Personality: introduction Flashcards
Everyday meaning of personality
has charisma, charm (GOT personality), character or dominance (strong personality), features of a person (complex/likeable person)
Scientific definition
inner qualities consisting of traits and mechanisms that affect behaviour in more or less adaptive ways and that are relatively ways, and that are relatively stable as well as organised in a way that uniquely defined who we are.
Inner quality
essential features of a person
Traits
particular dispositions
Mechanisms
mental operations
Affect behaviour
have an impact on what we do, provide causal explanations of manifest behaviour
Adaptive
Some traits help us (or others), some traits hurt us (or others)
relatively stable
consistency and personality evolves slowly
organised
constellation of traits and mechanisms in a non-random pattern
unique
every constellation of traits and mechanisms is different
Three Levels of analysis
universal, nomothetic, idiographic
Universal
overall claims, people behave in this way, always or generally true - overall claims
Nomothetic
characterise variations between people along shared dimensions - lawful claims
Idiographic
characterise variations between people using unique dimensions - individual claims
What causes variations between people?
to do with personality (what a person is like) and intelligence (what a person can do) caused by genes and environment
theories of personality
systematic frameworks for understanding structure, dynamics or origins of personality
origins of personality
developmental causes
structure of personality
components and organisation
dynamics of personality
impacts on behaviour
Four types of theories
grand theories, piecemeal theories, implicit theories, explicit theories
Grand theories
Classic theories, aim to give a complete and internally consistent account of human nature, more theory and less evidence
Piecemeal theories
Aim to give a partial and externally consistent account of human nature, more evidence and less theory
Implicit theories
Popular Psychology, more intuitively digestible, more subjective, more simplistic
Explicit theories
Scientific psychology, more intellectually challenging, more objective and sophisticated
what should a good theory do?
organised of what is true,
Interesting new predictions, parsimonious (explain a lot with a little), be testable, heuristic value (suggest new lines of research inquiry), applied value (interventions suggested)
each perspective shows
several theories, makes particular assumptions and emphasises particular factors
various perspectives
show different facets of personality, be mutually incompatible, divided up in different ways
Key theories
dispositions - traits and types
Psychodynamic - unconscious dives
Behaviour genetics - nature vs nurture
Brain and physiology - personality in the organism
Evolution - heredity and adaptation
Learning - other contingencies that shape us
Cognition - inner beliefs that shape us
Humanism - the whole person
Key issues of theories
Personality really exist?, consistency? Basic traits of personality? Personality come from? Scope or limitations of personality? Defensible common sense views of personality?
