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**Personality** from the Latin **Persona** **Personality**- permanent traits and unique characteristics. **Traits**- individual differences in behavior. **Characteristics**- unique qualities of an individual. **Theory**- most misused and misunderstood. **Scientific theory-** a set of related as...

**Personality** from the Latin **Persona** **Personality**- permanent traits and unique characteristics. **Traits**- individual differences in behavior. **Characteristics**- unique qualities of an individual. **Theory**- most misused and misunderstood. **Scientific theory-** a set of related assumptions. A single assumption can never fill all the requirements of an adequate theory. Isolated assumptions can neither generate meaningful hypotheses nor possess internal consistency. The components of a theory are not proven facts in the sense that their validity has been absolutely established. Logical deductive reasoning is used by the researcher to formulate hypotheses. The final part of the definition includes the qualifier testable. People sometimes confuse theory with philosophy **Epistemology**- the nature of knowledge. **Philosophy** deals with what ought to be or what should be; theory does not. **Speculation**- theories rely on speculation, but they are much more than mere armchair speculation. **Science**- is the branch of study concerned with observation and classification of data and with the verification of general laws through the testing of hypotheses. **Hypothesis**- is an educated guess or prediction specific enough for its validity to be tested through the use of the scientific method. **Taxonomy-** is a classification of things according to their natural relationships. However, [taxonomies] can evolve into theories when they begin to generate testable hypotheses and to explain research findings. For example, Robert McCrae and Paul Costa began their research by classifying people into five stable personality traits. **Psychology of science**- examines how scientists' personalities, cognitive processes, developmental histories, and social experience affect the kind of science they conduct and the theories they create. A useful theory has a mutual and dynamic interaction with research data. Useful theory organizes research data into a meaningful structure and provides an explanation for the results of scientific research. **BASIS OF 6 CRITERIA** **Generates Research -** descriptive research and hypothesis testing. **Falsifiable -** a theory must be precise enough to suggest research that may either support or fail to support its major tenets. **Organizes Data -** A useful theory should also be able to organize those research data that are not incompatible with each other. **Guides Action -** ability to guide the practitioner over the rough course of day-to-day problems. **Internally Consistent -** need not be consistent with other theories, but it must be consistent with itself. **Parsimonious -** When two theories are equal in their ability to generate research, be falsified, give meaning to data, guide the practitioner, and be self-consistent, the simpler one is preferred. **Causality** - holds that behavior is a function of past experiences. **Teleology** - is an explanation of behavior in terms of future goals or purposes. The term "personality" comes from the Latin persona, or the mask that people present to the outside world, but psychologists see personality as much more than outward appearances. Personality includes all those relatively permanent traits or characteristics that render some consistency to a person's behavior. A theory is a set of related assumptions that allows scientists to formulate testable hypotheses. Theory should not be confused with philosophy, speculation, hypothesis, or taxonomy, although it is related to each of these terms. Six criteria determine the usefulness of a scientific theory: \(1) Does the theory generate research? \(2) Is it falsifiable? \(3) Does it organize and explain knowledge? \(4) Does it suggest practical solutions to everyday problems? \(5) Is it internally consistent? and \(6) Is it simple or parsimonious? Each personality theorist has had either an implicit or explicit concept of humanity. Concepts of human nature can be discussed from six perspectives: \(1) determinism versus free choice, (2) pessimism versus optimism, \(3) causality versus teleology, \(4) conscious versus unconscious determinants, \(5) biological versus social factors, and \(6) uniqueness versus similarities in people