Structure and definition of personality

Structure and Definition of Personality

Concepts of Personality

  • Personality can be defined as the consistent patterns of feeling, thinking, and behaving.
  • It refers to individual differences in these patterns.
  • The term is used in everyday language but in psychology, it has a more precise meaning.

Structural Perspectives of Personality

  • Freud’s structure of personality consists of three parts: the id, the ego, and the superego.
  • The id is driven by primitive urges and desires (the pleasure principle).
  • The ego seeks to satisfy the id’s desires in a social and realistic manner (the reality principle).
  • The superego incorporates societal standards and acts as the moral compass.

Trait Theory Perspective

  • In trait theory, personality is considered as a set of underlying traits.
  • These traits are enduring characteristics that influence our behaviour across many different contexts.
  • These traits include extraversion/introversion, neuroticism/stability, and psychoticism/normality.

Cognitive Perspective

  • Cognitive theorists believe our personality is shaped by our thoughts and perceptions.
  • They focus on cognitive processes, such as thoughts about self, interpretations of events, and beliefs about abilities.
  • They attribute differences in personality to variations in cognitive processing.

Behaviourist Perspective

  • Behaviourists believe our personality is learned through our interactions with the environment.
  • They focus on observable behaviour and reject the idea of internal thoughts and feelings.
  • According to behaviourists, change in behaviour leads to change in personality.

Humanistic Perspective

  • Humanistic theorists believe in the inherent goodness and potential of all humans.
  • They emphasise the importance of free will, personal growth, and striving towards self-actualisation.
  • Humanistic psychologists believe that an individual’s personality is ultimately shaped by their perceived reality.

Biology and Personality

  • Biological theories suggest that genetics are responsible for a large part of our ** inheritable traits**.
  • They propose that certain personality traits can be mapped to specific genetic markers.
  • They illustrate how genetic instructions interact with environmental conditions to shape the personality.

Understanding the different aspects and structural perspectives of personality can be essential in sports psychology, as they can help explain individual differences in sport participation and performance.