These notes fully cover the Personality chapter form the textbook, Psychology: Themes and Variations. It covers in-depth everything taught in the Psychology 144 lectures.
“The nature of personality” - a complex hypothetical construct that has been defined in a
variety of ways. Personality refers to an individual’s unique set of consistent behavioral traits.
Personality trait : durable disposition to behave in particular way in variety of situations
Important debates in Personality Theory:
1. Free Will vs Determinism
2. Nature vs Nurture
3. Past vs Present
4. Uniqueness vs Universality
5. Consistency vs Malleability
Free Will vs Determinism
Q: Is personality the result of choices that people make or is it shaped by forces beyond
people’s control?
- Humanistic personality theories emphasize free will because they argue that people
make conscious and forward-thinking decisions to achieve their highest potential.
- For example psychodynamic personality theories are quite deterministic because they
argue that people’s behavior is shaped by unconscious forces.
Nature vs Nurture
Q: Is personality something that people are born with or is it shaped by the environment?
- Biological personality theories emphasize nature because they argue that personality is
based on people’s genetic makeup.
- Behavioral personality theories emphasize nature because they argue that personality is
learned.
Past vs Present
Q: Is personality shaped by people’s past or people’s present?
- Psychodynamic personality theories emphasize the past because they argue that
childhood experiences shape personality in adulthood.
- Humanistic personality theories emphasize the present because they argue that
personality is motivated by present circumstances which motivate people to move
forward and upward in life.
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, Uniqueness vs Universality
Q: Is personality unique in relation to other personalities or is it similar across people?
- Cognitive behavioral personality theories emphasize uniqueness because they argue
that personality is influenced by people’s unique thinking processes and patterns.
- Biological personality perspectives like trait theories emphasize universality because
they argue that there are core personality traits that all people are born with.
Consistency vs Malleability
Q: Is personality permanent over time or is it ever-changing and evolving?
- Behavioral personality theories emphasize consistency because they argue that
personality is a matter of learned responses to either behavior that is rewarded or
punished.
- Humanistic personality theories emphasize malleability because they argue that
personality is based on people’s ever-changing needs in response to always moving
forward.
Personality traits - dispositions and dimensions:
- A personality trait is a durable disposition to behave in a particular way in a variety of
situations.
- Personality refers to the unique style of interacting with others and of reacting to the
environment.
- Personality is a person’s attributes and qualities that make them unique.
- Adjectives such as honest, dependable, moody, impulsive and friendly describe
dispositions that represent personality traits.
Durable dispositions: “a person’s inherent qualities of mind and character”
The Five-Factor Model of Personality Traits (canoe)
1. Conscientiousness
2. Agreeableness
3. Neuroticism
4. Openness
5. Extraversion
Trait models attempt to analyze personality into its basic dimensions.
In factor-analytic studies, the five traits above, tend to emerge as higher-order factors that can
account for other traits. McCrae and Costa (1985, 1987 and 1997) maintain that personality can
be described adequately by scores on the five traits identified here, which are widely referred to
as The Big Five.
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