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Psychology Of Personality Paper

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Behaviour is partly governed by our intention to move towards a goal (Carver & Scheier, 2014). Intentions are formed through the belief that an action will lead to a particular outcome and that this outcome is desirable (attitude), not only to yourself, but also others (subjective norm). My goals for the Psychology of Personality unit are to contribute to group discussions (learning goal) and to keep up with my weekly content summaries (performance goal). To construct these goals, I had to believe contributing to group discussions will strengthen my understanding of the content, and that completing weekly content summaries will assist me in staying up to date and prepare for examinations. I also needed to believe these actions will result in …show more content…

Motives are related to an individual’s personality, as people naturally have more of one motive than others, which outlines motive dispositions, or dispositional needs. As a result of my personality traits, I have a high need for achievement, affiliation, and intimacy. Need for achievement means the desire to desire to succeed. Consequentially, I strive to perform well at university. Need for affiliation relates to the motivation to spend time with others and to form social ties. This motive is related to high scores in agreeableness and can be fulfilled by interacting with other students in class. The need for intimacy reflects the desire to experience warm social interactions and to feel close to others. Working in groups within the Personality of Psychology unit will provide an opportunity to work communally, which will also satisfy the need for affiliation if this results in new relationships.Often individuals will fail to achieve a goal as they have only formed an intention to meet a goal rather than planning how to achieve it (Gollwitzer & Brandsatter, 1997). Individuals may also choose the wrong strategies, without considering their personality. In regards to my performance goal, I will attend a weekly study group with the intention of completing readings and discussing the content. Outside of this study group, I will write up content summaries based on the textbook and lecture content. This plan will satisfy my need for affiliation, intimacy, and takes into account my high scores on openness and moderate scores on extraversion. While my need to interact with others will be satisfied, it will also conflict with my avoidant stress behaviour. That is, when I am stressed due to assignments, my initial reaction may be to stay at home and avoid attending the weekly study groups. Engaging in behaviour to achieve my performance

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