Personality Psychology Exam 1

What do you think personality psychologists study?

“An individual’s characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior, together with the psychological mechanisms—hidden or not—behind those patterns”

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***Psychological Triad*** –

how people feel, think, and behave

**3 Levels of psychological individuality:**Dispositional traits

I’m funny, laidback,extroverted,etc

**-3 Levels of psychological individuality:**Characteristic Adaptations

(What is important to you in that moment or in your life)

**3 levels of psychological individuality**

Life Story/Narrative

Mission: Impossible?

* Goal:

 Understand Everything About Someone

Mission: Impossible?

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* Researchers micro-analyze various specific aspects of personality
* Specific Patterns
* Certain Types of Observations

Mission: Impossible?

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* Funder refers to this as a Basic Approach 
* There are lots of basic approaches used to examine personality
* Each has pros/ cons
* Allows for much more depth

**Level 1: Dispositional Traits: Trait Approach - Pros**

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•Broadly applied & accepted

–Based on careful observations that reflect real differences

•Longitudinal consistency

–Genetic predispositions? Twin studies?

•Predictive (criterion) validity

•Situational factors aren’t much better

–Funder & Ozer, 1983

**Level 1: Dispositional Traits:** Trait Approach-Pro example

“A double-edged sword: The moderating role of **conscientiousness** in the relationships between work stressors, psychological strain, and job performance”

(Low Conscientiousness=Always stress, High Conscientiousness=Never stressed

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**Level 1: Dispositional Traits: Trait Approach - Cons**

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Other Predictors

–Power of the Situation

•Design Limitations

–Which 5? 6? Sixteen?

•Simplistic

–Lacking depth

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Our Goal:

To Understand the WHOLE person

Eclectic Approach

Multiple perspectives are useful because one approach cannot sufficiently explain all of personality

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Level 2: Characteristic Adaptations

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• Humans are “social actors” – "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.“ – Kurt Vonnegut, Mother Night 

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Level 2: Characteristic Adaptations

Situational factors and traits are influential – Free will? Determinism? 

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Characteristic Adaptations \n

* Goals
* Motivated
* Life Plans
* Beliefs
* Values 
* Morals

Take Away Message

Traits are static

– Personality is dynamic

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Traits approach

Examining characteristic adaptations acknowledges individual differences among

people who share traits/personality types

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• Each of our lives will uniquely change our perspectives

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\n Level 3: Our life story – a myth!

Our personal mythology

– Perceptions vs. Reality

• Reconstructions of childhood

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Level 3:Life story- a myth: Anticipated future

• Ideal self vs. Actual self

• Possible self vs. Probably self

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Level 3:Life story- a myth:

Constantly evolving

• The “Author Self”

– You are definitely still developing this

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– Scene

memory of a specific event linked to affect/emotion

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Script

how we make sense of various scenes in our life

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**Generativity script**

beginning of an adult’s awareness of where/how giving back/helping younger people fits into their story

• Common narratives

– “Rags to Riches” stories

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