Lecture 1: Introduction Flashcards
How can we begin to make sense of people’s personalities?
an organized theory
What is Personality
Personality is the set of psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual that are organized and relatively enduring and that influence his/her interactions with and adaptations to the intrapsychic (inner psychological process, e.g., motivation, self esteem), physical (e.g., house, food), and social environments
What are psychological traits?
General characteristics, average tendencies
what is the utility of traits?
- Describe ourselves and others
- Explain behaviours
- Predict future behaviours
What is a psychological mechanism?
How we interact with others and the environment. Personality is an information processing system. There are three key ingredients to a psychological mechanism: input, decision rules (if then) and output.
What is the pre cursor to personality?
Temperament
Traits vs. States
Traits are relatively enduring over time and states are transient experiences
How does personality impact how we think, feel, act and interact?
- Perceptions or interpretations of the environment
- Selection of the situations we enter (e.g., friendships, hobbies, classes, skydiving)
- Evocation of feelings, responses in others (aggression)
- Manipulations or way we intentionally impact the environment
Does personality serve adaptive functions?
Yes- accomplish goals, cope, adjust and respond to challenges. Behaviour is goal directed, functional and purposeful
What behaviours that don’t appear functional may be functional?
-Chronic worry (neurotic behviour) –> elicits social support
What is the functional perspective?
traits/ behaviours evolved because they gave our ancestors an evolutionary advantage, they serve a function
What is also key for understanding personality?
Understanding a persons environment is also key for understanding personality. Personality interacts with our environments, which in turn interacts with us: Physical environment, Social environment, Intrapsychic environment. Each environment contributes to our reality
What are the 3 levels of personality?
- The human nature level of analysis (Exploring the ways that make us similar, taking a broad lense)
- Group (and hence individual) differences level of analysis. Like some others, explores the ways that groups differ or are similar
- Individual uniqueness level of analysis (Like no other, identifying unique traits. Progression of personality development that makes each of us unique)
What is a theory?
- Organizes research findings to tell a coherent story
- Can be used to make predictions
- Provides a guide for researchers (directing future research)
What is the big five factor theory ?
openness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness
Theories vs. Beliefs
- Beliefs are not necessarily based on facts- this does not mean they are untrue, but we cannot assume the truth of a belief until it is supported with research
- A good theory… Is Comprehensive, Provides a guide for future research, Is testable, Avoids assumptions, Is compatible with other areas of knowledge
What is the fissure/gap in the field
No such thing as a grand theory (human nature level of analysis), just many separate ones that cover different domains of personality at the individual and group differences level of analysis.
(e.g., the elephant metaphor)
How do we bridge this fissure?
Through the domains of knowledge
What are the 6 domains?
Dispositional, biological, intrapsychic, cognitive/experiential, social/cultural, adjustment
what is the dispositional domain?
- Deals with ways in which individuals differ from one another.
- Interest in the number and nature of fundamental dispositions
- Goals: Identify and measure the most important ways in which individuals differ form one another. Origin of individual differences and how these develop/ change over time.
What is the biological domain?
- Core assumption: humans are collections of biological systems, and these systems provide building blocks for behaviours, thoughts and emotions (e.g., women with more testosterone act differently than women with less)
- Behavioural genetics of personality (Twin studies, selective breeding)
What is the intrapsychic domain?
- Deals with mental mechanisms of personality, many of which operate outside conscious awareness
- Classic and modern versions of Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis, including work on defense mechanisms
What is the cognitive/experiental domain?
- Focuses on cognition and subjective experience such as conscious thoughts, feelings, beliefs and desires about oneself and others
- Form and content of psychological mechanisms
- Locus of control: am I in control or do things control my destiny
What is the social and cultural domain?
-Assumption that personality affects and is affected by cultural and social contexts
-We will cover topics like: Personality traits in dating, mating and separating, Sex differences in personality,
Social influence tactics