Module 4 :CMN 554 Module 4 :Module 4 Primary Study Guide (Personality Disorders)Updated A+ Score Guide

Personality is both complex and unique: on one hand, people differ greatly from one another in multiple components of behavior, and, on the other hand, each person expresses only one of his or her many potential lifestyles. The common characteristic of all existing definitions of personality is that they are functional, that is, they focus on questions related to motivation and mental adaptation of the organism. Specifically, Allport defined personality as the “dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his/her unique adjustment to his/her environment.” Allport elaborated on this definition by explaining that the expression “dynamic organization” emphasizes that personality is an organized system (“unitas multiplex”) that is constantly evolving and changing. The phrase “within the individual” means that personality refers to intrapsychic processes, not judgmental comparisons of one person to another. The term “psychophysical” means that personality is neither exclusively mental nor exclusively neural but a combination of the two. The expression “unique adjustment to the environment” has both functional and evolutionary significance pointing to personality as a mode of survival and, more generally, learning and adaptation, which is unique to each individual. Allport’s use of the verb “determine” suggests that personality traits are determining dispositions that limit a person’s behavioral repertoire. It is now known that people are self-aware and have enough freedom of will to change their behavior in directions that are not necessarily predictable or determined by their past. Accordingly, Allport’s definition has been modified as follows: human personality is the dynamic organization of the psychobiological systems by which a person shapes and adapts in a unique way to a changing internal and external environment. In other words, personality is a way of describing the dynamical processes that occur within the person to shape and adapt to life experiences by self-aware learning and proactive planning. The maturation and integration of h