Day 21 - Personality

Learning Targets - Students will be able to 

• Analyze the trait approach and how it identifies a person’s most striking personality characteristics 

Opener - Choose 3 words that you believe most accurately describe your personality.  If you need inspiration, you can look here:

http://ideonomy.mit.edu/essays/traits.html

Activity #1 - Getting personal - Mini-lecture

• Personality is defined as an individual’s consistent patterns of feeling, thinking, and behaving

• If we can draw accurate generalizations about what other people are normally like, we can predict how they will behave in the future, and this can help us determine how they are likely to respond in different situations.

• Understanding personality can also help us better understand psychological disorders and the negative behavioral outcomes they may produce.

• Early theories assumed that personality was expressed in people’s physical appearance. 

• Phrenology, was based on the idea that we could measure personality by assessing the patterns of bumps on people’s skulls

• Somatology, was based on the idea that we could determine personality from people’s body types 

• William Herbert Sheldon (1940) argued that people with more body fat and a rounder physique (endomorphs) were more likely to be assertive and bold, whereas thinner people (ectomorphs) were more likely to be introverted and intellectual.

• Traits, which are relatively enduring characteristics that influence our behavior across many situations. Personality traits such as introversion, friendliness, conscientiousness, honesty, and helpfulness are important because they help explain consistencies in behavior.

• The most popular way of measuring traits is by administering personality tests on which people self-report about their own characteristics.

Five-Factor (Big Five) Model of Personality. According to this model, there are five fundamental underlying trait dimensions that are stable across time, cross-culturally shared, and explain a substantial proportion of behavior

Table 12.2 The Five Factors of the Five-Factor Model of Personality.

Dimension	Sample items	Description	Examples of behaviors predicted by the trait
Openness to experience	“I have a vivid imagination”; “I have a rich vocabulary”; “I have excellent ideas.”	A general appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, imagination, curiosity, and variety of experience	Individuals who are highly open to experience tend to have distinctive and unconventional decorations in their home. They are also likely to have books on a wide variety of topics, a diverse music collection, and works of art on display.
Conscientiousness	“I am always prepared”; “I am exacting in my work”; “I follow a schedule.”	A tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully, and aim for achievement	Individuals who are conscientious have a preference for planned rather than spontaneous behavior.
Extraversion	“I am the life of the party”; “I feel comfortable around people”; “I talk to a lot of different people at parties.”	The tendency to experience positive emotions and to seek out stimulation and the company of others	Extraverts enjoy being with people. In groups they like to talk, assert themselves, and draw attention to themselves.
Agreeableness	“I am interested in people”; “I feel others’ emotions”; “I make people feel at ease.”	A tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious and antagonistic toward others; reflects individual differences in general concern for social harmony	Agreeable individuals value getting along with others. They are generally considerate, friendly, generous, helpful, and willing to compromise their interests with those of others.
Neuroticism	“I am not usually relaxed”; “I get upset easily”; “I am easily disturbed”	The tendency to experience negative emotions, such as anger, anxiety, or depression; sometimes called “emotional instability”	Those who score high in neuroticism are more likely to interpret ordinary situations as threatening and minor frustrations as hopelessly difficult. They may have trouble thinking clearly, making decisions, and coping effectively with stress.

Activity #2 - Personality Inventory - Personality Inventory and Individual Reflection

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp

Questions for reflection:


1.  How accurate would you rate this test in describing how you see yourself (1-10 with 10 being most accurate)?  BRIEFLY EXPLAIN.

2.  Explain why knowing your personality type might be useful?

3.  Do you think that you could ever accurately take this test for someone else?  Why or why not?

4.  To what degree can self-administered test ever be accurate or trustworthy?  Why might the test taker be less than honest when taking the test?


Other personality tests

http://www.personalitytest.net/ipip/ipipneo300.html
https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test

Close - Post at least 2 questions here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iKDtCmP_Q4AHlAjd2APb2qjx2U2xTSgqM71Hmvl9KK4/edit?usp=sharing

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