Personality Psychology Practice Questions

This video covers 10 practice multiple choice questions on personality psychology and includes psychoanalytic and psychodynamic approaches, trait-based theories, projective techniques, and more. I hope this can help you to review your knowledge and understanding, let me know if you have any suggestions for future practice and review videos! Get a free PDF with the questions and answers here: Personality … Read More

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator – MBTI

In this video I describe the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, a personality assessment created by Isabel Briggs Myers and Katharine Cook Briggs. Despite its popularity in career counseling and corporate settings, the MBTI generally isn’t held in high regard by most personality researchers and has been heavily criticized for poor validity and reliability. I discuss several criticisms of the MBTI and … Read More

Self-Efficacy, Locus of Control, & Self-Perception

In this video I discuss self-efficacy, internal vs. external locus of control, and self-perception theory. I consider how these theories relate to the process of personality transformation and personal change. Don’t forget to subscribe to the channel to see future videos! Have questions or topics you’d like to see covered in a future video? Let me know by commenting or … Read More

The Self and Reciprocal Determinism

In this video I consider how we view ourselves and how biases, personal constructs, schema, and behavior interact in shaping personality. I provide an example of Albert Bandura’s reciprocal determinism for understanding the relationship between predisposition, the social environment, and behavior, which we will consider in more detail in the next video. Don’t forget to subscribe to the channel to … Read More

Humanistic Psychology: Abraham Maslow & Carl Rogers

In this video I provide a short introduction to the ideas of humanistic psychologists Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. Maslow and Rogers both emphasized the role of an intrinsic drive towards self-actualization, or fulfilling one’s greatest potential, in shaping an individual. Don’t forget to subscribe to the channel to see future videos! Have questions or topics you’d like to see … Read More

Existential Psychology

In this video I provide a (very) brief overview of existential psychology and how knowledge of our own mortality may play a role in shaping behaviors and societies. Don’t forget to subscribe to the channel to see future videos! Have questions or topics you’d like to see covered in a future video? Let me know by commenting or sending me … Read More

The Socio-Cognitive Approach to Personality

In this video I outline some of the major ideas for a socio-cognitive approach to personality, which emphasizes the role of cognition and the social world. I describe the importance of schema, Kelly’s “personal constructs”, Mischel’s “person variables”, and the difficulty of separating situational influence from personality traits (known as the person-situation controversy). Don’t forget to subscribe to the channel … Read More

Genes and Personality

In this video we take a basic look at how to understand the role of genes on personality and how evolution may shape traits and select for a range of variance in a trait rather than extremes. Don’t forget to subscribe to the channel to see future videos! Have questions or topics you’d like to see covered in a future … Read More

What Causes Trait Differences?

In this video we consider why traits might differ between people, beginning with the possible role of biological systems. Hans Eysenck suggested that introverts and extraverts differed in their levels of cortical arousal, resulting in different needs for stimulation that influence behavior. Next we look at the behavioral approach system and the behavioral inhibition system, two opposing systems of brain … Read More

Traits and Behavior

In this video I describe the relationship between scores on trait assessments and actual behaviors. As Walter Mischel demonstrated, the correlation between trait scores and behaviors is fairly low, but it’s important to keep in mind that traits describe tendencies, do not operate in isolation, and are also influenced by the situational context. I also describe how techniques such as … Read More