Exploring Theories of Personality

Self-concept

An individual’s perception of themselves encompassing self-awareness and evaluation of their role in relation to others

Unconditional positive regard

An individual is accepted and loved as they are without any conditions or judgements, fostering personal growth and self-acceptance

Self-actualizing tendency

An innate drive in every individual to grow, develop, and realize their fullest potential

Social cognitive theory

Emphasizes the influence of cognitive processes, behaviors, and context in understanding personality and human actions

Self-esteem

A person’s overall subjective evaluation of their own worth

Self-efficacy

A belief in one’s own ability to succeed in specific situations or accomplish tasks

What plays a crucial role in how goals/tasks/challenges are approached

Self-efficacy

Reciprocal determinism

A concept in social cognitive theory proposing that an individual’s behavior, personal factors such as thoughts or emotions, and their environment influence each other interactively

Trait theories

Theorize that personality is made up of stable characteristics, or traits, that consistently influence an individual’s behaviors or motives

Personalitty inventory

A standardized tool used to assess and measure individual personality traits or characteristics

Factor analysis

A statistical method to identify clusters of related items, or factors, in a set of data

Big 5 theory

There are 5 broad dimensions of personality that describe the main traits of personality

What does OCEAN stand for?

Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism

Openness

Imagination, feelings, actions, ideas

Conscientiousness

Competence, self-discipline, thoughtful, self-driven

Extraversion

Sociability, assertiveness, emotional expression

Agreeableness

Cooperativeness, trustworthiness, good nature

Neuroticism

Tendency toward unstable emotions