Personality Flashcards
Personality
those relatively stable, permanent characteristics that are unique to an individual and influence the way they think, feel and behave
Trait
a personality characteristic that endures over time and across different situations
What are the assumptions of trait theories?
1) stable and thus predictable over time
2) stable across situations
3) personality consists of different traits and you have more or less of each
4) some traits are more closely interrelated
Eysenck
2 main personality factors; extraversion and neuroticism based on levels of cortical arousal + testosterone levels
PEN
McCrae and Costa Big 5
openness to experience conscientiousness extraversion agreeableness neuroticism
Openness to experience
degree of intellectual curiosity, creativity, imaginative and independent. Appreciation for art, adventure and abstract concepts
HIGH: creative, open to new things, accepts abstract concepts
LOW: dislikes changes/new ideas, not imaginative
Conscientiousness
ones tendency towards self discipline, competence, thoughtfulness, how much deliberate intention/thought person puts into behaviour.
HIGH: attention to detail, set schedule, spend time preparing
LOW: dislike structure, makes messes, procrastinates important tasks
Extraversion
high energy/positive emotions/sociability
HIGH: centre of attention, starts convo, says before thinks, energised when around people
LOW: prefer solitude, difficulty making convo
Neuroticism
characterised by tendency to experience unpleasant emotions (emotional ability and impulse control)
HIGH: dramatic mood shifts, experiences stress, feels anxious
LOW: emotionally stable, rarely sad/depressed, handles stress
Agreeableness
tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious and antagonistic
HIGH: care about others, feels empathy and concern
LOW: little interest in others, insult and belittle others
what are the strengths of mccrae and costa?
- empirically tested and validated
- flexible descriptions of personality and its structure
- provides foundation of valid personality assessments
- environmental and biological causes
- traits relatively stable their study on adults over 6 yrs showing 0.63 correlation
what are the weaknesses of mccrae and costa?
- mask individual differences ‘pigeon hole’ into simple description
- underestimate socio-cultural/ contextual influences
- traits poor predictors as changes situationally
- Mischel argued doesn’t explain how personality changes over time, predicting only 10% or less of behaviour can be accounted to scores on personality tests
Humanistic Theories
approach which studies the whole person and uniqueness of each individual
Is a rebellion against the limitations of behaviourist and psychodynamic psychology
believes that all people are born good and are striving to each their full potential
Assumptions of Humanistic theories
1) people have free will
2) people are good and have innate need to improve
3) people are motivated to achieve potential and self actualise
4) subjective/conscious experiences of individual is most important
5) rejects scientific methodology
6) rejects comparative psych ( to animals)
According to carl rogers, what are the three factors that influence self actualisation?
- the way others treat them
- the way they view themselves
- how they deal with negative influences
what is self concept
perceptions and beliefs people have about themselves. built up over time through interactions and the environment