Introduction Flashcards
pattern of relatively permanent traits
personality
characteristic behaviours and feelings that are consistent and long lasting.
personality traits
unique qualities that include such attributes as temperament, physique, and intelligence.
characteristics
set of related assumptions that allows scientists to formulate testable hypotheses.
theory
different kinds of perspectives in theories of personality
psychodynamic
humanistic-existential
dispositional
biological-evolutionary
learning social cognitive
focuses on childhood experiences and on relationships with parents.
psychodynamic
traditionally used dream interpretation to uncover the unconscious thoughts, feelings, and impulses as a main form of treatment.
psychoanalysis
the primary assumption of the humanistic approach is that people strive toward meaning, growth, well-being, happiness.
humanistic-existential
argue that the unique and long term tendencies to behave in particular ways are the essence of our personality.
dispositional
behaviour, thought, feelings and personality are influenced by differences in basic genetic, epigenetic and neurological systems between individuals.
biological-evolutionary
what personality we have is shaped by how we think and perceive the world.
learning social cognitive
what makes a theory useful?
generates research
falsifiable
organizes data
guides action
internally consistent
parsimonious
can expand an existing theory, is concerned with the measurement, labelling, and categorization of the units employed in theory building.
descriptive research
leads to an indirect verification of the usefulness of the theory.
hypothesis testing
dimensions for a concept of humanity
determinism vs free choice
optimism vs pessimism
causality vs teleology
conscious vs unconscious determinants of behaviour
biological vs social influences on personality
uniqueness vs similarities