Definition and goals of personality psychology

Summary

Personality psychology is a branch of psychology that studies personality and how it varies across individuals. Its goals include describing what personality is, documenting how personalities develop, explaining the mental processes that shape personality and how those processes influence functioning, and providing a framework for understanding individuals. Personality is typically viewed as a dynamic and organized set of characteristics that uniquely influences how people think, feel, motivate themselves, and behave across situations. A central aim of personality psychology is to explain why people differ psychologically, including how internal psychological mechanisms interact with environmental and situational influences. Researchers also distinguish between approaches that seek general laws applicable to many people (nomothetic) and approaches that focus on understanding the unique aspects of particular individuals (idiographic). The field draws on multiple theoretical traditions (e.g., trait/dispositional, psychodynamic, humanistic, biological, behaviorist, evolutionary, and social learning) and often uses empirical methods such as factor-analytic, dimensional models, alongside applied work like personality testing.

Key Points

• 1

  Personality psychology aims to define personality, explain its development, and clarify how personality-related mental processes affect behavior and functioning.

• 2

  The field uses both nomothetic approaches (general laws) and idiographic approaches (individual uniqueness), drawing on multiple theoretical traditions and empirical methods.

• 3

  Applied personality testing is a major emphasis, using both projective and objective assessment methods.