THEORIES OF PERSONALITY

SESSION 1
BY THE END OF THIS SESSION, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE
TO:
• Identify your expectations for this course
• Express your commitment to participate fully in this course
• Express your decision to be empathic, accepting, and open with your
coursemates

• Define personality using your own words and from your own perspective
• Explain the six criteria to determine the usefulness of a scientific theory
• Discuss concepts of human nature from six perspectives
WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS?

• Of the course
• Of the lecturer
• Of each other
• Of yourself
A POINT TO PONDER

• Think of something about yourself you find difficult to understand.

WHAT IS PERSONALITY?

• 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.
IS THIS TRUE?
WHAT IS A THEORY?

• A scientific theory is a set of related assumptions that allows

scientists to use logical deductive reasoning to formulate testable
hypotheses.
DIFFERENT THEORIES FROM DIFFERENT MINDS
• Speculations from a particular point of view
• Theorists’ background, view of the world, experiences, and own
personality influence their theory
• Even if the process by which the theory was formulated may be
subjective, it’s evaluation must be objective.
• A useful theory (1) generates research, (2) is falsifiable, (3)
organizes data, (4) guides action, (5) is internally consistent, and
(6) is parsimonious.
DIMENSIONS FOR A CONCEPT OF HUMANITY
• determinism versus free choice – are human lives predetermined by past
experiences or are they able to be changed by decisions and actions?
• pessimism versus optimism – are people doomed or can they grow?
• Causality versus teleology – is human behavior controlled by past experience
or by future hopes and dreams?
• conscious versus unconscious determinants of behavior – are people aware of
their motives or are they driven by unknown forces?
• biological versus social influences on personality – do people inherit
characteristics or are these learned from the environment?
• uniqueness versus similarities – is it more significant to look for how persons
are different from each other or how they are the same?
ACTIVITY: WHO AM I AND HOW DID I BECOME THIS
WAY
Instructions:

1. Write a short story about the

character “Your Name”. The story
must have a plot-a beginning, a
middle, and an end. There should be a
conflict and a resolution.
2. With a partner, share your story.
3. Discuss with your partner what your story reflects about your
view of human nature, using the 6 perspectives:
1. Determinism vs free choice
2. Pessimism vs optimism
3. Causality vs teleology
4. Conscious vs unconscious
5. Biological vs social factors
6. Uniqueness vs similarities in people