M1. Lesson 1: Introduction

Question 1

What is a personality?

Answer 1

Although no single definition is acceptable to all personality theorists, we can say that personality is a pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique characteristics that give both consistency and individuality to a person’s behavior (Roberts & Mroczek, 2008).

Question 2

What are traits?

Answer 2

Traits contribute to individual differences in behavior, consistency of behavior over time, and stability of behavior across situations. Traits may be unique, common to some group, or shared by the entire species, but their pattern is different for each individual. Thus each person, though like others in some ways, has a unique personality.

Question 3

What are characteristics?

Answer 3

Characteristics are unique qualities of an individual that include such attributes as temperament, physique, and intelligence.

Question 4

What is a theory?

Answer 4

A scientific theory is a set of related assumptions that allows scientists to use logical deductive reasoning to formulate testable hypotheses.

Question 5

What makes a theory useful?

Answer 5

1. A theory generates a number of hypotheses that can be investigated through research, thus yielding research data. These data flow back into the theory and restructure it. From this newly contoured theory, scientists can extract other hypotheses, leading to more research and additional data, which in turn reshape and enlarge the theory even more. This cyclic relationship continues for as long as the theory proves useful.
2. A useful theory organizes research data into a meaningful structure and provides an explanation for the results of scientific research. This relationship between theory and research data is shown in Figure 1.1. When a theory is no longer able to generate additional research or to explain related research data, it loses its usefulness and is set aside in favor of a more useful one.

Question 6

___________ is a pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique characteristics that give both consistency and individuality to a person’s behavior (Roberts & Mroczek, 2008).

Answer 6

personality

Question 7

______ contribute to individual differences in behavior, consistency of behavior over time, and stability of behavior across situations. ______ may be unique, common to some group, or shared by the entire species, but their pattern is different for each individual. Thus each person, though like others in some ways, has a unique personality.

Answer 7

traits

Question 8

__________ are unique qualities of an individual that include such attributes as temperament, physique, and intelligence.

Answer 8

characteristics