c




Personality is the particular combination of emotional, attitudinal, and

behavioral response patterns of an individual.

Personalityc

c c

c

c Personality psychology, the theory and study of individual

differences, traits, and types
c Personality trait theory, attributes by which people may vary in
relative terms



 may also be discussed in the context of:

c Personality disorders, a class of mental disorders that is characterized

by long-lasting rigid patterns of thought and actions
c Personality pathology, characterized by adaptive inflexibility, vicious
cycles of maladaptive behavior, and emotional instability under
stress
c Personality quiz or Personality test, a series of questions (usually
multiple-choice, rating scale, or True/False) intended to describe
aspects of an individual's character, thoughts, and feelings
c Personality type, refers to patterns of relatively enduring
characteristics of behavior that occur with sufficient frequency as to
be grouped into one member of a set of types. Personality typology
approaches promote the concept that people cluster into common
patterns of emotional, attitudinal, and behavioral reactions.
c Personality change is the concept that although personality may have
some stability throughout the lifespan, some individuals may
undergo substantial alteration of their characteristic patterns of
adapting to their social and personal environments.

Almost everyday we describe and assess the personalities of the people

around us. Whether we realize it or not, these daily musings on how and
why people behave as they do are similar to what personality psychologists
do.

While our informal assessments of personality tend to focus more on

individuals, personality psychologists instead use conceptions of personality
that can apply to everyone. Personality research has led to the
development of a number of theories that help explain how and why
certain personality traits develop.

Œ
 

 


While there are many different theories of personality, the first step is to
understand exactly what is meant by the term 6

A brief definition
would be that personality is made up of the characteristic patterns of
thoughts, feelings and behaviors that make a person unique. In addition to
this, personality arises from within the individual and remains fairly
consistent throughout life.

Some of the fundamental characteristics of personality include:

c Œ

  - There is generally a recognizable order and regularity
to behaviors. Essentially, people act in the same ways or similar ways
in a variety of situations.

c   

 cc

  - Personality is a psychological

construct, but research suggests that it is also influenced by
biological processes and needs.

c m
c
 cc

 - Personality does not just influence
how we move and respond in our environment; it also M  us to
act in certain ways.
 c ÿ 
c
 - Personality is displayed in more than just
behavior. It can also be seen in out thoughts, feelings, close
relationships and other social interactions.

 

 


There are a number of different theories about how personality develops.

Different schools of thought in psychology influence many of these
theories. Some of these major perspectives on personality include:

c „c

  are the early perspectives on personality. These
theories suggested that there are a limited number of "personality
types" which are related to biological influences.

c „
c

  viewed personality as the result of internal
characteristics that are genetically based.

c   
 c

  of personality are heavily influenced by the
work of Sigmund Freud, and emphasize the influence of the
unconscious on personality. Psychodynamic theories include
Sigmund Freud͛s psychosexual stage theory and Erik Erikson͛s stages
of psychosocial development.

c [
c

  suggest that personality is a result of interaction
between the individual and the environment. Behavioral theorists
study observable and measurable behaviors, rejecting theories that
take internal thoughts and feelings into account. Behavioral theorists
include B. F. Skinner and John B. Watson.
 c ‰ 
theories emphasize the importance of free will and
individual experience in the development of personality. Humanist
theorists include Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow.


 


Doctors, researchers, and employers use personality assessments for a

variety of reasons:

c Clinical psychologists often use assessments as aids for diagnosing

psychological disorders.

ÊcA psychologist might administer personality tests to a patient

with a varied set of symptoms to narrow down possible diagnoses. In such
a case, a psychologist would typically use a battery of tests in addition to
interviewing the patient.

c Some mental health providers use tests to decide how best to

counsel people about normal problems of daily living.

ÊcA counselor might administer a personality test in order to help a

person choose a career.

c Some organizations use assessments to select personnel to hire,

although this practice is decreasing in popularity.

ÊcA consulting firm might assess job candidates in order to decide

which candidates would be likely to perform well under pressure.

c Researchers frequently use tests in the course of studying personality

traits.

ÊcA researcher studying the correlation between risk taking and

criminality might administer a personality test to a sample of prison
inmates.
Three important ways of assessing personality include objective tests,
projective tests, and assessment centers.

Y
c

c

are usually self-report inventories. 

c


  are paper-and-pen tests that require people to answer
questions about their typical behavior. Commonly used objective tests
include the MMPI-2, the 16PF, and the NEO Personality Inventory.

„


The ÿ 

cÿ 
 c

cm

 ÿÿm
was developed
in the 1940s and revised in the 1980s. The revised version is called the
MMPI-2. The MMPI-2 contains a list of 567 questions. People taking the
test must answer these questions with 
 ,  , or M  .

The MMPI was originally developed to help clinical psychologists diagnose

psychological disorders. To interpret the MMPI-2, psychologists divide the
answers to questions into fourteen subscales. Ten of these subscales are
clinical subscales, which give information about different aspects of the test
taker͛s personality. The other four subscales are validity subscales, which
indicate whether the test taker was careless or deceptive when answering
questions. A score on any single subscale doesn͛t provide a clear indication
of a specific psychological disorder. Rather, the score profile, or pattern of
responses across subscales, indicates specific psychological disorders.

„
 


The  
c

c

c 

  
is a test that assesses
sixteen basic dimensions of personality. It consists of a list of 187 questions.

„
 



The pÊYc

cm

 measures the Big Five traits: extraversion,
openness to experience, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and
neuroticism.

? 
  






Self-report inventories are useful because they allow psychologists to get
precise answers to standardized questions. In other words, all subjects who
take a test answer the same questions, and all subjects have to select
answers from the same range of options. Inventories are also objective,
which means that different people scoring the same test would score them
in the same way. However, these scores might be interpreted differently by
different people.

There are several disadvantages to self-report inventories as well:

c Self-report inventories often contain transparent questions, which

means subjects can figure out what a psychologist wants to measure.
Therefore, subjects can lie intentionally and fake personality traits
they don͛t really have. Researchers who develop tests address this
problem by including  c  in tests, which provide information
about the likelihood that a subject is lying.
c The social desirability bias can affect responses on self-report
inventories. In other words, when filling out an inventory, people
might state what they wish were true, rather than what  true. Test
developers can minimize this bias by dropping questions that are
likely to evoke it.
c People sometimes don͛t understand the questions on the test. Test
developers try to address this issue by wording questions very clearly
so that they have only one possible interpretation.
c People sometimes don͛t remember aspects of the experience they
are asked about.



c

c„
c



c

c

require subjects to respond to ambiguous
stimuli, such as pictures and phrases, that can be interpreted in many
different ways. Projective tests are based on the 

c

 ,
which is the idea that people interpret ambiguous stimuli in ways that
reveal their concerns, needs, conflicts, desires, and feelings.

Clinical psychologists and researchers often use two projective tests: the
Rorschach test and the Thematic Apperception Test.

„
  „

The 
  c

consists of a series of ten inkblots. Psychologists ask
subjects to look at the inkblots and describe what they see, and the
psychologists then use complex scoring systems to interpret the subjects͛
responses. Scores are based on various characteristics of responses, such as
the originality of the response and the area of the blot described in the
response. The Rorschach gives psychologists information about the
subject͛s personality traits and the situational stresses the subject may be
experiencing.

„
„
?

„


The „
c 

c„
„„
consists of a series of pictures
containing a variety of characters and scenes. Psychologists ask subjects to
make up stories about each picture and look for themes that run through
the subjects͛ responses. For example, a person with a high need for
achievement may consistently come up with stories that have
achievement-related themes.

? 
  


„


Projective tests are useful because they allow psychologists to assess

unconscious aspects of personality. Projective tests are also not
transparent: subjects cannot figure out how their responses will be
interpreted. Therefore, subjects cannot easily fake personality traits on a
projective test.

A serious disadvantage of projective tests is that they have questionable

reliability and validity. Despite this flaw, many researchers and clinicians
find that such tests give them useful information.

  
cŒ
 c

Assessment centers allow psychologists to assess personality in specific

situations. In assessment centers, subjects are made to face situations in
which they must use particular types of traits and skills, and their
performance is then assessed. Assessment centers work on the well-
accepted idea that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior in
similar situations. For example, a corporation may select a person for a
managerial position by placing candidates in a simulated managerial
situation for half a day and assessing their performance.

Assessment centers are useful for selecting personnel for positions of

responsibility because they predict how people will act in challenging
situations. However, assessment centers are expensive and time
consuming.