Personality Theories

    Cards (102)

    • What are some common themes in defining personality?
      Individuality and distinctiveness, structure and organisation, life history, and consistent patterns of behaviour
    • What does the trait approach to personality focus on?
      Relatively stable patterns of thought, feeling, or behaviour that characterise an individual
    • What are traits in the context of personality?
      Relatively stable patterns of thought, feeling, or behaviour
    • What are states in the context of personality?
      Temporary patterns of thought, feeling, or behaviour
    • What did Allport & Odbert (1936) contribute to the study of personality?
      They listed 18,000 English words that could describe people
    • How many words were left after removing synonyms, slang, and uncommon words from Allport & Odbert's list?
      171 words
    • What method did Cattell use to develop his 16 Personality Factors?
      Factor analysis
    • What are the three dimensions of Eysenck's Taxonomy?
      Neuroticism, Extraversion, Psychoticism
    • What are the five factors in the Big Five model of personality?
      Neuroticism, Extraversion, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Openness to experience
    • What is the NEO-PI-R?
      A self-report inventory that assesses Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness
    • What type of data does informant data provide in personality measurement?
      Data about a person derived from others who know the person well
    • What did Mischel (1968) argue regarding traits?
      Traits are not consistent across situations
    • What do scientists agree on regarding traits after the consistency controversy?
      Traits predict average behaviour, not every behaviour in every situation
    • What is interactionism in the context of personality?
      Trait-relevant behaviour may emerge in some situations, but not others
    • What method compares the degree of similarity between twins in personality studies?
      Twin method
    • What are the two types of twins compared in personality studies?
      Monozygotic (MZ) twins and dizygotic (DZ) twins
    • What was the typical correlation for identical twins in Loehlin & Nichols' study?
      0.50
    • What was the typical correlation for fraternal twins in Loehlin & Nichols' study?
      0.28
    • What is temperament in the context of personality?
      A biological, inborn dimension of personality that appears early and remains stable
    • What did Kagan's research on temperament reveal about children?
      20% are high-reactive (inhibited) and 40% are low-reactive (uninhibited)
    • Which brain region is associated with inhibited tendencies?
      Amygdala
    • What measurement technique did Schwartz et al. (2003) use in their study on temperament?
      Brain imaging (fMRI)
    • What impact does family have on personality according to studies with adopted children?
      Average correlation of .04 between adopted children and adoptive siblings
    • What are shared and nonshared environments in the context of personality?
      Shared environments are between-family effects, while nonshared environments are within-family effects
    • Why are children from the same family often different according to Plomin & Daniels (1987)?
      Due to nonshared environments
    • What were the personality correlation scores for identical twins reared apart?
      0.50
    • What were the personality correlation scores for fraternal twins reared apart?
      0.21
    • What conclusion can be drawn about family influence on personality from twin studies?
      Family plays little role in shaping personality
    • What are the contributions of the Trait Approach to personality psychology?
      • Systematic description of personality
      • Reduces large number of individual differences to manageable size
      • Understanding of how person and situation shape behaviour
      • Agreement on Big Five model for data sharing
    • When was Sigmund Freud born and when did he die?
      Born in 1856, died in 1939
    • What was Sigmund Freud's profession?
      Medical doctor treating nervous disorders
    • From what did Freud develop his theory?
      Clinical experience
    • What is Freud considered in the context of the 20th century?
      An influential figure
    • What does Freud suggest may be the cause of illness?
      Psychogenic factors
    • What philosophical view influenced Freud's psychoanalytic thought?
      • Philosophy of Thomas Hobbes
      • Brutish nature of humans
    • Which physicist's ideas influenced Freud's psychoanalytic thought?
      • Hermann von Helmholtz
      • Conservation of energy
      • Energy seeks an outlet
    • What are the three parts of the mind according to Freud?
      Conscious, preconscious, unconscious
    • What are the main components of Freud's personality theory?
      • Structure
      • Dynamics
      • Development
    • What principle does the Id operate on?
      Pleasure principle
    • What principle does the Ego operate on?
      Reality principle