Personality Psychology

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Summary, integration, and a look toward the future

Chapter Outline

Summary and Possible Future Directions

Introduction

Personality psychologists seek to understand the whole of personality
However, understanding the whole may be impossible
Instead, the difficult task of understanding the whole person is best approached by breaking personality into its parts or domains

Current Status of the Field

Personality psychologists doing research today focus on specific components or domains of knowledge about personality
Starting about 50 years ago, personality psychologists began turning away from grand theories of personality (e.g., Freud's psychoanalysis)
Whole of personality is the sun of its parts, and the understanding of the parts will provide an understanding of the whole

Domains of Knowledge: Where We've Been, Where We're Going

Core assumption of biological is that humans are biological systems
Concerns factors within the body that influence or are related to personality
Biological domain refers to the physical elements and biological systems in body that influence or are influenced by our behaviors, thoughts, and feelings
Area likely to be active in the future is psychology of approach and avoidance
More emphasis on genetic influences on personality, as well as work by genetic researchers identifying environmental influences on personality
Personality research will continue on genetic influences at the molecular level
Evolutionary perspectives will continue to gain in importance, adding a new layer of questions and insight to personality

Concerns factors within the mind that influence behavior, thoughts, and feelings—many of these influences are argued to operate at the unconscious level
Psychologists will continue to be interested in the idea that people can have thoughts outside of conscious awareness
Topic of repressed memories also is likely to receive attention by researchers and clinicians

Concerns aspects of personality that are stable and make people different from each other
Trait psychologists will continue to focus on interaction of persons and situations
Trait psychologists will continue to lead the way in developing new methods for measuring personality characteristics and new statistics for evaluating personality research
Search will continue for traits not yet identified by lexical and statistical strategies of identifying individual differences

Concerns subjective experiences and other mental process
Psychologists are likely to continue to focus attention on self-concept and identity
Likely that psychologists will incorporate the idea that identity is like a story, and that the narrative approach will continue to be part of personality psychology
Psychologists will continue to investigate the notion that people construct their experiences, how this works, and what it tells us about personality
Goal concepts and emotions will continue to be important within personality psychology

Personality does not reside merely in the heads, nervous systems, and genes of people
Rather, personality affects, and is affected by, significant others in our lives
At the cultural level, groups differ tremendously from one another
Different cultures may evoke different facets of personality
Study of culture and cross-cultural difference and similarities will continue to grow in personality psychology
Whatever their origins, gender differences will continue to be of compelling interest to personality psychologists

Personality plays a key role in how we cope, adapt, and adjust to the ebb and flow of events in life
Personality is linked with important health outcomes, health-related behaviors, and even how long we live
Shift in personality psychology toward looking at the role of positive emotions
Psychologists will continue to apply the trait approach to understanding personality disorders

Integration: Personality in the New Millennium

Domains of knowledge are complementary, not conflicting
The different domains seek answers to different questions
Real action in personality research will be at boundaries of domains
Progress in personality will depend on researchers' willingness and ability to reach across domains

2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education

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