Lecture 2 - Personality, Individual Differences & Attitudes Flashcards
what is personality
a set of characteristics possessed by an individual that influences their thoughts, emotions and behaviours
what are the 3 historic perspectives of personality
- personality is biological and heritable, fixed (Eysenk)
- personality is formed through socialisation and behaviour varies according to situations
- Situationism - personality doesn’t really exist and behaviour solely depends on the situation (Mischel)
what are the two major approaches to personality
- nomothetic approach, which explores general laws or principles that can be applied to many people
- idiographic approach, which is an attempt to understand the unique aspects of a particular individual
advantages of nomothetic approach
- generalisable findings
- scientific
- quick and easy to use
disadvantages of nomothetic approach
- reductionist
- doesn’t explain variance in behaviour
advantages of idiographic approach
- explains the whole person
- understands how a person is individualised
disadvantages of idiographic approach
- non generalisable
- time consuming and expensive
- unscientific
define type and trait
- type = extrovert OR introvert (distinct)
- trait = extrovert <———-> introvert (scale)
what is the MBTI
- Myers Briggs Type Indicator
- non judgemental self report system
- well researched
- deals with everyday behaviour of normal people
- classifies 16 personality types
what are the 8 different patterns for how we carry out mental activities (4 pairs)
- extraversion vs introversion
- sensing vs intuition
- thinking vs feeling
- judging vs perceiving
advantages of MBTI
- non judgmental so encourages honesty
- gives career guidance
- useful in learning and development
disadvantages of MBTI
- can’t predict job performance/success
- test retest reliability weak
what are the components the the big 5 (OCEAN)
- openness
- conscientiousness
- extraversion
- agreeableness
- neuroticism (emotional stability)
define openness
- refers to how open minded a person is
define conscientiousness
- ability to be dependable, organised, punctual
define extraversion
- how outgoing and social a person is
define agreeableness
- the ability to be compassionate, kind hearted and helpful
define neuroticism
ability to remain stable, even tempered and balanced
advantages of the Big 5
- high scores on these attributes linked to:
- academic success
- the ability to cope with stress
- happier marriages
disadvantages of the Big 5
- origins in data rather than in theory
- current tests show its not reliable outside of western countries
