Introduction to Personality Psychology

12.1 Introduction: What is Personality

  • Definition of Personality Psychology

    • Subfield of psychology focused on individual differences in

    • Thinking

    • Feeling

    • Behaving

    • Analysis levels

    • Biological level

    • Group level

  • Definition of Personality

    • Conceptualized as an enduring set of internally based characteristics

    • Produces uniqueness in behavior

    • Produces consistency in the expression of thoughts and behaviors

    • Accompanies an explanation for these characteristics, referred to as personality traits

  • Consistency in Personality

    • Refers to how an individual behaves over time

    • Behavior remains stable across similar situations

  • Utilization of Personality Traits and Characteristics

    • Employed to explain uniqueness in self and others

    • Aids in describing consistency within behaviors

    • Clarifies underlying processes accounting for uniqueness and consistency:

    • Helps understand why individuals act as they do

    • Involves perspectives from:

    • Emotional processing

    • Mental processing

    • Biological processing

  • Reference to Table 12.1

    • Table 12.1 provides additional insights and illustrative examples relevant to personality traits and their impact on behavior.