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Personality

An Introduction

Sheldon

Personality

Personality - A unique pattern of consistent feelings, thoughts,and behaviors that originate within the individual.

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Freudian Classical Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality

Developed by Sigmund Freud in the late nineteenth century and continued until his death in 1939 Believed sex was a primary cause of

emotional problems and was a critical component of his personality theory

Remains an important influence in Western culture especially pop culture

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Freud’s Three Levels of Awareness

1. The conscious mind is what you are presently aware of, what you are thinking about right now

2. The preconscious mind is stored in your memory that you are not presently aware of but can gain access to

3. The unconscious mind is the part of our mind of which we cannot become aware

4. Freudian slips

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Freud’s Three-Part Personality Structure

Id

Ego

Superego

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The Id (The Devil)

Is the original personality, the only part present at birth. Resides in the unconscious mind Includes our biological instinctual drives:

Life instincts (EROS) for survival, reproduction, and pleasure

Death instincts, (THANATOS) destructive and aggressive drives detrimental to survival: VIOLENCE both to oneself and others

Operates on a pleasure principle -demands immediate gratification for these drives without the concern for the consequences of this gratification

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The Superego (The Angel)

Represents one’s conscience and idealized standards of behavior in their culture Operates on a morality principle, threatening to

overwhelm us with guilt and shame if we misbehave

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The Ego (The Decider/Mediator)

Starts developing during the first year or so of life to find realistic and socially-acceptable outlets for the id’s needs Operates on the reality principle, finding

gratification for instinctual drives within the constraints of reality (the norms and laws of society)

Makes decisions based on the desires of the id and the morality of the superego.

To prevent being overcome with anxiety because of trying to satisfy the id and superego demands, the ego uses what Freud called…

Defense mechanisms - processes that distort reality and protect us from anxiety

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Defense Mechanisms

Repression Unknowingly placing an unpleasant memory or thought in the unconscious so that we are not anxious about them; the primary defense mechanism

Not remembering a traumatic incident in which you witnessed a crime

Regression Reverting back to immature behavior from an earlier stage of development

Throwing temper tantrums as an adult when you don’t get your way

Displacement Redirecting unacceptable feelings from the original source to a safer substitute target

Taking your anger toward your boss out on your spouse or children by yelling at them and not your boss

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Defense Mechanisms

Sublimation Replacing socially unacceptable impulses with socially acceptable behavior

Channeling aggressive drives into playing football or inappropriate sexual desires into art

Reaction Formation

Acting in exactly the opposite way to one’s unacceptable impulses

Being overprotective of and lavishing attention on an unwanted child

Projection Attributing one’s own unacceptable feelings and thoughts to others and not yourself

Accusing your boyfriend of cheating on you because you have felt like cheating on him

Rationalization Creating false excuses for one’s unacceptable feelings, thoughts, or behavior

Justifying cheating on an exam by saying that everyone else cheats

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Freud’s Psychosexual Stage Theory

Was developed chiefly from his own childhood memories and from his interactions with his patients.

An erogenous zone is the area of the body where the id’s pleasure-seeking psychic energy is focused during a particular stage of psychosexual development

Fixation occurs when a portion of the id’s pleasure-seeking energy remains in a stage because of excessive gratification or frustration of our instinctual needs.

Educational Video

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Five Psychosexual Stages

Oral Stage (birth – 18 months)Oral Stage (birth – 18 months)

Anal Stage (18 months – 3 years)Anal Stage (18 months – 3 years)

Phallic Stage (3 – 6 years)Phallic Stage (3 – 6 years)

Latency Stage (6 years – puberty)Latency Stage (6 years – puberty)

Genital Stage (puberty – adulthood)Genital Stage (puberty – adulthood)

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Freud’s Psychosocial States of Personality Development

Stage (age range) Erogenous Zone Activity Focus

Oral (birth - 1½ years) Mouth, lips, and tongue

Sucking, biting, and chewing

Anal (1½ - 3 years) Anus Bowel retention and elimination

Phallic (3 - 6 years) Genitals Identifying with same-sex parent to learn gender role and sense of morality

Latency (6 years - puberty)

None Cognitive and social development

Genital (puberty - adulthood)

Genitals Mature sexual orientation and experience of intimate relationships

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Potty Training

Parents try to get the child to have self-control during toilet training If the child reacts to harsh toilet training by trying to get

even with the parents by withholding bowel movements, an anal-retentive personality with the traits of orderliness, neatness, stinginess, and obstinacy develops

The anal-expulsive personality develops when the child rebels against the harsh training and has bowel movements whenever and wherever he desires

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Identification

In the process of identification, the child adopts the characteristics of the same-sexed parents and learns their gender role (the set of behaviors expected of someone of a particular sex)

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Phallic Stage Conflicts

In the Oedipus conflict, the little boy becomes sexually attracted to his mother and fears the father (his rival) will find out and castrate him

Family Guy In the Electra conflict, the little girl is

attracted to her father because he has a penis; she wants one and feels inferior without one (penis envy)

Big Bang

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Evaluation of Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality

So, was Freud right about the Id, Ego, Superego, and defense mechanisms?

First, you’ll need to remember that Freud was practicing in the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s.

Recent research contradicts many of Freud theories.

Freud believed that sexual repression caused vast psychological disorder.

Well….that has been proven to be false on many counts.

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SUBLIMINAL ADVERTISING

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Neo-Freudian Theories of Personality

Agree with many of Freud’s basic ideas, but differ in one or more important ways

Carl Jung’s Collective

Unconscious

Alfred Adler’s Striving for Superiority

Karen Horneyand the

Need for Security

Neo-Freudian thoughts

Many of Freud’s followers joined the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society.

This society, led by Freud, focused on Freud’s view of personality.

Freud disagreed strongly with anyone who challenged his views.

Several members of the group, left to form their own views of personality (schools, associations).

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Neo-freudian criticisms of Freud’s theory:

1.Rejected idea that adult personality is completely formed by 5- or 6-years old.

2.Argued that Freud’s focused too much on biological instincts/nature and ignored social factors/nurture.

3.Rejected overall negative tone of Freud’s theories.

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Carl Jung (1875-1961) Born in Switzerland, the son of a

Protestant Minister, Jung was a quiet, introspective child who kept to himself.

Pondered the nature of dreams & visions he experienced.

Jung earned his M.D. degree in 1900 & went on to study schizophrenia, consciousness, & hypnosis.

He became interested in Freud after reading The Interpretation of Dreams.

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More about Jung

Jung & Freud met in 1907 & became close colleagues.

Jung formally left Freud’s group in 1913.

Jung spent the next 7 years in intense introspection—led to his theory of personality.

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Carl JUNG: The Collective Unconscious

There are common themes & experiences that all people in all cultures experience.

These give every individual a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species’ history. Every human is born with these

Example: Spirituality and God beliefs are found in every culture and person.

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The collective unconscious is made up of archetypes.

These are emotionally charged images and thought forms that have universal meaning.

These are not individual memories but are passed along in our DNA.

Example: The mother archetype

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The collective unconscious is made up of archetypes .

These are the universal symbolic images of a particular person, object, or experience.

Example: the archetype of mother is in the child’s collective unconscious.

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Mythology: Common themes across cultures (ancient, recent)

If you look throughout all human history you can identify these following themes:

Hero & heroine

(Luke or Leia) Villain

(Darth Vader) Naïve youth & wise old-sage

(Luke and Obi-Wan)

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Shadow – Our dark side

This is the unconscious part of ourselves that is negative.

Jung argued you couldn’t have good without evil.

This concept is found throughout every culture.

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Other common archetypes

Mother/Father God/Devil Hero/Heroine (Knight,

Warrior) Damsel (Princess) Alchemist (Wizard,

Magician, Scientist, Inventor)

Fairy Godmother /Godfather

Teacher (Instructor, Mentor)

Jung’s ideas of archetypes have been more studied and adopted by the disciplines of

art, philosophy, anthropology, religious studies and popular culture

than by psychologists.

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Jung was the first to describe the Introvert and extravert personality types.

Introverts tend to be preoccupies with the internal world of their own thoughts, feelings and experiences.

Extraverts tend to be interested in the external world of people and things. Talkative, friendly outgoing

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Carl Jung’s Other Terms:

Jung proposed two main personality attitudes, extraversion and introversion

Extraversion – Outgoing and excitable. Introversion – Quiet and slower to warm up.

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Alfred Adler’s Striving for Superiority

An Austrian physician, Adler was one of the first to break from Freud’s group (1911).

Rejected Freud’s notion of “penis envy,” argued that women really envy men’s power & status.

Adler emphasized importance of conscious goal-directed behavior & down played unconscious influences.

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Adler’s main ideas:

All humans begin life with a sense of inferiority.

We are helpless as children & need adults to survive.

Adler argued we struggle the rest of our lives to overcome this feeling of inferiority.

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We struggle to overcome inferiority.

Adler called this natural instinct striving for superiority.

“Striving for superiority” doesn’t mean being superior over others, rather to improve ourselves.

Our primary motivation is to improve ourselves.

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What happens if we fail?

If we fail to overcome feelings of vulnerability & weakness, we develop an inferiority complex.

Here, an individual believes they are inferior & feel powerless, weak, & helpless.

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Alternative Approaches

Humanistic theories developed in the 1960s The humanistic approach

emphasizes conscious free will in one’s actions,

the uniqueness of the individual person,

and personal growth

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The Humanistic Approach to Personality

Abraham Maslow is considered the father of the humanistic movement He studied the lives of very healthy

and creative people to develop his theory of personality

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is an arrangement of the innate needs that motivate our behavior and should lead to Self Actualization: the development or achievement of one’s potential.

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Maslow’s Hierarchy of NeedsSelf-

Actualization

Self-Esteem

Social

Safety

Physiological

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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

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Self-Actualization

Characteristics of self-actualized people include Accepting themselves, others, and the nature of world for

what they are Having a need for privacy

and only a few close, emotional relationships

Being autonomous and independent, democratic, and very creative

Having peak experiences, which are experiences of deep insight in which you experience whatever you are doing as fully as possible

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How Did Maslow Determine WHO was self-actualized? Maslow interviewed people he both knew and admired. He would :

1. Interview a sample of people he thought were self-actualized.

He would write down a list of traits he felt each person possessed and compiled their common traits

By refining his trait list again and again, he eventually came up with what he felt was a stable list of attributes which would define the self-actualized individual.

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Traits of Self-Actualized People: Truth, rather than dishonesty. Goodness, rather than evil. Beauty, not ugliness or vulgarity. Unity, wholeness, and transcendence of opposites, not

arbitrariness or forced choices Aliveness, not deadness or the mechanization of life Uniqueness, not bland uniformity. Perfection and necessity, not sloppiness, inconsistency, or

accident.

Completion, rather than incompleteness. Justice and order, not injustice and lawlessness. Simplicity, not unnecessary complexity. Richness, not environmental impoverishment. Effortlessness, not strain. Playfulness, not grim, humorless, drudgery. Self-sufficiency, not dependency. Meaningfulness, rather than senselessness.

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Critique

Maslow hierarchy of needs is criticized for being based on non-empirical vague studies of a small number of people that he subjectively selected as self-actualized

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Trait Theories of Personality and Personality Assessment

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Trait Theories of Personality

Personality traits are internally based, relatively stable characteristics that define an individual’s personality Each trait is called a dimension, and there is a continuum

ranging from one extreme of the dimension to the other

Factor analysis identifies clusters of test items that measure the same factor/trait

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Number and Kind of Personality Traits

Raymond B. Cattell, using factor analysis, found that 16 traits were necessary to describe human personality

Hans Eysenck, also using factor analysis, argued for three trait dimensions

Eysenck’s theory is at more general than Cattell’s

Raymond B. Cattell 16 personality factors

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Eysenck’s Three-Factor Theory

Eysenck argued that these traits are determined by heredity

Extraversion-Introversion

Neuroticism/(emotionally unstable)-

Emotionalstability

Psychoticism(no self control)-

Impulsecontrol

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Eysenck’s Three-Factor Theory

People who are high on the neuroticism-emotional stability dimension tend to be overly anxious, emotionally unstable, and easily upset

The psychoticism-impulse control trait is concerned with aggressiveness, impulsiveness, and empathy

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More Common Today: Five-Factor Model of Personality

These five factors appear to be universal and are consistent from about age 30 to late adulthood

The first 5 factor model was advanced by Ernest Tupes and Raymond Christal in 1961

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Five-Factor Model of Personality

Dimension High End Low End

Openness Imaginative, independent, having broad interests, receptive to new ideas

Conforming, practical, narrow interests, closed to new ideas

Conscientiousness Well-organized, dependable, careful, disciplined

Disorganized, undependable, careless, impulsive

Extraversion Sociable, talkative, friendly, adventurous

Reclusive, quiet, aloof, cautious

Agreeableness Sympathetic, polite, good-natured, soft-hearted

Tough-minded, rude, irritable, ruthless

Neuroticism Emotional, insecure, nervous, self-pitying

Calm, secure, relaxed, self-satisfied

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Personality Assessment

The main uses of personality tests are to aid in diagnosing people with problems, counseling, and making personnel decisions

There are two types

PersonalityInventories Projective

Tests

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Personality Inventories

Are designed to measure multiple traits of personality, and in some cases, disorders Are a series of questions or statements for which the

test taker must indicate whether they apply to him or not

Uses a “True/False/Cannot Say” format with simple statements (e.g., “I like to cook”)

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Projective Tests

Contain a series of ambiguous stimuli, such as inkblots, to which the test taker must respond about his perceptions of the stimuli

Sample tests Rorschach Inkblots Test Thematic Apperception Test

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Rorschach Inkblots Test

Contains 10 symmetric inkblots used in the test, The test taker then describes what he or she

sees in the shapes Assumes the test taker’s responses are

projections of their personal conflicts and personality dynamics

Widely used but not demonstrated to be reliable and valid

Rorschach inkblots

What do you see?

More blots

What do you see?

More blots

Thematic Apperception Test

Thematic Apperception Test

Mickey Mouse Kanga Pooh Owl

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