Personality Flashcards
personality
characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviors that makes a person unique
- affects the way we interpret and react to the world
traits
characteristic ways in which we think, feel and behave
trait theory
- personality traits describe a stable form of behavior that people display in any and every situation
- traits develop over time with experience and can be used to predict future behaviors
- explains why people are different from each other
McCrae and Costa’s Big 5 Personality traits
- organizes personality traits along a continuum of 5 factors
- each factor represents a range of personality types
- factors include openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism
openness to experience
reflects a person’s degree of intellectual curiosity, creativity and preference for variety and novelty
low: practical, conventional, prefers routine
high: curious, independent, prefers variety
conscientiousness
- one’s tendency towards self discipline and competence
- focuses on amount of deliberate thought a person puts into behavior
low: disorganised, lazy, irresponsible
high: organised, hardworking, responsible
extraversion
Tok found that people who are high in both openness to experience and extraversion are more likely to participate in adventure and risky sports due to their curious and excitement seeking nature
low: quiet, reserved, passive
high: sociable, talkative, outgoing
agreeableness
- one’s tendency to be compassionate and cooperative
- measure of a person’s helpful and trusting and whether that person is generally well tempered
low: irritable, suspicious, uncooperative
high: helpful, trusting, empathetic
neuroticism
- one’s degree of emotional stability and impulse control
- Watson and Clark found that people reporting high levels of neuroticism reported feeling anxious and unhappy whereas people who are low in neuroticism tended to be well tempered and calm
low: calm, well tempered, self controlled
high: anxious, unhappy, prone to negative emotions
strengths of trait theory
- able to capture people’s individuality fully as it categorises people by using more than one dimension
- easily measurable and testable
- explains why personality is stable over time as traits have genetic basis
weaknesses of trait theory
- largely differ from each other on number of dimensions
- does not explain continuity and consistency
- does not explain different personality in different situations
- relies on self report
humanistic theory
focuses on each individuals full potential and stresses importance of growth and self actualisation
- fundamental belief: people are innately good and social and mental problems are results of derivations from this natural tendency
physiological needs
- highest priority needs such as hunger, thirst, oxygen, shelter and sleep
- basic needs that should first be met before one can even consider other higher level needs
safety needs
- includes security, protection and stability
- where individuals focus on securing their physical safety and that of their immediate surroundings
- needs can be met by developing structure, setting limits and maintaining order in ones life and can be manifested through settling in safe neighbourhood, striving for job security, having a sizeable bank account and planning for retirement
beloningness and love needs
- where individuals strive to seek out friendships and groups in order to experience sense of belonging
- people devote their efforts to finding ways to be accepted or to fit in
- where most people strive for club membership, find partners, raise children and assume active roles in community
esteem needs
- needs for achievement, education, respect and competence gain more and more precedence
- individuals dedicate their efforts to adding to their achievements and gain more respect, admiration and appreciation of others
- where people usually focus on climbing professional ladder and gain more knowledge and experience and work towards achieving solid sense of self worth