Ch 19- Personality Flashcards
What is Personality?
The combination of lasting and distinctive behaviours, thoughts, motives and emotions that characterise how we react and adapt to other people and situations. (Plotnik and Kouyoudijan 2008)
Describe personality as a combination
- It is **complex **
- contains different aspects of behaviours e.g. thoughts, feelings, motives and emotions
- the interaction of the aspects is considered
Describe the personality as ‘lasting’
- Stable
- remans the same with slight changes
- if signficant changes occur it’s due to environment- education and experience
Describe personality as distinct
- Unique to each person are there thoughts, motives, emotions
Describe personality as ‘charcterising how we REACT and ADAPT to other people and situations
-Responisble for way we interact with the world
What are the key aspects of intelligence according to it’s defintion?
- Personality is…
- **Distinctive **
- Consistent
- influences our **interaction with the environment **
What is NOT personality?
It is NOT mood (can cause mood)
It is NOT behaviour (can cause behaviour)
important to note personality can influence what we do how we feel BUT it is not *it. i.e. feelings/actions *
What are the early theories of personality?
- WILLIAM SHELDON’S (1940) Somatypes
- HIPPOCRATE’S (400 bce) & GALEN (140 ce) Humours
What did Sheldon’es theory of Perosnality influences by somatypes conclude?
Body shapes correspond to particular personality types
known as:
ectomorph (skinny)
Mesomorph (muscular, wellbuilt)
endomorph (plump)
Explain an ectomorph’s build and charcteristics
Build:
Tall, skinny, thin
Charcteristics:
changeable
predicatble but also variable
enthusiastic
imaginative
impulsive
quick to grasp ideas
Explain a Mesomorph’s build and charcterasitics:
Build:
Muscular, well built bodyshape
Charcteristic:
predictable
articulate
intelligent
critical
passionate with a short explosive temper
Explain the endomorph’s build and the characteristics:
Build:
Plump, rounded body
Charectristics:
Cheerful
Slow to anger
Tendency to procastinate and be stubborn
lazy
What is the problem with Sheldon and his theory on correlations?
- People’s shape change over time
- Different environments may influence body shape with no affect on personality
Can Sheldon’s theort of personality influenced by somatypes generalised to all people?
**NO **
Why?
- Different cultues classify different personality types
- People can chnfe personality without body change
Explain the three part method behind Sheldon’s Somatype theory?
- _FIRST STAGE: Idendifying body shape _
- 4000 1st/2nd year male college students
- photographed them from behind
- rated their bodies based on series of measurements
- SECOND STAGE: Identifying Personality type
- Surveyed participants
- Rated personalities based on 50 characteristics
- _THRID STAGE: Results _
- found strong correlations between body shape and personality characteristics
- Generalisation that bodytype abd personality is strongly correlated
True or False: Idendical twins differ in their personalities
TRUE
What does personality determine?
- It is a determinant
- Responsible for how we:
- _react _
- interat
- act
PERSONALITY IS NOT INTELLIGENCE