Introductory Lecture

The introductory lecture is an interview with Dr. Peterson discussing the big picture behind the course and its origins. These lectures are the result of years of research, thought, debate, and intellectual refinement. He also speaks about what you will learn in the course and why it is valuable in the present day.

“You spend a tremendous amount of your time engaging with other people. You need to understand what they’re like, and you need to understand what you’re like. People are actually quite different. If you know what the differences are, that means you can cooperate with them better, and compete with them better, and all of that’s positive

Lecture 1

This lecture introduces the philosophical and psychological underpinnings of personality theory and why you should learn about personality.

Dr. Peterson argues that personalities are evolved solutions to the problem of a highly complex world. Our personalities are the filters of our perception, cognition, and motivation influencing our actions in the world.

Lecture 2

This lecture introduces the five-factor model, which will form the basis of the course.

“The concept of grit, for example, is essentially the same as conscientiousness, meaning it doesn’t measure anything you can’t get from conscientiousness. The concept of self-esteem is positive emotion (extraversion) minus negative emotion (neuroticism).”

lecture 3

Learn about the first of the Big Five personality traits: Extraversion. Extraversion is responsible for our positive emotions.

Our positive and negative emotional systems tell us how happy we should be if things are going well and how upset we should be when things are going wrong.

Lecture 4

This lecture introduces the personality dimension of neuroticism, which describes a person’s tendency to experience negative emotion.

Dr. Peterson discusses the consequences of excessive negative emotion, how negative emotion manifests in childhood, and strategies for overcoming depression and anxiety.

Lecture 5

This lecture is about the personality trait agreeableness. High agreeableness is associated with maternal care, while low agreeableness is linked with competitive behaviour. Is one better than the other?

“There is an obvious language bias that makes it sound like being agreeable is better, but there are pronounced advantages and disadvantages to being at any point on the spectrum.”

Lecture 6

In this lecture, you will learn about the gender differences in personality, and the sociological, political, and economic ramifications of these differences.

You’ll also learn about the nature-nurture debate as it pertains to gender differences in personality.

Lecture 7

Discover how conscientiousness shapes your life and your career and why it’s historically the biggest predictor of modern day success.

Learn why conscientious people are more sensitive to disgust and the fascinating sociopolitical ramifications of this association.

Learn about the role conscientiousness plays in your career and the business world.

Lecture 8

Learn about openness to experience, the personality trait related to creativity, curiosity and interest in ideas.

You will also learn about the distribution of IQ, creativity, and openness to experience in the population, and the social implications that follow.