PSYC 1010 Chapter 12: Personality-chapter 12.docx

• School: York University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 1010
• Professor: Gerry Goldberg

Document Summary

Personality: refers to an individual"s unique constellation of behavioral traits. Distinctiveness is central to the concept of personality because everyone behaves differently in the same situation, therefore, each individual has his or her own distinctive set of personality traits. Trait: is considered to be a durable disposition to behave a certain way in various situations. Example: adjectives such as honest, optimistic, moody, dependable, anxious all represent personality traits. It is said that a small number of fundamental traits determine other traits. For example, being restless, irritable, and impatient might be derived from one trait which is being excited. Many psychologists say that there are basic traits that make up personality. Factor analysis: is used to identify higher-order traits from which specific traits are derived. Therefore, it was concluded that an individual"s personality can be described completely by measuring just 16 traits.