© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

The Personality PuzzleSixth Edition

by David C. Funder

Chapter 19: Conclusion: Looking Back and Looking

Ahead

Slides created byTera D. LetzringIdaho State University 1

Objectives

• Discuss the different approaches to personality that have been discussed, including why there are so many

• Identify some general lessons about personality

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The Different Approaches

• Because we can’t account for everything about a whole person at the same time– Each approach focuses on a few key concerns and

ignores everything else

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The Different Approaches

• Which one is right?– The approaches pose different questions.

• A better criterion for evaluating a psychological approach is whether it offers a way to seek an answer to a question you feel is worthwhile.

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The Different Approaches

• No single approach accounts for everything.– This might be a good thing.– A single approach would be unwieldy, confusing,

incoherent, and incomplete.– Alternative viewpoints keep us open-minded.

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The Different Approaches

• Choosing a basic approach – What do you want to understand?– Which approach is most interesting to you?– Best potential for doing interesting work

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The Different Approaches

• Reasons for maintaining an awareness of alternative approaches– Avoid arrogance– Understanding for evaluating alternative

approaches– Deal with phenomenon that do not fit your

preferred approach– Have a chance to change your mind– Be able to integrate a few approaches

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What Have We Learned?

• Cross-situational consistency and aggregation• The biological roots of personality• The unconscious mind• Free will and responsibility• The nature of happiness

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What Have We Learned?

• Behavioral change• Culture and personality• Construals• The fine, uncertain, and important line

between normal and abnormal

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The Quest for Understanding

• To learn about someone, watch and listen to what they do and say

• Determine correctness by trying to explain and predict behavior– “Personality psychology is, in the final analysis, a quest for mutual understanding” (p. 697).

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Think About It

• Is personality psychology really a science, and how can you tell? Is its scientific status important?

• What are your favorite and least favorite approaches to personality? Why?

• How is personality psychology relevant to understanding (a) your own daily life, (b) social problems, and (c) human nature?

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Think About It

• What do you now know about people that you didn’t know before?

• What do you think you will remember from this course?

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Clicker Question #1

Which approach(es) to personality is/are correct?a) social learningb) humanisticc) psychoanalytic and behaviorald) It is not possible to answer this question.

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Clicker Question #2The fact that no single approach can account for everything means that personality psychologistsa)will never be able to understand behavior.b)need to continue to work to develop a unifying theory.c)are forced to be open-minded by acknowledging that there are alternative viewpoints.d)have not been successful scientists.

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Clicker Question #3

In order to understand another person, youa)should collect as much of different kinds of information as possible.b)should collect as much of one kind of information as possible.c)have to ask the person to tell you about himself.d)have to observe the person’s behavior.

15© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.