Personality Unit Who am I? What do we know about why people are they way they are?

Personality is defined as:  One’s characterisitc pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.”

We will be studying three different perspectives of personality : - Humanisitic - Trait - Social-Cognitive (Perspectives are like different lenses we can use to look at different phenomena.)

THE HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE There are two main humanistic psychologists whose names you’ll need to know:

ABRAHAM MASLOW "What a man can be, he must be. This need we call self-actualization."

“When I look at the world I'm pessimistic, but when I look at people I am optimistic. ” CARL ROGERS

HUMANISTS BELIEVE: 1.That people are naturally good, but some environments are bad, and that can lead people to make bad choices. 2.That people should be treated with dignity and respect. 3.When the environments people come from are healthy, then people will be free to become their best selves.

MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

CARL ROGERS SAID THERE WERE SOME CONDITIONS THAT MUST BE MET IN ORDER FOR US TO GROW INTO OUR “TRUE SELVES”. (AND THAT THE GOAL OF LIFE IS TO GROW UP TO BECOME THE PERSON YOU REALLY ARE.)

Example 1.“I’m fine.” Being open with others about how we feel. 2.Parents know our failings, but they love us anyway 3.When a friend feels bad, we feel bad, too. Condition 1. Genuineness- openness about feelings 2. Acceptance- unconditional positive regard 3. Empathy- sharing and mirroring feelings

HUMANISTIC ASSESSMENT: In other words, how do we test personality according to this perspective…

1. Self-Concept Questionnaires 2. Personal Interview 3. Self Report

NOT EVERYONE BELIEVES IN THE HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE… People who criticize this perspective say… 1. Too optimistic about basic human nature 2. Concepts are too vague and subjective 3. Could encourage selfish meeting of one’s needs while ignoring needs of others 4. Only a picture of qualities Maslow valued

The Trait Theory

 A trait is a characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self report inventories and peer reports.  One major trait theorist is Gordon Allport.

 He said that a good theory of personality wouldn’t be as concerned with explaining why someone acted a certain way, but should instead describing how people actually act.  Trait theorists also believe that genetics play a huge part in why we are the way we are.

 Personality inventories-  Questionnaires covering a wide range of feelings and behaviors  Empirically derived-  They test a pool of people and only choose questions that show a difference between groups Assessing Traits

 Some critics dislike Trait theory for the following reasons: 1. De-humanizing to reduce people to pre-defined categories 2. Overlooks why people act the way they do, which is too important to overlook 3. Traits are not always expressed Evaluating the Trait theory

The Social- Cognitive Perspective (environment matters)

 Important Social- Cognitive Psychologists: Albert Bandura Martin Seligman

Reciprocal Determinism:  The interacting influences between personality and environmental factors.

Internal vs. External Locus of control: Internal Locus of Control Definition: People control their own fate Personality Results: External Locus of Control Definition: Chance or outside forces beyond one’s personal control determine one’s fate Personality Results:

Learned Helplessness:  Learned Helplessness is a passive attitude that happens when people are faced with an unavoidable negative event. This hopelessness makes them unwilling to try to change their situation.

Evaluating the Social- Cognitive Perspective  What do critics say about this perspective?

Individualistic CulturesCollectivist Cultures