The Behavioral Approach to Personality

Your personality consists of the behaviors you show

It is learned through reinforcement or punishment of particular response tendencies in different situations.

This view allows for personality change (thru learning) and showing different behaviors in different situations

Learning can occur thru observational learning, not just reward/punishment.

Personality is shaped not only by reward/punishment but also by our cogntions (beliefs, expectations, values, etc).

Personality is shaped by an interaction of 3 factors:

1. situations/environment

2. cognitive-personal factors (thoughts & feelings)

3. our behavior.

Bandura called this interaction "reciprocal determinism."

Your personality at a party depends not only on past reinforcements or punishments but what you expect to happen this time, how much you value that interaction, beliefs you might have about whether you should party or study, etc.

Your "self-efficacy" (sense of your ability in that situation) is one of the things influencing our expectations

Your "locus-of control" (degree to which you feel you can control or influence what happens you) is an example of how beliefs can influence behavior/personality

Emphasis on personal freedom in making choices, individual worth, and potential for personal growth and self-fulfillment

Reject the biological determinism & irrational unconscious forces of Freud’s psychodynamic theory as well as the behaviorist view that humans are shaped like rats in a Skinner box

Humans have many needs (physiological, psychological & growth needs) - we must satisfy basic needs before we can work on self-development and self-actualization.

Key Concepts:

Self-Concept - how we see ourselves

Real Self vs Ideal Self - what we think we are vs what we’d like to be

Positive Regard - acceptance, approval, love, positive feedback from important others

Positive self-concept and self-fulfillment are most likely in a genuine, accepting, and empathic environment.

Traits are relatively stable, consistent and enduring tendencies to behave in a particular way.

Early research by Gordon Allport - thousands of terms used to describe people

These are their "surface traits" - but maybe these are just different degrees of a much smaller number of "source traits"

Raymond Cattell whittled Allport’s list down to 171 & then finally 16 personality factors or dimensions

Eysenck & Eysenck - 2 key genetically influenced dimensions of personality (introversion/extroversion and emotional reactivity/not reactive ("neuroticism"). Later they added a 3rd dimension caring towards others/cold/uncaring ("psychoticism")

Five major categories of traits on which individuals vary:

Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness & Neuroticism (emotional reactivity)

Identical twins show much greater similar in personality traits & behavior than do fraternal twins - even if those identical twins are separated at birth

Data suggest that 41-51% of personality is inherited. In contrast relatively little (7%) seems to be due to parental practices/family experiences