Personality Theories Flashcards
What are the plus of lay definitions of personality?
- they still impact our life
- give a cultural/ age related perspective that can kickstart actual theories
- can highlight mistakes in those actual theories
what is the main aim of PID ?
- understand what causes different behaviors, categorize them, and use those categorization to predict behaviors
brief description of differences between nomothetic and idiographic approaches to personality study :
- nomothetic:
- assumption: behavior is the combination of a finite number of features—> people can be put into categories according to what of these features they have
- methods: quantitative ( mainly self reports tests)
- pros: generalizable==>good predictors, good for educational purposes
cons: risk of oversimplification - idiographic:
- assumption: there are an infinite number of behavioral features ==> individual are too unique to be studies as classes
- methods: qualitative—>interviews, diaries, therapeutic sessions or narratives,
- pros: detailed , takes into account exceptions
- cons: not objective, not systematic scientific methodology==> difficult to generalize
reality is actually a mix: idiogarphic go beyond single cases and look for patterns among them , nomothetic recognize that there is a high variability among individuals
situational vs dispositional explanation of individual differences
situational support that difference is due to environment set (supported by sociologist) –> meaning we all should behave similarly in similar situations
dispositional supports that personality differences are inserisci of the individual and hold constant despite of the situation
fusion: in socially prescribed situation( where behavior expl. is situational ) still individual differences are observed ( dispositional expo.) –> ex: walking on stage to get your diploma
what are the 8 criteria to evaluate a theory?
- description: does it describe and organize phenomena accurately ( the “how”)?
- explanantion: dies it show the “why” of phenomena ?
- empirical validity : are the predictions of the theory are coherent with empirically evidence?
- testable concepts. can concepts of the theory be systematically tested?
- comprehensiveness: does it encompass all necessary concepts?
- parsimony. does it goes off tangent with explanation or is it too succinct ?
- heuristic value. does it generate interest and some new research form it
- Applied value. is the theory useful in practical terms ?
what aspect to bandora and rotter have in common :
- they distance from behaviorism : take into account also the cognitive part pf behavior ( one’s perception, internal stimuli )
- both started with animal studies, then moved to human but kept lab approach
- both did not acknowledge the genetic inheritance as having a role in behavior
which one are the learning theories of personality ?
Bandura
rotter
mischel
what is reciprocal determinism ?
is the interaction of personal factors ( ones’ attitude, emotions, thought , perception, ecc..) environmental faros and the individual’ already present behavior ( one derived from experience ) that originates a new behavior
what is bandura’s theory ?
social learning theory
what are the key concepts of the social learning theory ?
reciprocal determinism observational learning agency self reinforcement self efficacy
” continue to do things that gives us pleasure, stop things that re harming us”
self reinforcement
what is the role of forethought in Bandura’s theory ?
forethought allow us to anticipate reward or punishment following some action , so we can motivate ourself to perform that behavior
what are the besot important factor for motivation
forethought and setting ourself goals
what factors influence the extent of observational learning?
characteristic of the model : more similar , more likely to perform behavior
characteristic of the behavior : the more easy the more likely
consequences
characteristics of the observer: the more confident , the more likely
the belief that by performing a behavior we will actually use the desired outcome
self efficacy