PSYC 101 Personality

What are personality traits?

Consistent pattern of throughts, feelings, and actions; different across life span

What are personality states?

Short-term characteristics of a person

• context shapes underlying characteristics

What are personality factors?

Clusters of personality traits that occur together in an invididual

What are the “Big Five”? What is this model called?

Five Factor Model

• Conscientiousness

• Agreeableness

• Neuroticism

• Openness to experience

• Extraversion

What are the facets of Conscientiousness in the Five Factor Model?

• Organized, careful, disciplined, responsible

• Disorganized, careless, impulsive

What are the facets of Agreeableness in the Five Factor Model?

• Trust, morality, soft-hearted, friendly, sympathetic

• Ruthless, uncooperative, suspicious

What are the facets of Neuroticism in the Five Factor Model?

• Angry, anxious, insecure, self-conscious

• Calm, secure, self-satisfied

What are the facets of Openness to experience in the Five Factor Model?

• Imaginative, artistic, indpendent

• Practical, prefers routine, conforming

What are the facets of Extraversion to experience in the Five Factor Model?

• Sociable, fun-loving, affectionate

• Retiring, sober, reserved

What is the personality paradox?

Embodying seemingly opposite traits simultaneously, like being both introverted and extroverted, or disciplined and playful

• Behaving less consistently than expected

• Allows us to adapt to environments

What is the explanation for the personality paradox?

• The power of the situation

• E.g., people who are self-monitors care more about how they look so they are more likely to adjust

What is the order for Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs?

1. Basic physiological: food, water, shelter, clothing, sleep

2. Safety & security: health, employment, property

3. Love & belonging: friendships, family, relationships, intimacy

4. Self-esteem: confidence, achievement, and respect of others

5. Self-actualization: motivation to fulfill one’s potential

   1. Self-transcendence: identity, meaning, and purpose beyond the self

What is the free-trait theory?

Although we have fixed, innate traits, we can temporarily act “out of character” to achieve personal goals

What is the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator?

A self-reported personality test that categorizes individuals into 16 distinct “personality types” based on psychology

What are the four dichotomies of the MBTI?

• Extraversion/Intraversion

• Sensing/Intutition

• Thinking/Feeling

• Judging/Perceptive

What is the ontogenetic perspective of personality?

Personality is largely determined by genetic factors

• 40-60% may be heritable

What is the sociogenic perspective of personality?

Personality is largely impaced by the environment

• Smaller influence in childhood but increases with age

• 2 major life events: first romantic relationship & transition from school-to-college/work

What is temperament?

Biologically based, innate part of personality that describes a person's characteristic way of reacting to the world

What are criticisms of the Five Factor model?

• Methodological limitations:

  • Developed in English and tested on English-speaking subjects

  • Does not allow populations to describe characteristics most commonly observed in their culture

  • Expressions of mean levels of personality are culture-dependent