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Copyright © 2007 Allyn & Bacon Mayer’s Personality: A Systems Approach Part 2: Parts of PersonalityChapter 5: Interior Selves… Purpose To teach about a class of parts of personality – mental models To sensitize you to the idea that personality is internal –A central task is for personality is to understand the outside world –It does this with varying success

Copyright © 2007 Allyn & Bacon Mayer’s Personality: A Systems Approach Part 2: Parts of PersonalityChapter 5: Interior Selves… Mental Models Organized information in memory representing our selves, others, and relationships Influence our thinking in automatic ways Are crucial to interpersonal contacts Determine how we see the world

Copyright © 2007 Allyn & Bacon Mayer’s Personality: A Systems Approach Part 2: Parts of PersonalityChapter 5: Interior Selves… Models of the Self Possible Selves –Actual Self –Feared Self –Ideal Self

Copyright © 2007 Allyn & Bacon Mayer’s Personality: A Systems Approach Part 2: Parts of PersonalityChapter 5: Interior Selves… Models of the World Informal, tacit models – –Of people –Of relationships Formal, educated models – –Of language –Of mathematics

Copyright © 2007 Allyn & Bacon Mayer’s Personality: A Systems Approach Part 2: Parts of PersonalityChapter 5: Interior Selves… Models of Relationships Models of those we are (or have been) close to Examples: Parents, other caretakers, teachers Significance: We develop patterns of relating to others

Copyright © 2007 Allyn & Bacon Mayer’s Personality: A Systems Approach Part 2: Parts of PersonalityChapter 5: Interior Selves… Constructive Thinking Our models can be more or less accurate (a topic covered in Chapter 6) Our models can be more or less constructive –Constructive thinking Positive coping Avoiding (mostly) negative, irrational thinking

Copyright © 2007 Allyn & Bacon Mayer’s Personality: A Systems Approach Part 2: Parts of PersonalityChapter 5: Interior Selves… ~ end ~