chapter1

Question 1

what do personality psychologists study?

Answer 1

• the psychological triad: how people think, feel, behave
• where sub-disciplines of psychology intersect (normal vs. extreme patterns of personality
• personality dissorders

Question 2

3 levels of personality analysis

Answer 2

1. human nature
   - how we are “like all others”
2. individual and group differences
   - how we are like “some others” (like a group)
3. individual uniqueness
   - how we are “like no others”

Question 3

idiographic approach (define, pros, cons)

Answer 3

this is a person-centered approach, the goal is to understand one person, what makes people unique

pros: you really get to understand one person really well, so it is great for important people
cons: not generalizable, it is subjective

Question 4

nomothetic approach (define, pros, cons)

Answer 4

variable-centred approach: focused on the relation between variables (self esteem and life satisfaction)

pros: objective, can be tested
- a more complete understanding of more people
- good for studying everyday people

cons:
- it is boring and you need a good understanding of statistics to do it

Question 5

what is personality?

Answer 5

set of psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual that are organized and are relatively enduring and that influence his or her interactions with, and adaptions to, the environment
-personality is not always the most important determinant of behaviour

Question 6

funders 1st law

Answer 6

great strengths are usually great weaknesses, and suprisingly often the opposite is true as well.

so this goes for psychology theories and stuff, and people too (if someone is very honest it can be good and bad)

Question 7

what is OBT

Answer 7

one big theory, this is the idea of putting every theory into one.

Question 8

the psychological triad

Answer 8

adressing how people think, feel and behave

Question 9

basic approach: trait approach

Answer 9

-following the differences in people over time and measuring, and conceptualizing them

Question 10

basic approach: biological approach

Answer 10

this is adressing biological mechanisms such as anatomy, physiology, genetics, and evolution, and seeing their relevance to personality

Question 11

basic approach: psychoanalytic approach

Answer 11

this is concern with the unconscious mind and the resolution of internal mental conflict

Question 12

basic approach: phenomenological approach

Answer 12

this would be focusing on people’s conscious experience of the world, humanistic psychology, and the idea that things may be different for people across different cultures

Question 13

basic approach: learning and cognitive approaches

Answer 13

this is thinking of behaviourism, social learning theory, and cognitive personality phychology