Personality, Self-Esteem, and Emotions Chapter 2 Personality, Self-Esteem, and Emotions

Describing Personality Personality: consists of the behaviors, attitudes, feelings and ways of thinking that make you an individual. Identity: sense of self 5 Central Traits: describe how people behave, relate to others, and react to change. Extroversion: this trait describes how much you like being with other people. Characteristics: outgoing, talkative, sociable Opposite: Introvert – tends to be shy, quiet, and reserved. Agreeableness: this trait describes your tendency to relate to other people in a friendly way. Characteristics: cooperative, forgiving, good-natured; think others are honest and trustworthy. Opposite: Disagreeable – tend to be suspicious or hostile; think others are unreliable Describing Personality

Conscientiousness: this trait describes how responsible and self-disciplined you are. Characteristics: dependable, organized, make good decisions. Opposite: careless, unorganized, easily distracted, make quick decisions without thinking them through Emotional Stability: this trait describes people who tend to focus on the positive side of things. Characteristics: relaxed, secure, calm Opposite: emotionally unstable – fearful, worried, angry – tend to focus on the negatives and expect the worst in situations. Openness to Experiences: this trait describes people who are likely to have a wide range of interests. Characteristics: curious, imaginative, creative, independent Opposite: less independent, likely to do what everyone else is doing

How Personality Forms Heredity - refers to traits you are born with, ones you inherit from your parents. Environment – the environment you are raised in and experiences you have during your life. Influences on personality Family Friends Culture

Self-Esteem and your Health Self-esteem: refers to how much you respect yourself and like yourself. Self-concept: refers to the view you have of yourself. (how you see yourself) Levels of Self-Esteem High: people with a high self-esteem accept themselves for who they are. Characteristics: self-acceptance; realistic; has positive attitude; forms close relationships Low: people with a low self-esteem don’t have much respect for themselves. Characteristics: lack of self-respect; judging oneself harshly; insecure; negative thoughts Connect to your life: Do you have high or low self-esteem? How does your self-esteem affect the way you behave? Self-Esteem and your Health

Improving Your Self-Esteem **Don’t base your self-esteem solely on other people’s opinions of you. Focus on your accomplishments, your talents, and your contributions to your family and community. Ways to improve your self-esteem: Make a list of your strengths and weaknesses. Set ambitious, but realistic goals for yourself. Don’t be too hard on yourself – know it’s okay to make mistakes. Rely on your values. Learn to accept compliments. Look beyond your own concerns – do something nice for others. Don’t focus too much on appearance.

Expressing Your Emotions Emotion: a reaction to a situation that involves your mind, body, and behavior. Primary Emotions: emotions that are expressed by people of all cultures. Happiness Sadness Anger Fear Learned Emotions: emotions that are not expressed the same way by all people, also known as social emotions; depend on the social environment in which a person grows up. Love Guilt Shame *Can you think of some other learned emotions? Expressing Your Emotions

Recognizing Your Emotions Step 1: Name the emotion you are feeling. Step 2: Determine what triggered the emotion. Step 3: Think of similar experiences. *Connect to your life: Which is more difficult to do, name the emotion you’re feeling or pinpoint it’s source? Why? Recognizing Your Emotions

Coping With Your Emotions Coping strategy: a way of dealing with an uncomfortable or unbearable feeling or situation. Defense mechanisms: coping strategies that help you to protect yourself from difficult feelings. Common Defense Mechanisms Denial Refusing to recognize an emotion or a problem. Compensation Making up for weaknesses in one area by excelling in another area. Rationalization Making excuses for actions or feelings. Reaction Formation Behaving in a way opposite to the way you feel. Projection Putting your own faults onto another person. Regression Returning to immature behaviors to express emotions.

Confront the situation; take action to improve the situation. Helpful Ways of Coping Confront the situation; take action to improve the situation. Release your built up energy by being active in some way. Take a break by relaxing, listening to music, reading a book, writing about your feelings, etc. Talk through your feelings with someone you trust. Harmful Ways of Coping Withdrawing from friends or family. Using alcohol or drugs. Self-harm. Helpful Ways of Coping