PSYCH 2B03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Nomothetic, Psychodynamics, Sigmund Freud
13 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Introduction to Personality
Lecture 1
• Major Issues in Personality:
o Nature vs. Nurture – genetics vs. environment/learning, we know that they
interact (like epigenetics where the environment/experiences before birth, right
after, and first 15 years of life determine which genes get turned on/off)
epigenetic changes/markers can get passed onto offspring
o What is ‘human nature’ – something shared by all human beings in common, but
what is it
o How does personality develop – most people are different from how they were
years ago, how does personality develop and get altered
o What motivates us – why we do what we do, our behavioural choices, we have
certain goals/wants and are motivated to reach those goals
o Conscious vs. unconscious – how much of who we are, are known to us? When
we do things that are out of character (that wasn’t me) could be from our
subconscious and we don’t know the motive for what we do
o Person vs. situation – are behaviours caused by our personality (shown more in
parties, with friends) or caused by what the situation demands from us (being in
class, funerals, weddings). To what extent and what situations are guided by
personality vs expectations/social/cultural demands of the situation
o Group vs. individual – why are individuals studied? Can be nomothetic (research
from these individuals can be generalized to the population, most researchers take
this approach) or idiographic (want to personally understand individuals as a
separate, unique person so we can help them in their everyday lives)
• Personality vs. Other Fields
o Personality theories are more global and general
▪ Theories are huge and understands everything about human behaviour,
cognition, and emotion (rather than theories are memory, perception, &
child development which focus on specific topics) very ambitious and tries
to understand everything
o Long history of interest
▪ Has been studied for over 2000 years. Most theories of psychology are
within a 100 years, but personality theories are ancient
o Many large-scale theories
▪ There are very many ambitious theories of personality, trying to
understand the same thing
o Theories don’t guide research
▪ Normally, theories guide research by providing a question/theory that can
be researched and studied to find an answer. Not the case for personality
theories
▪ Research in personality is less commonly guided by theory
o Theories generated/tested differently
▪ Normally, theories are guided by observing people, measuring patterns,
and then theory is developed → tested → applied in real life (if relevant)
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