personality Flashcards
What is personality?
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
what are the 3 theories of personality
- trait theory
- social learning theory
- interactionist theory
what is a trait and what are the characteristics?
- a characteristic of a personality inherited from birth
- stable, consistent
what is the trait theory?
- personality is innate
- we inherit personality via our parents/genetics.
- Therefore we cannot change our true personality traits
- personality is stable and predictable.
what are the positives of trait theory?
- 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
what are the negatives of trait theory?
- 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
what is the narrow band approach
splits the personalities into type A and type B
what are characteristics of type A
highly competitive, works fast, likes control, prone to suffer stress
what are characteristics of type B
non competitive, works more slowly, doesn’t enjoy control, less prone to stress
What is Eysenck’s trait theory?
he suggests that personality traits can be grouped in 2 ways and can be thought of as continuums
what are Eysenck’s 2 continuums
extrovert - introvert
neurotic/unstable - stable
What is extroversion?
a personality characteristic or trait of a person who seeks social situations and likes excitement, but lacks concentration
what is introversion?
a personality characteristic or trait of a person who does not seek social situations and likes peace and quiet, but is good at concentrating
what are traits associated with extroverts
confident, loud, energetic, sociable
what are traits associated with introverts
quiet, shy, secluded, unsociable
what are stable personality traits
unchangeable, remain constant, predictable
what are unstable personality traits
changeable, unpredictable
what is RAS
- 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
how does RAS affect extroverts
- 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
how does RAS affect introverts
they have a high level of arousal naturally so tend to avoid external stimulation - so avoid social situations
What is the social learning theory?
- Personality is learned and shape by role models, social experiences, environment.
- behaviour is learnt and unpredictable
what are the positives of the social learning theory
- 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
what are the negatives of the social learning theory
- 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
What is the interactionist approach?
- 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
