Page 389 - Understanding Psychology

Purposes of Personality Theories
Reader’s Guide
Exploring Psychology
It’s in the Personality
Shelly and Deirdre both failed their semester examinations in psychology, but they reacted in very different ways. When Shelly saw her grade, she felt sick to her stomach and had to fight back tears. She rushed home, and shut herself up in her room to lie in bed, stare at the ceiling, and feel inadequate. Deirdre, on the
other hand, was all bluster. She ran to
the cafeteria to join her friends and make loud jokes about the stupid questions
on the test.
—from Understanding Psychology, Richard A. Kasschau, 1995
s Main Idea
Personality theories provide a way of organizing the many characteristics that people have.
s Vocabulary • personality
s Objectives
• Describe the major purposes of
personality theories.
• List the major schools of personality
theory.
Why did Shelly and Deirdre act so differently in similar situa- tions? There is something inside people that makes them think, feel, and act differently, and that something inside is what we mean by personality. When psychologists talk about aspects of personali- ty, most agree that personality consists of the consistent, enduring, and unique characteristics of a person.
PURPOSES OF THEORIES
The first purpose of personality theories is to provide a way of orga- nizing the many characteristics you know about yourself and other people. You know people may be outgoing or shy, bossy or meek, quick- tempered or calm, witty or dull, fun-loving or gloomy, industrious or lazy. These words describe general ways of behaving that characterize an indi- vidual. Personality theorists try to determine whether certain traits go
personality: the consistent, enduring, and unique character- istics of a person
Chapter 14 / Theories of Personality 375