Teaching personality and abnormal psychology with inclusivity.

Abstract

P sychology portrays human beings as unique, with different personality characteristics dimensionally categorized, such as introverted or extroverted, loud or quiet, optimistic or pessimistic, and thoughtful or impulsive. "Acceptable" characteristics are considered "optimal," whereas problematic characteristics are labeled "abnormal," demonstrating an etic bias. We challenge these assumptions by addressing societal and cultural influences on individuals (Lee, 2012) and the saliency of language-based descriptors within different groups (Cortina, Curtin, & Stewart, 2012). In this chapter, we each offer our experiences teaching personality and abnormal psychology, as well as pedagogical issues and challenges in doing so.