Personality

Question 1

What is personality

Answer 1

• someones traits and characteristics and how they interact with the environment that make them a unique person

Question 2

What is the trait theory of personality

Answer 2

• this theory suggests that people have innate characteristics that are stable
• they believe they’re highly consistent attributes that exert a very generalised effect on behaviour
• trait theories do not believe that environment has any bearing on a persons behaviour
• behaviour is consistent
• it attempts to predict behaviour

Question 3

Explain the Type A Type B model

Answer 3

• this recognises two distinct personalities
• type A
  •competitive
  •desire to succeed
  •suffer from stress
  •works fast
  -type B
  •not competitive
  •unambitious
  •less prone to stress
  •works slowly

Question 4

Describe the stable, unstable, extrovert, introvert model

Answer 4

• stable: someone who doesn’t swing from one emotion to the next, constant emotional behaviour
• unstable: highly anxious, unpredictable emotions
• extroversion: someone who seeks social situations, very excited, lacks concentration
• introversion: someone who does not seek social situations, likes peace and quiet, good at concentrating

Question 5

Describe the social learning theory

Answer 5

• this suggests that you’re not born with characteristics but you learn them from other people especially from role models eg. Parents, coaches, friends
• behaviour changes depending on the situation and is a product of our interaction with the environment
• personality is leaned by observing, modelling, imitating behaviour and through experience

Question 6

Describe the interactionist approach

Answer 6

• this approach recognises that the trait theory and social learning both have a role in determining personality
• it offers a more realistic explanation as to how different behaviour are produced from different situations
• it suggests that we base behaviour on inherent traits that you then adapt to the situation