Personality

• Personality is the patterns of thoughts and feelings and the way we interact with our environment and other people that make us a unique person
• Personality is an individuals behavioural characteristics that make them different from others
• Trait theory has two sub-theories; Eysenck and Narrow band
• A trait is a characteristic of a personality inherited at birth
• Trait theory

  • natural instincts causing an individual to act in a certain way
  • behaviour can be predicted in various situations
  • stable, enduring and consistent
  • personality is innate
  • we can't change our true personality traits
• Positives of Trait theory

  • Often similar traits to our parents
  • Often see personality traits that are enduring (stay constant throughout life)
• Negatives of Trait theory

  • Often people are nothing like their biological parents
  • Some people's personality changes as they grow up
  • Sometimes people's personality changes depending on the situation they are in
• Narrow Band Approach Theory is split into two personality types; type A and type B
• Type A:

  • highly competitive
  • works fast
  • like to control
  • prone to suffer stress
• Type B:

  • non-competitive
  • works more slowly
  • does not enjoy control
  • less prone to stress
• Narrow band approach may help understanding of athletes personal anxiety, develop intervention activities and prevent state anxiety affecting performance.
• Eysenck's theory is a continuum between extrovert - introvert and stable - unstable
• Extrovert - Introvert, is related to the level of stimulation we seek
• Stable - Unstable, is related to emotion
• Extroversion is a personality characteristic of a person who seeks social situations, likes excitement but lacks concentration
• Introversion is a personality characteristic of a person who does not seek social situations and likes peace and quiet, but is good at concentration.
• Introverts:

  • Quiet
  • Shy
  • Good concentration
  • Individual sports
  • Lacks social skills
• Extroverts:

  • Loud
  • Sociable
  • Bad concentration
  • Team sports
  • Expressive
• Stable - unchangeable, remains constant and predictable
• Unstable - changeable and unpredictable
• RAS - a series of nerve pathways into the brain which controls your overall level of consciousness

  • determines whether a person is inclined towards extroversion or introversion
• RAS in extroverts:

  • RAS inhibits the effect of external stimuli leading to lower levels of arousal
  • Therefore, seek more external stimulation to get internal arousal from social situations
• RAS in introverts:

  • high levels of arousal naturally
  • tend to avoid external stimulation
• Social learning theory:

  • personality is learnt
  • personality is shaped by role models
  • personality is shaped by our environment
  • explains why we are similar to those we spend a lot of time with
• Social learning theory

  Personality is built up from:

  • social experiences
  • our interactions with other
  • our environment
  • behaviour is unpredictable
• Bandura:

  children shown aggressive role models

  then given the opportunity to imitate behaviour
• Social learning theory equation:

  Behaviour = function of environment
• Positives of social learning theory:

  • people often show similar traits to people they spend a lot of time with
  • peoples personality often changes as they are exposed to new people
  • identical twins separated at birth show different personality
• Negatives of social learning theory:

  • Sometimes people's personality stays constant throughout life
  • Sometimes we are nothing like the people we spend time with
• Interactionist perspective

  • a compromise
  • a combination of both personality traits and the environment
  • behaviour is unpredictable
• Equation of interactionist theory:

  Behaviour = function of personality x environment
• Hollanders model (interactionist theory):

  Psychological core - born personality traits

  Typical behaviour - the way our innate traits will make us act in day to day life

  Role-related behaviour - the way you are going to act in a certain situation

  Social environment - situation you are in
• Positives of interactionist theory:

  • most complete theory
  • explains why people are often act differently in different situation
• Negatives of interactionist theory:

  • sometimes peoples personality stays constant throughout life, showing no signs of social learning