Introduction to Personality Psychology

Personality Psychology

• Personality psychology examines personality's nature, definition, development, structure, traits, dynamic processes, variations (emphasizing stable individual differences), and maladaptive forms.
• Personality encompasses enduring characteristics and behaviors reflecting unique life adjustments.
• Key aspects include major traits, interests, drives, values, self-concept, abilities, and emotional patterns.
• Various theories explain personality structure and development, all agreeing personality influences behavior.
• Personality traits enable individuals to excel in their work. These traits are shaped through experiences and interactions.
• Counselors should possess a well-rounded and distinct personality, separate from clients'.
• Personality makes each individual unique, characterized by an idiosyncratic pattern of enduring traits and interactions.
• Personality tends to be long-term, stable, and resistant to change.
• The term "personality" originates from the Latin word "persona."

Theoretical Perspectives on Personality

• There are diverse perspectives on the components of personality:
  • Some view personality as prominent traits (e.g., outgoing, agreeable).
  • Others, like those in the Freudian tradition, see personality as composed of underlying mental structures (unconscious motivations).
  • Some focus on how learned experiences shape personality
  • Humanistic theorists believe personality is actively created to give meaning to life.
  • Sociocultural theorists emphasize the impact of culture, race, and ethnicity.

Historical Perspectives

• The study of personality dates back at least 2,000 years, beginning with Hippocrates (370 BCE).
• Hippocrates proposed four temperaments:
  • Choleric (yellow bile, passionate, ambitious, bold).
  • Melancholic (black bile, reserved, anxious, unhappy).
  • Sanguine (red blood, joyful, eager, optimistic).
  • Phlegmatic (white phlegm, calm, reliable, thoughtful).
• Galen, building on Hippocrates, linked these temperaments to humor imbalances in the body and suggested they influenced both disease and personality.

Trait Theories

• Hans Eysenck (1916-1997) focused on two key traits:
  • Introversion-extraversion
  • Emotional stability-instability (or neuroticism).
• Eysenck categorized traits based on their locations along these dimensions.
• An anxious person is both introverted and neurotic.
• Eysenck's dimensions relate to the four temperaments:
  • Choleric: extraverted, unstable.
  • Sanguine: extraverted, stable.
  • Phlegmatic: introverted, stable.
  • Melancholic: introverted, unstable.

Five-Factor Model (Big Five)

• Cross-cultural research supports the Five-Factor Model as a fundamental personality structure.
• The five factors are considered related to basic temperaments, potentially inborn.
• Traits mature over time, but environmental factors influence personality expression.