PERSONALITY Ch. 1 Understanding Yourself and Others

Question 1

Personality

Answer 1

Describes someone’s USUAL pattern of behavior.

Question 2

Extroversion

Answer 2

Keyword: OUTGOING

The personality trait of being outgoing, assertive, and talkative.

Question 3

Introversion

Answer 3

Keyword: SHY

The personality trait of being shy and reserved (opposite of Extroversion)

Question 4

What can personality predict?

Answer 4

behavior, work success, how long you are likely to live

Question 5

Person-Situation Debate

Answer 5

Keywords: PERSONALITY or SITUATION greater INFLUENCE on BEHAVIOR?

Asks how much a person’s behavior can be predicted from personality when every situation is different?

i.e. Do people show consistent behavior across varied SITUATIONS. The degree to which this behavior is consistent is considered the person’s PERSONALITY.

(NOTE: the person-situation debate is distinct from the nature-nurture debate, which instead asks what causes personality traits – genetics or environment. the person-situation debate instead asks whether personality traits exist at all.)

Question 6

Personality Psychology vs. Social Psychology

Answer 6

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY focuses on the influence of situations while PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY focuses on the influence of personalities.

PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY says there are a set of psychological tendencies unique to each person that drive their response to a given situation.

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY seeks to understand the interaction of people in various situations.

Question 7

Situational Influence vs. Personality Influence

Answer 7

Situation and personality traits predict behavior about equally well.

HOWEVER, personality influences behavior during everyday life much more than it influences behavior in atypically intense situations – as during a riot, for example..

Question 8

What does it mean to say that a person’s personality is an “average of their behavior?”

Answer 8

Keywords: AVERAGE of BEHAVIOR = USUAL BEHAVIOR

People’s behavior is inconsistent, so, in order to get an accurate assessment of their personality, you have to take an average of their behavior over many situations.

Determine what their USUAL behavior is.
Because there are certainly times when the strength of the situation overcomes the strength of the personality.

Question 9

Person-Situation Interaction – Four Ways Personality and Situation Work Together to Influence Behavior

Answer 9

Keywords: EXPERIENCE, RESPONSE, CHOICE, CHANGE

1) Personality is affected by EXPERIENCE. (Personality adapts as the person gains new experiences and absorbs them into their makeup)
2) People RESPOND DIFFERENTLY to the same situation (The nature of the response drives and changes the nature of the situation)
3) People CHOOSE THEIR SITUATIONS (will you next take a nap, bake a cake, or go rock-climbing)
4) People CHANGE the SITUATIONS they enter (As with #2, your intervention in a situation helps guide that situation’s path)

Question 10

Answer to Mischel’s criticism that behavior and personality are only weakly linked:

Answer 10

Keywords: Personality is an AVERAGE of BEHAVIOR

Measuring behavior across long time periods and different situations gives a more accurate picture of personality – an answer to Mischel’s assertion, which looks at individual situations and moments in time.

Question 11

Conscientiousness

Answer 11

Keywords: ORGANIZED, CAREFUL, EFFICIENT

Conscientiousness is the personality trait of being CAREFUL, or DILIGENT. Conscientiousness implies a DESIRE TO DO A TASK WELL, and to TAKE OBLIGATIONS TO OTHERS SERIOUSLY. Conscientious people tend to be efficient and organized as opposed to easy-going and disorderly.