2. The word personality is derived from the
Latin term persona, originally representing
the theatrical mask used by ancient
dramatic players.
personality is seen as a complex pattern of
deeply embedded psychological
characteristics that are expressed
automatically in almost every area of
psychological functioning.
3. Personality is often confused with two
related terms, character and temperament.
Character refers to characteristics acquired
during our upbringing and connotes a degree
of conformity to virtuous social standards.
Temperament, in contrast, refers to a basic
biological disposition toward certain
behaviors.
4. Twin Studies
MZ twins and DZ twins
Suggests heritability estimates of .5 for
personality traits
Shared environment = what siblings share,
parenting practices, neighborhood, family
life.
Nonshared environment is everything else.
More important than shared environment
5.
6. Environmental stability
Three types of person-environment transactions
Reactive
Different individuals exposed to the same environment,
experience it, interpret it, and react to it differently
Example: schemas
Evocative
An individual's personality evokes distinctive
responses form others
Examples: coercive child, happy child
Proactive/Selective
Individuals select or create environments of their own
8. Some debate about this (ages 50 to 70 appear to
be more stable(
Certainly the 20s is an important time to look at
for personality development
People often gaining independence from families
Moving away
Going to college and/or joining workforce
Getting into committed relationships and having
children
9. Personality TheoryPersonality Theory Main ideasMain ideas
Psychoanalytic TheoryPsychoanalytic Theory Emphasizes the importance of early childhood experiences,Emphasizes the importance of early childhood experiences,
repressed thoughts, and conflict between conscious andrepressed thoughts, and conflict between conscious and
unconscious forcesunconscious forces
Behaviorist TheoryBehaviorist Theory Focuses on the way rewards and punishment shape our actionsFocuses on the way rewards and punishment shape our actions..
Social Learning TheorySocial Learning Theory Cognitive-personal factors, our behaviors, and environmentalCognitive-personal factors, our behaviors, and environmental
factors interact to shape our personalitiesfactors interact to shape our personalities
Cognitive TheoryCognitive Theory Our analysis of our own perceptions, thoughts, and feelings shapeOur analysis of our own perceptions, thoughts, and feelings shape
our personalitiesour personalities
Humanistic TheoryHumanistic Theory Emphasizes our capacity for personal growth, development of ourEmphasizes our capacity for personal growth, development of our
full potential, and freedom to make choicesfull potential, and freedom to make choices
Trait TheoryTrait Theory Focus on identifying, measuring, and classifying similarities andFocus on identifying, measuring, and classifying similarities and
differences in personality characteristics or traitsdifferences in personality characteristics or traits..
10. All port's Trait Theory
Allport classified the labels according to
the degree to which they applied in
differing circumstances ,proposing
three levels of traits.
11. Cardinal Trait :a single characteristic that
determines behavior in almost all situations.
It appears to control almost everything a
person does ,unifying and integrating the
person`s behavior.
.
12. Central Traits : are not as broad as cardinal
traits but are relatively general and apply in
many situations.
Secondary Traits :less consistent and less
generalized ,apply in limited circumstances.
13. Cattell`s Personality Factors : from a large
list of descriptive adjectives Cattell used
factor analysis to identify what he called the
16primary or source traits of personality.
He developed a test “16-PF” to measure an
individual`s expression of each of these traits.
14. The “Big Five.” A combination of new
research and analysis of older work has
shown that people in different cultures ,age
groups , and occupations consistently tend
to use five major categories or traits to
describe personality.
15.
16. There are several different ways to evaluate
personality:
Self-Report Tests
Projective Tests
Behavioral Assessments
Interviewing
18. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
)MMPI(
Most clinically-used personality test
567total questions.
Originally designed to assess abnormal
behavior
19.
20. Projective Tests
The subject usually is presented with a
series of ambiguous stimuli and asked for a
description of or a story about each.
The theory of these tests is that a person
will reveal some personality characteristics
By introducing them ( or projecting them
onto )the stimulus provided.
21. Projective Test
Rorschach Inkblot Test
Presentation and interpretation of a series
. of black and white and colored inkblots
Personality test that seeks to identify
people’s inner feelings by analyzing their
interpretations of 10 inkblots
Numerous scoring systems exist
22.
23. Series of pictures depicting ambiguous scenes
Subject is asked to create a story about
the scene
Answers are scored based on themes, motives,
and anxieties of main character
24.
25. Examiner or test situation may influence
individual’s response
Scoring is highly subjective
Tests fail to produce consistent results
)reliability problem(
Tests are poor predictors of future behavior
)validity problem(
Notas del editor
Comer, Abnormal Psychology 4e Clinical Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment Figure 4.01 - An inkblot similar to those used in the Rorschach test
Comer, Abnormal Psychology 4e Clinical Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment Figure 4.02