3 Character and personality: the lens of psychology
The focus on both the ‘internal’ or dispositional factors versus the ‘external’ or situational factors in creating characters in fiction has an interesting parallel with psychological theories regarding personality. A key aspect of psychological study has been to try and determine what differs between people and makes one individual distinctive from another (psychologists refer to this as ‘individual differences’).
Activity 4 What makes people tick?
To explore your own theories about personality, try to answer the following questions:
A. Think of the last time you were late for something (e.g. work, an appointment, a bus/train or meeting someone). Which of the following is the best description of the main reason you were late? Put an ‘X’ in the right-hand column.
| 1. You had too much to do and too little time to do it. | |
| 2. You are not very good at planning your time. | |
| 3. Events conspired against you, causing delays. | |
| 4. You are not really fussed about being late, so tend to take your time getting ready and setting off. |
B. Think of the last time you won in a competitive situation (e.g. a board game, a race, a game of tennis or golf, an online game). Which of the following is the best description of the main reason for your success?
| 1. It was mostly good luck as everything just seemed to go your way. | |
| 2. The result was because of your own skill and talents. | |
| 3. It was mostly due to the mistakes made by your competitor(s). | |
| 4. Although you don’t like to brag, on this occasion you were just better than your competitor(s). |
C. Imagine you are at a social gathering. You notice someone who seems to be avoiding contact with the other people there. What do you think the most likely explanation for this is?
| 1. They have had a tough day and are struggling to find the energy to socialise. | |
| 2. They are an unfriendly person that prefers their own company. | |
| 3. They had some bad news on the way to the gathering, which they are still thinking about rather than talking to others. | |
| 4. They are a shy person that can find it difficult to talk to others. |
D. You are at a restaurant. The person serving you takes a long time to come to your table and then is not polite when they finally do show up. What do you think the most likely explanation for this is?
| 1. The people at the two previous tables they served were rude and abusive, so they needed a few minutes to calm their nerves and are still feeling upset. | |
| 2. They are probably quite a rude person generally. | |
| 3. They dropped a plate in the kitchen, and cleaning it up delayed them, plus the head chef shouted at them leaving them feeling anxious. | |
| 4. They are probably quite an arrogant person that does not think they need to be punctual or nice to their clients. |
Comment
Look back at the answers you gave. For each question, answers 1 and 3 described situational factors while answers 2 and 4 described dispositional factors. The first two questions were about you; did you tend to provide a situational or dispositional explanation? The last two questions were about other people; did you tend to provide a situational or dispositional explanation? If your answers about yourself were different to your answers about someone else, why do you think that might be? You will come back to this question later this week.