Section 2.

1 Personality
Personality

Objectives

Name five traits that are used to define

personality.
Identify two factors that determine how your
personality develops.
Describe what happens to personality over
a lifetime.

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Section 2.1 Personality

Quick Quiz For each pair of adjectives, rate yourself on a scale from 1 to
5. For example, if cautious describes you perfectly, pick 1. If adventurous
is perfect, pick 5. Otherwise, pick 2, 3, or 4.

Use an example from your life to support the rating you chose
for one of the adjective pairs.
Switch to QuickTake version of the quiz.

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Section 2.1 Personality

Describing Personality
• Each person has a unique personality.

• Your personality consists of the behaviors, attitudes, feelings,

and ways of thinking that make you an individual.
• A psychologist studies how people think, feel, and behave.

• Many researchers use five central traits to describe peoples’

personalities
• extroversion • emotional stability
• agreeableness • openness to experiences
• conscientiousness

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Section 2.1 Personality

Extroversion
• This trait describes how much you like being with
other people.
• An extrovert tends to be outgoing, talkative,
and sociable.
• An introvert tends to be shy, quiet, and reserved.

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Section 2.1 Personality

Agreeableness
• This trait describes your tendency to relate to other
people in a friendly way.
• People who are agreeable tend to cooperate
with others.
• People who are disagreeable tend to be suspicious
or hostile.

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Section 2.1 Personality

Conscientiousness
• This trait describes how responsible and self-
disciplined you are.
• Conscientious people tend to be dependable and
make good decisions.
• On the other end of the scale are people who do not
think through decisions, are careless, and easily
distracted.

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Section 2.1 Personality

Emotional Stability
• People who are emotionally stable tend to be
relaxed, secure, and calm, even during difficult
situations.
• On the other end of the scale are people who are
fearful, worried, and angry.

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Section 2.1 Personality

Openness to Experiences
• People who are open to new experiences tend to be
curious, imaginative, and creative.
• People who are less open tend to be more
predictable and less independent.

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Section 2.1 Personality

How Personality Forms

Personality traits are influenced by a combination of
heredity and environment.

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Section 2.1 Personality

Heredity
Infants are born with distinct tendencies to act in
certain ways.
• Traits such as cheerfulness and shyness may be
inherited.
• Talents such as musical and artistic abilities may be
inherited.

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Section 2.1 Personality

Environment
Heredity is only half the picture. Your family, your
friends, and your cultural group are important parts of
your environment. They all have an influence on your
personality.

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Section 2.1 Personality

For: More on personality

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Section 2.1 Personality

Stages of Personality Development

Personality develops throughout life as people meet a
series of challenges.

Develop Trust Search for Identity

Learn to be Independent Establish Intimacy

Take Initiative Create and Nurture

Develop Skills Look Back With

Acceptance

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Section 2.1 Personality

Stages of Personality Development

Develop Trust If needs are met, the
child learns to trust other people. If
needs are not met, the child learns
mistrust and may withdraw from others.

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Section 2.1 Personality

Stages of Personality Development

Learn to Be Independent This is the
stage when young children learn to do
things on their own. If children fail to
master these tasks, they develop
self-doubt.

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Section 2.1 Personality

Stages of Personality Development

Take Initiative During this stage,
children start to plan their
own activities. If children are harshly
scolded for poor initiatives, they may
feel unworthy, guilty, or resentful.

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Section 2.1 Personality

Stages of Personality Development

Develop Skills These skills make
children feel competent—capable of
achieving their goals. Without skills,
a child may feel like a failure.

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Section 2.1 Personality

Stages of Personality Development

Search for Identity As a teenager,
your main challenge is a search for
identity or a sense of self.

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Section 2.1 Personality

Stages of Personality Development

Establish Intimacy As a young adult,
your challenge will be to establish close
bonds with others.

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Section 2.1 Personality

Stages of Personality Development

Create and Nurture During middle
adulthood, people need to stay
productive and creative in all parts of
their life.

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Section 2.1 Personality

Stages of Personality Development

Look Back With Acceptance
During older adulthood, people reflect
on their lives.

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Section 2.1 Personality

Vocabulary
personality A set of behaviors, attitudes, feelings, and ways
of thinking that are unique to an individual.
psychologist A person who studies how people think, feel,
and behave.
modeling Learning how to behave by copying the
behavior of others.
peer group A group of people who are about the same age
and share similar interests.
identity A sense of self.

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Section 2.1 Personality

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Section 2.1 Personality

End of Section 2.1

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