Personality Flashcards
Where does the concept of personality originate from and why?
The West - oriented towards individualism
What is personality?
Dynamic and complex organisation of psychological and physiological systems that gives direction to or determines characteristic patterns of feelings, thoughts and behaviours
Enduring dispositions / stable over time
Unique constellation of psychological traits
What are personality traits?
a distinguishable enduring way one individual differs from another
What is personality state?
a relatively temporary predisposition
When assessing personality you can classify people into:
personality profiles and
personality types
What is a personality profile?
a narrative description e.g. the MMPI
What is a personality type?
a constellation of traits similar to a category within a taxonomy of personalities
What were the 6 personality types John Holland argued for?
Artistic, Enterprising, Investigative, Social, Realistic, or Conventional
What test did John Holland develop?
Self-directed search (used for vocational assistance)
Friedman and Rosenman developed which typology?
A two-category personality typology:
Type A: competitive and dominant
Type B: mellow and laid back
What are the 5 major theoretical models of personality?
Trait: ind. differences Psychodynamic: developmental aspects Situational: context driven Interaction: interplay with environment Phenomenological: internal subjective experiences
What are the 5 contrasting ideas when looking at personality?
Uniqueness vs. universality Nature vs. nurture State vs. trait Free will vs. determinism Conscious vs. unconscious
How did Hippocrates see ‘humors’ related to personality?
excess humour (blood, bile and phlegm) = different character (active, gloomy, angry, passive)
How can we assess theories of personality?
Assess: • explanatory power • testable? • concepts defined • empirically tested • falsifiable
What does falsifiable mean?
It can be proved incorrect
Why is personality a good way of thinking about someone?
- framework of understanding
- relating to others
- identify drives/ motivations
- identify patterns
What are the 3 ways instruments used in personalty assessment vary?
- A-theoretical (no practical application)
- Theory saturated
- Empirical (MMPI)
What is an example of a personality assessment?
MMPI
When logic and reason is used to develop tests which approach is this?
content-oriented
What does the data reduction method in test development involve?
narrowing down lists/ categories to come up with a minimum number of variables
What do items on a personality assessment generally test for?
Response style: tendency
Impression management
Validity: honesty, carelessness and misunderstanding
How do nomothetic and idiographic approaches to personality assessment change the outcome?
generalisable vs. descriptive
theoretical labels vs. how and why
There are two types of personality assessment:
Objective (self-report)
and
Projective (performance)
What does ipsative mean?
either-or scenarios
What does normative mean when talking about types of assessment?
comparing to a ‘normative’ group
What are three types of tests that involve responses to stimulus?
Kinetic figure drawing
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT- picture stories)
Rorschach Technique
What is the interview used for personality assessment?
Composite International Diagnostic Interview
What does K measure in the MMPI-2?
validity: impression management / Social desirability bias testing
What does O measure in the MMPI-2?
social introversion
How has the MMPI developed over time?
removal of sexist/ racist language
less items
population sample broadened
restandardised in 1989 MMPI-2
What type of test is the MMPI-2?
self-report for 18+