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The study of personality as the study of individual differences.
- Consistent patterns of
- behavior but may be small differences when compared to general.
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The 6 approaches to
personality.-
- 1) Psychoanalytic
- 2) Trait
- 3) Biological
- 4) Humanistic
- 5) Behavioral/Social learning
- 6) Cognitive
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main focus of each of the 6 approaches to personality-
Psychoanalytic
Unconscious minds are responsible for important differences in their behavior styles
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main focus of each of the 6 approaches to personality-
Trait
- Where on the continuum of
- various personality characteristics.
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main focus of each of the 6 approaches to personality-
Biological
- – inherited predispositions
- and physiological processes to explain individual differences in personality.
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main focus of each of the 6 approaches to personality-
) Humanistic
- – identify personal
- responsibility and feelings of self-acceptance as the key cause of differences
- in personality
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main focus of each of the 6 approaches to personality-
Behavioral/Social learning
- explain consistent behavior
- patterns as the result of conditioning and expectations
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main focus of each of the 6 approaches to personality-
Cognitive
- – look at differences in
- the way people process information to explain differences in personality
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The relationships between the 6 approaches to personality
- Sometimes they differ only in emphasis, many of them are similar, Ex. Behavioral is deterministic (we may not be aware of the way we have been ‘conditioned’) where as the
- Humanistic believes in free will.
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Personality and culture
- Individualistic- cultures place great emphasis on individual
- needs and accomplishments. Collectivist- cultures are concerned about group belongingness and group needs. Concepts that are studied by Western personality
- psychologists can take on very different meanings when people from collectivist cultures are studied. EX> Western notion of self-esteem is based on assumptions of personal goals and feelings of uniqueness that may not be appropriate to people in collectivist group-oriented cultures. Similarly, Western def. of achievement and success is not universal. In collectivist cultures success means cooperation and groups accomplishments.
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The components of theory.
- Theory- each approach to
- understanding personality begins with a theory. The theory is an attempt to
- explain the mechanisms that underlie human personality and how these mechanisms
- are responsible for creating behaviors unique to a given individual. Also each
- theory attempts to emphasize a different aspect of personality, each theory
- must wrestle with several issues relating to the nature of human personality.
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The components of theory-application
- Application- The most obvious application of personality theories is in psychotherapy. Many of the major pioneers in the study of personality were clinicians, who developed
- their ideas about human nature of the basis of their work with clients. Psychotherapy comes in many styles, reflecting the assumptions the therapist makes about the nature of personality.
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The components of theory- research
- Research- Each of the theories we will examine generates a great deal of research. Sometimes this research tests
- principles and assumptions central to the theory. Other times researchers are interested in further exploring concepts introduced by the theory.
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