Lesson 9 Flashcards
Understanding Personality
consists of enduring distinctive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that characterize the way an individual adapts to the world
personality
a relatively consistent pattern of affect, behavior, and cognition that give both consistency
and individuality to people
personality
refers to the tendency for people to accept very general or vague characterizaƟons of
themselves and take them to be accurate, e.g. horoscopes, fortune telling, etc.
barnum effect
Common Areas of Focus across all personality theories
traits
characteristic adaptations
life stories
general paƩern of responding that individuals exhibit in response to certain situaƟons
characterisƟc adaptaƟons
includes what happened in a person’s life, why it was important, what it means
for who the person was, is, and for who they will become in the future
life stories
an approach for analyzing the structure of personality by measuring, idenƟfying, and
classifying similariƟes and differences in personality traits or characterisƟcs
trait theory
characterisƟc behaviors and feelings that are consistent and long-lasƟng
traits
an American psychologist often referred to as one of the founding figures of
personality psychology
Gordon Allport
proposes 3 kinds of personality traits
Gordon Allport
traits that exert relaƟvely weak effects on behavior
secondary traits
5 to 10 traits that best describe personality
central traits
single trait that dominates an individual’s entire personality
cardinal trait
states that personality is made up of five core factors
five-factor theory
big five core factors
Openness to experience,
Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism
the extent to which a person actively looks for and enjoys experiences for
their own sake
Openness to experience
imaginative, curious, wide range of interests, independent
high level of Openness to experience
practical, conventional, conservative, prefers routine, cautious
low level of Openness to experience
refers to the amount and intensity of organizaƟon, self-control, and
persistence an individual shows in reaching goals
conscientiousness
hardworking, well-organized, careful, self-disciplined, responsible,
precise
high level of conscientiousness
– impulsive, disorganized, careless, weak-willed, neglecƞul
low level of conscientiousness
refers to the amount and intensity of interpersonal interacƟons an
individual engages in
extraversion
sociable, talkative, fun-loving, affectionate, and adventurous
high level of extraversion
retiring, sober, reserved, withdrawn, cautious, quiet
low level of extraversion