4PAHPDFF Psychology and the Individual Week 2
BSc Psychology Year 1 Personality Theory
PERSONALITY THEORY
UNDERSTAND THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF PERSONALITY
TESTING, INCLUDING INFLUENTIAL MODELS OF PERSONALITY
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The Source of Personality
• The word derives from the Latin persona, meaning ‘mask’ (Kassan, 2003), popularised by
Allport in 1937, before which terms such as ‘character’ and ‘temperament’ were used
Clinical Advancements in Personality Approaches
• First developments in the psychological study of personality occurred in the scientific
revolution of the late 17th and 18th centuries
o Mesmer (1734-1815) believed that humans had a magnetic fluid flowing through
them which sometimes gets disturbed resulting in physical or mental illness
• Technical language began to develop in order to label phenomena that were being identified,
creating an increasingly acceptable culture of the scientific study of the human mind
• Developments in mental health have also sparked a desire to define individuals so that
institutional settings more effectively manage disorders
o This led to the emergency of Freud and the psychoanalytic school of thought
DEFINING PERSONALITY
• Defining personality has been challenging in academia since many terms used by
psychologists are already part of everyday language, or have been added into common usage
o Lay definitions are often broad and lack the precision necessary for research to
clearly identify and examine specific concepts
Lay Definitions
• Lay definitions tend to rely on implicit personality theories, making causal inferences and
judgements of others based on observations
o We often define others in social contexts based on appearance and interaction
styles, assuming behaviour is driven by personality
• These observations often assume correlation between physical attributes and personality
traits (e.g., red hair = fiery temper), rarely being evaluated, leading to inaccurate portrayals
Psychological Definitions
• Define personality in terms of characteristics or qualities typical of an individual
o However, psychologists still struggle to produce a universally acceptable definition
since the concept is so wide and difficult to conceptualise succinctly
• There is some agreement upon the definition of a ‘psychological construct’ – a mental
concept that influences behaviour via the mind-body interaction
1
,4PAHPDFF Psychology and the Individual Week 2
BSc Psychology Year 1 Personality Theory
• Unlike lay definitions, the focus is on identifying psychological as opposed to physical
characteristics on which people differ
o These characteristics are measured by comparing individuals in particular groups, to
calculate the mean (average) levels of occurrence – population norms
Allport (1961)
• “Personality is a dynamic organisation inside the person of psychophysical systems that
create the person’s characteristic patterns of behaviour, thoughts and feelings”
• Personality is not just a collection of separate traits but a dynamic and structured system
o It actively influences how we think, feel, and behave, always adapting and changing
• Personality is shaped by both psychological and biological factors
o Biology can influence how individuals interact with and relate to the world
• Personality is shown through consistent patterns in our behaviours, thoughts, and emotions
o These patterns are not random but emerge regularly across different situations,
highlighting the stability and predictability of personality
STUDYING PERSONALITY
Aims of Studying Personality
• Personality theory was originally developed to help us understand mental illness and
abnormal behaviour
o This encouraged us to have a concept of what is normal human behaviour, leading t
the measurement of personality and development of personality questionnaires
• To explain the motivational basis of behaviour and the basic nature of humans
• Providing descriptions or categorisations of how individuals behave, and being able to
measure these
• Explaining how people become the way they are – heritability versus environment
o Developmental theories argue varying ages at which personality becomes fixed,
whereas others suggest that behaviour change is possible through interventions
Personal Experience
• Personality theorists often research themselves while collecting data from others, initially
judging whether a theory aligns with their own experiences
• Reflecting on personal, others', and theorists' life experiences can help modify or our expand
explanations for behaviour and explore implicit theories
Idiographic Versus Nomothetic Approaches
• Carver and Scheier (2000) argue that within personality theorising, the distinction between
idiographic and nomothetic is not clear-cut
Idiographic Approach
• The idiographic approach focuses on the understanding of each individual’s unique
personality structure and describes the personality variables within that individual
Nomothetic Approach
• The nomothetic approach focuses on identifying personality variables or traits that occur
consistently across groups of people
• Averages (norms) are calculated by studying large groups
o Each individual is then located within this set of variables and compared to the norm
2
,4PAHPDFF Psychology and the Individual Week 2
BSc Psychology Year 1 Personality Theory
Feature Idiographic Nomothetic
• Emphasises the uniqueness of • Focuses on similarities between
individuals groups of individuals
Strategy
• Individuals are unique only in the way
their traits combine
• To develop an in-depth • To identify the basic structure of
understanding of the individual personality
Goal
• To find the minimum number of traits
to universally describe personality
• Qualitative methodologies to • Quantitative methods to classify and
Research produce case studies produce measures of personality
Methodologies • Generalisations can be made from • Exploring the relationship between
case studies (e.g. Freud, 1923) these variables across groups
Data • Interviews’ diaries, narratives, • Self-report personality
Collection treatment of session data questionnaires
• Depth of understanding of the • Discovery of general principles that
Strengths
individual have a predictive function
• Can be difficult to make • Can lead to a fairly superficial
generalisations from the data understanding of one person
Limitations
• Training is needed to analyse
personality profiles accurately
ASSERTIONS AND DISTINCTIONS
Assertions
• Personality is enduring across different social contexts, having a relatively consistent
influence on behaviour in different situations
• It is relatively stable over time, with changes taking time and effort and often needing expert
help
• Not all differences between individuals are considered to be equally important
o There are five personality characteristics considered the most important, most
consistent over time, that can be reliably assessed, and where differences make
most impact on behaviour
3
, 4PAHPDFF Psychology and the Individual Week 2
BSc Psychology Year 1 Personality Theory
Situational Effects
• Many, such as social deconstructionists, argue that it is the situation that largely dictates
how we behave
• Personality theorists argue that individual personality plays a crucial role in shaping
behaviour, regardless of the situation
• Most psychologists agree that behaviour is a result of an interaction between personality and
situational factors
Distinctions
• Observable aspects of personality are different than unobservable aspects such as
thoughts, memories, and dreams
o The psychoanalytic theory extends this to a distinction between conscious and
unconscious aspects of personality
• There is a difference between an individual’s private persona and public persona
o The private persona is seen as the ‘real’ inner person, while the public persona is the
way one wants to present themselves to the world, influenced by social pressure
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
Historical Influences
• Lavater (1775-1778) theory of physiognomy suggested that facial features could be linked to
character traits
• Craniology (later phrenology) was developed by Gall (1810) where the shape of one’s cranium
reflected the relative size of brain structures, determining their individual character
• Galton (1869) is acknowledged as the founder of individual differences research from his
development of measures of intelligence, aptitudes and attitudes, and statistical techniques
o He provided statistical tools of analysis to produce standardised normative values
for many measures and the analysis of individual differences
Current Conceptualisations
• Early influences encouraged a focus on the individual rather than differences among
individuals
o Focus on individualism has been the basis for theory development and advances in
treatments, although it is largely criticised by sociologists for ignoring social contexts
• Cooper (1998) argues that major psychological theories generalise behaviour, often
generating universally applicable theories despite individual differences
o Lubinski (2000) and Cooper (1998) argue that theorists must address two sets of
issues to understand the nature of individual differences
4
BSc Psychology Year 1 Personality Theory
PERSONALITY THEORY
UNDERSTAND THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF PERSONALITY
TESTING, INCLUDING INFLUENTIAL MODELS OF PERSONALITY
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The Source of Personality
• The word derives from the Latin persona, meaning ‘mask’ (Kassan, 2003), popularised by
Allport in 1937, before which terms such as ‘character’ and ‘temperament’ were used
Clinical Advancements in Personality Approaches
• First developments in the psychological study of personality occurred in the scientific
revolution of the late 17th and 18th centuries
o Mesmer (1734-1815) believed that humans had a magnetic fluid flowing through
them which sometimes gets disturbed resulting in physical or mental illness
• Technical language began to develop in order to label phenomena that were being identified,
creating an increasingly acceptable culture of the scientific study of the human mind
• Developments in mental health have also sparked a desire to define individuals so that
institutional settings more effectively manage disorders
o This led to the emergency of Freud and the psychoanalytic school of thought
DEFINING PERSONALITY
• Defining personality has been challenging in academia since many terms used by
psychologists are already part of everyday language, or have been added into common usage
o Lay definitions are often broad and lack the precision necessary for research to
clearly identify and examine specific concepts
Lay Definitions
• Lay definitions tend to rely on implicit personality theories, making causal inferences and
judgements of others based on observations
o We often define others in social contexts based on appearance and interaction
styles, assuming behaviour is driven by personality
• These observations often assume correlation between physical attributes and personality
traits (e.g., red hair = fiery temper), rarely being evaluated, leading to inaccurate portrayals
Psychological Definitions
• Define personality in terms of characteristics or qualities typical of an individual
o However, psychologists still struggle to produce a universally acceptable definition
since the concept is so wide and difficult to conceptualise succinctly
• There is some agreement upon the definition of a ‘psychological construct’ – a mental
concept that influences behaviour via the mind-body interaction
1
,4PAHPDFF Psychology and the Individual Week 2
BSc Psychology Year 1 Personality Theory
• Unlike lay definitions, the focus is on identifying psychological as opposed to physical
characteristics on which people differ
o These characteristics are measured by comparing individuals in particular groups, to
calculate the mean (average) levels of occurrence – population norms
Allport (1961)
• “Personality is a dynamic organisation inside the person of psychophysical systems that
create the person’s characteristic patterns of behaviour, thoughts and feelings”
• Personality is not just a collection of separate traits but a dynamic and structured system
o It actively influences how we think, feel, and behave, always adapting and changing
• Personality is shaped by both psychological and biological factors
o Biology can influence how individuals interact with and relate to the world
• Personality is shown through consistent patterns in our behaviours, thoughts, and emotions
o These patterns are not random but emerge regularly across different situations,
highlighting the stability and predictability of personality
STUDYING PERSONALITY
Aims of Studying Personality
• Personality theory was originally developed to help us understand mental illness and
abnormal behaviour
o This encouraged us to have a concept of what is normal human behaviour, leading t
the measurement of personality and development of personality questionnaires
• To explain the motivational basis of behaviour and the basic nature of humans
• Providing descriptions or categorisations of how individuals behave, and being able to
measure these
• Explaining how people become the way they are – heritability versus environment
o Developmental theories argue varying ages at which personality becomes fixed,
whereas others suggest that behaviour change is possible through interventions
Personal Experience
• Personality theorists often research themselves while collecting data from others, initially
judging whether a theory aligns with their own experiences
• Reflecting on personal, others', and theorists' life experiences can help modify or our expand
explanations for behaviour and explore implicit theories
Idiographic Versus Nomothetic Approaches
• Carver and Scheier (2000) argue that within personality theorising, the distinction between
idiographic and nomothetic is not clear-cut
Idiographic Approach
• The idiographic approach focuses on the understanding of each individual’s unique
personality structure and describes the personality variables within that individual
Nomothetic Approach
• The nomothetic approach focuses on identifying personality variables or traits that occur
consistently across groups of people
• Averages (norms) are calculated by studying large groups
o Each individual is then located within this set of variables and compared to the norm
2
,4PAHPDFF Psychology and the Individual Week 2
BSc Psychology Year 1 Personality Theory
Feature Idiographic Nomothetic
• Emphasises the uniqueness of • Focuses on similarities between
individuals groups of individuals
Strategy
• Individuals are unique only in the way
their traits combine
• To develop an in-depth • To identify the basic structure of
understanding of the individual personality
Goal
• To find the minimum number of traits
to universally describe personality
• Qualitative methodologies to • Quantitative methods to classify and
Research produce case studies produce measures of personality
Methodologies • Generalisations can be made from • Exploring the relationship between
case studies (e.g. Freud, 1923) these variables across groups
Data • Interviews’ diaries, narratives, • Self-report personality
Collection treatment of session data questionnaires
• Depth of understanding of the • Discovery of general principles that
Strengths
individual have a predictive function
• Can be difficult to make • Can lead to a fairly superficial
generalisations from the data understanding of one person
Limitations
• Training is needed to analyse
personality profiles accurately
ASSERTIONS AND DISTINCTIONS
Assertions
• Personality is enduring across different social contexts, having a relatively consistent
influence on behaviour in different situations
• It is relatively stable over time, with changes taking time and effort and often needing expert
help
• Not all differences between individuals are considered to be equally important
o There are five personality characteristics considered the most important, most
consistent over time, that can be reliably assessed, and where differences make
most impact on behaviour
3
, 4PAHPDFF Psychology and the Individual Week 2
BSc Psychology Year 1 Personality Theory
Situational Effects
• Many, such as social deconstructionists, argue that it is the situation that largely dictates
how we behave
• Personality theorists argue that individual personality plays a crucial role in shaping
behaviour, regardless of the situation
• Most psychologists agree that behaviour is a result of an interaction between personality and
situational factors
Distinctions
• Observable aspects of personality are different than unobservable aspects such as
thoughts, memories, and dreams
o The psychoanalytic theory extends this to a distinction between conscious and
unconscious aspects of personality
• There is a difference between an individual’s private persona and public persona
o The private persona is seen as the ‘real’ inner person, while the public persona is the
way one wants to present themselves to the world, influenced by social pressure
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
Historical Influences
• Lavater (1775-1778) theory of physiognomy suggested that facial features could be linked to
character traits
• Craniology (later phrenology) was developed by Gall (1810) where the shape of one’s cranium
reflected the relative size of brain structures, determining their individual character
• Galton (1869) is acknowledged as the founder of individual differences research from his
development of measures of intelligence, aptitudes and attitudes, and statistical techniques
o He provided statistical tools of analysis to produce standardised normative values
for many measures and the analysis of individual differences
Current Conceptualisations
• Early influences encouraged a focus on the individual rather than differences among
individuals
o Focus on individualism has been the basis for theory development and advances in
treatments, although it is largely criticised by sociologists for ignoring social contexts
• Cooper (1998) argues that major psychological theories generalise behaviour, often
generating universally applicable theories despite individual differences
o Lubinski (2000) and Cooper (1998) argue that theorists must address two sets of
issues to understand the nature of individual differences
4
