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心理学与生活-第96章

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Neal Miller discusses how individuals can change the functioning of their own internal organs 
through biofeedback。 

Thomas Coates discusses how the bination of medical and psychological research can improve the 
understanding of the AIDS virus。 

Canadian physician Hans Selye studies how stress can affect physical functioning。 

FILMS AND VIDEOS 

City Spaces; Human Places (1985)。 PBS (WBGH); 58 minutes 

If you are planning a lecture on environmental psychology; this videotape provides a humorous view of the 
urban environment and how people make use of a city。 A NOVA presentation。 

Health; Stress; and Coping (1990)。 Insight Media; 30 minutes 

Explores a variety of stressors including daily stress; loss of a love relationship; and posttraumatic stress 
disorder。 Includes information on Norman Cousins and the work of Hans Selye。 

Learning to Live with Stress: Programming the Body for Health (1976)。 DOCA; 20 minutes 

Doctors Hans Selye and Herbert Benson discuss the study of stress and its effects on the human brain and 
body。 Describes how stress contributes to psychosomatic illnesses; such as heart problems; hypertension; 
high blood pressure; and ulcers。 

260 


CHAPTER 13: EMOTION; STRESS; AND HEALTH 


CHAPTER14 
Understanding Human Personality 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 

On pletion of this chapter; students should be able to: 

1。 Describe the constructs of personality and self 
2。 Identify the various sources of data on personality 
3。 Differentiate between type and trait theories of personality 
4。 Define traits; as operationalized by Allport 
5。 Explain the five…factor model of personality 
6。 Understand the significance of the consistency paradox 
7。 Describe the major theories of personality and identify important differences between them 
8。 Explain the criticism of each theory of personality 
9。 Explain the significance of the reciprocal relationship between self…esteem and self…
presentation 
CHAPTER OUTLINE 

I。 Definitions 
A。 Personality is the plex set of unique psychological qualities that influence an 
individual’s characteristic patterns of behavior; across different situations and over time。 
B。 Core aspect of the self is the subjective; private aspect of personality that gives coherence 
and order to behavior。 
II。Type and Trait Personality Theories 
A。 Categorizing by Types。 Some personality theories group people into distinct 
nonoverlapping categories that are called personality types 
1。 One early type theory proposed by Hippocrates; positing humors 
associated with particular temperaments 
a) Blood: Sanguine temperament; cheerful and active 
b) Phlegm: Phlegmatic temperament; apathetic and sluggish 
c) Black bile: Melancholy temperament; sad and brooding 
d) Yellow bile: Choleric temperament; irritable and excitable 

2。 Sheldon related physique to temperament; assigning people to one of 
three categories; based on body build 
a) Endomorphic: Fat; soft; round 
b) Mesomorphic: Muscular; rectangular; strong 

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CHAPTER 14: UNDERSTANDING HUMAN PERSONALITY 

c) Ectomorphic: Thin; long; fragile 

3。 Sulloway proposed a theory of personality based on birth order 
a) Each child fills a niche within the family 

b) Firstborn children fill the most convenient niche; they identify 
with their parents 

c) Laterborn children must find different niches; and; thus; are 
usually more open to experience and deviance 

B。 Describing with Traits 
1。 Traits are enduring qualities or attributes that predispose individuals 
to behave consistently across situations 
2。 Allport’s trait approach 
a) Allport posited that each individual has a unique 
bination of traits; the building blocks of personality。 Three 
kinds of traits have been identified: 

(i) Cardinal traits are those around which the individual 
organizes his or her life 
(ii) Central traits represent major characteristics of the 
individual 
(iii) Secondary traits are specific; personal features that 
help predict the individual’s behavior; but are less 
useful for understanding personality 
b) Allport’s interest was in discovery of the unique binations 
of these traits that made each individual a singular entity。 He 
viewed personality structures rather than environmental 
conditions to be the critical determinants of individual 
behavior 

3。 Identifying Universal Trait Dimensions 
a) Cattell proposed that 16 factors provide the underlying source 
of the surface behaviors that we think of as personality 

b) Eysenck derived three broad personality dimensions: 

(i) Extroversion: internal vs。 external orientation 
(ii) Neuroticism: emotionally stable vs。 emotionally 
unstable 
(iii) Psychoticism: kind and considerate vs。 aggressive and 
antisocial 
c) Eysenck proposed that personality differences on these 
dimensions were caused by genetic and biological differences 

4。 Five…Factor Model: Recent research indicates that five factors overlap 
Eysenck’s original three; best characterize personality structure 
a) The five…factor model (the Big Five) brings categories having a 
mon theme together in the following dimensions: 

263 


PSYCHOLOGY AND LIFE 

(i) Extroversion: Talkative; energetic; and assertive vs。 
quiet; reserved; and shy 
(ii) Agreeableness: Sympathetic; kind; and affectionate vs。 
cold; quarrelsome; and cruel 
(iii) Conscientiousness: Organized; responsible; and 
cautious vs。 careless; frivolous; and irresponsible 
(iv) Neuroticism (emotional stability): Stable; calm; and 
contented vs。 anxious; unstable; and temperamental 
(v) Openness to experience: Creative; intellectual; and open 
minded vs。 simple; shallow; and unintelligent 
b) Factors are not intended as replacement for specific trait 
terms; rather they outline a taxonomy that better describes 
individuals in capturing the dimensions on which they differ 

C。 Traits and Heritability 
1。 Behavioral genetics: The study of the degree to which personality traits 
and behavior patterns are inherited 
2。 Heritability studies show that almost all personality traits are 
influenced by genetic factors 
D。 Do Traits Predict Behaviors? 
1。 The consistency paradox refers to the observation that personality 
ratings across time and different observers are consistent; while 
behavior ratings of a person across situations are not consistent 
2。 Paradox refers to levels of analysis; the use of specific vs。 summary 
types of data; rather than to actual consistency 
3。 Different situations are more or less likely to “allow” expression of 
traits; with those situations most likely to influence behavior occurring 
when: 
a) Situations are novel 

b) Situations are ill…defined; offering multiple alternatives but 
without guidelines on propriety 

c) Situations are stressful or challenging 

4。 Forced definition of traits in a more precise manner resulted in the 
observation that personality is not about behavioral consistency; 
rather it is a matter of patterns of behavioral coherence 
E。 Evaluation of Type and Trait Theories 
1。 Criticism based on fact that these theories do not generally explain 
how behavior is generated; or how personality develops; they only 
identify and describe characteristics correlated with behavior 
2。 Trait theories typically portray a static (or at least stabilized) view of 
personality structure; as it currently exists 
III。 Psychodynamic Theories 
A。 mon to all psychodynamic personality theories is the assumption that powerful inner 
forces shape personality and motivate behavior 
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CHAPTER 14: UNDERSTANDING HUMAN PERSONALITY 

B。 Freudian Psychoanalysis 
1。 Freud’s theory attempts to explain: 
a) Origins and course of personality development 

b) Nature of mind 

c) Aspects of abnormal personality 

d) Ways personality can be changed by therapy 

2。 Presumes the core of personality to be the events within a person’s 
mind (intrapsychic events) that motivate behavior 
3。 Freud presumed all behavior was motivated; that so…called chance or 
accidents did not cause behavior; but were determined by motives 
4。 Drives and Psychosexual Development 
a) Postulating a 

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