Biological Foundations of Personality 10 28 2014 Temperament Thomas Chess 1977 o Biologically based o Individual differences o Emotional motivational tendencies o Evident early in life o Longitudinal study design same person over time o New York Longitudinal Study Infant Temperament Types Easy playful adaptable Difficult negative not adaptable Slow to Warm Up low reactivity mild responses Goodness of fit Buss Plomin 1984 Dimensions of Temperament o Emotionality how easily did the baby become aroused upset in different situations o Reactivity how strong quickly were the kids o Sociability responsiveness to other people Kagan 1994 2003 2012 o Direct objective measure used lab settings o 2 clearly defined temperament profiles Inhibited Uninhibited o High reactivity should inhibited o Low reactivity should uninhibited o High reactivity 20 Low reactivity 40 Mix 40 continuity suggested Biological Influences on Inhibition Amygdala part of midbrain that is believed to be highly involved in processing emotions like fear anger Frontal cortex Stathmin protein influence of gene Consistency Change Influence of mother s behavior during infancy Degree of mother s social support in early childhood Evolutionary Psychology Human nature is the product of evolutionary process via natural selection Important to survival reproductive success Proximate causes biological processes operating in the organism at the time the behavior is observed Ultimate causes Why is a given biological mechanism a part of the organism o Some biological features are better than others o Possession those features more likely to survive reproduce and be ancestors o The biological mechanism evolves population reflects beings who possess the adaptive biological mechanism Evolved Tendencies o Some may no longer be adaptive o Are domain specific solve particular problems in specific settings Mate preferences Parental Investment Theory Women Biological differences cause women to invest more in parenting Carry burden of pregnancy Can pass genes on to fewer offspring Mate value of men dependent upon ability to provide protection resources Parental Investment Theory Men Men less concerned with protection Can potentially pass genes on to large of offspring Mate value of women determined by reproductive fitness youth physical attractiveness Parenthood Jealousy Women certainty in regard to offspring Men potential for uncertainty in regard to paternity Need to take steps to ensure investment is directed toward own offspring Buss men women should differ in terms of events that provoke jealousy Research suggests Males sexual infidelity more concerning Women emotional infidelity more concerning Buss Contents of Human Nature o Need to belong o Helping altruism Universal Emotions Erkman 1973 Surprise o Reading facial expressions Eagly Wood 1999 Contempt Anger Disgust Fear Happiness Sadness Robustness accuracy of EP research conclusions Societal Characteristics o Similarity of roles o Greater gender equality o Interactions between biological social factors suggested 10 28 2014 10 28 2014