intro to personality Flashcards
Individual difference=
how & why we vary
Personality=
characteristic patterns of thoughts, emotions, behaviour
personality psych: links to general psych>
ABC: affect, behaviour, cognition
>common principles to explain general behaviours
personality psych=
scientific study of variations in thoughts, emotions and behaviours
How to study individual difference=
- look beyond personal experience
- ignore anecdotal evidence
- understand what constitutes a good theory
Process of evaluating theories»
- Why? (reasonable explanation)
- Testable?
- Operationalised? (can aspects of theory be taken apart & studied in a meaningful way)
- Comprehensive?
- Parisomy? (is it economical? is it most efficient?)
- Heuristic value?
- Applied value? (can it be applied in real world contexts?)
How we study individual differences according to different levels of understanding» Different levels»
> Biological
Traits
Learning & Cognition
social factors
How we study individual differences according to different levels of understanding> Biological»
- genetics, heritability, brain anatomy
- (e.g. FmRI study of neural responses to explore differences in empathy)
How we study individual differences according to different levels of understanding» Traits»
- Conceptualise & measure individual differences
- (e.g. self-report measures to explore trait differences for psychopaths)
How we study individual differences according to different levels of understanding> Learning & cognition»
- Behaviourism, social learning theory
- (e.g. experimental study on how psychopaths engage in reward-punishment scenarios)
How we study individual differences according to different levels of understanding> social factors
cross-cultural influences, context-dependent interpersonal interactions
- (e.g. meta-analysis of differences between individualistic & collectivist cultures)
The self> 2 types»(1) Declarative self
- Declarative self= all conscious knowledge you have of yourself & own opinion of self
The self> 2 types> (2) procedural self>
parts of yourself that include what you do and how you do it (behaviour)
High self-esteem> pros>
pros: predicts relationship satisfaction & views on how partner perceives them (sciangula, 2009)
High self-esteem: cons>
-susceptible to ‘ego threat’ & unrealistic optimism (Baumeister, 1993)
- more likely to engage in high risk gambling behaviours (sekcrinska, 2021)
Low self-esteem: cons>
- SE & procrastination> increases negative emotional state which fosters procrastination among final year students (Diamahar, 2020)
Meta-analysis: is high self-esteem beneficial? studied across various traits> traits & overall conc>
- work/study
- relationships
- mental health
- physical health
- anti-social behaviour
overall= yes
Self-schema=
= network of ideas about oneself, organised into a coherent system
>an evaluation of our abilities & capabilities
features of self-schema
- source of self-report data
- both stable & malleable
- can remain intact after memory loss
Features of procedural self>
- behaviours
- context sensitive
- can be difficult to verbalise/articulare
- can be modified with time, practice, effort
what is the “relational self”?= (anderson & chen, 2002)
idea interpersonal relationships impact sense of self in context:
>there are cognitive associations that guide behaviours and reactions towards others
Why do we have a sense of self?>
- self-regulation
- information filtering
- understanding others
- maintaining identity
How many selves do we have?>
- philosophically problematic as “infinite divisability”
- more accurate to think of “aspects of self” that are more or less relevant in different contexts
Authentic self» aspects
> self-determining individuality= breaking social norms
self-reflecting= living as the person you think yourself to be
Authenticity scale= authenticity to oneself in all contexts is a key indicator of authentic self (wood, 2008)
Fluency= subjective experience of ease with an experience (Baldwin, 2021)> however difficulty can be important signifier of meaning
