personality

Question 1

What is personality?

Answer 1

the patterns of thoughts and feelings and the way in which we interact with our environment and other people that make us a unique person

Question 2

what are the 3 theories of personality

Answer 2

• trait theory
• social learning theory
• interactionist theory

Question 3

what is a trait and what are the characteristics?

Answer 3

• a characteristic of a personality inherited from birth
• stable, consistent

Question 4

what is the trait theory?

Answer 4

• personality is innate
• we inherit personality via our parents/genetics.
• Therefore we cannot change our true personality traits
• personality is stable and predictable.

Question 5

what are the positives of trait theory?

Answer 5

• we are often similar to our parents/people who brought us up
• often we see personality traits that are enduring, they stay constant throughout life and most situations

Question 6

what are the negatives of trait theory?

Answer 6

• often people are nothing like their biological parents
• sometimes people’s personality changes as they grow up/as their environment changes
• sometimes people’s personality changes depending on the situation

Question 7

what is the narrow band approach

Answer 7

splits the personalities into type A and type B

Question 8

what are characteristics of type A

Answer 8

highly competitive, works fast, likes control, prone to suffer stress

Question 9

what are characteristics of type B

Answer 9

non competitive, works more slowly, doesn’t enjoy control, less prone to stress

Question 10

What is Eysenck’s trait theory?

Answer 10

he suggests that personality traits can be grouped in 2 ways and can be thought of as continuums

Question 11

what are Eysenck’s 2 continuums

Answer 11

extrovert - introvert
neurotic/unstable - stable

Question 12

What is extroversion?

Answer 12

a personality characteristic or trait of a person who seeks social situations and likes excitement, but lacks concentration

Question 13

what is introversion?

Answer 13

a personality characteristic or trait of a person who does not seek social situations and likes peace and quiet, but is good at concentrating

Question 14

what are traits associated with extroverts

Answer 14

confident, loud, energetic, sociable

Question 15

what are traits associated with introverts

Answer 15

quiet, shy, secluded, unsociable

Question 16

what are stable personality traits

Answer 16

unchangeable, remain constant, predictable

Question 17

what are unstable personality traits

Answer 17

changeable, unpredictable

Question 18

what is RAS

Answer 18

• reticular activating system
• a series of nerve pathways into the brain which controls your overall level of consciousness.
• it can determine whether a person is inclined towards extroversion or introversion

Question 19

how does RAS affect extroverts

Answer 19

• the RAS inhibits the effect of external stimuli leading to lower levels of arousal
• therefore they seek more external stimulation to get internal arousal from social situations

Question 20

how does RAS affect introverts

Answer 20

they have a high level of arousal naturally so tend to avoid external stimulation - so avoid social situations

Question 21

What is the social learning theory?

Answer 21

• Personality is learned and shape by role models, social experiences, environment.
• behaviour is learnt and unpredictable

Question 22

what are the positives of the social learning theory

Answer 22

• Bandura’s experiment
• people often show similar personality traits to people they spend lots of time with
• people’s personality often change as they are exposed to new people
• identical twins separated at birth can show different personalities - showing social learning from the different environments

Question 23

what are the negatives of the social learning theory

Answer 23

• sometimes people’s personality stays constant throughout life, showing no signs of social learning
• sometimes we are nothing like the people we spend time with

Question 24

What is the interactionist approach?

Answer 24

• Personality is formed through a combination of personality traits and the environment
• we are born with traits, but the situations we are in also influence our behaviour and develops our personality
• behaviour is unpredictable

Question 25

What are the 4 parts of Hollander’s model

Answer 25

The psychological core, typical behaviour, role-related behaviour, social environment

Question 26

what is the psychological core

Answer 26

innate traits, attitudes, values, beliefs

Question 27

what is the typical behaviour

Answer 27

the way our innate traits cause us to behave, the way we respond to the environment, learned + stored experience

Question 28

what is the role-related behaviour

Answer 28

the way we act determined by our perception of the environment, can be changed at any time depending on the situation

Question 29

what is the social environment

Answer 29

the environment and situation you are in at the time

Question 30

what are the positives of the interactionist theory

Answer 30

• most complete theory, accepts that traits will be inherited from birth but there will be modification via social learning/environment (combination of trait and social)
• explains why people often act differently in different situations

Question 31

what are the negatives of the interactionist theory

Answer 31

• sometimes people’s personality stays constant throughout life, showing no signs of social learning