Introduction

Question 1

PERSONALITY

Answer 1

• from Latin “persona” (mask)
  FUNDER (2004)
• individual’s characteristic patterns of thought/emotion/behaviour together w/psychological mechanisms (hidden/not) behind the patterns
  BURGER (2004)
• consistent beh patterns/intrapersonal processes originating within individual
• AKA. attempts to capture/summarise individual’s “essence”/that which is consistent across situations/time

Question 2

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

Answer 2

• cornerstone in modern psych
• people vary on psychological attribute range
• variation = consistent across time/situations
• possible to measure/assess individual difs
• people classified according to personality characteristics/IQ
• individual difs = useful for explaining/predicting beh/performance

Question 3

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES (COMPLEX)

Answer 3

• search for broad generalisations/laws of beh omits extraordinary human beh diversity aka. individual difs
• study of individual difs examines ways in which people = psychologically similar/dif

Question 4

PHRENOLOGY

Answer 4

FRANZ GALL (1758-1828)
- lumps/bumps on skull reveal character traits/mental abilities
- proposed MP selection based on phrenology
- today various brain parts have particular functions; this is an OUTDATED theory

Question 5

MODERN PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY

Answer 5

• 2 main types:
  1. SCIENTIFIC PSYCHOLOGY
• trait approaches/behaviourists/SLT
  2. CLINICAL PSYCHLOGY
• psychoanalysts/humanists/existentialists
• each spawned dif personality theories/assessment/measurement methods
• both strive to understand ways in which people = psychologically similar/dif

Question 6

SIX PARADIGMS/APPROACHES TO PERSONALITY

Answer 6

1. THE PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACH
2. THE TRAIT APPROACH
3. THE BIOLOGICAL/EVOLUTIONARY APPROACHES
4. THE PHENOMENOLOGICAL/HUMANISTIC APPROACH
5. THE LEARNING APPROACH (BEHAVIOURISM/SLT)
6. THE COGNITIVE APPROACH

Question 7

THE PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACH (SHORT)

Answer 7

• unconscious mind/motivations
• resolving internal conflict

Question 8

THE TRAIT APPROACH (SHORT)

Answer 8

• how people dif
• conceptualising/measuring difs
• continuum of traits/beh

Question 9

THE BIOLOGICAL/EVOLUTIONARY APPROACHES (SHORT)

Answer 9

• anatomy
• physiology
• inheritance
• evolution
• inherited predispositions

Question 10

THE PHENOMENOLOGICAL/HUMANISTIC APPROACH (SHORT)

Answer 10

• conscious experience of the world
• personal responsibility
• self acceptance

Question 11

THE LEARNING APPROACH (BEHAVIOURISM/SOCIAL LEARNING THEORIES) (SHORT)

Answer 11

• behaviourism
• SLT
• cognitive personality theory
• learning helps adapt to their beh via rewards/punishments

Question 12

THE COGNITIVE APPROACH (SHORT)

Answer 12

• role of perception/memory
• dif ways people process info

Question 13

WHY SO MANY THEORIES?

Answer 13

• theory originators hold dif philosophical assumptions/paradigms about people
• theories oft incompatible
• dif theories address dif qs
• each approach has interesting/useful things to say about human personality BUT all incomplete
• ergo we can’t come up with one big theory

Question 14

PHILOSOPHICAL ASSUMPTIONS

Answer 14

• dif philosophical assumptions profoundly influence how we perceive/theories about the world ie:
• freedom VS determinism
• hereditary VS environmental
• uniqueness/idiographic VS universality/nomothetic
• proactive VS pessimistic
• conscious VS unconscious

Question 15

EVALUATING PHILOSOPHICAL ASSUMPTIONS

Answer 15

COHERENCE
- is the position clear/logical/consistent?
RELEVANCE
- does theory deal w/issues important/meaningful today? are they compatible w/empirical reality?
COMPREHENSIVENESS
- does it encompass wide phenomena array? does it cover what it claims profoundly/superficially?
COMPELLINGNESS
- does it convince YOU?

Question 16

WHAT MAKES A USEFUL THEORY

Answer 16

1. Generates hypotheses/research
2. Falsifiable
3. Organises/integrates existing data/empirical knowledge
4. Suggests practical answers to everyday issues
5. Internal consistency
6. Simplicity/parsimony

Question 17

PERSONALITY & CULTURE

Answer 17

• personalities exist in cultural context
• identifying cultural limitations/universality of personality measures gives deeper insight into concept nature
• such cultures include:
  INDIVIDUALISTIC
  COLLECTIVIST

Question 18

INDIVIDUALISTIC CULTURES

Answer 18

• most northern european counties/USA
• emphasis individual needs/accomplishments
• “I” orientation tendency
• great value on autonomy/youth/equality/individual security

Question 19

COLLECTIVIST CULTURES

Answer 19

• many asian/african/south american countries
• emphasise cooperation > competition/group > individual accomplishments
• “we” orientation tendency
• great value on duty/tradition/age/hierarchy/group security

Question 20

THE PERSON-SITUATION DEBATE

Answer 20

WALTER MISHCELL (1968): PERSONALITY & ASSESSMENT
- strongly contested since late 1960s
- Q: is the person/situation ^ important in determining what people do?
- situational variables best suited to predicting behaviour in specific situations
- personality traits predict beh patterns that persist across situations/time

Question 21

THE FORER/BARNUM EFFECT: DESCRIPTION

Answer 21

FORER (1948)
- people tend to accept vague/general personality descriptions as uniquely applicable to them
- they accept questionable/sometimes false statements about them if they’re deemed positive/flattering enough

Question 22

THE FORER/BARNUM EFFECT: IN ACTION

Answer 22

FORER (1948)
- asked students to evaluate personality description 0-5 (5 = excellent; 4 = good)
- personality description accuracy amazed pps
- class average evaluation = 4.26
- test repeated hundred times w/psych students; average still 4.2
- pseudoscience = tart/astrology/fortune telling
- personality theories/assessments MUST be specific/reliable

Question 23

THE PSYCHOMETRIC APPROACH

Answer 23

• psychometrics = theory/methods of psychological measurement (underpin trait approaches)
• include IQ testing/personality traits measurement/vocational testing
• testing impact on individual/in wider society = substantial; highlights high professional standard importance for test development/administration/interpretation