Personal strivings
Attitudes
Skills
Roles
Relationships
Self-Concept
Self-schemas
Specific beliefs
Specific behaviors
Biological Bases
Cultural Bases
Cross-Cultural Research on Other Dimensions of Personality
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Cross-Cultural Studies on Other Dimensions of Personality
Interpersonal relatedness
Dimensions
Harmony
Relationship orientation
Modernization
Thrift versus extravagance
Ah-Q mentality
Social behavior related to face
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Cross-Cultural Studies on Other Dimensions of Personality
Filipino personality structure
Traits found in Filipino culture - Temperamentalness and self-assurance
Dominance
Based on the data collected in Denmark and Netherlands
Found a sixth personality dimension and labeled it authoritarianism
Internal versus External Locus of Control
Locus of control: Differences in how much control one believes to have over one’s own behavior and relationship with environment and others
Internal - Behaviour and relationships are dependent on one’s own behavior
External - Behaviour and relationships contingent on forces beyond one’s control
Research has shown both similarities and differences across cultures
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Types of Control across Cultures
Self acts as agent, and one feels more self-efficacious when agency is made explicit, leading to feelings of autonomy and efficacy
Direct
One’s agency is hidden or downplayed
Pretend as if they are not acting as an agent even though in reality they are doing so
Indirect
Control by someone else for the benefit of oneself
Proxy
Attempt to control environment by being a member of a group and the group serves as the agent of control
Collective
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Figure 6.4 - The Relationships between Cultural Values and Preferred Control Strategies
Source: Yamaguchi, S. (2001). Culture and Control Orientations. In D. Matsumoto (Ed.), The handbook of culture and psychology (pp. 223–243). New York: Oxford University Press. (Culture and Psychology. com). By permission of Oxford University Press
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Autonomy
Discussed within the self-determination theory
Theory states that people share basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness
Manner in which needs are met vary based on context and culture
People are autonomous whenever they act in accord with their interests, values, or desires
Universal psychological need and phenomenon
Its practice and expression is different in different cultures
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Indigenous Personalities
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Indigenous Personalities
Each culture has a different way of understanding their world
African model - Three layers of personality
Japanese - Amae, passive child-like dependence of one person on another
Korean - Cheong
Indian - Hishkama karma
Chinese - Ren qing
Mexican - Simpatia
Filipino - Pagkikipagkapwa, pakikiramdam, and pakikisama
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Integrating Universal and Culture-Specific Understanding of Personality
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Integrating Universal and Culture-Specific Understanding of Personality
Involves accepting personality as a multidimensional construct
Aspects of personality
Traits - Rooted in biology and genetics
Identities - Less influenced by biology and more influenced by culture
Possible sources of personality
Biologically innate and evolutionarily adaptive factors that create genetic predispositions to certain types of personality traits
Culture-constant learning principles and processes
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Conclusion
Universality exists in personality organization around a small set of basic personality traits
Examining relative degree of contribution of biological and cultural factors in development and organization of personality is important
Future theories and studies will likely benefit from a blending of universal, etic approaches with indigenous, emic approaches
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