Personality and society

Question 1

Where does personality derive from?

Answer 1

Latin Word persona which refers to a mask used by actors in a play.

Question 2

What does personality represent?

Answer 2

Personality represents those distinct qualities that make one stand out from others. The characteristics of the person that account for consistent patterns of behaviour.

Question 3

What is personality?

Answer 3

an evolving process influenced by external and internal influences, which includes the genetic and biological influences, social experiences and changing environmental circumstances. A field of enquiry for providing the groundwork for treating and understanding abnormal behaviour.

Question 4

Benefits of studying personality

Answer 4

1. Essential for people to form models of others behaviour. 2. Distinguishing between friend and foe and predicting behaviour of the latter increases survival rate. 3. Look for desirable qualities in a mate. 4. A discipline that seeks to establish better ways of understanding a person using research strategies. 5. Emphasis on assessment to understand, predict and make valid assessments about individuals. E.g interviews and measuring physiological responses and analysing biographical data.

Question 5

Personality perspectives

Answer 5

Psycho-analytical/psycho-dynamic, cognitive reinforcement theories, social learning theories, psychosocial theories suggest ways to deal with behavioural disorders..

Question 6

What are psychologists concerned with?

Answer 6

How and why people differ from one another as well as the many aspects that categorize what the person is like such as emotions, perceptions, thoughts, experiences and actions. This is beneficial to society as it can help us better understand others, which situation helps us to understand our best, our likes and dislikes, as well as strengths and weaknesses.

Question 7

Certain criteria for evaluating personality disorders

Answer 7

Verifiability- is when the concepts of a theory lead themselves to verification by investigation. This means that a theory must be stated in such a way that its concepts are clearly defined and logically related. The personality theorists that rank high in relation to this criterion are Skinner, Bandura and Rogers.
Secondly, heuristic values. This refers to a theory that causes the stimulation of investigators to do further research. The theorists that rank high in this are Freud, Bandura, Skinner and Rogers.
Thirdly, internal consistency refers to a theory that should be free of internal contradictions. A worthwhile theory should consists of assumptions and prepositions that fit together, Adler, Erikson, Skinner, Bandura, Kelly, Maslow and Rogers are the personality theorists which rank high in relation to this criterion.

Question 8

Verifiability

Answer 8

Low Moderate High
Freud Maslow Skinner
Allport Bandura
Kelly Rogers
Erikson
Adler

Question 9

Heuristic value

Answer 9

Low Moderate High
Allport Adler Freud
Kelly Maslow Bandura
Erikson Skinner
Rogers

Question 10

Internal consistency

Answer 10

Low Moderate High
Freud Adler
Allport Kelly
Erikson
Bandura
Rogers
Skinner
Maslow

Question 11

Parsimony

Answer 11

Low Moderate High
Freud Adler
Alport
Maslow
Rogers
Skinner
Kelly
Erikson

Question 12

Comprehensiveness

Answer 12

Low Moderate High
Erikson Freud
Skinner Adler
Bandura Rogers
Allport
Kelly
Maslow

Question 13

Functional significance

Answer 13

Low Moderate High
Allport Adler Freud
Kelly Erikson Maslow
Bandura Skinner
Rogers

Question 14

What is parsimony and comprehensiveness

Answer 14

Parsimony is when a theory is straightforward and simple. Comprehensiveness refers to the breath and diversity of a theory. The more comprehensive a personality theory is, the more behavioural territory it covers. A comprehensive theory is favoured more than a narrow because of the logical framework and diversity. Functional significance is how it helps people understand everyday behaviour and helps overcome their behaviour.

Question 15

Assumptions

Answer 15

They influence the way people perceive others, treat one another and construct theories about each other. The assumptions may or may not be fully recognised by the individual. We are convinced that all nature theories of personality are built upon different positions on these assumptions. The assumptions are significant in understanding personality theories.

Question 16

Six assumptions

Answer 16

Freedom vs Determinism
Rationality vs Irrationality
Holism vs Elementalism
Constitutionalism vs Environmentalism
Changeability vs Unchangeability
Subjectivity vs Objectivity
Proactivity vs Reactivity
Homeostasis vs Heterostasis
Knowability vs Unknowability

Question 17

Subjectivity vs Objectivity

Answer 17

Do individuals live in a highly subjective worlds or are they more objective? A person more inclined to subjectivity is more concerned with nature of the individual’s subjective experience. This kind of theorist considers the scientific study of human experience the more important part of personality psychology.

Question 18

Changeability vs unchangeability

Answer 18

The degree to which the individual is capable of fundamental change throughout or we can say to what extent can an individual basic personality can change overtime? Some situations like death can change us. This assumption addresses the question of how much an individual can change during a lifetime.

Question 19

Freedom vs determinism

Answer 19

What is my degree of eternal freedom that i possess? Do we have freedom to experience our own decision making? A person within his nature is free to control or is my life predetermined? A personality theorist assumes that the freedom deterministic dimension determines the nature of their theory and the implications of the theory as to what dimensions humans are. For example, are you free to choose what religion you want to be? Human behaviour can be determined by unconscious motives, external reinforcements, early experiences, physiological processes, genetic factors and cultural influences. The major source of agreement among these approaches to personality is that human behaviour is determined.

Question 20

Rationality vs irrationality

Answer 20

The degree to which our reasoning powers can influence our everyday behaviour. Are humans primarily rational beings who direct their reason or are they mainly direct by irrational forces? A theory may assume that rationality is a strong force in many people. Therefore their theory will be considered with the nature and development of the cognitive processes in personality.

Question 21

Holism vs elementalism

Answer 21

Some theorists studied the whole person as opposed to studying a specific aspect independent of each other. The key scientific issue is the level and unit of analysis to be employed in studying individuals. Are persons better understood by studying them as a whole (holism) or by studying their individual traits (elementalism). The elementalistic position assumes that human nature and its resulting behaviour can only be explained by investigating each aspect of it independent of the rest. This agreement about this issue among personality psychologists reflect their more fundamental differences on this assumption

Question 22

Constitutionalism vs environmentalism

Answer 22

How much of our behaviour is a result of genetics and how much is a result of environmental influences? Constitutionalism (inherited traits0 has a long history in psychology. Cattel and Eyesenck emphasize the importance of genetic deposition and physiological makeup in the development of basic personality traits. An individual’s biological makeup is also an important factor in personality theories. For example, Freud’s concept of the id is the inherited basic component of personality that is fixed in the constitution of the individual.