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CHAPTER TEN

OUTLINE

I. Raymond Cattell

A. The Life of Cattell

1. Raymond Cattell came from a happy home in Staffordshire, England. At 16,

Cattell enrolled at the University of London to study physics and chemistry, here

he graduated three years later with honors. Cattell studied psychologist-statistician

Charles E. Spearman, who had developed the technique of factor analysis. Cattellreceived his Ph.D. in 1929 and decided to apply the factor analysis method to the

structure of personality. Cattell eventually moved to Harvard University where

his colleagues included Henry Murray, Gordon Allport, and William Sheldon.

Further, at the University of Illinois, Cattell was employed as a research professor

for more than 20 years while publishing over 500 articles. Cattell taught at the

University in Hawaii in his seventies after achieving many awards in the field of

psychology.

B. Cattells Approach to Personality Traits

1. Cattell defined traits as relatively permanent reaction tendencies that are basic

structural units of the personality. A common trait is one that is possessed by

everyone to some degree, such as intelligence or extraversion. People differ

because of their unique traits, which are those aspects of the personality shared by

few other people. Ability traits help us work efficiently towards goals, while

temperament traits describe the general style and emotional tone of our behavior,

such as being easygoing or irritable. Dynamic traits define our motivations,

interests, and ambitions, according to Cattell.

2. Surface traits are personality characteristics that correlate with one another but donot constitute a factor because they are not determined by a single source.

Anxiety, indecision, and irrational fear combine to make or form the surface trait

Cattell labeled neuroticism. Source traits are those individual factors derived fromfactor analysis that combine to account for surface traits.

3. Constitutional traits originate in biological conditions, such as a propensity to

consume alcohol leads to behaviors such as carelessness, talkativeness, and

slurred speech. Environmental-mold traits are learned characteristics andbehaviors that impose a pattern on the personality.

C. Source Traits: The Basic Factors of Personality

1. Cattell identified 16 source traits, (through factor analysis); as the basic factors ofpersonality. Cattell called this objective personality test, the Sixteen Personality

Factor Questionnaire (16PF). A person can score high, low, or somewhere in

between on these basic personality factors. Cattell added additional factors, which

he called temperament traits, such as excitability, zest, self-discipline, politeness,

and self-assurance.

D. Dynamic Traits: The Motivating Forces

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1. Cattell proposed two kinds of dynamic, motivating traits. The word erg was used

to denote the concept of instinct or drive. Cattell identified 11 ergs, which are

anger, appeal, curiosity, disgust, gregariousness, hunger, protection, security, self-

assertion, self-submission, and sex. A sentiment is an environmental-mold source

trait and is a pattern of learned attitudes that focus on an important aspect of life,such as a persons community, spouse, occupation, religion, or hobby. A

sentiment can be unlearned and can disappear when it is no longer needed in apersons life.

2. Attitudes are defined as our interests in and our emotions and behaviors towardsome person, object, or event. To Cattell, an attitude is not just an opinion; an

attitude encompasses all our emotions and actions toward an object or situation.

3. Subsidiation means that within the personality some elements subsidiate, or are

subordinate to, other elements. Attitudes are subsidiary to sentiments; sentimentsare subsidiary to ergs. These relationships are expressed by Cattell in what he

called the dynamic lattice.

4. Each persons pattern of sentiments is organized by a master sentiment called the

self-sentiment. This is our self-concept, reflected in virtually all of our attitudesand behaviors, which further control all of the structures in the personality.

E. The Influences of Heredity and Environment

1. Cattells data suggests that 80% of intelligence (Factor B) and 80% of timidity-

versus-boldness (Factor H) can be accounted or by genetic factors. Further,

Cattell concluded that, overall, one-third of our personality is genetically based,

and two-thirds is determined by social and environmental influences.

F. Stages of Personality Development

1. Cattell covered the entire life span with six stages of development. (A) Theperiod of infancy from birth to 6 is a time to be influenced by parents and siblings,

while between the ages of 6 to 14, marks the stage of (B) independence from

parents and an increasing identification with peers. The third stage is from 14 to

23; (C) is marked by emotional disorders and possible delinquency as young

people experience conflicts centered on the drives for independence, self-

assertion, and sex. From age 23 to 50 marks the fourth stage which is (D)

generally a productive, satisfying time in terms of career, marriage, and family

situations. Late maturity, (E) is from the age of 50 to 65 and involves personalitydevelopments in response to physical, social, and psychological changes. The

final stage, (F) is old age, according to Cattell. A person in this stage has

adjustments to different kinds of losses, such as the death of a spouse, relatives,

and friends, loss of a career, loneliness, and insecurity.

G. Assessment in Cattells Theory

1. Cattell used three primary assessment techniques. L-data, (life records); is a

technique which involves observers ratings of specific behaviors exhibited by

research participants in real-life settings such as a classroom or office. L-datainvolve overt behaviors that can be seen by an observer and occur in a naturalistic

setting rather than in the artificial situation of a psychology laboratory.

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2. Q-data, (Questionnaires); calls for observers to rate the research participants. Q-

data requires research participants to rate themselves, however; Cattell warned

that Q-data must not be automatically assumed to be accurate.

3. T-data, (Personality); involves the use of what Cattell called objective tests, in

which a person responds without knowing what aspect of behavior is being

evaluated.

4. Cattell developed the 16 PF, which is based on 16 major source traits. The 16 PF

is widely used to assess personality for research, clinical diagnosis, and predicting

occupational success. There are variations of the 16 PF that measure such specific

aspects of personality as anxiety, depression and neuroticism. The test has been

translated into more than 40 languages and can be used with adults, adolescents,

and children.

H. Research in Cattells Theory

1. Of the three ways to study personality in research, Cattell chose the multivariate

approach, which yields specific data through the statistical procedure of factor

analysis. Cattell collected large amounts of data with the R technique, where

correlations among all scores are made to determine personality factors or traits.

With the P technique, Cattell collected a large amount of data from a single

subject over a long period. Cattell and his associates conducted hundreds of

factor-analytic studies.

I. The Dimensions of Personality: Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Psychoticism

1. Hans Eysenck was born in Germany but immigrated to England to flee Hitler in

1934. Eysenck published over 79 books and over 1,097 journal articles. Eysenck

developed several personality assessment devices including the Eysenck

Personality Inventory, The Maudsley Medical Questionnaire, and the Maudsley

Personality Inventory. He conducted research on the measurement of personalityat the University of Londons Maudsley Hospital and Institute of Psychiatry.

Eysenck used factor analysis to uncover personality traits and supplemented the

method with personality tests and experimental studies that considered a widerange of variables. Eysencks theory of personality is based on three super

factors, defined as combinations of traits or factors. Dimension E is extraversion

versus introversion, Dimension N which is neuroticism versus emotional stability,

and Dimension P, psychoticism versus impulse control (or superego functioning).

Research has shown that traits and dimensions proposed by Eysenck remain stable

throughout the life span from childhood through adulthood.

J. Robert McCrae and Paul Costa: The Five-Factor Model

1. McCrae and Costa, who worked for the Gerontology Research Center of theNational Institutes of Health in Baltimore; identified five so-called robust or Big

Five factors in their research. The five factors are: Neuroticism, Extraversion,

Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. These factors were confirmed

through a variety of assessment techniques including self-ratings, objective tests,

and observers reports. In studies of twins, four of the five factors show a strong

hereditary component. Agreeableness was found to have a stronger

environmental component. These five factors have been consistently observed in

both Eastern and Western cultures, which supports a genetic component. The five

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factors are found in children as well as adults and in longitudinal studies, these

five factors demonstrated a high level of stability for all five traits.

2. In several studies, extraversion was positively related to emotional well being,

whereas neuroticism was negatively related to emotional well being. From the

evidence of research, it is clear that the five-factor model of personality has a high

predictive value. McCrae and Costas findings have been replicated and continueto inspire considerable research.

K. Arnold Buss and Robert Plomin: The Temperament Theory

1. Buss and Plomin identified three temperaments that they believe are the basicbuilding blocks of personality. The temperaments combine to form personality

patterns or so-called super traits, such as introversion or extra-version. These

three temperaments are: (a) emotionality, (B) activities, and (C) sociability. Buss

and Plomin developed two tests to assess personality: the Emotionality, Activity,

Sociability Survey for Adults (EAS), and the Emotionality, Activity, Sociability

Infant Temperament Survey (EASI) for children. Based on extensive research

with twin studies, Buss and Plomin concluded that temperaments are primarily

inherited. These findings have been replicated with further research and researchalso suggests the existence of a strong relationship between the temperamental

dispositions and the Big Five personality factors.

2. The Emotionality temperament refers to our level of arousal or excitability. The

Activity temperament is defined by Buss and Plomin in terms of physical energyand vigor. The Sociability temperament refers to the degree of preference for

contact and interaction with other people. From research, strong evidence exists

that temperaments remain stable from birth into adulthood and that the strength of

that stability increases dramatically after age 3. Plomin also suggested that

genetic factors influence our perception of stressful life events, so inherited

temperaments exert pervasive, long-lasting influences on our behavior.