Chapter 1 - Introduction to Personality Psychology Flashcards
Define personality
Personality is the set of psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual that are organized and relatively enduring and that influence his or her interactions with, and adaptations to, the intrapsychic, physical and social environment.
What is the difference between Psychological mechanisms and psychological traits?
The term mechamism refers more to the processes of personality. For example, someone who is extraverted may look for and notice opportunities to interact with other people.
Most psychological mechanisms have three essential ingredients:
inputs, decision rules and outputs.
What is a domain of knowledge?
A domain of knowledge is a specialty area of science and scholarship, in which psychologists have focused on learning about some specific and limited aspects of human nature.
What are the six domains of knowledge?
- Dispositional domain
- Biological domain
- Intrapsychic domain
- Cognitive-experimental domain
- Social and cultural domain
- Adjustment domain
What does the dispositional domain tell us about personality?
That personality is influenced by traits that the person is born with or develops.
What does the biological domain tell us about personality?
That personality is influenced by biological events.
What does the Intrapsychic domain tell us about personality?
That personality is influenced by conflicts within the person’s mind.
What does the cognitive-experimental domain tell us about personality?
That personality is influenced by personal and private thoughts, feelings, desires, beliefs, and other subjective experiences.
What does the social and cultural domain tell us about personality?
That personality is influenced by social, cultural, and gendered positions in the world.
What does the adjustment domain domain tell us about personality?
That personality is influenced by the adjustments that the person must make to the inevitable challenges of life.
What are the standards of evaluating personality theories?
- Comprehensiveness
- Heuristic value
- Testability
- Parsimony
- Compatibility and integration across domains and levels.
The standards for evaluating personality theories mention comprehensiveness, what does this mean?
That the theory does a good job of explaining all of the facts and observations within its domain, that they explain more empirical data within their domains and are generally superior to those that explain fewer findings.
The standards for evaluating personality theories mention heuristic value, what is this?
Heuristic value is whether the theory provides a guide to important new discoveries about personality that were not previously known.
The standards for evaluating personality theories mention testability, what is this?
If the theory renders precise enough predictions that personality psychologists can test them empirically.