Biological approach to

Personality

DR. Kanthi Hettigoda

 Nature vs. Nurture

• Biological theories of personality are a group

of theories that argue for the nature (or
biological) side of this ongoing debate.
• Biological theories of personality do not look
at external factors (e.g., the influence of
others around them), but rather
at internal factors (e.g., genetics) to explain
why our personalities are the way they are.
 Biological approach
• There are several different ways that our
biology can impact our personality throughout
our lives.
• Hormones, traumatic events,
neurotransmitters, and other factors can
impact and alter our personalities
 Genetic Factors/DNA

• Anxiety disorders or tendencies towards

anxiety can be passed down in a family.
• There is no specific gene for anxiety.
• Several different genes seem to play a role in
anxious dispositions.
 Brain Structures

• An ongoing study that is being done on

Cattell’s "Big 5" personality traits model shows
that people who measure higher in
conscientiousness tend to have larger lateral
prefrontal cortexes than those who are low in
conscientiousness.
• The lateral prefrontal cortex is a brain
structure that plays a role in our organization
and behavior
 Brain Structures
• The regions of the brain particularly important
for persistence include the inner and lower
parts of the frontal lobes, especially those
called the anterior cingulate and the
orbitofrontal cortex, and their networks that
involve the basal ganglia.
 Brain Structures
• The Limbic System: Located in the brain, it is
involved with responses that shape our
behavior and emotion.
• It specifically controls behaviors that the brain
views as vital to survival such as eating, and
responses to danger
• The Reticular Formation: Located in the brain,
it is a complex group of neurons that help with
functions related to consciousness and arousal.
Brain and personality
 Hormone Secretions

• The hormone testosterone (present in males

and females but more so in males) is vital for
its impact on our sociability, aggression, and
sexuality.
Biological theories of personality
• Out of many theories we focus on three main
theories here
• Jeffrey Gray’s Reinforcement Sensitivity
Theory
• Hans Eysenck's Three-Factor Model of
Personality (PEN model).
• Plomin and Buss (EAS) Model
 Jeffrey Gray’s Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory

• Jeffrey Gray’s Reinforcement Sensitivity

Theory is based on the notion that we use
three types of biologically-driven responses
when faced with stress or fear.
• It posits that everyone has a specific response
method when faced with certain stimuli.
• These individual reactions can underlie
personality traits for anxiety and impulsivity.
 Jeffrey Gray’s Reinforcement Sensitivity
Theory
• The three responses that people use when faced
with stress or fear are called the fight, flight, or
freeze response.
• This process explains that the person will either
fight (face the stimuli head-on), fly (run away from
the stimuli), or freeze (not react to stimuli) in
stressful or fear-inducing situations.
• How one instinctively reacts can correspond with
personality traits linked to anxiety, overthinking,
impulsivity, and worrying.
 An example
Mark, Andrew, and Greyson are currently on a hike in
the Appalachian mountains. They see signs warning of
bear dens nearby. They overlook the signs because it is
winter time and they know that it is hibernation
season. As they continue to walk, they suddenly hear
loud rustling in the bushes nearby. A large bear pops
out scaring the three boys. Mark runs away screaming,
while Jake is frozen in fear, and Greyson is trying to get
his pepper spray out.
Based on their reactions, Mark chose flight, Jake
chose freeze, and Greyson chose to fight.
 Hans Eysenck's Biological Theory of Personality

• Hans Eysenck was a German psychologist known for his

PEN model.
• It is one of the major biological theories of personality.
• The PEN model is based on three personality traits that
Eysenck believed correlated with the activation of our
limbic system and reticular formation.
• Both are structures of the brain and they each play a key
role in brain and body function.
• The limbic system focuses on emotion, behavior, and
memory, while the reticular formation focuses on arousal
and consciousness.
 PEN model
• The three personality traits for the PEN model
are Psychoticism, Extraversion, and
Neuroticism.
• Eysenck referred to these three traits
as super-traits.
• Whether one scores high or low for that
specific personality, it is not a 100 percent
accurate portrayal of that person
 PEN Model
• Psychoticism
• Extraversion
• Neuroticism
 Psychoticism
• If someone scores high in psychoticism, their personality would
reflect someone more likely to ignore social norms, as they are
not motivated by incentives.
• People in this category are also more likely to disregard
authority and rules set by others.
• However, Eysenck also noted that people in this category are
very creative and like to think outside the box.
• If someone scores low in psychoticism, their personality would
reflect someone who is sensitive, empathetic, and more likely
to follow the rules set by others.
• People who score low in psychoticism are also more likely to
avoid conflict as they prefer peaceful environments.
 Personality traits linked to Psychoticism
(High)

• Aggressive
• Cold
• Impersonal
 Extraversion and Introversion

• The E in PEN stands for Extraversion.

• If someone scores high in extroversion, they have
a personality that is more sociable and outgoing.
• Extroverts enjoy environments where they can be
social and have attention.
• If someone scores low in this category, they have
a quieter personality that prefers an environment
with smaller crowds and activities that they can
do alone.
 Extraversion-Introversion
• Eysenck was especially interested in this dimension
• Originally he suggested that introverts and extraverts
differ in terms of their cortical arousal (extraverted
were under-aroused and thus seek stimulation)
• Studies did not find differences between the two
tendencies while measures of brain activity in a
resting state were taken
• Currently, researchers describe the Ex.-Int.
differences in terms of sensitivity to stimulation,
introverted being more sensitive.
 Hans Eysenck’s Theory of
Personality
– Extraverts are outgoing, impulsive, uninhibited,
and sociable
– Introverts are quiet, introspective, reserved, and
distant except to intimate friends
– People high on neuroticism are unstable or highly
emotional, easily upset, and angered
– Individuals low on neuroticism are less prone to
emotional swings

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 Personality traits linked to Extroversion (High)

• Carefree
• Sociable
• Lively
 Neuroticism and Stability

• N stand for Neuroticism

• If someone scores high in neuroticism, they
have a personality that is oriented towards
the self and are more likely to experience stress
and anxiety.
• A low score would indicate they have a calm
personality and are more laid back.
• They will also be better at handling stress and
anxiety.
 Personality traits linked to Neuroticism (High)

• Tense
• Anxious
• Moody
 Physiological Differences: Stimulation Sensitivity
and Behavioral Activation/Inhibition Systems

• Sensitivity to stimulation
– Introverts and extraverts differ in how their brains
respond to emotional stimuli
– Introverts are quickly aroused when exposed to
external stimulation

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 Sensitivity to Stimulation
See the difference between the two little girls?
 Physiological Differences: Stimulation Sensitivity
and Behavioral Activation/Inhibition Systems

• Sensitivity to reinforcement
– Reinforcement sensitivity theory
• Human brain has a behavioral approach system (BAS)
and a behavioral inhibition system (BIS)

– Individuals differ in the strength of these systems,

and differences are stable over time

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Physiological Differences: Stimulation Sensitivity
and Behavioral Activation/Inhibition Systems

– People with a high BAS seek out and achieve

pleasurable goals
• Experience more anger and frustration
– Individuals low on BAS get pleasure out of rewards
and anticipating those rewards
– People with a high BIS are apprehensive and quick
to retreat from problematic situations
• Experience more anxiety

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 Plomin Buss Model
• Buss and Plomin (1975, 1984) proposed a
behavior genetics-oriented model of
temperament, proposing that temperament
traits have an early onset and are inherited,
evolutionary adaptive, present in non-human
animals, relatively stable during development
and predictive of later behaviors in adulthood.
 Temperament
• General behavioral dispositions that can be
expressed in different ways depending on an
individual’s experiences
• Development into stable personality traits
depends on complex interplay of genetic
predispositions and environment

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 How is Temperament Formed?

• Temperament is defined as a person's nature

shown in how they behave or react to people or
situations.
• Temperament is believed to be innate, mainly
influenced by genetics.
• It's not uncommon for someone to have
temperaments similar to a parent or grandparent.
• Research shows that 20% to 60% of your
temperament is determined by genetics
 How is Temperament Formed?

• Temperament creates the environment

through bi-directional process
• When an individual reacts to an event
according to their temperament the other
person also react to that. So that the
temperament get established
 Temperament and Personality

– Emotionality - Intensity of emotional reactions

• Children high on emotionality frequently express anger
• As adults, they are easily upset and have quick temper

• Activity - Person’s general level of energy

• Highly active children move around a lot and prefer games that require
running and jumping
• As grown-ups, they are always on the go and prefer high-energy
activities
– Sociability - General tendency to affiliate and interact with others
• Sociable children seek out other children to play
• As adults, they have a lot of friends and enjoy social gatherings

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Three dimensions of temperament
• Emotionality
• Activity
• Sociability
 Emotionality
Emotionality - Intensity of reactivity to life
situations
Activity
Sociability
Does the personality change over time?
• While it seems extroversion or introversion
are the result of a complex interaction
between both genetic and environmental
causes, the previous research does not answer
whether we can change personality traits.
• A longitudinal study conducted over 50 years by
Damian et al reported that overall, the majority of
personality traits do stay relatively stable, although
some traits are more likely to change than others.
• But the resounding finding was that personality traits
are not fixed and people remain malleable,
especially as they mature.
• This was evident in the fact that many individuals
were found to increase in emotional stability over
time. (Damian et al., 2018).
 The hope
• We have a choice to temporarily switch to
another personality type when pursuing
something we love, as long as we do not
pretend to be someone we are not for too
long.