Ch. 1 Theories of Personality Flashcards
persona
Latin for “mask”
(Greek/Roman theater) actors wore mask/persona to hide their face
personality
a pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique characteristics
- give both consistency and individuality to a person’s behavior
trait
a relatively permanent disposition of an individual, which is inferred from behavior
- consistent over time
- como spectrum, there are individual differences
- stable across situations
(ie) extraversion, agreeableness
characteristic
unique quality
(ie) temperament, physique, intelligence
theory
a set of related assumptions that allows scientists to use logical deductive reasoning to formulate testable hypotheses
- if/then terminology
deductive
broad to specific
terms related to theory
philosophy
speculation
hypothesis
taxonomy
philosophy
“love of wisdom”
broader than theory
- ought/should terminology
speculation
consideration
- must be tied to empirical data (observations) and science
hypothesis
specific guess that can be tested using scientific method
- if/then terminology
taxonomy
classification according to natural relationships
reasons for differences between personality theories
have different:
1) personal background
2) philosophical orientations of assumptions
3) perspectives of world/humanity
4) observed data/groups
5) personalities
functions of useful theory
1) generates research
2) falsifiable / verifiable
3) organizes known data and observations
4) guides action, practical - should help w/ treatment
5) internally consistent - clear consistent definitions
6) parsimonious
dimensions for a concept of humanity
determinism vs. free choice
pessimism vs. optimism
causality vs. teleology
conscious vs. unconscious determinants of behavior
biological vs. social influences on personality
uniqueness vs. similarities
empirical criteria for instruments to be useful
reliability
validity
types of validity
construct validity
predictive validity
construct validity
the degree to which a test measures what it claims, or purports, to be measuring
types of construct validity
convergent validity
divergent validity
discriminant validity
*convergent validity
the degree to which two measures of constructs that theoretically should be related, are in fact related
*divergent validity
constructs that should have no relationship do, in fact, not have any relationship
*discriminant validity
tests whether concepts or measurements that are supposed to be unrelated are, in fact, unrelated
reliability
consistency of measurement
test-retest reliability
strongest validity b/c results always the same/consistent with little to no variability from older tests
predictive validity
predicts outcome w/ accuracy
