phenomena that include feeling, such as emotional states, moods, and emotional traits

Study on Japanese and American participants - Americans showed much more of a correspondence bias 

read paragraph about professor, told about situational constraint

looked at intensity of smiles in college yearbook photos and used self reports of personality at four different ages 20-40 along with staff/observer (I) data, and marriage/well-being (L data) RESULTS: smiles correlated with all 3 (self, informant, life data

SMILES CORRELATED WITH MARITAL STATUS AND WELL BEING

tested "representative" and "adjudicated" boys - completed Jesness Personality Inventory and Eyseneck Personality Questionnaire. Specifically looked at disinhibition, negative emotionality, extraversion/positive emotionality.  Although both samples showed this maturation, the adjudicated men displayed a lower rate of change during adolescence and early adulthood. The two samples did not differ in Extraversion and this trait remained more stable, particularly for adjudicated men.

large representative sample of people in New Zealand.  assessed several times between ages 3 and 18. divided children into 5 groups at age three based on used self-report, informant, and life data. 3 main temperaments at age three were undercontrolled, inhibited, and well-adjusted and they predicted personality, interpersonal relationships, and criminal offenses at age 18. 

Across 5 studies of 24,000 twin pairs

Nearly all personality traits assessed by self- report show moderate genetic influence (I.e., MZ > DZ).

Extraversion (MZ: .51, DZ: .18) = 60%

Neuroticism (MZ: .46, DZ: .20) = 50%

Agreeableness, Conscientiousness , Openness = 40%

Moderate genetic influence found with peer reports, too, although the magnitude is less than with self reports.

shared environment influences personality ___ than shared heredity

aggregated effect sizes across age intervals for big 5. 

openness - small decline at 55

agreeableness - increase

conscientiousness - increase

neuroticism

social vitality - decline at 55 

emotional stability - increase until 60

translated version of the NEO in 5 languages 

conscientiousness - increase

 agreeableness - increase

openness - decrease 

extraversion - decrease 

neuroticism - decrease 

sampled African Americans and European Americans 

ages 18 - 94

paged throughout the day to ask how they feel 

negative affect DECREASES across lifespan (slight increase towards end of life)

emotional complexity INCREASES across lifespan

1,000 nuns ages 24 to 101

tested frequency of emotional experience and ability to control emotions

positive affect INCREASES and negative affect DECREASES with age

affect optimization & affect complexity

compensation for decline in cognitive-affective complexity in older adulthood 

negative affect --> higher cognitive demand

positive affect --> low cognitive demand

loss of primary control in old age due to biological and sociocultural constraints

utilization of secondary control: more loss->down regulate negative affect, less novelty->enhance positive affect

we shift from information seeking goals to emotion seeking goals

older adults regulate emotional experience to enhance positive and reduce negative 

limits of aging studies 

how much do changes across lifespan differ depending on person?

longitudinal study of women

personality measured by maternal and observer ratings

 neighborhood disadvantage negatively correlated with personality stability and overcontrol, positively correlated with behavior problems 

african american women in rural and urban areas

looked at neighborhood, negative life events, tested big 3 personality traits

neighborhood disadvantage and negative life events WERE NOT correlated with depression 

college students - self report personality and moving history and centrality of group of friends to self

·      The more you move, the more important personal traits are as opposed to collective traits

·      If you move more, you have to carry something constant across those settings but if you don’t move as much group memberships are much more a part of who you are

nationally representative sample of adults

moving affects how well you're doing, but the effect of moving on your well-being is moderated by your personality

more moves correlate w/ less satisfying social relationships

frequent moving correlates with higher mortality rate

selective migration 

culture

differential parenting styles 

competition between siblings 

prenatal/gestational factors

looked at first/middle/last borns & only children 

rated on different traits and most likely occupations

first borns: stable, intelligent, obedient, responsible, not very emotional

only children: not agreeable

last borns: NOT obedient or responsible

first borns most likely to occupy HIGH PRESTIGE JOBS

US & Canada

participants indicate which sibling is most likely to be rebel/achiever

last borns are more likely rebels 

first borns are more likely achievers

mathematical model of the effect of birth order and family on IQ 

theory is that first born children are born into intellectual (adult only) environments

emphasis is on how the environment affect intelligence

attachment propensity during infancy sets the frame for attachments in later relationships

infant attachment reflects internal working models

importance of shared environment in infant-mother attachment

MZ & DZ twins

observed during strange situation, mothers rate temperament

temperamental reactivity largely due to heritability

secure-insecure classification largely due to shared environment

reactive and normal rhesus monkeys

raised by either normal or highly nurturing moms

after six months rated exploration of enviro, response to stress, position in peer hierarchy

high reactive monkeys affected more than normal monkeys

high reactive monkeys with nurting moms did FAR BETTER adjustment-wise

SES 

parenting 

neighborhood

parenting rituals

marital quality

peers 

sibling 

differential parenting

teachers/coaches

injury & illness

birth order

classified five nations among different dimensions including individualism-collectivism 

US, Australia, Great Britain, Canada had highest individualism 

Venezuela, Taiwan &  China lowest individualism

"ideal" affect

"actual" affect

cultural factors strongly determine ideal affect

temperment strongly determines actual affect

ideal affect determines mood, facial & vocal behavior 

actual affect determines physiological activation

ideal affect influences how we present ourself and how we perceive others

culture shapes more how we want to feel than how we actually feel

negative emotionality at age 18 is negatively correlated with occupational attainment, work satisfaction, and financial security at age 21 and vice versa 

hedonic treadmill 

other's stability 

environmental influence 

impulses & motivations

genetics

assessed attachment at age 1 and 18 

childrens of divorced parents more likely to be insecurely attached at age 18

longitudinal study of mothers & infants 

attachment at ages 1 & 19 

romantic relationship at age 21

ATTACHMENT CAN CHANGE FROM INSECURE TO SECURE - earned security

college students

either performed acts spread out or concentrated

people who perform acts all on one day are happier

anglo americans and asian americans

control, optimism, gratitude 

optimism-anglo and gratitude-anglo worked 

optimism-asian DECREASED 

gratitude-asian worked but not drastically 

study 1

university students: meditators & non-meditators

asked to respond to letter from murderer 

meditators were MORE LIKELY to respond and they wrote much longer letters

meditators showed MORE empathy, encouragement, forgiveness and sympathy

study 2 

female university students assigned to compassion meditation, mindfulness meditation, theatre & control

NO DIFFERENCE IN WHO RESPONDED OR ANY FACTORS EXCEPT COMPASSION GROUP WAS MORE EMPATHETIC

normal volunteers  - either given placebo or SSRI (selective serotonin uptake reinhibitor)

SSRI participants LESS HOSTILE LESS NEGATIVE AFFECT MORE AFFILIATIVE BEHAVIOR 

found that being happy leads to positive outcomes in work, social relationships & health 

cross-sectional & longitudinal & experimental evidence

chronic happiness is governed by 3 factors: genetic happiness set point, happiness-relevant circumstances, happiness-relevant activities and practices

presence of positive affect

absence of negative affect 

satisfaction with life

positive emotions widen mindsets allowing exploration (BROADEN) 

positive emotions provide opportunities to grow and learn (BUILD)

nuns wrote short autiobiographies between ages 18 and 24 

analyzed use of positive and negative emotion words

use of positive emotion words correlated with likelihood to be alive

2.9:1 

almost 3x

twins raised together and apart

complete well-being scale

LONG TERM WELL-BEING IS 40-80% HERITABLE

interviewed lottery winners, accident victims & controls

self reports of happiness 

LOTTERY WINNERS SHOW ADAPTATION

hedonic treadmill

identified impact bias: tendency to overestimate enduring effect of future events 

examples: failures to lose weight, sports victories

affective forecasting: forecasting of one's emotional state in the future

showed video of guy dancing 

asked how happy does this make you? 

group that was told about importance of happiness (valuing-happiness group) reported being less happy during video

personal growth 

purpose in life 

positive relations with others

self-acceptance 

autonomy 

most happiness research only focuses on feeling good in the moment

college students from US and Hong Kong

relationship satisfation did NOT correlate with life satisfaction for americans

DID correlate for Hong Kong 

self esteem was more predictive for americans than chinese

self reports 

focus on feelings 

measures AMERICAN standards

male subjects

submerged hand in tub of hot water for diff times and diff heats 

RESULTS people focus on end and neglect duration of pain

risk exposure - behavior - viruses (infection), cancer (smoking) 

host resistance - biology - immune response, inflamation, pathogen activation

central nervous sytem perceptual processes 

perceptions affect gene expression

multiaxial assessment 

axis I - clinical disorders

axis II - personality disorders

enduring pattern of behavior/experience that deviates from culture 

inflexible, rigid 

leads to distress

STABLE

traits are correlated with disorders

idiosyncratic-->schizo 

dramatic-->histrionic

self-confident-->narcissistic

correlate with the big five

many types of psychopathology are stable and trait like

conceptually-distinct disorders are actually related to each other

EXAMPLE: NEUROTICISM 

specific disorders should not be studied in isolation

diathesis-stress models overlook personality as the diathesis

explains behavior as a combination of nature and nurture 

certain people are more likely to have certain disorders, but stress will exacerbate this likelihood

assessed for mental disorders using DSM axis I by interviewers 

8 clinical disorders

given Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (big 3)

RESULTS: clinical symptoms fall along two dimensions - internalization and externalization 

7,000 twins in sweden 

assess neuroticism & extraversion and then depression 30 years later 

NEUROTICISM PREDICTS RISK FOR MAJOR DEPRESSIVE EPISODE (mostly due to genetic factors)

resolution to situationist debate 

(1) the effect of a personality variable may depend on the situation and vice versa 

(2) people with different personalities may choose or fnd themselves in certain situations 

(3) situations are affected by the personalities of people who inhabit them