0/18/14 Ch. 15 Personality Ctd.

• Evaluating the Trait Perspective
• The Person-Situation Controversy Walter Mischel (1968, 1984, 2004) points out that traits may be enduring, but the resulting behavior in various situations is different. Therefore, traits are not good predictors of behavior.
• The Person-Situation Controversy
• Trait theorists argue that behaviors from a situation may be different, but average behavior remains the same.  Therefore, traits matter.
• Consistency of Expressive Style
• Expressive styles in speaking and gestures demonstrate trait consistency.  Observers are able to judge people's behavior and feelings in as little as 30 seconds and in one particular case as little as two seconds.
• Social- Cognitive Perspective
• Bandura (1986, 2001, 2005) believes that personality is the result of an interaction that takes place between a person and their social context.
• Individuals & Environments
• Specific ways in which individuals and environments interact
1. Different people choose different environments.
2. Our personalities shape how we react to events.
3. Our personalities shape situations.
• Behavior- Behavior emerges from an interplay of external and internal influences.
• Personal Control
• Social-cognitive psychologists emphasize our sense of personal control, whether we control the environment or the environment controls us.  External locus of control refers to the perception that chance or outside forces beyond our personal control determine our fate.  Internal locus of control refers to the perception that we can control our own fate. 
• Learned Helplessness
• When unable to avoid repeated adverse events an animal or human learns helplessness. 
• Optimism vs. Pessimism
• An optimistic or pessimistic attributional style is your way of explaining positive or negative events.  Positive psychology aims to discover and promote conditions that enable individuals and communities to thrive. 
• Positive Psychology and Humanistic Psychology
• Positive psychology, such as humanistic psychology, attempts to foster human fulfillment.  Positive psychology, in addition, seeks positive subjective well- being, positive character, and positive social groups. 
• Assessing Behavior in Situations- Social- Cognitive psychologists observe people in realistic and stimulated situations because they find that is it the best way to predict the behavior of others in similar situations. 
• Evaluating the Social- Cognitive Perspective
• The social- cognitive perspective on the personality sensitized researchers to the effects of situations on and by individuals.  It builds on learning and cognition research. Critics say that social- cognitive psychologists pay a lot of attention to the situation and pay less attention the the individual, his unconscious mind, his emotions, and his genetics.
• Exploring the self- Research on the self has a long history because the self organizes thinking, feelings, and actions and is a critical part of our personality.
1. Research focuses on the different selves we possess.  Some we dream and others we dread.
2. Research studies how we overestimate our concern that others evaluate our appearance, performance, and blunders (spotlight effect).
• Benefits of Self- Esteem
• Maslow and Rogers argued that a successful life results from a healthy self- image (self-esteem).  The following are two reasons why low self-esteem results in personal problems.
1. When self-esteem is deflated, we view ourselves and others critically.
2. Low self-esteem reflects reality, our failure in meeting challenges, or surmounting difficulties.
• Culture & Self-Esteem
• People maintain their self-esteem even with a low status by valuing things they achieve and comparing themselves to the people with similar positions. 
• Self-Serving Bias
• We accept responsibility for good deeds and successes more than for bad deeds and failures.  Defensive self-esteem is fragile and egotistic whereas secure self-esteem is less fragile and less dependent on external evaluation.