1: An Introduction to Personality Theories

Question 1

study of the whole human individual, what it means to be a person

Answer 1

personality psychology

Question 2

looking into your own experiences to understand your mind and personality

Answer 2

introspection

Question 3

a set of ideas that the person who holds those ideas will not permit to be criticized

Answer 3

dogma

Question 4

the attributes which make us individuals, define our relationship with our environments, and give us consistency in our actions

Answer 4

personality

Question 5

expressions of our limbic system - how we “feel”

Answer 5

emotions

Question 6

brain activity involved in perceiving, interpreting, judging, and planning - defines our perceptions of people and situations

Answer 6

cognition

Question 7

what compels us to act in specific ways - can be broken into motives and drives

Answer 7

motivation

Question 8

aspect of motivation - primary biological needs like hunger and thirst

Answer 8

drives

Question 9

aspect of motivation - secondary learned incentives like pleasing your parents, boss, or romantic partner

Answer 9

motives

Question 10

our understanding and judgment of ourselves

Answer 10

self-concept

Question 11

our judgment of our own self-worth, value, and effectiveness - aspect of self-concept

Answer 11

self-efficacy

Question 12

highly genetically programmed qualities that predict the way you will behave through a large number of different environments

Answer 12

traits

Question 13

a consistent style of behavior and emotional reaction present from birth, assumed to be controlled by genetics

Answer 13

temperament

Question 14

an enduring, maladaptive pattern of experience and behavior that differs greatly from cultural expectations - rigid and displayed across a variety of situations

Answer 14

personality disorder

Question 15

Cluster A of personality disorders - paranoid, schizoid, and schizotypal

Answer 15

Eccentric Cluster

Question 16

Cluster B of personality disorders - histrionic, antisocial, borderline, and narcissistic

Answer 16

Erratic Cluster

Question 17

Cluster C of personality disorders - avoidant, dependent, and obsessive-compulsive

Answer 17

Anxious Cluster

Question 18

approach to studying personality that tries to group and compare people

Answer 18

nomothetic approach

Question 19

approach to studying personality that concentrates on an individual’s personality and what makes it distinct

Answer 19

idiographic approach

Question 20

way of thinking that takes one or a few specific observations and attempts to describe universal properties from those specific observations

Answer 20

inductive reasoning

Question 21

way of thinking that looks at universal principles and attempts to find specific rules derived from those universal principles

Answer 21

deductive reasoning

Question 22

a criteria of judging a theory - does it encompass and account for a wide range and variety of phenomena?

Answer 22

comprehensiveness

Question 23

a criteria of judging a theory - is the theory clearly stated and measured, does it use consistent definitions, and is it falsifiable?

Answer 23

precision, consistency, and testability

Question 24

a criteria of judging a theory - is it as economical as possible, containing few assumptions, while still adequately accounting for the phenomena in its domain?

Answer 24

parsimony

Question 25

a criteria of judging a theory - does it challenge researchers, stimulating new ideas and new research?

Answer 25

heuristic value

Question 26

a criteria of judging a theory - is it confirmed when the hypotheses of the theory are tested?

Answer 26

empirical validity

Question 27

a criteria of judging a theory - does it provide creative solutions to problems that are of interest and concern to people in society?

Answer 27

applied value