Title: Introduction to Personality | Boundless Psychology
Headings: Introduction to Personality
Introduction to Personality
Defining Personality
Learning Objectives
Key Takeaways
Key Points
Key Terms
Early Philosophical Roots
Approaches to Studying Personality
Genetics, the Brain, and Personality
Learning Objectives
Key Takeaways
Key Points
Key Terms
The Biological Perspective on Personality
Temperament
Genetics and Personality
The Brain and Personality
Phineas Gage: A Case Study
Strengths of the Biological Perspective
Limitations of the Biological Perspective
Influences of Culture and Gender on Personality
Learning Objectives
Key Takeaways
Key Points
Key Terms
Culture and Personality
Gender and Personality
Approaches to Studying Personality in a Cultural Context

Content: Are individuals generally more alike (similar to each other) or different (unique) in nature? Active versus reactive: Is human behavior passively shaped by environmental factors, or are humans more active in this role? Optimistic versus pessimistic: Are humans integral in the changing of their own personalities (for instance, can they learn and change through human interaction and intervention)? Approaches to Studying Personality
Research into these five philosophical questions has branched into several different approaches to studying personality. The major theories include the psychodynamic, neo-Freudian, learning (or behaviorist), humanistic, biological, trait (or dispositional), and cultural perspectives. Psychodynamic theory, originating with Sigmund Freud, posits that human behavior is the result of the interaction among various components of the mind (the id, ego, and superego) and that personality develops according to a series of psychosexual developmental stages. Sigmund Freud: Sigmund Freud advanced a psychodynamic view of human personality that implicated the id, ego, and superego as the main determinants of individual differences in personality.