Kin: Personalities Flashcards
Define personality
The overall organization of our psychological characteristics – thinking, feeling, and behaving – that differentiates us from others and leads us to act consistently across time and situations
What are some approaches to the study of personality? (3)
Biological theories, trait theories, and interactionist theories
What are biological theories?
Link personality with biological processes.
What is William Sheldon’s Constitutional Theory?
Different body types = different personalities
Extomorph
tall and lean = cerebrotonia: tense, introverted, socially restrained
Endomorph
plump and round = viscerotonia: affectionalte, socialable
Mesomorph
Athletic = somatotonic: adventurous, aggressive, risk-taker
Personality traits
Relatively stable, highly consistent internal attributes
What are Han Eysenck’s personality traits?
Psychoticism- superego
Extroversion- interversion
Neurotocism-stability
Psychoticism- superego
Hormonal function (androgen, testosterone, low serotonin) leads to heightened aggressiveness, impersonal attitudes, and antisocial/inhibited behaviour
Extroversion-introversion
Base level arousal in cortex dictates whether or not individuals avoid further stimulation (introverts) or seek out further stimulation (extroverts)
Neurotocism-stability
High neurotic individuals (enduring negative emotional states) have longer-lasting autonomic reactions than low neurotic individuals
What are the big 5 trait theories?
Openness to experience, conscientiousness, etraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism
What is risk taking and attention seeking associated with?
extroversion and conscientiousness
What is competitiveness important for
elite athletes
