Intro to Personality Psychology
~~~~~`Chapter 1: Introduction to
Personality Theory and Development~~~~~~~~
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So what is
personality?
To understand this concept, you
first need to understand
the difference between a trait and a state…
A trait is a relatively permanent individual
characteristic. For example, most of know people who are outgoing,
friendly, confident, or shy. When we describe these people, we use these
traits to better understand their personality; to better understand who they are.
A state, on the other hand, is a temporary change in
one's personality. Examples of states might be angry, depressed,
fearful, or anxious. We typically use states to describe a person's
reaction to something.
Here Are
some facts I found out…………………….
Ø Personality
is one of the most theorized aspects of Psychology researched.
Ø To Understand
the difference between trait and state you need to think about how a person is
and then take note of how they may change; temporarily.
Ø Traits
are characteristics of an individual that makes them standout or unique.
Why is it important to research and theorize about
personality?
Ø To
understand the characteristics of a person’s behavior to observe future
patterns; in hopes to change or control the outcome.
Ø To understand certain aspects of a person’s lifestyle
that is causing negative impacts, in hopes to make a positive impact.
As you can see, the
ultimate goal of psychology is to improve the quality of life through a better
understanding of individual differences and similarities. Personality is
concerned a great deal with all five of these goals, but we will spend the
majority of the text discussing the first three. In other words,
personality theory is concerned with observing individual characteristics,
understanding how these different characteristics came about, and finally, how
they are impacting the individual’s quality of life
Why Study Personality?
If
we know a person is confident, or outgoing, or friendly, what do we need to
study? Why is it important to research and theorize about personality?\To answer these questions, you need to understand
a little about the field of psychology in general. Psychology is the
study of thoughts, emotions, and behavior, and their interaction with each
other and the world. There are five basic goals of psychology:
Ø Describe – The
first goal is to observe behavior and describe, often in minute detail, what
was observed as objectively as possible
Ø 2. Explain – While
descriptions come from observable data, psychologists must go beyond what is
obvious and explain their observations. In other words, why did the subject do
what he or she did?
Ø 3. Predict – Once we know what happens, and
why it happens, we can begin to speculate what will happen in the future.
There’s an old saying, which very often holds true: "the best predictor
of future behavior is past behavior."
Ø 4. Control – Once we know what happens, why
it happens and what is likely to happen in the future, we can excerpt control
over it. In other words, if we know you choose abusive partners because your
father was abusive, we can assume you will choose another abusive partner, and
can therefore intervene to change this negative behavior.
5. Improve – Not only do psychologists attempt to
control behavior, they want to do so in a positive manner, they want to
improve a person’s life, not make it worse. This is not always the case, but
it should always be the intention. ~*Cit. Dr. Christopher L. Heffner
Licensed Psychologist
Published: August 21, 2002
The Online
Tests at AllPsych are divided into three categories:
Psychology Academic tests are taken directly from the
material on this website and are designed to test your knowledge and
understanding of psychological principles and theory.
Diagnostic Screening tests were developed to help you better
understand your own mental health based on general categories of
psychopathology and mental illness. Please remember, these quizzes can
not replace a true diagnostic assessment by a licensed mental health
professional.
Finally, the Self-Help quizzes were designed to give you a better
understanding of your relationships, communication, stress level, etc.
These quizzes provide both a score and an interpretation, but please use
them as a guide only.
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Toni L.Vossen 2013
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