personality
An Introduction to Personality
MEET TANK
When you enter the lobby of a building or office, the receptionist is often the first individual you encounter. The role of the receptionist is of great importance, as this employee shapes a visitor’s first impression of an organization. A good receptionist is eager to help, friendly, and reliable. A neat physical appearance and pleasant voice are also big pluses.
Newell Simon Hall, the computer science building at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University, has an excellent receptionist. His name is Marion LeFleur, but everyone calls him “Tank,” a fitting title given his square jaw and overall tough-guy appearance. But don’t be intimidated by the Rambo look. “Tank is a nice guy,” says Tank’s boss, Dr. Reid Simmons. “He just does his job and has a really good heart.” Approach his booth, and Tank will take note of your presence immediately. “Hello there. What can I do for you?” he asks ever so politely (Greenfieldboyce, 2005, December 26). Looking for the room number of a university employee? Tank will find it in seconds. Need directions to a different building on campus? Tank is all over it. He can also provide updates on the local time and weather. Ask the right questions, and Tank might even share some details of his personal life—about his family, girlfriend, and dog, or the fact that he once dated the scoreboard at the Pittsburgh Steelers stadium (Lee, Kiesler, & Forlizzi, 2010; Simmons et al., 2011). Tank is not afraid to discuss his failures. He may tell you about his career disaster with NASA, or his botched mission with the CIA (Carnegie Mellon University, 2013).
Now that you have learned a few things about Tank, perhaps you feel as if you are beginning to know him. Maybe you are getting a basic sense of what kind of person he is. But Tank isn’t a person; he is a robot—a “roboceptionist,” to be precise—and robots are not capable of exhibiting the complex behaviors and interactions you would expect from a human being. At least not yet.
after reading and studying this chapter, you should be able to:
Looking at Tank, it’s fairly obvious he is not a person. His blue, chiseled face lives in a 15-inch flat-panel LCD screen, and his body looks somewhat like a massive red coffee thermos. He has sensors to detect your presence, but he cannot see your facial expressions, read your body language, or even hear your voice. In fact, the only way to communicate with Tank is by typing on his keyboard, and he can only understand simple questions such as “Where is the ladies’ room?”
Tank is the latest product of Carnegie Mellon’s Social Robots Project, a collaboration between the university’s Robotics Institute and School of Drama. The goal is to “create a robot that can provide useful services, but that also exhibits personality and character” (Gockley et al., 2005, p. 2199). How is this accomplished? Every one of Tank’s behaviors, from the movements of his eyes to the subtle tilts of his head, is preprogrammed by Dr. Simmons’s team of computer whizzes. His backstory and script were written by members of the university’s drama department. It’s all “smoke and mirrors,” according to Dr. Simmons. Creating the illusion of a “personality” turns out to be quite a challenge. This would be no surprise to psychologists studying personality.
One of the major challenges of creating social robots is programming behaviors that gel coherently. If you want to craft a robot with a convincing personality, you’d better make sure that everything it does and says fits the part. One out-of-character remark and people will be reminded that they are merely talking to a collection of electrical circuits.
LO 1 Define personality.
So far we have used the term “personality” rather loosely. The reality is that robots do not actually have personalities. They take on roles or personas whose characteristics may bear resemblance to personalities, but all of their behaviors are programmed by people. Well then, what is personality? Generally speaking, personality refers to the unique core set of characteristics that influence the way one thinks, acts, and feels—characteristics many psychologists would agree are relatively consistent and enduring throughout the life span.
We should point out that personality is not the equivalent of character. When people discuss character, they often are referring to qualities of morality or culture-specific ideas about what makes a person “good” or “bad.” A person who is untrustworthy or makes “poor” choices might be described as having a weak character, while someone who stands up for what she believes might be said to have a strong character. You may hear that the guy with the blue mohawk or the woman with the multiple body piercings is a “real character”—often in a judgmental way. Psychologists try not to make such judgments; our goal is to describe behaviors and characteristics objectively.
In Chapter 8, we described various infant temperaments. Some infants are easy to calm, others cranky, sociable, or highly reactive. Humans are born with certain temperaments, and many of the attending characteristics seem to persist throughout life. Here, we introduce temperament in the context of personality.
Some aspects of adult personality appear to derive from temperament, the distinct patterns of emotional reactions and behaviors observed early in life. Because various temperaments are evident in infants, they appear to have a genetic basis (Plomin, DeFries, Knopik, & Neiderhiser, 2013). And although temperament remains somewhat stable across the life span (Kagan & Snidman, 1991; Sigelman & Rider, 2009), it can be molded by environment (Caspi, Roberts, & Shiner, 2005). You can think of temperament as one dimension of the broader construct of personality (Goldsmith et al., 1987).
LO 2 Distinguish how the perspectives of psychology explain personality development.
Psychologists explain the development of personality in a variety of ways, often in accordance with certain theoretical perspectives (TABLE 11.1). You may be familiar with several of these perspectives, but let’s summarize their main points before using them to explore personality:
Personality Theory | Main Points | Criticisms |
---|---|---|
Psychoanalytic | Personality develops early in life; we are greatly influenced by processes of which we are unaware (e.g., internal conflicts, aggression, sexual urges). | Ignores importance of current experiences; overemphasis on the unconscious and the role of sexuality in personality; theory based on a biased, nonrepresentative sample; concepts difficult to operationally define and empirically test. |
Behavioral | Personality is shaped by interactions with the environment, specifically through learning (classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning). | Narrow focus on behavioral processes; ignores influence of unconscious processes and emotional factors. |
Humanistic | We are innately good and control our destinies; we have a force moving us toward growth. | Concepts difficult to operationally define and empirically test; ignores the negative aspects of human nature. |
Social-cognitive | Focuses on social influences and mental processes that affect personality; emphasis on the combination of environment, cognitive activity, and individual behavior. | Narrow focus on social-cognitive factors; ignores influence of unconscious processes and emotional factors. |
Biological | Emphasizes the physiological and genetic influences on personality development; incorporates gene–environment explanations for the emergence of certain characteristics. | Inconsistent findings regarding the stability of the personality dimensions; varying estimates of environmental influences. |
Trait | Looks at current traits of the individual to describe and predict personality. | Underestimates the environmental influences on personality; neglects to explain foundations of personality. |
None of these perspectives can completely account for the development and expression of personality, but they do help describe, explain, and predict behavior. Most also have strong ties to their founders, all of whom were influenced by the historical period in which they lived. Sigmund Freud’s emphasis on sexuality, for example, was partly a reaction to the Victorian era into which he was born.
Our traits, abilities, and experiences are what make us unique. But remember that we share some characteristics with all other humans (physiological make-up, for example), others with a subset of the population (such as our peers), and still others with no one.
In the next section, we will examine these theories of personality in greater depth, but first let’s take a quick detour somewhere fun. How would you describe your sense of humor?
The Funny Thing About Personality
Some of us rely on humor to connect with other people, cracking jokes and acting silly for their enjoyment. Others use it as a way to cope with challenges. (We must admit, it does feel good to let loose and laugh when life’s stresses become unbearable.) Both of these styles of humor are viewed as positive, as they strengthen social bonds and promote personal well-being (Martin, Puhlik-Doris, Larsen, Gray, & Weir, 2003). There are also negative forms of humor, like ridiculing another person to make yourself look good, or poking fun at yourself in a way that seems to erode self-esteem (Martin et al., 2003; McCosker & Moran, 2012).
HUMOR IS VERY MUCH LIKE OTHER ASPECTS OF PERSONALITY—GROUNDED IN BIOLOGY…
Where do these styles of humor originate? According to one large Australian study, identical twins (who have identical genes) are more likely to share humor styles than fraternal (nonidentical) twins. What this tells you is that genes matter. In fact, the study suggests that 30–47% of variation in styles of humor can be attributed to genetics (Baughman et al., 2012), and some research shows an even higher proportion (Vernon, Martin, Schermer, Cherkas, & Spector, 2008). But how do you explain the other 53–70% of the variation? Chalk it up to nurture. Humor is very much like other aspects of personality—grounded in biology, but chiseled and refined by a lifetime of experiences.
Keep this nature-and-nurture theme in mind as you explore the theories of personality in the pages to come. To what degree does each perspective recognize the contributions of nature and nurture, and how do these forces interact? Let’s get this discussion rolling with the help of Tank.
1. __________ is the unique core set of characteristics that influence the way one thinks, acts, and feels.
Personality
2. Which perspective describes and explains personality based on the effects of the environment and reinforcers?
d. behavioral
3. How do character and temperament differ from personality?
Personality is a unique core set of characteristics that influence the way one thinks, acts, and feels, which is relatively consistent and enduring throughout the life span. Temperament is a distinct pattern of emotional reactions and behaviors that can be observed early in life, and character encompasses the qualities of morality or culture-specific ideas about what makes a person good or bad.