Personality refers to characteristics that make individuals unique, including their prototypical thoughts, emotions, interests, habits, and behaviors. Psychological in nature, personality is relatively stable over time. Personality plays a significant role in determining how a person behaves in various situations. Many dimensions of personality have been linked to career development. Almost every element of a
The term personality typically refers to one’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and behaving. In addition to the stable, trait-like features often evoked by this construct (e.g., sociability, dominance, modesty), many theories also emphasize the roles of culture, family, and other environmental factors involved in personality expression and development. This predominant individual differences variable has
People differ in many respects, some important, some trivial. Personality traits are among the individual-difference characteristics that are important and powerful in explaining human behavior in the world of work. Myriad psychological characteristics can be used to describe people and distinguish them from one another. For example, in the English language, in excess of 12,000
The Sixteen Personality Questionnaire (16PF) is one of the oldest commercially available measures of normal adult personality. It is used in a variety of settings, including personnel selection, counseling, career development, and outplacement consulting. The inventory has also been utilized extensively in academic settings to advance the understanding of personality structure, its roots, and predictive
Modal personality was the term used by anthropologist Cora DuBois in her 1944 monograph The Peoples of Alor: A Social-Psychological Study of an East Indian Island, based on research carried out in the Alor islands of Indonesia during the late 1930s. The Alor study focused on issues and methods involving both anthropology and psychology. It
Considered by many scholars to be a historically significant conceptual development in the study of social cognition, implicit personality theories are cognitive structures utilized during social perception and in social interaction. The knowledge contained in these structures specifies sets of personality traits perceived to be interrelated. Applied during social perception, implicit personality theories are key
Variations in preferences for media content highlight the importance of how the diversity of the viewing audience affects exposure and responses to media content. Among the limitless ways in which audience members may differ, the personality characteristics of the viewer provide a vast and diverse means of predicting individuals’ uses of, preferences for, and reactions
The idea that an individual’s personality is “inherently intertwined” with how they communicate has intrigued scholars since the late 1920s (Daly 2002). Indeed, many have observed that through our social interactions we drop clues about the essence of our personality and, in turn, learn about others. Everyday parlance is, in fact, filled with terms and
“Culture and personality” has been perhaps the most mythologized and misunderstood of American anthropology’s interdisciplinary endeavors. Ruth Benedict and Margaret Mead, the two anthropologists most closely associated with “cultural and personality,” have often been understood to equate culture with personality. While views of this sort are common, there is little, if any, evidence in Mead’s
With the advent of television, the public appearance of political processes has changed fundamentally. Television makes visual impressions of political events easily available and provides politicians with the opportunity to project an image of themselves to the general public. This is assumed to have been contributing to a personalization of politics in general, and particularly
The authoritarian personality is a psychological syndrome of traits that correlates highly without group prejudice. Three personality traits in particular characterize the syndrome: deference to authorities, aggression toward out groups, and rigid adherence to cultural conventions. Thus, authoritarians hold a rigidly hierarchical view of the world. Nazi Germany inspired the first conceptualizations. The Frankfurt School
In the years between the two world wars, psychologists gradually became more involved in the screening of law enforcement personnel and began to incorporate personality assessment into that enterprise. Wilmington, Delaware, and Toledo, Ohio, appear to share the distinction of being the first two cities to require ongoing psychological screening for use in police selection
The term personality typically refers to one’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and behaving. In addition to the stable, trait-like features often evoked by this construct (e.g., sociability, dominance, modesty), many theories also emphasize the roles of culture, family, and other environmental factors involved in personality expression and development. This predominant individual differences variable has
Personality is typically defined as a person’s distinctive and enduring (i.e., cross-situational) thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that characterize the person’s reactions to life situations. Personality traits are also defined as specific properties that predispose a person to react in certain ways in given classes of situations—sport, for example. Some personality traits are genetically determined and
In the past 30 years, personality researchers have amassed a considerable body of evidence to support the importance of traits as crucial determinants of behavior. This research has shown that personality is structured similarly across over 50 cultures, shows evidence of genetic heritability, has high stability across time, and does not relate strongly to parental
This article explores the intricate relationship between personality traits and the risk for heart disease within the realm of health psychology. The introduction elucidates the significance of understanding personality in the context of health and outlines the purpose of the article. The body of the article is divided into three sections, each delving into specific
Personality disorders (PDs) pose a major challenge to the modern profession of mental health care. Unlike depression, anxiety, and other disorders that are more commonly the focus of treatment, personality disorders are generally understood to be pervasive, inflexible, maladaptive, and enduring expressions of personality. People with PDs exact a heavy cost from themselves and society
The accuracy of personality judgments refers to an area of research in which people evaluate the thoughts, feelings, and behavior of themselves or others and the correctness of their evaluations are determined. The determination of accuracy, or correctness, is a constant challenge for researchers because it is often unclear what to use as the standard
Personality traits are characteristic behaviors, thoughts, and feelings of an individual that tend to occur across diverse situations and are relatively stable over time. Given this broad definition, literally thousands of personality traits can be identified. For the better part of 100 years, personality researchers have attempted to create a standard taxonomy, or organizing structure
Despite the fact that many scholars have offered formal definitions of personality for almost 100 years, no consensus on any single definition has been achieved. In fact, a survey of 50 textbooks devoted to the study of personality would quite likely result in 50 distinct definitions of the term. Perhaps the reason that scholars have
Personality assessment is the process of gathering information about an individual to make inferences about personal characteristics including thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Raymond B. Cattell identified three primary sources of obtaining such personality information: life-data, information collected from objective records; test-data, information obtained in constructed situations where a person’s behavior can be observed and objectively
The multicultural personality refers to a constellation of traits, attitudes, and behaviors that predispose individuals to adapt successfully to culturally diverse environments. The conceptual roots of the multicultural personality can be traced to work in clinical psychology and counseling psychology in the United States and personnel psychology in the Netherlands. Manuel Ramirez, working in the
Authoritarian Personality Definition The authoritarian personality describes a type of person who prefers a social system with a strong ruler— the authoritarian person is comfortable being the strong ruler but if the individual is not the strong ruler then he or she will demonstrate complete obedience to another strong authority figure. In both cases, there
Big Five Personality Traits Definition The Big Five personality traits are the most basic dimensions that shape the structure of human personality and underlie the regularities in people’s thinking, feeling, and behavior. The Big Five are dimensional, which means that each of them describes a continuum between two extreme poles. All people, regardless of gender
Personality disorders, formerly known as character disorders, make up a class of heterogeneous mental disorders characterized by chronic, maladaptive, and rigid patterns of cognition, affect, and behavior. They are coded on Axis II of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV) and reflect patterns of thought, affect, and
Type A and Type B Personality Definition The type A personality is a collection of behaviors that include impatience and a sense of urgency about accomplishing most tasks; aggressiveness and sometimes hostility toward others, especially those who “get in the way”; and a desire for achievement that leads to exaggerated competitiveness and striving for success.
Personality assessment in school psychology is a critical practice for understanding and supporting students’ emotional and behavioral development. This article provides an overview of the historical evolution, theoretical foundations, assessment methods, applications, and ethical considerations related to personality assessment in educational settings. It also explores emerging trends and emphasizes the continued significance of this field
Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) is characterized by a lifelong pattern of behavior that violates the law and other people’s rights. Its primary relevance to the field of psychology and law stems from its association with criminal and violent behavior, as well as its implications for attempting to reduce the risk thereof through treatment. This research
The Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI) is a widely used self-report measure designed to detect the principal personality traits of psychopathy. Revised in 2005 as the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R), it consists of 154 items arrayed in a 4-point Likert-type format. The PPI-R, like the original PPI, yields a Total score reflecting global psychopathy as well
Personality Definition Personality is an individual’s typical way of feeling, thinking, and acting. Given that personality is typical, it is fairly stable over time. Social behavior refers to a person’s feelings, thoughts, or actions as he or she relates to other people. These two definitions have a very close relationship. Knowing something about an individual’s
Emotions are often written all over children’s faces. They are unique qualities that develop over time, distinguish each individual child from others, and significantly influence our personalities over the course of our life spans. Anger is one of the most talked about yet least understood emotion. It has been an important field of study in
Traditional models of behaviorism, represented by figures like John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner, are typically considered inconsistent with the concept of “personality,” which itself represents an unobservable construct. Such “radical” behavioral approaches emphasized the study of observable behavior, and thus any theory of personality was restricted to typical patterns of behavior exhibited by
Cognitive theories of personality focus on the processes of information encoding and retrieval, and the role of expectations, motives, goals, and beliefs in the development of stable personality characteristics. This approach differs from personality theories that emphasize either the conditions within which personality develops (e.g., behavioral theories) or the trait structures that are revealed in
Evolutionary personality psychology suggests that human personality variation is a meaningful and relevant source of human diversity, and that different combinations of heritable personality traits biologically prepare individuals to exploit the different social niches they inhabit. Human personality variation relates to numerous important life outcomes, including life history traits such as sexuality, sociality, fertility, morbidity
Phenomenological approaches to personality take human experience or subjectivity as their primary focus. Phenomenological theorists assert that obtaining accurate knowledge of another person requires understanding how that person experiences the world. Personal experience constitutes immediate reality. A secondary focus of phenomenological theories is the self. The self is thought of as a cognitive-affective structure through
The set of theories of personality development that are referred to collectively as psychodynamic or psycho-analytic vary dramatically in their specifics, but share a common lineage and several core concepts. Scholars agree that Sigmund Freud, the famous and controversial Austrian neurologist who wrote the first comprehensive theory of personality development, laid the foundation for all
Personality differences among individuals can be explained in relation to their individual differences in need patterns. Individuals possess various needs—very basic ones, such as the consumption of food and avoidance of pain; and secondary ones, such as achievement, affiliation, and dominance. These primary and secondary needs have the potential to influence an individual’s pattern of
Implicit Personality Theory Definition An implicit personality theory refers to a person’s notions about which personality characteristics tend to co-occur in people. Can one assume, for example, that a person with a sense of humor is also intelligent? Is a charming person likely to be honest or dishonest? Is a leader someone likely to be
This article delves into the intricate interplay between personality traits, particularly focusing on hostility, and their profound implications for health outcomes within the realm of health psychology. The introduction provides a contextual backdrop, emphasizing the significance of understanding this relationship. The first section explores the broader connection between personality traits and health, elucidating key theories
This article delves into the intricate interplay between reactivity and personality traits within the realm of health psychology. The introduction provides a comprehensive foundation by defining reactivity, emphasizing its significance in health psychology, and introducing the pivotal role of personality traits. The subsequent sections unfold the physiological and psychological dimensions of reactivity, exploring its impact