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 Affective Processes:
Motivation and Emotions

Block 2
Psychology of Individual Differences

65
Psychology of Individual
Differences BLOCK 2 PSYCHOLOGY OF INDIVIDUAL
DIFFERENCES

Introduction

This block comprises of two Units which deals with the different aspects that
makes individual different. It is interesting to note that no two individuals are
same, although their looks, behaviour, tastes, nature and personality may be
similar. Variation or difference is an inevitable aspect of all biological population
of the Earth. Imagine if our Earth had only one type of tree, say only mango tree,
or one type of animal everywhere or one type of flower everywhere. Then, how
would the world look like? Boring, right? Similarly, imagine a world where every
individual is similar to each other in thinking, attitudes, intelligence, social status,
and personality (suppose all were extrovert only). Then, again it would become
damn boring for us and especially for psychologists because we would not found
anything interesting to study on. So, differences or diversity are a pervasive feature
of this world and it is even more appealing for us (psychologist). The first unit of
this block deals with the concept and theories of intelligence. It also discusses
the aspects and ways of measuring intelligence. The different levels of intelligence
also explain the individual difference. The second unit of the second block deals
with the concept, aspects and theories of personality. It also discusses the ways
by which personality can be measured. Personality has always been a topic of
discussion among common people, but defining it and outlining its nature has
always been a difficult task for everyone including psychologists. The unit tries
to explain these facts about personality.

66
 Individual Differences and
UNIT 5 INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES AND Intelligence

INTELLIGENCE*

Structure
5.0 Introduction
5.1 Objectives
5.2 Concept and Nature of Individual Differences
5.2.1 Nature vs. Nurture Debate in Individual Difference
5.3 Definition of Intelligence
5.4 Theories of Intelligence
5.4.1 Spearman Theory of Intelligence
5.4.2 Thurstone Theory of Intelligence
5.4.3 Sternberg Theory of Intelligence
5.4.4 Gardner Theory of Intelligence
5.5 Assessment of Intelligence
5.5.1 Types of Intelligence Tests
5.5.1.1 Individual and Group Intelligence Tests
5.5.1.1.1 Individual Test
5.5.1.1.2 Group Tests
5.5.1.2 Verbal and Nonverbal Tests
5.5.1.2.1 Verbal Test
5.5.1.2.2 Non Verbal Test
5.5.1.3 Culture Fair Tests and Cultural Biased Tests
5.5.1.3.1 Culture Fair Test
5.5.3.1.2 Cultural Biased Test
5.6 Emotional and Social Intelligence
5.6.1 Emotional Intelligence
5.6.2 Social Intelligence
5.7 Let Us Sum Up
5.8 Unit End Questions
5.9 Glossary
5.10 Answers to Self Assessment Questions
5.11 References and Suggested Readings

1.0 INTRODUCTION
Differences or variation is an inevitable part of our world. If you look around
you can see innumerable variety of flowers, plants, trees, birds and animals.
Humans too are no exception. Just like differences in their skin colour and features,
human differ from each other at the behavioural level too. This variation in
behaviours or individual differences makes the study of psychology worth.
* Contributed by Dr. Arti Singh, IGNOU
67
Psychology of Individual However, psychologists are not unanimous regarding the cause of differences in
Differences
behaviour among individuals. One can find numerous causes and theories related
to individual differences in psychology textbooks. In this unit, we shall discuss
the meaning of individual differences and see how intelligence plays a significant
role in manifesting differences among individuals. We will also explore the
concept of emotional intelligence and social intelligence in this unit.

5.1 OBJECTIVES
By the end of this Unit, you would be able to:
Describe the concept and nature of individual differences;
Explain the nature vs. nurture debate with reference to individual differences;
Elucidate the different theoretical approaches explaining the concept of
intelligence; and
Discuss the concept of emotional intelligence and social intelligence.

5.2 CONCEPT AND NATURE OF INDIVIDUAL

DIFFERENCES
Variation or difference is an inevitable aspect of all biological population of the
Earth. Imagine if our Earth had only one type of tree, say only mango tree, or one
type of animal everywhere or one type of flower everywhere. Then, how would
the world look like? Boring, right? Similarly, imagine a world where every
individual is similar to each other in thinking, attitudes, intelligence, social status,
and personality (suppose all were extrovert only). Then again, it would become
damn boring for us and especially for psychologists because we would not found
anything interesting to study on. So, differences or diversity are a pervasive feature
of this world and it is even more appealing for us (psychologist).
Now, what do you mean by “individual differences”? It refers to variation among
individual with reference to a single or a number of characteristics. According to
Plato, “No two persons are born exactly alike, but each differs from the other in
natural endowments, one being suited for one occupation and the other for
another”. Psychology studies “Individual differences in how we think, individual
differences in how we feel, individual differences in what we want and what we
need, individual differences in what we do. We study how people differ and we
also study why people differ. We study individual differences” (Revelle, Wilt &
Condon, 2011). Now the question is why we need to study individual differences.
It is because it helps us in predicting and explaining the behaviour of the individual
more accurately.
5.2.1 Nature vs. Nurture Debate in Individual Difference
Why some people are resilient and persistent in their efforts, while some others
easily lose their motivational level and feel depressed? Why some are more
intelligent than others? Why some people are more violent than others? Why
siblings from the same family have a different aptitude and intelligence level?
To answer these and other similar questions, psychologists emphasize upon nature
vs. nurture debate. This debate involves whether differences in human behaviour
is the result of nature or nurture? Before moving forward, Let us see what exactly
is nature or nurture?
Nature: It refers to the genetic factors that we have inherited from our parents
such as height or skin colour.
Nurture: It refers to all those environmental factors that can impact us such
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 as rearing process, family socioeconomic conditions, social support or Individual Differences and
Intelligence
cultural factors.

Fig.5.1: Nature vs. Nurture Debate

Source: https://www.verywellmind.com

The debate over the relative importance of hereditary vs. environmental factors
is one of the oldest yet unresolved debates. People who believe that our behaviour
is purely controlled by our hereditary factors are known as nativists. Those who
support this view, regard differences in human behaviours as the result of different
‘genetic makeup’. Supporters of other end of this debate spectrum are known as
environmentalists or empiricists. Advocates of this view believe that people differ
from each other due to their experiences or environmental conditions. One of the
well-known and prominent supporters of this view is John Locke. He equated
human mind to tabula rasa-a blank slate, which gradually fills with our life
experience. Following diagram suggest the nativists vs. empiricists take by
different approaches of psychology:

Fig.5.2: Nativists vs. Empiricists Take by Different Approaches of Psychology

Source: https://www.simplypsychology.org

However, contemporary view on this debate suggests that defending any extreme
side would be a catastrophe in explaining human behaviour and differences among
them. Recently, many studies have suggested that both genetic and environmental
factors play a vital role in shaping our behaviour. For example, height as a physical
trait has been found to be influenced by both genetic and environmental factors.
If parents of a child are tall and if he may have inherited these genes for tall
height then whether he will also be tall or not depends on received nourishment.
If he had not received proper nourishment then his genes of tall height would not
69
Psychology of Individual manifest and he will remain shorter than his parents. You will also find many
Differences
examples of nature-nurture interaction in your textbooks on abnormal psychology
or psychopathology, where the roots of all mental disorders have been explained
with the help of both genetic predisposition and environmental factors.

5.3 DEFINITION OF INTELLIGENCE

Intelligence is a hypothetical construct, which refers to a higher level of abstract
thought processes. “Intelligence”, has always been a topic of discussion among
social scientists and philosophers. But defining it in the most appropriate way
has always been a challenge for psychologists. In 1986, a symposium was
organised by Sternberg and Detterman to define intelligence, however unable to
define it, this symposium described intelligence as “a quality of adaptive behaviour
(Anastasi), as the end product of development in the cognitive-psychological
domain, as a societal concept that operates in several domains - academic,
technical, social, and practical (Carroll), as error-free transmission of information
through the cortex (Eysenck), as acquired proficiency (Glaser), as mental self-
government (Sternberg)” (Fogarty,1999). Alferd Binet (1905), the first
psychologist who developed standardised intelligence test, defined intelligence
as, “the ability to judge well, understand well, and reason well.” As per Wechsler
(1944), “Intelligence is the aggregate or global capacity of the individual to act
purposefully, to think rationally and to deal effectively with his/her environment.”
After having a discussion on the definition of intelligence, let us move to some
prominent theories of intelligence.

5.4 THEORIES OF INTELLIGENCE

5.4.1 Spearman Theory of Intelligence
Charles Spearman’s theory of intelligence is known as the two-factor theory.
Spearman noticed that children who perform well in one subject tend to have
good marks in other subjects also. This observation led him to propose that there
is a common factor which affect all of your activities. Using a statistical method
called as “factor analysis”, he proposed that all cognitive activity or mental activity
consist of two factors namely, “general” or “g” factor and “specific” or “s” factor.
So, your intelligence is a sum of “g” factor and “s” factor. The “g” factor affects
all kind of mental activities whereas; “s” factor influences your performance on
specific or particular mental activity. Further, “g” factor is innate, and constant
throughout one’s life, present in all cognitive activities. Whereas “s” factor is
learned and varies with the task within the same individual, one can have many
“s” factors and, it is associated with the only specific task. People who are high
on “g” factor are more intelligent than others. One’s overall score on an
intelligence test represents “g” factor.

5.4.2 Thurstone Theory of Intelligence

Thurstone criticised Spearman’s theory of intelligence by suggesting that there
is no “g” factor. Instead, intelligence consists of a group of primary mental abilities
(PMA). There are basically seven PMA and all are independent of each other.
Details of these PMA are:

70
i) Word Fluency: Ability to think or use words rapidly, such as in the task of Individual Differences and
Intelligence
anagrams.
ii) Verbal Comprehension: Ability to understand the meaning of the word,
concept or ideas correctly. Vocabulary tests can assess verbal comprehension.
iii) Spatial Ability : Ability to manipulate patterns and forms of objects in space
visually.
iv) Perceptual Speed: Tendency to perceive details quickly in every stimulus
accurately.
v) Numerical Ability: One’s ability to solve a numerical problem quickly and
accurately.
vi) Inductive Reasoning: Ability to observe facts and making a general rule out
of it.
vii) Memory : Ability to memorise and recall quickly and accurately.

5.4.3 Sternberg Theory of Intelligence

Robert Sternberg (1984) proposed ‘Triarchic Theory of Intelligence’. As the name
suggests, there are three forms of intelligence, namely, Componential,
Experiential, and Contextual.
Componential intelligence is also known as analytical intelligence and is measured
by a traditional intelligence test. People high on this form of intelligence, often
score high on traditional IQ tests. Such individuals have highly critical and
analytical abilities and usually perform well in academic tasks and school. They
are also good at mathematical and verbal skills.
Experiential intelligence or creative intelligence is the ability to develop novel
ideas or solutions. People high on this intelligence are creative. They have the
ability to use previous experiences in making new inventions.
Contextual intelligence or practical intelligence refers to the ability to adapt to
the environment or situational demands. It involves applying knowledge and
information to your real world and thus adapting successfully to the situation.
Here, adaption involves both adapting to your existing environment and/or ability
to modify your environment to fulfill your needs. People who are high on this
intelligence are street smart and often successful in their life.

5.4.4 Gardner Theory of Intelligence

Gardener refuted the classic view of intelligence as a capacity for logical
reasoning. He proposed that there is no one form of intelligence but a number of
intelligence work together. According to him, intelligence is the “ability to solve
problems or fashion products that are of consequence in a particular cultural
setting or community” (1993). Initially, he proposed seven distinct types of
intelligence namely,
1) Linguistic: People who are high on this type of intelligence have good
linguistic abilities i.e., they can easily articulate and express their thoughts
by choosing the most appropriate words. They can easily play with the words.
Poets and writers have a higher level of linguistic abilities.
2) Musical: People high on this are knowledgeable and sensitive to music.
They can manipulate musical pattern to create different music. People 71
Psychology of Individual carrying this intelligence are good singers, play musical instruments and are
Differences
good music composers.
3) Logical-mathematical: This involves having the ability to think critically
and work on abstract problems. Such people have a scientific aptitude and
are good with numbers and abstract problems. Scientists have a higher level
of this intelligence.
4) Spatial: This intelligence is related to one’s ability to manipulate and use
visual images or mental images. Navigators, pilots, architects and painters
have this intelligence.
5) Bodily-kinesthetic: It is the ability to control and train your body or part of it
for construction of products and problem-solving. People serving in the
military, intelligence agencies, sports person, actors and, dancers have higher
levels of bodily-kinesthetic intelligence.
6) Intrapersonal: People who are aware of one’s own feelings, emotions, needs,
and motives are having with level of intrapersonal intelligence. Philosophers
and spiritual leaders are high on intrapersonal intelligence.
7) Interpersonal: Your ability to understand other person’s behavior, motive,
and feelings. People high on this intelligence use their understanding of
other people to develop a comfortable bond with other people. Counselors,
politicians, teachers, social workers are high on interpersonal intelligence.
Later, he added another type of intelligence; (8) Naturalist: It refers to being
sensitive to different features of nature. The individiual who are highly naturalist,
have compassion for nature and are usually nature lovers. Hunters, wild lifers,
botanists possess a higher level of this intelligence.
Each individual has a unique combination of these seven types of intelligence,
which explains the individual difference. Gardner and his colleagues proposed
that the typical paper-pencil tests for intelligence do not measure many aspects
of intelligence such as interpersonal ability. Many students performed poorly on
the intelligence test but become great leaders because of their refined interpersonal
qualities. Suggesting, that the intelligence is more than your mathematical, verbal
and analytical abilities, measured by the traditional intelligence test.

Self Assessment Questions (SAQ I)

Fill in the Blanks:
1) ................................................ refers to variation among individual with
reference to a single or a number of characteristics.
2) ....................................................... is a hypothetical construct, which refers
to a higher level of abstract thought processes.
3) The Gardner’s theory states that each individual has a unique combination
of ........................................................................., which explains the
individual difference.
4) Robert Sternberg (1984) proposed the .................................................
theory of intelligence.
5) .................................................................. theory of intelligence is known
as the two-factor theory.
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 Individual Differences and
5.5 ASSESSMENT OF INTELLIGENCE Intelligence

Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon were attributed with the first attempt to measure
intelligence scientifically. In 1905, they developed first intelligence test known
as Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale Later in 1908 they coined a term –Mental
Age(MA) to measure the intellectual ability of a person in comparison to his or
her fellow age group. Whereas, Chronological Age (CA) refers to a person’s
biological age. According to Binet, if a child has MA more than his CA, then
he/she will be classified as bright. If the child scores MA below than his/her or
CA, then he/she should be identified as mentally retarded.

In 1912, William Stern came with the concept called Intelligent Quotient (IQ). It
is derived by dividing MA with CA and multiplying the result with 100.
IQ = (MA/CA) × 100
If MA equals CA, then your IQ will be 100. If your MA was less than CA, then
your IQ will be less than 100.

Percentage of
cases under the
normal curve

IQ level

Fig.5.3: Normalised Distribution of IQ with the Mean of 100 and Stranded Deviation 15
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org

In this normal distribution following scores suggest different types of intellectual

abilities:
IQ Range Descriptive Label
Above 130 Very Superior Intelligence (gifted)
120 to 129 Superior Intelligence
110 to 119 High Average Intelligence
90 to 109 Average Intelligence
80 to 89 Low Average Intelligence
71 to 79 Borderline Intellectual Functioning
55 to 70 Mild Mental Retardation
40 to 54 Moderate Retardation
25 to 39 Severe Mental Retardation
Below 25 Profound Mental Retardation
73
Psychology of Individual 5.5.1 Types of Intelligence Tests
Differences

Intelligence test has been classified based on a number of criteria such as based
on the number of participants who can attempt the test, based on items used in
the test and whether the test can be used across different cultures or not. Following
is the diagram of the classification of intelligence tests:

Types on Intelligence Tests

Based on the no. of participants Based on its applicability across

cultures
Based on the type of items used in the test

Individual tests Cultural-fair tests

Group tests Cultural-biased

tests
Verbal tests Non-verbal tests

5.5.1.1 Individual and Group Intelligence Tests

5.5.1.1.1 Individual Tests

An individual test is one that can be administered to one individual at a time.
There are many standardised individual tests such as The Kaufman Scales,
Stanford-Binet Scale and Wechsler Intelligence Scales. Let us discuss about the
two most famous intelligence tests i.e., Stanford - Binet Test and Wechsler
Intelligence Tests.

Stanford-Binet Scale (SBS) of Intelligence

As you already know this was the first intelligence test, developed by Binet and
Simon (1905), it is one of the popular intelligence tests among psychologists.
Later, this test was revised and adapted by an American psychologist – Lewis M.
Terman who was working at Stanford University. After validating it on the
American population, he renamed the original scale as “Stanford-Binet Scale”.
In 2003, the fifth version of the Stanford-Binet Scale (SB5) was introduced with
10 subtests measuring following five factors:
Fluid reasoning
Knowledge
Quantitative Reasoning
Visual-Spatial Processing
Working Memory
Other then scores with reference to these five factors the scale gives three IQ
scores (Full score IQ, Verbal IQ, and Nonverbal IQ), as well. The SBS can be
used for age of 2 years to 85 years old individuals. On American sample of 4800
individuals, the reliability of the three IQ scores was found to be in the .90s and
that of the subtests it ranged from 70 to .85 (Roid, 2002).
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The Wechsler Scales Individual Differences and
Intelligence
The Wechsler scales were developed by Dr. David Wechsler. He developed three
scales; for adults, for school-age children, and one for preschool children. All
three of his tests contain several subtests from verbal as well as nonverbal domain
and they can measure intelligence and cognitive abilities. He developed his first
test (Wechsler- Bellevue scale) in 1939 when he was working in Bellevue hospital.

He devised a new formula for calculating IQ from his scales. As we know the
usual formula of IQ is,
IQ = Mental Age/Chronological Age
According to Wechsler,
IQ = Attained or Actual Score / Expected Mean score for Age

Do You Know?

Fig.5.4: David Wechsler

Source: https://wechsleriqtest.com/#

Wechsler was a Romanian-American psychologist who was born on Jan 12,

1896, in Romania. His family relocated to the states in New York when he
was just a boy. He earned a Master’s Degree from Columbia University in
1917. By 1925, his further delve into education and earned him a Ph.D. It
was Robert S. Woodworth that first took a chance on the young psychologist.
Woodworth was a big shot in the United States Army, and he was overwhelmed
by the number of soldiers that were experiencing mental issues after the war.
Working alongside Charles Spearman and Karl Pearson, Wechsler was to
develop a test to help the army screen new draftees. However, things took a
very different turn.
Wechsler dedicated himself to the study of memory loss in soldiers from
WWI. His curiosity built a foundation to test the very intelligence of his
patients. Studying the brain was a fascinating undertaking, so he expanded
his test to include children. He felt the very formation of the intellect could
help him resolve the current problems with memory loss.
What he found was mind-blowing. The IQ of a person is directly predisposed
to the atmosphere in which they live. Biological and environmental influences
can dictate a person’s intellect. Wechsler knew that many factors affected
intelligence and cognitive ability, but he also found that persistence had a
sizable effect too. He realized that one test would not accommodate all age
groups, so he developed a series that would be used for all ages.
Source: Wechsler IQ Test website https://wechsleriqtest.com/#
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Psychology of Individual There are basically three versions of Wechsler’s intelligence scale:
Differences
WPPSI – Wechsler Pre-School & Primary Scale of Intelligence: This scale
can be conducted on children from 2 years and 6 months to 7 years and 7
months. It was introduced in 1967 and originally designed for children
between 4 years and 6.5 years old. It consists of 14 subtests measuring three
indexes viz., verbal, performance and full-scale IQ. Currently, it is in fourth
revision as WPPSI-IV.
WISC – Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children: This test can be conducted
on children from 6 to 16 years old. This test was developed from the Wechsler-
Bellevue Intelligence Scale and was first introduced in 1949. This test is
often used in schools and other educational steups with the aim to identify
gifted children as well as children with learning difficulties. The most recent
version of the test is the WISC-V, which was released in 2014.
WAIS – Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale: This test covers teenagers from
16 years of age to adulthood. The current version of the test is the WAIS-IV
which was launched in 2008.

5.5.1.1.2 Group Tests

A group test is one that can be administered to more than one person at the same
time. There are many intelligence tests which can be considered as group tests
such as Multidimensional Aptitude Battery (MAB; Jackson, 1984), Cognitive
Abilities Test (Lohman & Hagen, 2001), Culture Fair Intelligence Test (1940)
and, Raven’s Progressive Matrices (1938,1992). As an example, we will discuss
only Raven’s Progressive Matrices briefly.

Raven’s Progressive Matrices (RPM)

Raven’s Progressive Matrices (RPM) was developed by John C. Raven in 1938.
It is a non-verbal test of inductive reasoning, designed to measure fluid
intelligence. It consist of 60 multiple choice items; it can be administered on
children from 5years-old to the elderly. The test contains visual geometric designs
with a missing piece and the task of the test taker is to choose the missing part of
the matrix from six to eight given alternatives. Raven constructed three different
forms of tests: Standard Progressive Matrices, Coloured Progressive Matrices
and Advanced Progressive Matrices.

5.5.1.2 Verbal and Nonverbal Tests

5.5.1.2.1 Verbal Tests

Verbal intelligence is the ability to use and solve problems using language-based
reasoning. Verbal tests are those which require the use of language for successful
performance in it. Verbal intelligence is the ability to comprehend and solve
language-based problems. Initially, approximately all intelligence tests were based
on language only but later it was realised that such tests are of no use for people
who were illiterate, young children who haven’t acquired the language abilities
fully and people with speech difficulties. To overcome the limitation of these
verbal tests, many psychologists came up with a number of non-verbal intelligence
tests. Moreover, many verbal standardised tests such as Wechsler scales and
Kaufman scales now also have some non-verbal test components.

76
5.5.1.2.2 Non-Verbal Tests Individual Differences and
Intelligence
A nonverbal test of intelligence measures one’s ability to analyze visual
information and solve problems without necessarily using words. Nonverbal tests
are also known as performance tests as they generally require a construction of
certain patterns. Some of the famous nonverbal tests are Koh’s Block Design
Test, Cube Construction Tests, and Pass along Tests. Raven’s Progressive Matrices
(1938, 1986, 1992, 1995) is also a well-known nonverbal intelligence test which
has been discussed in the previous section.

5.5.1.3 Culture Fair Tests and Cultural Biased Tests

5.5.1.3.1 Culture-Fair Tests

Every culture is unique in terms of their values, language, expectations, demands
and environmental experiences. A child reared in America will be very different
in many respects with a child brought-up in Indian sub-urban area. Due to this
reason, in order to assess individual belonging to different cultures psychologists
came up with tests which are free from any cultural biases. Some of the famous
culture-fair tests are. The Culture Fair Test (Cattell, 1940), Raven’s Progressive
Matrices (Raven, 1938, 1986, 1995), The Leiter International Performance Scale-
Revised (Roid &Miller, 1997) and Draw-a-Man Test (Goodenough, 1926). All
these and other culturally faired tests are non-verbal in nature. Now we will
discuss an example of culture-fair intelligence test-Draw-a-Man test
(Goodenough, 1926).

Draw-a-Man Test
This test was developed by Goodenough (1926) initially. Later it was revised by
Goodenough and Harris in 1963 known as Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test.
Based on the projective technique, this test requires a test taker (children only)
to make three pictures on three separate papers. They are asked to draw a man,
women and themselves without giving any further instructions. Interestingly,
instead of artistic skill, emphasize is given upon the child’s ability to observe
accurately and think conceptually.

5.5.1.3.2 Cultural Biased Tests

Many psychologists have attempted to develop culture-fair intelligence tests by
making it non-verbal in nature. However, it was realized that the impact of culture
cannot be eliminated completely from these tests even after making it nonverbal
completely. Due to this reason, only the term ‘culture fair’ is used in place of
‘culture free’ tests.

5.6 EMOTIONAL AND SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE

5.6.1 Emotional Intelligence
The traditional intelligence test could measure only the cognitive aspect of one’s
mental ability, but many psychologists like Gardner (1983) proposed that there
are many forms of non-cognitive intelligence that affect our behaviour. He further
noted that one’s intelligence quotient or IQ cannot explain cognitive ability fully.
In the early 1990’s, John Mayer and Peter Salovey introduced and defined one
of the most important non-cognitive intelligence: Emotional Intelligence (EI).
In the Handbook of Intelligence (2000) they defined emotional intelligence (EI)
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Psychology of Individual as “the ability to perceive and express emotion, assimilate emotion in thought,
Differences
understand and reason with emotion, and regulate emotion in the self and others”
(Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2000, p. 396; see also Mayer & Salovey, 1997).
Although Mayer and Salovey were responsible for introducing this term (EI) to
the world of psychology it was Goleman’s (1995) bestselling book Emotional
Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ, which made this term a common
currency.

Mayer and Salovey proposed an integrative model approach to EI. According to

them, EI comprised of the following four abilities:
1) Perceiving and expressing emotions- it is the ability to identify and express
emotions in one’s and other’s physical state, feeling and thoughts.
2) Assimilating emotion in thoughts- the ability to use emotions to facilitate
cognitive activities like thinking and problem-solving.
3) Understanding and analyzing emotions- ability to understand the language
of emotion.
4) Regulation of emotions- the ability to regulate one’s and other’s emotions to
achieve greater goals.

Whereas, according to Goleman’ model, EI comprised of the following five

abilities:
1) Knowing one’s emotions,
2) Managing emotions,
3) Motivating oneself,
4) Recognizing emotions in others, and
5) Handling relationships.

5.6.2 Social Intelligence

The second type of non-cognitive intelligence is known as Social Intelligence
(SI). Thorndike (1920) was the first psychologist to use this term to describe the
skill of understanding and managing other people wisely. Goleman has defined
SI as ‘being intelligent not just about our relationships but also in them’. According
to Mayer and Salovey, emotional intelligence is a part of social intelligence. Due
to this reason, Bar-on (2006) has proposed that these two terms are related to
each other and may represent the component of the same construct. He further
pointed out that in his theory of intelligence; Gardner’s (1983) conceptualisation
of personal intelligence is also a combination of intrapersonal (emotional)
intelligence and interpersonal (social) intelligence. Based on above assertions,
he pointed out that it would be more accurate to club these two terms (SI and EI)
into one construct. He named this new construct as “emotional-social intelligence”
or “ESI”. According to Bar-On model, “emotional-social intelligence is a cross-
section of interrelated emotional and social competencies, skills and facilitators
that determine how effectively we understand and express ourselves, understand
others and relate with them, and cope with daily demands”.

78
 Individual Differences and
Self Assessment Questions (SAQ II) Intelligence

State whether the following statements are “True” or “False” :

1) Social intelligence is a type of cognitive intelligence. ( )
2) Mayer and Salovey proposed an integrative model approach to EI. ( )
3) Non verbal intelligence is the ability to use and solve problems using
language-based reasoning. ( )
4) Every culture is unique in terms of their values, language, expectations,
demands and environmental experiences. ( )
5) The first intelligence test was developed by Binet and Simon in 1905. ( )

5.7 LET US SUM UP

In this Unit, we learned about the concept of individual difference and its relevance
with reference to intelligence. We discussed how nature and nurture interact and
plays important role in causing individual differences. To explain intelligence,
we discussed Spearman’s, Thurstone’s, Sternberg’s and Gardner’s Theory of
Intelligence in-depth. Then we discussed the classification of intelligence test
and different methods to measure it. Lastly, other forms of intelligence such as
emotional intelligence and social intelligence were also covered in this Unit.

5.8 UNIT END QUESTIONS

1) Explain the concept of individual differences and write a note on nature vs.
Nurture debate in this context.
2) What is Spearman theory of intelligence? Compare it critically with
Sternberg’s theory of intelligence.
3) Write a short note on Gardner’s and Thurstone’s theory of intelligence.
4) Define IQ, mental age and chronological age.
5) Write a note on the different types of intelligence tests available to a
psychologist?

5.9 GLOSSARY
G-factor : Known as ‘general-factor’, this is an innate cognitive
activity that influences all other kinds of mental
activities. It remains constant throughout one’s life.
S-factor : Known as ‘specific-factor”. It represents our
performance on a specific or particular mental activity.
It is learned and one can have many s-factors. If we put
all the s-factors together, it will give us our g-factor.
Mental age : It is a measure of a person’s intellectual development
relative to people of his/her age group.
IQ : It stands for Intelligence Quotient. It measures an
individual’s cognitive ability in relation to other people
of the same age group. 79
Psychology of Individual Wechsler Scales : It is a group of tests developed primarily by David
Differences
Wechsler. It measures intelligence.
Culture Fair : Those tests that measure non-verbal intelligence with
Intelligence Test the aim of minimizing cultural effect or biases.
Verbal Intelligence : It is the ability to comprehend and solve language-based
problems such as verbal analogies.
Nonverbal Tests of : It taps the ability to analyze visual information and solve
Intelligence problems without necessarily using words. The tasks
may involve the ability to recognize visual sequences,
understand and recognize the relationships between
visual concepts and situations, as well as perform visual
analogies.

5.10 ANSWERS TO SELF ASSESSMENT

QUESTIONS
Self Assessment Question I
1) Individual differences
2) Intelligence
3) seven types of intelligence
4) Triarchic
5) Charles Spearman’s
Self Assessment Question II
1) False
2) True
3) False
4) True
5) True

5.11 REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS

Boyatzis R.E., Gaskin J., Wei H. (2015) Emotional and Social Intelligence and
Behavior. In: Goldstein S., Princiotta D., Naglieri J. (eds) Handbook of
Intelligence. Springer, New York.

Legg, S., & Hutter, M. (2007). A collection of definitions of intelligence. Frontiers

in Artificial Intelligence and Applications, 157, 17.

Anastasi, A. & Urbina, S. (1997). Psychological Testing. Singapore: Pearson

education.

Gregory, R.J. (2013). Psychological Testing: History, Principles, and

Applications. Pearson education.

Kaplan, R. A. & Saccuzzo, D. P. (2013). Psychological Assessment and Theory.

80 New Delhi: Cengage Learning.
Wechsler, D. (2008). WAIS-IV Administration and Scoring Manual. San Antonio, Individual Differences and
Intelligence
TX: Psychological Corporation.
Wechsler, D. (2012a). Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence–
Fourth Edition (WPPSI-IV): Administration and scoring manual. San Antonio,
TX: The Psychological Corporation.
Wechsler, D. (2014b). Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fifth Edition
administration and scoring manual. San Antonio, TX: NCS Pearson.
Logsdon, A. (2018, August 28). Importance of Verbal Intelligence. Retrieved
from https://www.verywell.com/what-is-verbal-intelligence-2162167.
Chamorro-Premuzic, Tomas. (2015). Personality and Individual Differences.
Chichester: Wiley
Ciccarelli, S. K and White, J. N. (2015). Psychology. New York: Pearson
Education Limited.
Desmet, P. (2005). Measuring Emotion: Development and Application of an
Instrument to Measure Emotional Responses to products. In M. A. Blythe, A. F.
Monk, Overbeeke and P. C. Wright (Eds.) Funology. USA: Kulwer Academic
Publishers (112-123) from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=
10.1.1.104.1400&rep=rep1&type=pdf.
Myers, D. G. (2010). Exploring Psychology. New York: Worth Publishers.

5.12 REFERENCES FOR IMAGES

Nature vs. Nurture Debate. Retrieved November 15, 2018, from https://
www.verywellmind.com/what-is-nature-versus-nurture-2795392
Nativists vs. empiricists take by different approaches of psychology. Retrieved
November 13, 2018, from https://www.simplypsychology.org/naturevsnurture.
html
Normalised distribution of IQ with the mean of 100 and stranded deviation 15.
Retrieved November 13, 2018, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:IQ_distribution.svg
David Wechsler. Retrieved November 13, 2018, from https://wechsleriqtest.com/
#

81
Psychology of Individual
Differences UNIT 6 THEORIES OF PERSONALITY*

Structure
6.0 Introduction
6.1 Objectives
6.2 What Do You Mean by Personality?
6.3 Theories of Personality
6.3.1 Psychoanalytic Theories
6.3.1.1 The Neo-Freudians: Followers of Freud
6.3.1.1.1 Alfred Adler: Individual Psychology
6.3.1.1.2 Carl Jung: Analytical Psychology
6.3.2 Behavioural Approach to Personality
6.3.3 Humanistic Approach to Personality
6.3.3.1 Abraham Maslow: Hierarchy of Needs
6.3.3.2 Carl Roger: Focus on Self
6.3.4 Trait Theories of Personality
6.3.4.1 Allport’s Trait Theory
6.3.4.2 Cattell’s Trait Theory
6.3.4.3 Eysenck’s Trait Theory
6.3.4.4 McCrae and Costa’s Big-five Factor Theory
6.4 Assessment of Personality
6.4.1 Self Report Measures
6.4.2 Projective Technique
6.5 Let Us Sum Up
6.6 Unit End Questions
6.7 Glossary
6.8 Answers to Self Assessment Questions
6.9 References and Suggested Readings

6.0 INTRODUCTION

Fig.6.1: Identical twins Jim Springer and Jim Lewis

Source: https://www.firsttoknow.com/jim-twins/

82 * Contributed by Dr. Arti Singh, IGNOU

“Jim Lewis and Jim Springer, born in 1940, the boys were adopted by separate Theories of Personality
families in Ohio and grew up within 45 miles of each other. Both were named
Jim by their adoptive parents. Both married twice — first to women named Linda,
and then to women named Betty. Both had children, including sons named James
Allen. Both owned dogs named Toy. After reuniting in 1979, after 39 years of
separation, the twins were recruited for a study, and the results of their tests were
extraordinary. Their medical histories were identical, and the pair shared the
same habits, including having woodworking workshops in their garages, a
fondness for Chevys, and vacations on one particular beach in Florida” (The
Week, 2013).

Even after separated from each other for 39 years and raised by different families,
why Jim twins shared so many similarities? What do you think? To what extent
we are similar to our siblings or any other individual? How different are our
personalities? What determines our individual differences? In this unit, we shall
see what does individual difference means with reference to personality? What
makes us different from each other or similar to each other? Which factors affect
our personality? And what are the prominent theories of personality?

6.1 OBJECTIVES
By the end of this unit, you would be able to:
Understand the meaning and definition of personality;
Identify the Freud’s contribution to understanding personality;
Comprehend the views of different personality theories: trait, behavioural
and humanistic; and
Analyse the different ways to measure personality.

6.2 WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY PERSONALITY?

Personality has always been a topic of discussion among common people, but
defining it and outlining its nature has always been a difficult task for everyone
including psychologists. When we make statements like, “she is a good doctor”,
or “I really like M.S. Dhoni”. Then, do we really judge the competence of the
doctor’s medical knowledge or her professionalism? Do you like Dhoni because
he plays very well or because he is really efficient in leading his team or due to
his down-to-earth attitude? So what do we actually look for while describing
someone’s personality? How do we actually define it?

The word personality has been taken from the Latin word persona – the mask
used by actors to represent characters during a theatrical play. As the character
changes, so does the mask of the actor. So, does this mean that the word personality
refers to our ever changing persona? Yes, to some extent. Our behaviour is not
always constant or predictable. Sometimes we behave as predicted, sometimes
we behave quite differently in a familiar situation, and sometimes our behaviour
becomes completely unpredictable. Due to our ever changing yet stagnant
behaviour, there is a widespread confusion over the definition of personality.
One can find many definitions of personality. We will start with the following
definitions of personality:

83
Psychology of Individual “Personality is a dynamic organisation, inside the person, of psychophysical
Differences
systems that create the person’s characteristic patterns of behaviour, thoughts,
and feelings” (G.W. Allport, 1961).
“The various styles of behavior that different organisms habitually reflect”.
(Rychlak, 1981)
“The visible aspect of one’s character as it impresses others” (Random House
Webster’s College Dictionary, 1991).
According to APA, “Personality refers to individual differences in characteristic
patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving.” It further states that “the study of
personality focuses on two broad areas: One is understanding individual
differences in particular personality characteristics, such as sociability or
irritability. The other is understanding how the various parts of a person come
together as a whole.”

As definitions suggest, personality is relatively stable in characteristic. It does

not change on daily basis. You can easily predict how your parents will react
after seeing your report card? Or how your friend will react after receiving
compliments from you? There are numerous theories that try to resolve this
question. We will focus on some on some of the most famous and established
theories of personality in the following section.

6.3 THEORIES OF PERSONALITY

6.3.1 Psychoanalytic Theories
Sigmund Freud, a physician by profession, was the major contributor of
psychoanalytic theories of personality. He developed his theory while doing
clinical practice with patients. “Unconscious mental processes” is central to his
theory. It refers to those desires, needs, and motivations for which we are not
aware. Further, according to Freud, darker aspect of human behaviour such as
aggression and sexual desires also plays important role in our personality.
In order to explain how our psyche (mind) works, Freud proposed;
A topographic model of the psyche (explains how our mind is organised)
A structural model of our personality
Psychosocial Stages of Development
A topographic model of the psyche
In the view of Sigmund Freud, our mind can be divided into three levels;
conscious, preconscious and unconscious.
According to him, our conscious mind is that part which deals with the current
information. That is, all the thoughts, feelings and actions of which you are aware
at the very moment are part of the conscious mind. Preconscious or subconscious
mind deals with all those information for which you are not currently aware but
can become only if you pay attention. The last level of mind is unconscious. This
part of mind stores those socially unacceptable needs, desires, motivations and
feelings for which you are unaware of. According to him, this unconscious part
of mind plays a vital role in influencing our actions.
84
A structural model of our personality Theories of Personality

Freud proposed that our personality consists of three elements: id, ego, and
superego. Before explaining in details, it is important to mention here that id,
ego, and superego are just concepts and they do not have any physical or
physiological basis.
Id: This part of personality operates unconsciously. It deals with basic instincts,
biological needs, and aggressive impulses. It is the most primitive part of human
personality present since birth. From id, other parts of the personality (ego and
superego) develop. It works on pleasure principle-tendency to avoid pain and
seek pleasure. The aim of the id is to gratify one’s need immediately without
considering the moral values of the society and the individual. Eros and Thanatos
are the two driving forces of Id. Eros was the God of love in Greek mythology.
According to Freud, in the context of id, Eros is the life force. It is responsible
for our life instinct and survival, which includes sexual desire, reproduction desire,
and pain avoidance. The counterpart of Eros is Thanatos-the death force or
instinct. It is responsible for violence, aggression and hate like negative feelings.
The aim of Thanatos is to balance the drive of Eros by driving us towards death
and destruction. When personality is dominated by id, then individual tend to
become more impulsive, such people will do what they want irrespective of
time, place and situation, just like a kid.
Ego: Suppose a 10-year-old child wants to eat a scoop of ice-cream kept in the
refrigerator. But he knows that eating ice-cream without seeking permission from
parents will be punished. The part of the personality responsible for this reality
check is known as Ego. So, ego works on reality principle-delaying id’s
gratification need will be delayed until an appropriate and more realistic situation
is not found. This part of personality emerges from id and its main objective is to
strike a balance between id’s impulsive needs and the reality of this world. It is
the decision-making component of our psyche and works on logic only. In the
words of Freud, “ego is that part of the id which has been modified by the direct
influence of the external world” (Freud, 1923). If ego would not be able to resolve
the conflict between the impulsive demands of the id and realistic demands of
this world, then it would lead to the development of anxiety and stress. To ward
off this anxiety, individual will be motivated to use unconscious defense
mechanisms (we will talk about this in the later section).
Superego: It is the moral master or moral guru of our personality. Let us continue
the same example referred to in the last section. Whether that 10-year-old kid
will ask permission from his parents or not for eating a scoop of ice cream depends
on the development of his superego. Since seeking permission is morally correct
behaviour; it will indicate the presence of superego in the child. Role of the
superego is to internalise the moral and ethical value of society through the process
of socialisation. It controls the impulsive urges of the id and pursues ego to
choose morally appropriate behaviour instead of only realistic behaviour. This
part of our psyche develops between the ages of three to five years. Further,
according to Freud, our superego consists of two systems: (i) conscience and (ii)
ideal self. The conscience’s role is to punish or reward ego, through the feeling
of pride or guilt, depending on its behaviour. For example, if ego allows in id’s
demand and breaks the moral code of conduct, superego will make you feel
guilty about your behaviour. The second system, the ideal self-idealised picture
of your own self, also do the job of making you feel guilty or pride, depending
on your behaviour. 85
Psychology of Individual
Differences

Fig.6.2: Diagram of Freud’s Psyche Theory

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org

Ego Defence Mechanisms

One of the role of ego is to protect the person from anxiety and stress. So when
the anxiety and stress from the forbidden desires and motives become
overwhelming, we tend to use some psychological strategies, known as ego
defence mechanisms. According to Freud, the sole aim of employing these ego
defence mechanisms is to protect our psyche from anxiety. A brief description of
eight important defence mechanisms has been described below:

MechanismDescription
Table 6.1: A Summary of Ego-defence Mechanisms
Repression Excluding from conscious awareness those impulses or
memories that are too frightening or painful
Rationalization Assigning logical or socially desirable motives to what
we have done, so that we seem to have acted rationally.
Reaction formation Concealing a motive from ourselves by giving strong
expression to the opposite motive.
Projection Assigning our own undesirable qualities to others in
exaggerated amounts
Intellectualization Attempting to gain detachment from a stressful situation
by dealing with it in abstract, intellectual terms
Denial Denying that an unpleasant reality exists.
Displacement Directing a motive that cannot be gratified in one form
into another channel.
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard (2009), pp. 469

Freud’s Psychosexual Stages of Development

Freud proposed a five-stage model of development of personality. According to
him, the core aspects of one’s personality’s developed by the age of five and
remains unchanged throughout. Further, he stated that in order to move from one
stage to another, a child needs to resolve conflicts of each stage successfully. Unless,
it will lead to fixation- a continuation of an early mode of satisfaction in later life
(The Cambridge Dictionary of Psychology, 2009). For example, individual fixated
at an oral stage may have drinking or smoking habits. In the following section,
86 we will talk about five stages of psychosexual development in brief:
Stage I: Oral Stage (birth to 18 months) Theories of Personality

Mouth is the source of pleasure during this stage. Children completely depend
on their caregivers, especially mother. They drive pleasure and understand the
world around them through sucking and swallowing. Over gratification or under
gratification may lead to the fixation at this early oral stage resulting in the
development of overeating behaviour, drinking or smoking in adulthood. Freud
called these people as oral-incorporative or oral-ingestive. Later during this stage,
children experience pleasure from chewing and biting. If an individual is unable
to resolve the psychological conflict of this stage, then he/she may develop the
habit of nail biting and object chewing in adulthood. Freud further pointed out
that these people are more critical and sarcastic in nature. He referred to such
people as oral-aggressive or oral-sadistic.

Stage II: Anal Stage (18 months to three years)

During this stage, children face the demand of their society for the first time to
control and delay the expulsion of urine and faeces. Children experience pleasure
in this stage from their bowel and bladder movement. Freud believed that too
harsh or too lenient toilet training may cause fixation at this stage. Resulting into
either being messy, lesser self-control but generous (called as anal-expulsive
characters by Freud) or being tidy, orderly but mean (called as anal retentive
characters by Freud).

Stage III: Phallic Stage (three to five years)

Genitals become the erogenous region during this stage. Children knowingly or
unknowingly touch their genitals for pleasure. During this stage, they understand
the difference between males and females. Freud proposed that male child
experience Oedipus complex – which involves sexual feeling towards their mother,
feeling of rivalry for the father, as well as a threat of getting punished by the
father for having a desire for mother. The counterpart of the Oedipus complex is
Electra complex: experienced by the female child. It involves the sexual attraction
for father, feeling of rivalry for mother and a threat of getting punished by the
mother for having this feeling towards father. Successful resolution of this
complex develops a mature sexual identity. According to Freud, by the end of
this stage personality is formed completely.

Stage IV: Latency Stage (six to twelve years)

The sexual energy during this stage is channelised towards educational, sports
and social activities. This leads to no or little interest for the opposite gender.

Stage V: Genital Stage (thirteen years to adulthood)

The sexual energy returns again in this stage. Successful completion of previous
stages will help in developing a mature intimate relationship with the opposite
sex. Whereas, unresolved issues of previous psychosexual stages will start
exhibiting during adulthood; leading to difficulty in establishing a healthy intimate
relationship with the opposite sex.

6.3.1.1 The Neo-Freudians: Followers of Freud

A number of theorists followed Freud’s work. Some theorists who initially worked
with him moved on later to develop their own theories. To differentiate their
work from Freud and to get due recognition, they called themselves as neo-
87
Psychology of Individual Freudian or post-Freudian, neo-analytic or psychodynamic. Some of the
Differences
prominent names include Adler, Horney, Erik Fromm, Jung, and Erikson. Since
it is not possible to cover all the theorists; the focus will be given to the theories
of Adler and Jung only.

6.3.1.1.1 Alfred Adler: Individual Psychology

Adler’s theory is known as theory of individual psychology. He believed that
experiences of early childhood shape one’s personality. If encouraged during
childhood, it would motivate the child to feel capable and acts in a cooperative
way throughout their life. Whereas, if discouraged the child may misbehave and
indulge in unhealthy competition or withdrawal behaviour. He proposed that
there is a need to understand one’s personality psychology within their social
context. According to Adler, instead of any instinct (as proposed by Freud), an
innate force motivates us to perform the behaviour. He named this force as the
striving for the perfection-an innate desire that motivates individuals to achieve
their full potential.

Inferiority and Superiority Complex

As a child, Adler explained that we feel weak, dependent, less capable and thus
inferior to others (older siblings, parents, and caregivers). This feeling of
inferiority is innate and natural. If a child decides to overcome this feeling of
inferiority, then s/he would strive for achievement or success. Thus, overcoming
of this feeling of inferiority is essential for optimal development. If this feeling
is not compensated, then it would lead to inferiority complex and when
overcompensated, it would lead to a superiority complex.

Sibling rivalry and birth order

Adler introduced the term-sibling rivalry to explain how competition for parents’
love and affection between siblings lead to rivalry and thus shaping their
personalities. According to Adler, arrival of a newborn might lead to a feeling of
dethronement and sibling rivalry. Here dethronement refers to the feeling of being
replaced from the focus of attention and love by the new sibling.

He has also proposed that your birth order also affects your personality. Later,
numerous studies have confirmed his proposition about birth order. According
to him, firstborn children are usually responsible, obedient and intelligent
individuals. The second born master their skill in social adjustment. They are
generally trusting, accepting and other-centered. And, the third order children
are exhibit strong security, high self-esteem but less competitiveness. Since they
are never dethroned; they remain the baby of the family throughout their life.

6.3.1.1.2 Carl Jung: Analytical Psychology

Carl Gustav Jung (pronounce as “yooung”), was a Swiss psychiatrist and a close
friend of Sigmund Freud. He emphasised the idea that we need to study different
cultures as it will provide the essence of humanity. Jung’s personality theory is
known as the analytic theory or analytical psychology.

Jung extended Freud’s idea of the unconscious. Freud considered unconscious

as an essential part of one’s personality. It is a storehouse of repressed memories,
aggressive motives, and sexual desires. Even though the basic characteristic of
the Freud’s unconscious is similar across different individuals but its content is
88
highly personal in nature. Jung deviated from this view and proposed the idea of Theories of Personality
collective unconscious — the unconscious shared by all humans. According to
him, due to the evolutionary process and common ancestors we all carry some
common past. Collection of this ancestral past is part of our unconscious known
as the collective unconscious. The elements of our collective unconscious have
been termed by Jung as archetypes — which is shared by all human beings and
have some overarching qualities. He described various types of archetypes, some
of these are as follows:
The self- knowing about the wholeness of one’s own identity
The persona-the phony self that we show to others
The anima-feminine side of the men
The animus-masculine side of the female
The shadow-the darker side of our personality, consisting of aggressive urges,
biological instincts, and feeling of inferiority.

Self Assessment Questions (SAQ I)

Fill in the blanks:
1) .................................................. proposed that our personality consists of
three elements: id, ego, and superego.
2) ...................................................... is the moral master or moral guru of
our personality.
3) Jung’s personality theory is known as the ...............................................
4) ............................................................. explains how competition for
parents’ love and affection between siblings lead to rivalry and thus shaping
their personalities.
5) The sexual energy during the ................................................. stage is
channelised towards educational, sports and social activities.

6.3.2 Behavioural Approach to Personality

Behaviourist psychologists were the main criticisers of psychoanalytical theory
of personality. They were against the idea that human personality can be
understood using psyche and unconscious contents. John B. Watson was the
founder of behavioural approach but B. F. Skinner was the most influential
behaviourist.

According to behaviourist theorists, personality is an abstract and hypothetical

concept. Describing it with reference to internal mental processes are grossly
incorrect. Stimulus-response (S-R) relationship and role of reinforcement in the
behavioural process have always been the focus of study among behaviourists.
According to them to understand personality, one needs to understand the S-R
relationship and role of reinforcement first. So, according to them, personality is
a collection of reinforced responses performed for different stimulus. You may
recall that there are basically three major theories of learning proposed by
behaviourists: classical conditioning, instrumental conditioning and observational
learning. One of the most important tenants of the behaviourism is that ‘what we
are is the result of our learning’ and this learning occurs through reinforcement
89
Psychology of Individual and observation. Since every human being has different life conditions, therefore
Differences
their S-R learning pattern is also different from each other. Due to this reason,
we differ from each other in personality.

6.3.3 Humanistic Approach to Personality

Also known as the “third force” or “third approach” in psychology, humanistic
approach came into existence as a reaction against the pessimistic approach of
psychoanalysts and behaviourists towards human behaviour. Abraham Maslow
and Carl Rogers are the two leading theorists of humanistic approach. Now we
will briefly examine their theories.

6.3.3.1 Abraham Maslow: Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow proposed many interesting ideas of human behaviour. Hierarchy
of needs is one of the most frequently cited works of him. He proposed that we
humans have an innate drive to achieve our highest level of capability. He called
this state of achievement ‘self-actualization’. Therefore, in his pursuit to
understand human personality, he studied many self-actualisers. The people,
according to Maslow, who have achieved the state of fulfilment by reaching
their highest level of capability. Some of the famous names, Maslow studied,
include Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham
Lincoln. According to him, since early theorists have focused their attention on
the darker aspects of human personality, therefore the true nature of human cannot
be understood. He emphasised that in order to understand human in its true colour
we need to shift our focus to healthy individuals.

His hierarchy of needs consists of five types of needs, as shown in Figure 3. In

order to achieve a higher order of need, one needs to fulfil her/his lower needs
first.

Fig.6.3: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Source: https://courses.lumenlearning.com

6.3.3.2 Carl Roger: Focus on Self

Carl Roger was a counselling psychologist and Maslow’s colleague, who extended
the humanistic approach to personality. Like Maslow, he also viewed humans as
good and their behaviour is goal-directed. He developed his theory by observing
the behaviour of his clients. He noticed that the idea of “self” always plays an
90
important role in his client’s life. Therefore, his theory revolves around the concept Theories of Personality
of self. According to him, there are basically two types of self; one is an ideal
self and other real self. Ideal self is one’s concept of self that s/he wants or
desires to become. Whereas, real self is one’s inner concept of what we really
are. Roger proposed that if there is congruence between one’s ideal and real self,
then it will lead to help her/him to achieve a state of self-actualisation, which is
state of highest potential a person can achieve. He called such people as a fully
functioning person. On the contrary, if there is no congruence between these two
versions of self, then it will lead to a state of anxiety and stress. Carl Roger also
mentioned in his theory about the importance of the external environment in
achieving congruence in self-concepts. If an individual is getting unconditional
positive regard, only then, he will be able to value his true worth and can achieve
self-actualisation. Unconditional positive regard refers to the warm acceptance
of one’s self by significant others without any condition.

6.3.4 Trait Theories of Personality

A group of theorists believed that our personality is a combination of traits that
determine our behaviour. By identifying and studying them, we can predict the
personality of other people. Before moving forward, one needs to understand
the concept of trait-labels used to identify the characteristic way of behaving.
Often traits are viewed as continuous dimension such as the trait of ‘extroversion-
introversion’. Individuals who are extrovert in nature tend to be friendly, out-
going, talkative and often adventurous. Whereas, those who are high on
introversion tend to be less friendly, reserved and less adventurous. As shown in
Figure 4, an individual may fall along any point on the continuum and his/her
behaviour will be in accord with that location.

Fig.6.4: Extrovert-Introvert Spectrum

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org

History of defining personality by trait can be traced down to the times of

Hippocrates; however, in recent times, some of the famous names of the trait
theorists include Gordon Allport, Raymond Cattell, Hans Eysenck, Robert
McCrae, and Paul Costa.

6.3.4.1 Allport’s Trait Theory

After examining Webster’s (1925) New International Dictionary, Gorden Allport
and his colleague Henry Odbert come with 4,500 words used in the English
language that could describe people. Based on their investigation, they proposed
a trait theory of personality. According to their theory, three types of traits govern
our personality. They have named these three categories of traits as cardinal
traits, central traits, and secondary traits. They organised these traits in a hierarchy.

91
Psychology of Individual Cardinal Traits: These are the dominant traits of one’s personality. They stand at
Differences
the top of Allport’s trait hierarchy and are the master controller of one’s personality.
These traits may dominate personality to such an extent that the person may
become known for those traits only. Such as Mother Teresa for altruism and
M.K. Gandhi for his honesty. According to Allport, these traits are rare i.e., very
few people have personalities dominated by cardinal traits, a majority of the
people have personality composed of multiple traits.

Central Traits: They come second in the hierarchy. According to Allport, every
person possesses 5-10 central traits in varying degrees. They can easily be noticed
and are responsible for shaping our personality. Traits such as intelligent, loyal,
dependable, aggressive etc.

Secondary Traits: These are less relevant traits of personality. These are basically
situational or circumstantial traits. For instance, an aggressive child may not
speak much in front of his/her teacher. These can be numerous in number and are
responsible for behaviours incongruent to individual’s usual behaviour. According
to Allport, these traits are “aroused by a narrower range of equivalent stimuli
and they issue into a narrower range of equivalent responses”

6.3.4.2 Cattell’s Trait Theory

Using factor analysis-a statistical procedure, Cattell factor analysed the Allport’s
list of 4,500 English adjectives. He came up with the following sixteen trait
dimensions of human personality:

Reserved ..........................................................................Outgoing
Less intelligent ................................................................ More intelligent
Stable, ego strength .................................................... Emotionality/neuroticism
Humble ................................................................................................ Assertive
Sober ......................................................................................... Happy-go-lucky
Expedient ......................................................................................Conscientious
Shy ..................................................................................................Venturesome
Tough-minded ............................................................................. Tender-minded
Trusting .............................................................................................. Suspicious
Practical ........................................................................................... Imaginative
Forthright ............................................................................................... Shrewd
Placid ............................................................................................. Apprehensive
Conservative ................................................................................ Experimenting
Group-dependent .......................................................................... Self-sufficient
Undisciplined ..................................................................................... Controlled
Relaxed ..................................................................................................... Tense
In order to measure these trait dimensions, along with his colleagues (Cattell,
Eber & Tastuoka, 1977) he developed a questionnaire later known as the Sixteen
Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF).
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6.3.4.3 Eysenck’s Trait Theory Theories of Personality

Hans Eysenck was a contemporary psychologist of Cattell. Even though he was

a behaviourist, he believed that our personality is largely innate and genetically
based. He also used factor analysis to understand the underlying personality
traits. Initially, he proposed that our personality is comprised of two major
personality dimensions: extroversion vs. introversion and neuroticism vs. stability.
According to his theory, different combinations of these dimensions lead to the
development of different personalities. Later, he added the third dimension to
his model and named it as psychoticism vs. socialisation.

Extroversion-introversion dimension refers to the degree to which one seeks

external or internal stimulation. People who are extroverts are social, seek
adventurous and prefer company when in stress. Whereas, people who are
introverts are shy, enjoy their own company and turns inward when in stress.
Neuroticism vs. stability refers to a dimension that describes people in the context
of their emotionality and maladjusted behaviour. Individuals who are high on
neuroticism, tend to be emotionally unstable, moody and maladjusted. Whereas,
people at the opposite end of the neuroticism dimension, tend to be calm. In the
last dimension: psychoticism vs. Socialisation, people who are high on
psychoticism tend to be aggressive, egocentric, anti-social and impulsive.
Whereas, people who lie on the socialisation end, they are altruistic, empathetic
and conventional.

6.3.4.4 McCrae and Costa’s Big-five Factor Theory

McCrae and Costa believed that all human personality traits can be reduced to
five factors only: Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion,
Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Acronym as OCEAN, these factors or
dimensions were the results of factor analysis (a statistical procedure) of Cattell’s
original list by McCrae and Costa. Brief descriptions of these factors are given
below:
Openness to experience: such people love novelty and creativity. They have a
curious mind and have an appreciation for art. They are an independent thinker
and prefer to do a variety of things instead of routine activities.
Conscientiousness: these people are more goal-directed, self-disciplined, hard-
working, honest and competent. They prefer planned activity instead of
spontaneous behaviour.
Extraversion: similar to the description of Eysenck’s theory.
Agreeableness: people who score high on agreeableness have a tendency to be
cooperative and compassionate. Such people are generally helpful and trustworthy.
Neuroticism: these are worried, insecure and self-pitying people. Whereas, people
who score low on neuroticism are self-satisfied and secure.

6.4 ASSESSMENT OF PERSONALITY

Just like the assessment of intelligence (as discussed in the last unit), personality
assessment is also a vital task of psychologists. According to APA, “personality
assessment is a proficiency in professional psychology that involves the
administration, scoring, and interpretation of empirically supported measures of
personality traits and styles in order to: 93
Psychology of Individual Refine clinical diagnoses;
Differences
Structure and inform psychological interventions; and
Increase the accuracy of behavioral prediction in a variety of contexts and
settings (e.g., clinical, forensic, organizational, educational)”.
The above definition of personality assessment by APA suggests that it is a
specialised knowledge which requires an assessor to have knowledge related to
psychometric properties of the test instruments, theories of personality, knowledge
of administration and interpretation. There are various techniques to assess
personality and these techniques can be broadly categorized into the following:
Self-Report Measures and,
Projective Techniques
Self-Report Measures
As the name suggests, in this method, a participant is directly asked various
questions about her/him and based on the answers an assessment of her/his
personality is made. The questions (called as an item in the language of
psychometrics) are based on some theory and are structured in nature. Responses
on each item are recorded quantitatively using a rating scale. The total obtained
score is then interpreted using a norm table developed for the test. Examples of
some of the famous self-report measures are the Minnesota Multiphasic
Personality Inventory (MMPI), Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), Sixteen
Personality Factor Questionnaire (16 PF). However, few limitations are also
associated with this method. It has been found that participants tend to choose a
socially desirable response, which is known as social desirability bias.
Acquiescence bias is another limitation of this method. It refers to the respondent’s
tendency to select ‘yes’ as a response to all the items regardless of their content.

Projective Techniques
Based on psychoanalytical theory, this is an indirect way to measure personality.
As we know that according to the psychoanalytical theory the majority of our
personality is shaped by unconscious processes therefore to measure it, we should
resort to an indirect measure of personality only. All projective tests are based on
the principle of projection — a defense mechanism proposed by Sigmund Freud.
The basic assumption of this technique is that the ambiguous or unstructured
stimuli or situation may prompt an individual to project his or her feelings,
emotions and desires on them. Some of the famous projective tests include;
Rorschach test, Holtzman Inkblot test, Thematic Apperception Test, Draw-A-
Person test, Sentence completion test and, Word Association test. These tests
produce a response in the qualitative form which is content analysed by the expert
of these tests. However, these tests are also not short of limitations. One of the
biggest drawbacks of these tests is that they do not have any statistical validity
or reliability. Secondly, since the interpretation of the responses is highly
subjective therefore it can differ dramatically from one examiner to another.

Self Assessment Questions (SAQ II)

State whether the following are ‘True’ or ‘False’:
1) People who are extroverts are social, seek adventurous and prefer company
when in stress. ( )
94
 Theories of Personality
2) Central traits are the dominant traits of one’s personality and stand at the
top of Allport’s trait hierarchy. ( )
3) According to behaviourist theorists, personality is an abstract and
hypothetical concept. ( )
4) Projective tests are based on trait theories of personality. ( )
5) McCrae and Costa believed that all human personality traits can be reduced
to five factors only. ( )

6.5 LET US SUM UP

In this Unit, we learned about individual difference with reference to personality.
The Unit started with the concept and meaning of personality. Then, various
theories of personality were also explained with special emphasis on Freud’s
contribution, Trait theories, behavioural and humanistic viewpoint on personality.
Lastly, different methods to measure personality were also discussed.

6.6 UNIT END QUESTIONS

1) What do you understand by personality?
2) Discuss Freud’s view of the mind as an iceberg and explain how he used this
image to represent the conscious and unconscious region of the mind?
3) Why is the unconscious so important in Freud’s theory of personality?
4) Describe and explain any five defense mechanisms given by the
psychoanalytical theory of personality.
5) Write a note on Alfred Adler’s theory of personality.
6) Describe the humanistic approach to personality and explain Maslow’s and
Roger’s theory to support your view.
7) How are self-report measures different from projective techniques in
assessing personality?

6.7 GLOSSARY
Personality : Refers to individual differences in characteristic
patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving.
Cardinal Traits : These are the dominant traits of one’s personality.
They stand at the top of Allport’s trait hierarchy
and are the master controller of one’s personality.
These traits may dominate personality to such an
extent that the person may become known for
those traits only.
Central Traits : They come second in the hierarchy. According to
Allport, every person possesses 5-10 central traits
in varying degrees. They can easily be noticed
and are responsible for shaping our personality.
Traits such as intelligent, loyal, dependable,
aggressive etc. 95
Psychology of Individual Secondary Traits : These are less relevant traits of personality. These
Differences
are basically situational or circumstantial traits.
For instance, an aggressive child may not speak
much in front of his/her teacher. These can be
numerous in number and are responsible for
behaviours incongruent to individual’s usual
behaviour. According to Allport, these traits are
“aroused by a narrower range

Id : This part of personality operates unconsciously.

It deals with basic instincts, biological needs, and
aggressive impulses. It is the most primitive part
of human personality present since birth.

Preconscious or : Deals with all those information for which you

subconscious mind are not currently aware but can become only if
you pay attention.

Fixation : A concept proposed by Sigmund Freud. It refers

to a continuation of an early mode of satisfaction
in later life.

Collective unconscious : It refers to the unconscious shared by all humans.

6.8 ANSWERS TO SELF ASSESSMENT

QUESTIONS
Self Assessment Questions I
1) Freud
2) Superego
3) analytic theory or analytical psychology
4) sibling rivalry
5) latency
Self Assessment Questions II
1) True
2) False
3) True
4) False
5) True

6.9 REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READING

Ellis, A., Abrams, M., & Abrams, L. (2009). Personality Theories: Critical
Perspectives. Sage Publications.

Lerner, M. J., Millon, T., & Weiner, I. B. (2003). Handbook of Psychology, Volume
5: personality and social psychology.
96
The Week (2013). 9 Incredible Stories About Identical Twins. Retrieved from: Theories of Personality
http://theweek.com/articles/469040/9-incredible-stories-about-identical-twins
Revelle, W., Wilt, J., & Condon, D. M. (2011). Individual differences and
differential psychology. The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Individual Differences,
1-38.
Fogarty, G. J. (1999). Intelligence: Theories and Issues.
Ashton, M. (2013). Individual Differences and Personality. Academic Press,
U.S.A.
Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2016). Personality and Individual Differences. John
Wiley & Sons.
Chamorro-Premuzic, Tomas. (2015). Personality and Individual Differences.
Chichester: Wiley
Ciccarelli, S. K, and White, J. N. (2015). Psychology. New York: Pearson
Education Limited.
Parmeswaran, E. G and Beena, C. (2004). An Invitation to Psychology. Delhi:
Neelkamal Publications Pvt. Ltd.
Rathus, S. (2008). Psychology: Concepts and Connections. United States:
Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

6.10 REFERENCES FOR IMAGES

Identical twins Jim Springer and Jim Lewis. Retrieved November 8, 2018, from
https://www.firsttoknow.com/jim-twins/
Diagram of Freud’s Psyche theory. Retrieved November 9, 2018, from https://
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Structural-Iceberg.svg
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Retrieved November 10, 2018, from https://
courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-psychology/chapter/humanistic-
perspectives-on-personality/
Extrovert-Introvert Spectrum. Retrieved November 10, 2018, from https://
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ExtrovertIntrovertSpectrum.png

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