PERSONALITYA LOOK AT PERSONALITY THEORIES AND

ASSESSMENTS

PERSONALITY

What is Personality?People differ from

each other inmeaningful ways

People seem to showsome consistency inbehavior

Personality is defined as distinctive and relatively enduring ways of thinking, feeling, and acting

PERSONALITY DEFINED

Personality refers to a person’s unique and relatively stable pattern of thoughts, feelings, and actions

Personality is an interaction between biology and environment

Genetic studies suggest heritability of personality

Other studies suggest learned components of personality

PERSONALITY TRAITS

Traits are relatively stable and consistent personal characteristics

Trait personality theories suggest that a person can be described on the basis of some number of personality

traits Allport identified some 4,500

traits Cattel used factor analysis to

identify 30-35 basic traits Eysenck argued there are 3

distinct traits in personality • Extraversion/introversion • Neuroticism • Psychotocism

Trait Theorists:The Five-Factor Model

Openness (original and open to new ideas vs. conventional andnarrow in interests)

Conscientiousness (responsible and organized vs. irresponsibleand careless)

Extroversion (sociable and talkative vs. withdrawn and quiet)

Agreeableness (trusting and good-natured vs. suspicious andruthless)

Neuroticism (emotionally unstable and moody vs. emotionallystable and easygoing)

TAT Personality Tests(Thematic Apperception Test)

Write a story about the first thing that comes to mind while looking at this picture.

PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY

Psychoanalytic theory, as devised by Freud,attempts to explain personality on the basis of unconscious mental forces

Levels of consciousness: We are unaware of some aspects of our mental states

Freud argued that personality is made up of multiple structures, some of which are unconscious

Freud argued that as we have impulses that cause us anxiety; our personality develops defense mechanisms to protect against anxiety

FREUDIAN THEORY

Levels of Consciousness

– ConsciousWhat we’re aware of

– PreconsciousMemories etc. that canbe recalled

– Unconscious Wishes, feelings,

impulses that lie beyond awareness

Structures of Personality– Id

Operates according tothe “pleasure principle”(crying infant)

– EgoOperates according tothe “reality” principle, meet the needs of the id, while considering reality

– Superego Contains values and

ideals, right and wrong

PERSONALITY: FREUD

Conscious– Ego– Some Superego

Preconscious– Same available if needed

Unconscious– Id– Some Superego– Some Ego

Why study Freud?

Freud’s work lays the groundwork for all subsequent personality theories.

It is the most comprehensive theory—he tries to explain everything humans are and do.

ASSUMPTIONS IN FREUD’S WORK

Development is driven by biology-we inherit drives and instincts.

Early experiences engender adult psychology-the events of the first 5-6 years determine psychological development.

Early social life is important-how mom and dad responded to our desire toward pleasure.

ASSUMPTIONS IN FREUD’S WORK

ALL PLEASURE IS ULTIMATELY SEXUAL PLEASURE!!!

From birth, infants seek sexual pleasure—Freud said breastfeeding was a sexual act.

Psychosexual stages: Freudian idea of five developmental periods key to personality development

*Personality is mostly established by the age of five.*Early experiences play a large role in personality

development and continue to influence behavior later in life.

*Said that personality develops through a series of childhood stages during which the pleasure-seeking energies of the ID become focused on certain erogenous areas. This energy (the libido) is the driving force behind behavior.

PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT

If the stages are completed successfully, the result is a healthy personality.

If certain issues are not resolved at the appropriate stage, a fixation can occur.

Until this conflict is resolved, the individual will remain “stuck” in this stage.

Fixation

Freud said that psychosocial development is usually halted in one of the first three stages when a child becomes fixated (stuck) in one of the developmental conflicts.

We become fixated when we receive too little or too much pleasure in any given stage.

So, when fixated people encounter stress in their adult lives, they regress to that stage.

THE ORAL STAGE

Birth to 18 monthsChild is focused on oral pleasures such as rooting

and sucking.The mouth is vital for eating and the infant

derives pleasure from the oral stimulation through gratifying activities such as tasting and sucking.

Too much or too little gratification can result in an oral fixation or oral personality—preoccupied with oral activities such as smoking, drinking, eating, biting nails.

THE ANAL STAGE

18 months to 3 yearsMajor focus is on eliminating and retaining feces.Through society’s pressure, the child has to learn to

control anal stimulation—toilet training!Developing this control leads to a sense of

accomplishment and pride.*Freud says it depends on how parents teach-if too

lenient and an anal-expulsive personality can develop-person is destructive and disorganized.

If too strict, person develops an anal-retentive personality and is obsessed with cleanliness and order.

THE PHALLIC STAGE

Ages 3 to 6Pleasure zone switches to the genitals.Oedipus Complex: According to Freud, boys

develop unconscious sexual desires for their mothers.

Boy then becomes a rival with father-competes for mother’s attention.

Wanting to possess the mother and replace the father

Child also fears that he will be punished for this-castration anxiety.

THE PHALLIC STAGE

GIRLS- later it was decided that they went thru same thing—called Electra Complex.

Freud disagreed with this and said instead that girls experience penis envy.

According to Freud, out of fear of castration and due to the strong competition of father—boy develops masculine characteristics, and represses his sexual feelings.

Fixation in this stage: could result in sexual deviancies and weak or confused sexual identity.

LATENCY STAGE

Age six to pubertyLibido interests are suppressed.Development of ego and superego

contribute to this calm.Begins around time that kids start school

and become concerned with peer relationships, hobbies and other interests.

Important to development of social and communication skills and self-confidence.

GENITAL STAGE

Puberty on….Final stage of psychosexual development.Individual develops a strong sexual

interest in the opposite sex.Interests in the welfare of others grows

during the stage.If the other stages have been successfully

completed, person should be well-balanced, warm, and caring.

Freud believed all children pass through five psychosexual stages. At each stage the id’s pleasure seeking energies focus on specific pleasure areas of the body (erogenous zones).

EVALUATING FREUD’S THEORY

Difficult to test, but the evidence that has been gathered is not favorable.

The crucial events (e.g., how the libido is used) are unobservable, and there are no good means to measure them.

There is an awfully long time between the occurrence of the causal stimulus and its presumed effect; relationships between early events and later traits tend to be weak and inconsistent.

This theory of development was conceived without studying children; rather, it was developed from patients' recollections, dreams and free associations.

ASSESSING THE UNCONSCIOUS

Projective Tests– Used to assess personality (e.g., Rorschach or TAT tests)– How? Provides ambiguous stimuli and subject projects his or her motives into the ambiguous stimuli.

Assessing the Unconscious-TAT

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) -people express their inner motives through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes

ASSESSING THE UNCONSCIOUS-RORSCHACH

Rorschach Inkblot Test– the most widely used projective test– a set of 10 inkblots designed by Hermann Rorschach-used to identify peoples feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the inkblots.

Example #1

Example #2

Example #3

Example #4