What is personality?
o
Similar to intelligence, it has to do with
individual differences– how and why people are different from each other
o
Specifically how people differ in behavior,
feelings, reactions to the environment and to other people
Basic questions about personality
o
How to measure and describe personality
differences
n
For example– what kind of person do you want to
date?
n
Can it be measure objectively?
o
Is personality stable
n
Are you the same person as 5 or 10 years ago?
o
Where does personality come from?
n
Genetics, parents, peers,
friends, environment?
Trait Perspective—Describe People you know!
Contemporary Research-- The Trait
Perspective
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Trait
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a characteristic
pattern of behavior
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a disposition to feel
and act, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports
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Personality Inventory
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a questionnaire (often
with true-false or agree-disagree items) on which people respond to items
designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors
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used to assess selected
personality traits
The Trait Perspective
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Hans and Sybil Eysenck use two primary personality factors as axes for
describing personality variation
The Trait Perspective
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Minnesota
Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
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the most widely
researched and clinically used of all personality tests
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originally developed to
identify emotional disorders (still considered its most appropriate use)
§
now used for many other
screening purposes
Example MMPI Questions
o
I like mechanics
magazines.
o
I have a good
appetite.
o
I wake up fresh
& rested most mornings.
o
I think I would
like the work of a librarian.
o
I am easily
awakened by noise.
o
I like to read
newspaper articles on crime.
o
My hands &
feet are usually warm enough.
o
My daily life is
full of things that keep me interested.
o
I am about as
able to work as I ever was.
o
There seems to be
a lump in my throat most of the time.
The Trait Perspective
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Minnesota Multiphasic
Personality Inventory (MMPI) test profile
The Trait Perspective