ch. 1 - study of personality

psychological triad

behaviour, thoughts, emotions

personality

characetrstic patterns of thinking, feeling, behaviong together w psychological mehcanisms behind the patterns

• unique and relatively consistent patterns

personality psychology

the study of personality → aims to describe the whole person

behavioural genetics

finding genetic basis for difference in behaviour → epigenetics

heritability

statistic that estimates degree of variation in a phenotypic trait in a population due to genetic variation

heritability coefficient

• heritability coefficient → percentage of the variance of a trait attributed to variance in genes

  • crude estimate = twice the difference in corellation between mz and dz twins (falconer’s formula)

neurotransmitter

chemical which sends message between neurons → trigger certain actions

dopamine

• how sensistive someone is to incentives and rewards (higher = more motivation)

  • socialbility, activity level, novelty seeking

  • dopamine = extraversion

  • tied to positive emotionality and openess

serotonin

• seratonin → low levels = irritanility and volatile emotions

  • role in inhibition (worry, anger, sensistivty)

  • ssris = more extraverted, less neurotic, happier, less hostile

authoritarian parenting

demanding, not responsive

authoritative parenting

reasonably demanding but responsive

permissive parenting

undemanding, unresponsive (too responsiuve?)

uninvolved/neglectful

also undemanding, unresponsive

culture

the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group.

popol vuh

book of the people

• latinx Simpatia → agreeableness and avoiding interpersonal conflict - harmonious/group orientation

  • working fir group of family ratyher than self - Popol Vuh

trait perspective

identifying, describing, measuring specific traits that make up personality

• ex. OCEAN approach

biological approach

perosnality comes from genetic predisposityion → sensistivity to neurotransmitters, etc

psychodynamic approach

unconscious mind → early childhood events cause unconscious thoughts etc, causing behaviour

phenomological approach

take human experience or subjectivity as their primary focus. Phenomenological theorists assert that obtaining accurate knowledge of another person requires understanding how that person experiences the world.

learning/cognitive approach

Cognitive theories of personality focus on an individual's self-perception, thoughts, what they value, and attitude toward life events. They assert that a person's thoughts influence emotions and thus are instrumental in the development of personality.