103 Making Connections (IntroPSYC and Applications): Personality
By Meghan E. Norris and Riley J.T. Bonar
Welcome to our unit on personality! “Personality” is a term that is used in various ways in everyday language, but in psychological science, “personality” is the term used to study the broad field of individual differences.
When thinking about the study of personality, it is helpful to consider the concepts of “state” and “trait.” In the context of the psychological science of personality, “state” typically refers to a temporary period of being. “Trait,” on the other hand, typically refers to a generally enduring way of being that is relatively consistent across contexts. For example, imagine Jan is running a child education program. Jan needs to get the attention of 30 kids and does so by loudly clapping and stomping their feet. From this scenario, we do not know if Jan is generally outgoing and comfortable clapping and stomping, or if Jan is not generally outgoing and displayed these behaviours to capture the attention of kids. If Jan is generally outgoing, and is outgoing across various contexts, we would infer that this is a personality trait. If Jan is usually quiet and reserved but needed to capture the attention of kids in this moment, we would infer that this is a state display of behaviours, required to meet the needs of the current situation .
Lots of constructs may be studied under the broad theme of personality. Many are familiar with “The Big 5,” sometimes referred to as “OCEAN.” The Big 5 represent traits of Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. You will learn more about these traits in the coming readings. There are of course other traits (relatively stable and enduring aspects of people) that can be studied. You will also learn about some of these! You will also learn about the power of the situation: just because someone may have a general trait does not mean they will always act in accordance with that trait.
If the study of personality is of interest to you, we invite you to watch this optional video with Dr. Brian Litte. Dr. Little is a personality psychologist, and Professor Emitertus from Carleton University. In this short video, Dr. Little provides an overview of the study of personality. He talks about many interesting applications of personality in applied contexts, including talking about the impact of personality and sexual behaviours, workplace behaviours, and communication behaviours.
As we explore topics such as personality and individual differences, you may find yourself asking about whether these concepts generalize to cultures outside of North America. In the Department of Psychology at Queen’s University, Dr. Li-Jun Ji is a Social Psychologist who explores relationships between culture and cognition. She is particularly interested in cultural impacts on thinking and reasoning (as broadly defined), and the implications for social cognition.
References
Little, B. (2016, July). Who are you, really? The puzzle of personality [Video]. TED. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYvXk_bqlBk
How to cite this using APA Style:
Norris, M. E., & Bonar, R. J. T. (2026). Making connections (IntroPSYC and applications): Personality. In PSYC 100: Principles of psychology. eCampusOntario. https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/testbookje/chapter/making-connections-intropsyc-and-applications-personality/
