PS101 Lecture Notes - Masculinity, Factor Analysis, Penis Envy
Document Summary
Definition of personality (no actual formal existence can"t be found or taken : hypothetical constructs. Observations, constructs, relationships: d e f i n i t i o n o f p e r s o n a l i t y : consistency of behaviour across situations and time, theories. Each approach attempts to map constructs to personality . No approach is better/worse than any other: each theory adopts one perspective. Therefore no theory is necessarily more correct than any other theory. Nomothetic all individuals focuses on similarities. Ideographic focus on the individual focuses on dissimilarities: longest history of any field in psychology, tend to be broader than other approaches, are extremely difficult to test. Most are post-dictive (uses theory to explain a reaction, after the situation) rather than pre-dictive. Type approach: assumes small number of personality types, emphasizes biological factors you re born with the personality you have, no development, very few prevalent type theories in current use.
