CHAPTER 2.1
Personality
PERSONALITY
Personality- consists of the behaviors,
attitudes, feelings, and ways of thinking that
make you an individual.
 Examples of personalities:







Outgoing
Shy
Laid back
Optimistic
Cheerful
Angry
PERSONALITY
A psychologist studies how people think, feel,
and behave. They have developed 5 central traits
for behavior, reactions to others, and reactions to
change.
 5 Traits






Extroversion
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
Emotional Stability
Openness to experiences
EXTROVERSION
Extroversion describes how much an individual
likes being with other people.
 An extrovert leans more towards being talkative,
outgoing, and very sociable.
 An introvert is more shy, quiet, or reserved.

AGREEABLENESS
Agreeableness describes your tendency to relate
to others in a friendly way.
 Agreeable people tend to cooperate more and are
honest and trustworthy individuals.
 Disagreeable people are usually suspicious and
hostile. They tend to think that others are
unreliable and will take advantage of them.

CONSCIENTIOUSNESS
Conscientiousness describes how responsible and
self-disciplined you are.
 People with this trait tend to be more dependable
and make good decisions. They are organized,
deliberate, and thorough in their tasks.
 Those who are not conscientious are people who
do not think through decisions, are careless, and
easily distracted. They often give up on tasks or
do not see them through to the end.

EMOTIONAL STABILITY
Emotionally stable people tend to be more
relaxed, secure, and calm. They are able to make
sound decisions in difficult situations and focus
more on the positive side of things.
 People who are not emotionally stable tend to be
fearful, worried, or angry, and mostly focus on
the negative side of situations.

OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCES
People who are open to new experiences tend to
be curious, imaginative, creative, and are likely
to have a wide range of interests.
 People are less open to new experiences tend to
be more predictable and less independent. They
are likely to do what everyone else is doing.

HOW PERSONALITY FORMS
Personality traits are influenced by a
combination of heredity and environment.
 Traits that are influenced by heredity are
inherited. They can be anything from being shy
to outgoing. Identical twins almost always share
many traits. These can be influenced by your
environment as well.
 Environmental factors that shape traits are:

Family
 Friends
 Culture

ENVIRONMENT
Family- Children learn about feelings, attitudes
and appropriate behaviors from family members.
This is called modeling.
 Friends- If your peer group models healthy
behaviors, such as cooperation, the group can
have a positive influence on your personality.
 Culture- Some cultures expect their people to act
or behave a certain way. Example- Some
cultures may be more reserved, whereas others
may be more public with their emotions.

ERIK ERIKSON’S 8 STAGES OF
PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
Develop Trust
 Learn to be Independent
 Take Initiative
 Develop Skills
 Search for Identity, or sense of self.
 Establish Intimacy
 Create and Nurture
 Look Back with Acceptance
