personality psychology: domains of knowledge about human nature 5th edition by larsen/buss - chapter 1

trait-descriptive adjectives

adjectives that can be used to describe characteristics of people

personality

the set of psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual that are organized and relatively enduring and that influence his or her interactions with, and adaptations to, the intrapsychic, physical, and social environments

psychological traits

characteristics that describe ways in which people are different from each other

average tendencies

what traits describe

psychological mechanisms

like traits, but referring to the processes of personality; have three essential ingredients: inputs, decision rules, and outputs

within the individual

personality is something within a person that persists over a long time

organized

the psychological traits and mechanisms for a given person are not simply a random collection of elements

enduring

persisting over time

influential forces

personality traits and mechanisms can have effects on people's lives

person-environment interaction

very difficult to describe part of personality that includes selection, evocation, and manipulation

adaptation

a central feature of personality concerns adaptive functioning (accomplishing goals, coping, adjusting, and dealing with challenges/problems)

environment

poses challenges for people; physical, social, intrapsychic

human nature

traits and mechanisms of personality that are typical of our species and are possessed by nearly everyone

individual differences

ways in which each individual is like some other people (example: sensation-seeker, extroverts)

differences among groups

people in one group have certain personality features in common that distinguishes that group (example: age group, culture, political party, gender)

nomothetic research

involves statistical comparisons of individuals or groups, requiring samples of subjects on which to conduct research

idiographic research

focuses on a single subject, trying to observe general principles that are manifest in a single life over time (example: case study, psychological biography)

domain of knowledge

a specialty area of science and scholarship in which psychologists have focused on learning about some specific and limited aspects of human nature

dispositional domain

deals centrally with the way that individuals differ from each other

biological domain

humans are, first and foremost, collections of biological systems, and these systems provide the building blocks for behavior, thought, and emotion

intrapsychic domain

deals with the mental mechanisms of personality, many of which operate outside conscious awareness

cognitive-experiential domain

focuses on cognition and subjective experience, such as conscious thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and desires about oneself and others

social and cultural domain

personality affects and is effected by the social and cultural context

adjustment domain

personality is a key part to how we cope, adjust, and adapt to various situations in daily life

good theory

fulfills three purposes in science: provides a guide for researchers, organizes known findings, and makes predictions

scientific theory

tested by systematic observations that can be repeated by others and yield similar conclusions

belief

may be personally important but does not necessarily rely on evidence

scientific standards for evaluating personality theories

comprehensiveness, heuristic value, testability, parsimony, and compatibility and integration across domains and levels

comprehensiveness

does the theory do a good job of explaining all of the facts and observations within its domain?

heuristic value

does the theory provide a guide to important new discoveries about personality that were not known about before?

testability

does the theory provide precise predictions that can be tested empirically?

parsimony

does the theory contain few premises and assumptions (parsimony) or many premises and assumptions (lack of parsimony)?

compatibility and integration across domains and levels

a theory must agree with established principles in other areas of knowledge