ProfessorPaulBloom:
Whatwe'vebeentalkingaboutsofarinthecoursearehumanuniversals,whateverybodyshares.So,we'vebeentalkingaboutlanguage,aboutrationality,aboutperception,abouttheemotions,aboutuniversalsofdevelopment,andwe'vebeentalkingaboutwhatpeopleshare.Buthonestly,whatalotofusareveryinterestediniswhywe'redifferentandthenatureofthesedifferencesandtheexplanationforthem.Andthat'swhatwe'llturntotoday.
Sofirst,we'lldiscusshowarepeopledifferent,differenttheoriesaboutwhatmakesyoudifferentinapsychologicalwayfromthepersonsittingnexttoyou,andthenwe'llreviewdifferenttheoriesaboutwhypeoplearedifferent.Andthisistheclasswhichisgoingtobotherthemostpeople.It'snotdualism.It'snotevolution.It'sthisbecausethescientificfindingsonhumanpsychologicaldifferencesare,tomanyofus,shockingandunbelievable.AndIwilljusttrytopersuadeyoutotakethemseriously.
Okay.So,howarepeopledifferent?
Well,there'sallsortsofways.Yoursexualidentity--Itisatthecoreofyourbeingforalmostallofuswhetheryou'remaleorfemale.Howwerefertoyouinlanguage,whatpronounweuse,isindexedonhowwe--onyour--onhow--whetheryou'remaleorfemaleandrelatedtothatthoughimperfectlyisyoursexualorientation,whoyou'reattractedto.Thequestionofwhysomeofusthinkofourselvesasmalesandothersasfemales,andthequestionofwhysomeofuswouldideallywanttohavesexwithmales,otherswithfemales,otherswithboth,andthenafewotherswhohavehardertodefinedesires,issuchagoodquestionthatwe'regoingtotalkaboutitafterspringbreakwhileallthesexualdesirehasbeenspentandyoucouldfocuson[laughter]onascientificdiscussionofthis--notthatIrecommendyoudothatonspringbreak.
Howhappyareyou?
Thisisalsosuchagoodtopicit'sgoingtogetitsownclass.Theverylastclassofthesemesterisdevotedtohappinessandthequestionofwhatmakespeoplehappy,whatmakespeopleunhappy,andwhatmakespeopledifferintheirhappiness.IfIaskedyoutorankhowhappyyouarefromascaleof1to10,thenumberswoulddifferacrossthisroom.Andthere'sdifferenttheoriesastowhy.Yoursuccessandfailureinlife--Thisissomewhatinterestingbecauseyoucouldstudythisinmoreorlessobjectiveways.Wedon'thavetoaskpeople.Wecouldlookatyourrelationships,howtheybegin,howtheyend,yourjobsatisfaction.Wecouldlookatyourcriminalrecords.Someofyouaregoingtoseetime.Mostwillnot.Someofyouwillgetintolittletroublesallthroughyourlife.Someofyoualreadyhaveseentheinsideofapolicestation,possiblyalineup.Otherscouldn'tgonearsuchathing.Whatdeterminesthat?
Andattherootofallhumandifferencesaretwomainfactors.Andso,Iwanttotalkaboutthetwomaininterestingfactors.Oneispersonality.Theotherisintelligence.Andthisiswhat--ThesearethedifferencesI'lltalkabouttodayfirstfromthestandpointofhowdowecharacterizethem,howdoweexplainthem,andthenfromthestandpointofwhythesedifferencesexistinthefirstplace.
Onewaytocharacterizepersonalityisintermsofpeople'sstylewithdealingwith--indealingwiththeworldandparticularlytheirstylewithdealing--indealingwithotherpeople.So,youtakeasimplecharacteryouknowofandyoucouldtalkaboutthatperson'spersonality.Youcouldtalkaboutitintermsofbeingimpulsive,irresponsible,sometimeslazy,good-hearted.Youcouldcomparethatperson'spersonalitywithotherpeople'spersonalitiessuchasmycolleaguewhogaveatalklastclass.He'swonderful.He'sresponsibleandreliableandverykind[laughter]anddifferentfromHomer.Andso,thisdifferenceisadifferenceinpersonality.
Now,whenwetalkaboutpersonalitywe'retalkingaboutsomethingelseaswell.We'retalkingaboutastabletraitacrosssituationsandtime.So,ifallofasuddenthepersonnexttoyoukindofsmacksyouinthehead,youmightbeangrybutwewouldn'tcallthat"personality"becausethat'ssomethingthat'saresultofasituation.We'dallfeelthatwayinthatsituation.It's"personality"ifyouwalkaroundallthetimeangry.That'dbeastabletrait.That'dbesomethingyoucarryaroundwithyouandthat'swhatwemeanbypersonality.
Now,howdowescientificallycharacterizedifferencesinpersonality?
Andit'sadeepquestion.There'sbeenalotofattemptstodoso.Anyassessmenthas--Anygoodassessmenthastosatisfytwoconditions.Andthesearetermswhicharegoingtoshowupalloverpsychologicalresearchbutit'sparticularlyrelevantforthissortofmeasure.Oneis"reliability."Reliabilitymeansthereisnotmeasurementerror.Andonecrudewaytothinkaboutrel
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