1. Personality Assist. Prof. Merve Topcu
Department of Psy, Çankaya University
, Fall

2. Personality Originated from Latin word «persona»
Theatrical mask worn by Roman actors in Greek dramas
Personality is a global concept with different definitions
Permanent traits with uniques characteristics
Personality psychology
the scientific study of the psychological forces that make people uniquely themselves

3. Eight Key Aspects of Personality
Unconscious
Ego forces
Cognitive
Biological
Conditioning
Traits
Spiritual
Person-situation interaction
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4. Personality & Science
Scientific methods are used to test personality theories
Importance of data and statistics to test theories
Superiority over conclusions from astrology, palm-reading, etc.
Today’s concern?
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5. Where do personality theories come from?
Deductive approach
Inductive approach
Concepts borrowed from other disciplines
Combination (most theories utilize all of these)
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6. Preview of the Perspectives
Behavioral
Trait
Humanistic
Person-situation interaction
Psychoanalytic
Neo-analytic
Cognitive
Biological
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7. A Brief History of Personality Psychology
Theater and self-presentation
“All the world’s a stage and all the men and women are merely players” William Shakespeare
The relative self
Religion
Eastern philosophies and religions
consciousness
self-fulfillment
Renaissance philosophers
Mind-body debate
Nature of consciousness
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8. A Brief History of Personality Psychology
Evolutionary biology
Charles Darwin
Adaptive value
People are subject to the laws of nature
Animal personality
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9. A Brief History of Personality Psychology
Testing
Wartime testing (World War I)
Intelligence testing
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10. A Brief History of Personality Psychology
Modern theory
Gordon Allport
Examined the underlying organization of each individual’s personality
Kurt Lewin
Gestalt psychology
Henry Murray
“Personology”
Longitudinal designs
Clark Hull
Learning theorist
B. F. Skinner
Behaviorist
Margaret Mead
Anthropologist who highlighted the importance of cross-cultural comparisons
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11. Some Basic Issues What is the importance of the unconscious?
What is the self?
Does each individual require a unique approach?
Are there differences between men and women?
The person versus the situation
To what extent is personality culturally determined?
Is personality a useful concept?
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12. Timeline (early years)
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13. Timeline (later years)
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