PSYC 2130 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Extraversion And Introversion, Cognitive Dissonance, Nomothetic
25 Mar 2013
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Book begins with a brief look at history of the term personality and the evolution of personality in psychology as a field of formal study. Persona is the source of english word personality, but this means more than a set of roles. Concept of personality as we use it today did not emerge until 18th century. Sampson had idea about the real person : pre-modern times, roles were elements that constituted the person as such. Roles were not appended to the real person. There was no stepping outside one"s community or role to act differently. To be outside was to not exist, to be a stranger, or to be dead: sampson concludes that about 200 years ago, seeking to understand the individual became a highly cherished cultural project. Gives rise to two important questions: what am i really like, what is the other person really like, many ways to answer those questions.
