Introduction

Question 1

What is personality?

Answer 1

• Descriptive characteristics (i.e., traits)
  – intelligent, hard-working
• Motives and goals
  – achievement-motivated, relationship-motivated
• Values
  – honest, loyal, selfish
• Emotional tendencies
  – moody, anxious, optimistic
• Memories/Life Stories
  – “Their father only took their younger brother on
  outings…”

Question 2

Personality - ORIGIN OF THE WORD?

Answer 2

Greek word ‘persona’
(mask): character
represented in a play

(In Ancient Greece, the actors (all men)
wore masks so that they could play
multiple roles, including female parts.
Facial expressions on the masks (happy,
angry, sad, etc.) helped convey the
essence of the character, as well as the
sex, age, and social class)

Question 3

Using Personality
in Everyday Life

Answer 3

• Evaluation “I like his personality”
• Description “He is friendly, outgoing and fun!”
• Continuity “She is never in time!”

Question 4

Scientific definition of Personality

Answer 4

Consistent and enduring patterns of:
– thoughts, feelings, and behaviors…
– that influence a person’s interactions with,
and adaptations to, the environment

Question 5

What do Personality Researchers Study?

Answer 5

Human nature (how we are “like all others”) – What are all people like?

Individual differences (how we are “like some others”)
– How are people different from each other – Ritchie vs. Chazz in Royal Tannenbaums

The unique life of a single person (how we are “like no others”)
– How is each person like no one else?

Question 6

3 levels of personality analysis. Every human being is…

Answer 6

…like all others = Human nature level (all people are similar in some ways; we all need other people)
-Albert enjoys a good meal

…like some others = Group level (people vary on common dimensions; e.g., some of us are more sociable than others)
-Albert is good at math

…like no others = Individual level (each person is unique)
-Albert discovered relativity and developed quantum physics

Question 7

Personality Theories have formal assumptions and propositions about…?

Answer 7

Human nature
- Universal aspects of personality
- “People need to feel included by others”

How and why people differ from each other
- “Men are more aggressive than women, because they
have higher levels of Testosterone”
- “People with a high need for power are popular,
because they use their charm to get their way.”

What makes an individual unique
- “Her father’s harsh criticism of her play at age 8 led Margot to lead a life of secrecy and marry an older and
kindly man.”