1. What are traits, and how is personality understood from a trait perspective? How can we decide how many traits there are? How may they be hierarchically organized?
Traits are behavioral dispositions that endure over time and across situations. The trait approach to personality provides a method for assessing the extent to which individuals differ in personality dispositions, such as sociability, cheerfulness, and aggressiveness. Gordon Allport and Henry Odbert found around 18,000 dictionary words that could be used as personality traits. Raymond Cattell narrowed 16 basic dimensions of personality. Hans Eysenck proposed a hierarchical model of personality that included five traits within extraversion. Extraversion is a superordinate trait made up of five traits: sociability, dominance, assertiveness, activity, and liveliness. Each of these subordinate traits is made up of habitual and specific responses.
2. Discuss five-factor theory of personality, What are the five factors, and what does each refer to? What are the advantages and limitations of this approach?
The five-factor theory identifies five basic personality traits. Conscientiousness is how determined by how careful and organized one is. Extraversion is how social and outgoing someone is. Agreeableness is how cooperative and trustful one is. Neuroticism is how stable and dramatic someone is. Openness to Experience is how adaptive and methodical someone is. The five-factor theory is known to be reliable across cultures and age groups despite whether people rate themselves or are rated by others. The theory is limited because the terms are descriptive rather than explanatory and limits the vast number of traits to five dimensions; however, it does provide a common descriptive framework.
3. Discuss the degree to which personality is consistent from one social situation to another. What conditions make it more consistent or less consistent? How may personality also offer affect the situation?
Walter Mischel was the psychologist who first proposed that behaviors were determined more by situations rather than personalities, a theory called situationism. Personality holds that it is relatively stable across situations and circumstances. The consistency, or extent to which a trait predicts behavior, depends on the centrality of the trait, the aggregation of behaviors over time, and the type of trait being evaluated. People are more consistent in their central traits than in their secondary traits. If behaviors are averaged across many situations, personality traits are more predictive of behavior. Some traits, like honesty, will more likely be consistent across situations, whereas shyness may vary depending on the situation. A strong situation tends to discourage displays of personality, whereas a weak situation tends to let people behave more freely.
4. Discus the evidence for genetic influences on personality. How do researchers investigate this issue?
Researchers can investigate the genetic influence on any psychological issue by using identical, monozygotic, twins. Evidence gathered from James Loehlin and Robert Nichols, suggest that nearly all personality traits have a genetic component. In a study that examined the similarities in personality among over 800 pairs of twins, it was concluded that across a wide variety of traits, identical twins proved much more similar than fraternal twins. Genetic influence accounts for approximately half of the variance. Genes in DNA predispose certain personality traits associated with behavioral tendencies. It has been found that genes can be linked with some specificity to personality traits. For instance, a gene that regulates one particular dopamine receptor has been associated with novelty seeking.
5. What is self-esteem? How is it related to others' views of us? How is it related to one's success in life?
Self-esteem is the evaluative aspect of the self-concept, indicating people' emotional response as the contemplate various characteristics about themselves. It is assumed that people's self-esteem is based on how they believe others perceive them. According to reflected appraisal, people internalize the values and beliefs expressed by important people in their lives, adopting them as their own. Studies have found that although people with high self-esteem reported being much happier, self-esteem is weakly related to objective life outcomes. There are many people who have been picked on with a higher IQ that go on to be successful.
30/30. Looks good!
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