The below information is derived from the textbook “Psychology Themes & Variations”.
You can also find my class notes and a new personality test which uses them (I haven’t tried it yet, it might suck)
Resources
| Podcast | Download |
| Multiple Choice Quiz | Click Here |
| Personality Tests MCQ | Click Here |
| Class Notes | Download |
Key Learning Goals
The key learning goals for this chapter are focused on understanding the nature of personality, different theoretical perspectives on personality, and the assessment of personality. Here is a summary of those goals:
- Defining Personality: The chapter aims to clarify the meaning of personality and personality traits, exploring concepts like consistency and distinctiveness in behaviour. A key focus is understanding that personality is an individual’s unique collection of consistent behavioural traits. It also looks at personality traits as durable dispositions to behave in a particular way across different situations.
- Five-Factor Model: A significant goal is to describe the five-factor model of personality, also known as the “Big Five” traits, and examine their relationship with life outcomes. These traits include extraversion, neuroticism, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. The chapter explores how these traits correlate with various aspects of life, such as academic performance, career success, and health.
- Psychodynamic Perspectives: The chapter introduces psychodynamic theories, particularly those of Sigmund Freud, focusing on the influence of early childhood experiences and unconscious forces on personality. It covers Freud’s view of personality structure (id, ego, superego), the role of conflict and anxiety, and key defence mechanisms. It also looks at Freud’s psychosexual stages of development and their impact on adult personality. Additionally, the chapter summarizes the psychodynamic theories of Carl Jung and Alfred Adler.
- Behavioural Perspectives: The chapter explores behavioural views of personality, including the contributions of B.F. Skinner, Albert Bandura, and Walter Mischel. It covers Skinner’s operant conditioning concepts and how they relate to personality. It also discusses Bandura’s social cognitive theory, which emphasises observational learning and self-efficacy. The chapter also addresses Mischel’s emphasis on situational factors in behaviour.
- Humanistic Perspectives: The chapter looks into humanistic theories of personality, focusing on the views of Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. It covers Rogers’ ideas on the self-concept and the importance of congruence between self-concept and reality. It also introduces Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and the concept of self-actualisation.
- Biological Perspectives: The chapter outlines Hans Eysenck’s view of personality and summarises behavioural genetics research on personality, also including evolutionary explanations for why the Big Five traits are important. It explores the influence of heredity on personality and the links between personality and brain structure.
- Contemporary Empirical Approaches: The chapter examines contemporary empirical approaches to personality, including the study of narcissism, and the concepts of the Dark Triad and Dark Tetrad.
- Culture and Personality: The chapter seeks to clarify how researchers have found both cross-cultural similarities and disparities in personality. It explores whether Western personality constructs apply to other cultures and examines cultural differences in the prevalence of certain personality traits. The chapter also discusses the concepts of individualism and collectivism and how they relate to the self.
- Personality Assessment: The chapter provides an understanding of how personality inventories and projective tests work and evaluates their strengths and weaknesses. It looks at self-report inventories like the MMPI and NEO Personality Inventory and projective tests like the Rorschach and TAT.
- Critical Thinking: The chapter also focuses on how hindsight bias affects everyday analyses and theoretical analyses of personality. It encourages critical thinking about the influence of knowing outcomes when analysing personality.