Chapter 12 (tap to expand
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Legend
🟡 = most important (must-know)
⚪️ = less important (nice to know)
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🟡 1) What personality is (core idea)
🟡 2) Big chapter map (your outline)
🟡 3) Psychodynamic perspectives (what to look for)
🟡 4) Humanistic perspectives (what to look for)
🟡 5) Trait perspectives (what to look for)
🟡 6) Social-cognitive perspectives (what to look for)
🟡 7) Biological perspectives (what to look for)
🟡 8) Personality assessment (what to look for)
⚪️ 9) Personality + health/wellness (extra)
DONT WORRY TOO MUCH ABOUT THE EXCESS BELOW ITS JUST THE GROUNDWORK OR ORIGINAL
Chapter 12 contents (original notes)
Chapter 12 personality396
Chapter 12 Introduction396
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Chapter Outline
Psychodynamic Perspectives
Humanistic Perspectives
Trait Perspectives
Personological and Life Story Perspectives
Social Cognitive Perspectives
Biological Perspectives
Personality Assessment
Personality and Health and Wellness
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Betty Grebenschikoff and Ana María Wahrenberg met in ballet class when they were both 6 years old. These little girls became best friends and were as close as sisters when the rise of the Nazis in 1930s Germany pulled them apart. They hugged each good-bye in 1939 as their families fled—one to Chile and the other to China. Neither heard anything of the other's life for decades. Indeed, 82 years later, they both assumed the other had died. But all those years later, through the miracle of Zoom, they were reunited (Desantis, 2021). Imagine that moment—two elderly women, each 91 years old, meeting for the first time since seeing each other off when they were 9 years old. Their families were delighted to see that they immediately fell into the same friendship they had treasured as girls. Betty declared, “...we just picked up where we left off.” Laughing and enjoying each others' stories of their long and interesting lives, they treasured the moment when they might meet in person and share, at last, a hug—the fruition of a lifelong journey back to their best friend.
How is it possible that childhood friends could connect again so many years later, and just pick up where they left off? Age and life experiences can change us, but something about us endures throughout life. That “something” is personality, the focus of this chapter. ●
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Preview Personality psychology explores the psychological attributes that underlie who we really are—the unified and enduring core characteristics that account for our existence as a unique individual throughout the life span. In this chapter, we survey the field of personality from a variety of perspectives. We begin with classic theories from psychodynamic and humanistic thinkers and then examine more contemporary approaches, including the trait, life story, social cognitive, and biological perspectives. We then look at personality assessment. Finally, we consider the role of personality in health and wellness.
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Personality comprises a set of enduring characteristics that influence behavior. As such, personality affects many behaviors that impact physical health and psychological wellness, as we consider in this final section.
We first survey personality characteristics that are linked, respectively, to health and to illness.
Conscientiousness is not the sexiest personality trait, but it might well be the most important of the big five when it comes to longevity and healthy living (Friedman & Hampson, 2021; Turiano & others, 2015). A variety of studies show that conscientious people tend to do all the things that they are told are good for their health, such as getting regular exercise, avoiding drinking and smoking, wearing seatbelts, and checking smoke detectors (Hakulinen & others, 2015; O’Connor & others, 2009; Turiano & others, 2012). Conscientiousness is correlated with better health and lower stress (Jokela, 2018; Sutin & others, 2018). Conscientious people have a lower mortality risk than their counterparts who are less conscientious (Chapman & others, 2020; Turiano & others, 2015). A fascinating study found that teachers’ ratings of the responsibility and studiousness of elementary school students predicted a lower risk of death at age 52 (Spengler & others, 2016). In addition, one study showed that it is impossible to be too conscientious. Across a variety of important life outcomes, conscientiousness was never a negative influence (Nickel & others, 2018). In addition to their own healthy choices, conscientious people may also benefit from superior immune function, suggesting that at least some of the benefits of conscientiousness may be rooted in its genetic and physiological links (O'Súilleabháin & others, 2021).
Another personality characteristic associated with taking the right steps toward a long, healthy life is personal control. Feeling in control can reduce stress during difficult times and can lead to the development of problem-solving strategies to deal with hardship. Personal control has been linked to lower risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease because of its link to healthy behavior (Williams & others, 2016). Personal control has been related to emotional well-being, successful coping with a stressful event, healthy behavior change, and good health (Krampe & others, 2021; Stolz & others, 2020).
Self-efficacy is related to success in a wide variety of positive life changes, including achieving weight loss (Varkevisser & others, 2018), exercising regularly (Siow & others, 2018), quitting smoking (Warner & others, 2018), reducing substance abuse (Gause & others, 2018), and practicing safe sex (Safren & others, 2018). Evidence shows a link between self-efficacy and cardiovascular functioning following heart failure (Ha & others, 2018). People high in self-efficacy are not only less likely to suffer a second hospitalization due to heart failure but also more likely to live longer (Bachmann & others, 2015; Maeda & others, 2012; Sarkar & others, 2009).
If there is a problem to be fixed, self-efficacy—having a can-do attitude—is related to finding a solution. In one study, smokers were randomly assigned to one of three conditions. In the self-efficacy condition, participants were told they had been chosen for the study because they had great potential to quit smoking (Warnecke & others, 2001). Then they participated in a 14-week program on smoking cessation. In the treatment-alone condition, individuals participated in the 14-week smoking cessation program but were told that they had been randomly selected for it. In the no-treatment control condition, individuals did not participate in the smoking cessation program. At the end of the 14 weeks, individuals in the self-efficacy condition were more likely to have quit smoking than their counterparts in the other two conditions. The Psychological Inquiry shows the results.
The figure shows the results of the study on self-efficacy and smoking cessation (Warnecke & others, 2001). Smokers were randomly assigned to one of three conditions—self-efficacy, treatment alone, and no treatment. Notice that the Y, or vertical, axis shows the dependent variable, the percentage of participants who quit smoking. The X, or horizontal, axis shows the independent variable, the groups to which participants were assigned. Try your hand at answering the following questions.
