INTRODUCTION TO PERSONALITY Flashcards
derived from the Latin word “persona”
Personality
“persona” means
Theatrical Mask
a pattern of relatively permanent traits and characteristics that give both consistency and individuality to a person’s behavior.
Personality
contribute to the individual differences in behavior, consistency of behavior over time, and stability of behavior across situations.
Traits
are the unique qualities of an individual that may include such attributes as temperament, physique, and intelligence.
Characteristics
is a set of related assumptions that allows the scientists to use logical deductive reasoning to formulate testable hypothesis.
Theory
love of wisdom
Philosophy
Philosophers pursue wisdom through?
Thinking and Reasoning
nature of knowledge
Epistemology
much more than a mere armchair speculation
Speculation
educated guess or prediction enough to be tested through scientific method
Hypothesis
classification of things according to their natural relationship.
Taxonomy
focused on the importance of early childhood experiences that shape personality development.
Psychodynamic Theories
believes that people strive toward meaning, growth, well-being, happiness, and psychological health.
Humanistic-Existential Theories
argues that our unique and long-term tendencies to behave in particular ways are the essence of our personality.
Dispositional Theories
nature vs. nurture
Biological-Evolutionary
all behavior are learned through associations and/or its consequences.
Learning-Cognitive (Social) Theory
What makes a theory useful?
Generates Research Is Falsifiable Organizes Data Guides Action Is Internally Consistent, and Is Parsimonious
a useful theory will generate two kinds of research
Descriptive Research and Hypothesis Testing
concerned with measurement, labelling, and categorization of units employed in theory-building.
Descriptive Research
leads to an indirect verification of the usefulness of a theory.
Hypothesis Testing
a useful theory can be confirmed and disconfirmed.
Is Falsifiable
a useful theory organizes research data.
Organizes Data
a useful theory guides the practitioner over the rough course of day-to-day problems.
Guides Action
a useful theory has logical flow and uses language in a consistent manner.
Is Internally Consistent
simpler one is preferred
Is Parsimonious
do our behavior can be determined by uncontrollable forces or are we the masters of our fate?
Determinism vs. Free Choice
are we basically bad, evil, and merciless or are we basically good, kind, and compassionate?
Pessimism vs. Optimism
do we act based on what happened in the past or due to certain expectations that we have in the future?
Causality vs. Teleology
are we aware of our own actions or are we controlled by unconscious forces?
Conscious vs. Unconscious
do the things that we inherit define our personality or are we shape more strongly by external factors?
Biological vs. Social Influences
are we determined by our salient features or by our common characteristics?
Uniqueness vs. Similarities
intensive study of small number of subjects
Idiographic Research
comparing and analyzing statistical differences among large sample of subjects
Nomothetic Research
this contends that our personality continues to develop throughout the course of our lives.
Life-Span Approach
this argues that much of our personality is inherited.
Trait Approach
this emphasizes the fulfillment of our potential.
Humanistic Approach
