PSY259 Chapter 1 - Summary of key concepts PDF

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PSY259 Chapter 1 – An Overview Of Personality And Its Research Methods Definition of Personality Personality can be defined as consistent behavior patterns and intrapersonal processes originating within the individual. 6 Approaches to Personality 1. Psychoanalytic approach  Argues that people’s unconscious minds are largely responsible for important differences in their behavior styles. 2. Trait approach  Identify where a person might lie along a continuum of various personality characteristics. 3. Biological approach  Point to inherited predispositions and physiological processes to explain individual differences in personality. 4. Humanistic approach  Identify personal responsibility and feelings of self-acceptance as the key causes of differences in personality. 5. Behavioral/social learning approach  Explains consistent behavior patterns result of conditioning and expectations 6. Cognitive approach  Look at differences in the way people process information to explain differences in behavior. Personality and Culture People and their personalities exist within cultural context. Individualistic cultures  

Place great emphasis on individual needs and accomplishments Think themselves as independent and unique

Versus Collectivist cultures   

More concerned about belonging to a larger group such as family, tribe, or nation. These people are more interested in cooperation and competition. Obtain satisfaction when the group does well rather than from individual accomplishments

Three Key Critical Assumptions/Theoretical Issues 1. Genetic v.s. Environmental influences  To what extent are our personalities the result of inherited predispositions, and to what extent are they shaped by the environment in which we grow up?

2. Conscious v.s. Unconscious Determinants of Behavior  To what extent are people aware of the causes of their behavior?

3. Free-will v.s. Determinism  To what extent do we decide our own fate, and to what extent are our behaviors determined by forces outside our control?

Personality Assessments -> Self reports, Projective Assessments, Case studies...