aspects of personality Flashcards
personality
the patterns of thoughts and feelings, and the way we interact with our environment and other people
3 personality theories
- trait
- social learning
- interactionist
trait
a relatively stable, highly consistent attribute that exerts a widely generalised casual effect on behaviour
trait personality theory
people are born with established characteristics and we can predict behaviour in various situations
type a
competitive, impatient, intolerant and highly stressed
type b
non-competitive, relaxed, tolerant and low levels of stress
esyenck trait theory
two dimension model, identifie 4 primary personality traits
stable
unchangeable, constant and predictable e.g. calmness in most situations
unstable
changeable and unpredictable e.g. varying amounts of aggression
extrovert
a person who seeks social situations and likes excitement but lacks concentration
introvert
a person who does not seek social situations and likes patience and quiet but is good at concentrating
stable characteristics
- predictable moods
- predictable emotions
- don’t experience intense stress and recover quickly if they do
unstable characteristics
- unreliable moods
- extreme and unpredictable emotions e.g. mood swings
- high levels of stress with slow recovery
extrovert characteristics
- aroused more slowly
- affiliate well with others
- outgoing and sociable
introvert characteristics
- aroused more quickly
- prefer isolation
- shy and reserved
social learning theory
all behaviour is learned
what influences behaviour according to social theory?
- situation e.g. those around us
- environment including behaviour of others
how is personality/behaviour learned according to social theory?
- through watching, imitating and reinforcement
- it is not genetically programmed
pros of trait theory
- can be seen that extroverts like team sports
- personality can be predicted if correct
cons of trait theory
- argues you can never change traits
- argues siblings/identical twins will be the same which is not true
- argues you wont adapt and change to the environment
pros of social theory
- evidence suggests we learn by copying others
- bobo doll experiment supports it
- performers can be like (copy) their significant other
cons social theory
- some things do remain the same
- siblings brought up in the same way don’t always have the same personality
- too simplistic - can’t just be environment
interactionist theory
personality is modified and behaviour is formed when genetically inherited traits are triggered by an environmental circumstance
which theories does the interactionist approach agree with?
a combination of trait and social learning theory