Welcome to Psychology of Personality! u Please pick up a syllabus & index card from the front table and have a seat –On index card write: Name, year & major Psychology courses you have taken Why you are taking this course Something unusual/interesting about you

First Day Outline u 1. Syllabus u 2. Names, etc. u 3. Chapter 1

Personality Psychology An Introduction

Why Study Personality? u Understand people (and ourselves) –Predict how they (we) will behave –Helps us function effectively u Personality psychologists ask similar Qs but use different methods –Less bias and error

What is Personality? u Characteristics that account for consistent patterns of feeling, thinking, and behaving –Individual differences –Structure and process

Personality Theory u Value of theory –Systematizes observations/findings –Predicts new effects u Good theory –Comprehensiveness (bandwidth & fidelity) –Parsimony (# explained * importance) / # principles –Research relevance

What, How & Why? u Structure (what?) –Traits and types u Process (why?) –Motivation (reduce tension v. self-actualize) u Growth & development (how?) –Nature and nurture u Change

Important Issues u Internal v. external causes of behavior –Freud v. Skinner (Personality v. Social) u Consistency over time and situation –If not then what’s the use? u Cognition, affect and behavior –Which comes first?

Next Class: u Read Pervin & John Chapter 2 –Research Methods