Personality Flashcards
Personality definition
A systematic variation in the way people think, feel, and behave
-Emphasis on individual differences. every person is unique
Traits definition
A relatively stable characteristic or quality that may represent a portion of one’s personality; a quality used to explain an individual’s behaviour across time and situations
*certain traits influence certain behaviours
States definition
Momentary feelings and thoughts that change depending on the situation and time
Digman’s Big 5 Personality Model
OCEAN:
1. Openness to experience (level of curiosity, opposite of being closed-minded)
2. Conscientiousness (orderliness, striving for achievement and self-discipline, careful)
3. Extraversion (level of assertiveness and an energetic approach to the world)
4. Agreeableness (compatible with other people, warm, compliant, positive approach to others)
5. Neuroticism (feelings of tension and nervousness)
Personality in sport (7 factors)
- Risk taking
- Sensation seeking
- Alexithymia
- Competitiveness
- Passion
- Mental toughness
- Perfectionism
Risk taking
Narrowing physical and psychological safety margins (i.e. skydiving, cave diving)
Sensation seeking
Look for novel, complex, and intense sensations and experiences, and the willingness to take multiple risks to obtain experiences.
*appears that it declines with age and males are more drawn to high-risk sports than females
Alexithymia
Involves the inability to identify one’s emotions and to describe these feelings. Individuals with alexithymia more likely to participate in high-risk sports as compensatory strategy
Competitiveness
Desire to engage in and strive for success in sport achievement situations
Passion (2 types)
Harmonious Passion: Engaging in an activity as part of one’s personal identity and for the pleasure of the activity.
Obsessive Passion: Involves a more rigid and uncontrolled urge to engage in activities because of external control or feelings of guilt.
Mental toughness
Positive characteristics that allow one to cope with challenging situations to attain important achievement goals.
Psychological characteristics include: perceived control, competitiveness, concentration, confidence, commitment, determination, desire, focus, emotional intelligence, resilience, persistence, and optimism
*Requires continued practice of psychological skills
Perfectionism
Person’s concern with striving for flawlessness and perfection, is accompanied by critical self-evaluations and concerns regarding others’ evaluations.
Conceptualized in the literature in various ways:
-Healthy and unhealthy perfectionism,
-Maladaptive and adaptive perfectionism,
-Personal standard perfectionism,
-Evaluative concerns perfectionism,
-Self-oriented, other-oriented, and socially prescribed perfectionism.
2 types of perfectionism
- Perfectionistic Striving (PS): High personal performance standards, high self-oriented achievement striving
- Perfectionistic Concerns (PC): Negative social evaluation, excessive self-criticism, concerns over mistakes, and doubts about actions
How we measure personality (6 methods)
- Self-report questionnaires
- Behavioural assessments
- Projective tests
- Interviews
- Biological measures
- Online and digital data
How does personality develop (4 approaches)
- Humanistic Psychology
- Cognitive Behavioral Approach
- Biological/Evolutionary Psychology
- Interactionist Approach
Humanistic psychology
A psychological approach that focuses on personal responsibility, human growth, personal striving, and individual dignity.
Self-actualization: Attempts to fulfill one’s potential
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (within humanistic psychology)
Psychological needs -> safety needs
-> social needs -> esteem needs -> self-actualization
Cognitive Behavioural Approach
Individuals’ thoughts, perceptions, and interpretations of experiences contribute to personality.
- Behaviour is learned through experience
- Influenced by rewards and punishment
*Social learning theory
Social Learning Theory (within cognitive behavioural)
People are active agents in shaping their behaviours, and are influenced by their inner drives and environments.
*Observational Learning (Modelling)
-Observing, retaining, and replicating others’ behaviours
*Self-efficacy- belief in one’s ability- plays a role in personality development
Biological/evolutionary psychology
Personality can be moderately heritable, suggesting an evolutionary basis
Interactionist approach
Personal/situational factors impact behaviour predictively.
Individuals bring specific experiences and dispositions to physical activity situation.
Meta-analyses of personality in sport
Extraversion and Conscientiousness
=small positive association
Neuroticism
=small negative relationship
*Personality has very small association with exercise, no association with sport (cannot choose athletes based on personality)
Type A personality
-Blend of ambition, low patience, competitiveness, high organization, and hostility with agitated behaviour patterns.
-In terms of the five-factor model, Type A is a blend of high extraversion, high neuroticism, high conscientiousness, and low agreeableness.
Type D personality
Blend of worry, gloom, and lack of self-assurance as a cluster of traits used in medical psychology.
Industriousness-ambition trait
Trait comprising aspects of achievement/striving and self-discipline
Activity trait
Trait involving a general tendency for a fast lifestyle, high energy, fast talking, and keeping busy.
Personality trait conclusions
- some positive correlation between Type A and exercise, activity trait, and industriousness-ambition, but negative correlation with Type D and exercise.
-Exercise is positively associated with extraversion and conscientiousness and negatively associated with neuroticism, but links are weak.
*Overall personality has some interesting relationships with exercise, but there is limited research and insufficient conclusions on whether correlation is significant.
