PersonalityChapter 12

AP PsychologyAlice F. Short

Hilliard Davidson High School

Chapter Preview

• Psychodynamic Perspectives• Humanistic Perspectives• Trait Perspectives• Personological and Life Story Perspectives• Social Cognitive Perspectives• Biological Perspectives• Personality Assessment• Personality and Health and Wellness

Personality

• personality - a pattern of enduring distinctive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that characterize the way an individual adapts to the world

Psychodynamic Perspectives

• personality is primarily unconscious• understanding personality involves exploring

the symbolic meanings of behavior and the unconscious mind

• early childhood experiences sculpt the individual’s personality

Psychodynamic Approach: Freud

• Known as the founding father of the psychodynamic approach

• Believed that there are unlearned biological instincts (especially of a sexual and/or aggressive nature) that can occur early in life and these instincts influence how a person thinks, feels, and behaves

• Had a couch

Freud Quotes

• “I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection.”

• “The great question that has never been answered, and which I have not yet been able to answer, despite my thirty years of research into the feminine soul, is 'What does a woman want?‘”

• “Love and work are the cornerstones of our humanness.”

• “The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind.”

• “America is the most grandiose experiment the world has seen, but, I am afraid, it is not going to be a success.”

• “Dreams are often most profound when they seem the most crazy.”

• “I have found little that is 'good' about human beings on the whole. In my experience most of them are trash, no matter whether they publicly subscribe to this or that ethical doctrine or to none at all. That is something that you cannot say aloud, or perhaps even think.”

• Men are more moral than they think and far more immoral than they can imagine.”

Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory

• Freud and Psychoanalysis– sex drive – main determinant of personality

development• Hysteria– physical symptoms without physical cause– overdetermined – multiple unconscious causes

• Iceberg Analogy of Human Personality

• Freud

Personality Structure

Personality Structure

• Id– instincts and reservoir of psychic energy– pleasure principle

• Ego– deals with the demands of reality– reality principle

• Superego– moral branch of personality; “conscience”

A SHORT ACTIVITYActivity Handout 12.1

• Rachel is walking to class and the late bell rang two minutes ago. As she walks into her class, she stumbles and her books go flying everywhere. Out of one of the books is a note to a boy that Rachel has secretly liked for a long time. The boy picks up the note and reads the top line and then hands it back to Rachel. She is so embarrassed.– Id:– Ego:– Superego:

A SHORT ACTIVITYActivity Handout 12.1

• Rachel is walking to class and the late bell rang two minutes ago. As she walks into her class, she stumbles and her books go flying everywhere. Out of one of the books is a note to a boy that Rachel has secretly liked for a long time. The boy picks up the note and reads the top line and then hands it back to Rachel. She is so embarrassed.– Id: scream, runaway– Ego: calmly collect belongings and proceed to class– Superego: judge Rachel for being so foolish

A SHORT ACTIVITYActivity Handout 12.1

• Jake is going on his first date with a really popular girl. He still can’t believe that she agreed to go out with him. During the movie they are sitting so close that their legs are touching and he so badly wants to hold her hand and kiss her, but he isn’t sure how she would react. He takes a chance and does it and she looks at him and then gets up and walks out.– Id:– Ego:– Superego:

A SHORT ACTIVITYActivity Handout 12.1

• Jake is going on his first date with a really popular girl. He still can’t believe that she agreed to go out with him. During the movie they are sitting so close that their legs are touching and he so badly wants to hold her hand and kiss her, but he isn’t sure how she would react. He takes a chance and does it and she looks at him and then gets up and walks out.– Id: kiss her more– Ego: apologize to her– Superego: feel guilty

A SHORT ACTIVITYActivity Handout 12.1

• Jessica is babysitting for the same family she baby sits for every Friday night. This Friday night, however, she invited her boyfriend over and they are snuggled on the couch, watching a movie. The parents come home early and find Jessica and her boyfriend wrapped in each others’ arms and sound asleep. They wake them up and are so upset because they felt as though Jessica was irresponsible. Jessica is really upset and not sure what to think or say.– Id:– Ego:– Superego:

A SHORT ACTIVITYActivity Handout 12.1

• Jessica is babysitting for the same family she baby sits for every Friday night. This Friday night, however, she invited her boyfriend over and they are snuggled on the couch, watching a movie. The parents come home early and find Jessica and her boyfriendwrapped in each others’ arms and sound asleep. They wake them up and are so upset because they felt as though Jessica was irresponsible. Jessica is really upset and not sure what to think or say.– Id: spend more time with boyfriend– Ego: apologize to the parents and promise not to do it again– Superego: feel guilty

A SHORT Time to PonderSmall Group Discussion

• Do you think that the iceberg analogy works well to describe your personality. Why?

• Why do you think Freud came up with this personality structure with an id, ego and superego?

• How much do you think your childhood experience will influence your adulthood?

• How does Freud’s definition of sex differ from other people’s definitions? (reference textbook or notes)

A SHORT Task:Explaining the Id, the Ego and the Superego

Activity Handout 12.2

• Think of your three closest friends. Write down their names in the space provided and then put a check next to the space of the personality trait that your friend has. They can have more than one personality trait. After completing every one, go back, and in the space provided briefly explain what this tells you about your friends.– Name:– Neuroticism: ____– Extraversion: ____– Openness to Experience: ____– Agreeableness: ____– Conscientiousness: ____

– Explanation: Pay special attention to this part! You will be discussing this with a neighbor and they will be evaluating how accurate you are.

Explaining the Id, the Ego and the SuperegoActivity Handout 12.2

• Think of your three closest friends. Write down their names in the space provided and then put a check next to the space of the personality trait that your friend has. They can have more than one personality trait. After completing every one, go back, and in the space provided briefly explain what this tells you about your friends.– Name:– Neuroticism: ____– Extraversion: ____– Openness to Experience: ____– Agreeableness: ____– Conscientiousness: ____

– Explanation:

Explaining the Id, the Ego and the SuperegoActivity Handout 12.1

• Neuroticism: anxious, insecure, self-pitying• Extraversion: sociable, fun-loving, affectionate• Openness: Imaginative, interested in variety,

independent• Agreeableness: softhearted, trusting, helpful• Conscientiousness: organized, careful, disciplined

• IN CLASS ACTIVITY: Trade and discuss with a neighbor to see if they successfully explained the characteristics. (Alternate between people)

Defense Mechanisms

• conflict between the id, ego, and superego results in anxiety

• defense mechanisms reduce anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality – not necessarily unhealthy

• repression– foundation for all defense mechanisms– push unacceptable impulses out of awareness

Defense Mechanisms

1. repression2. rationalization3. displacement4. sublimation5. projection6. reaction formation7. denial8. regression

Defense Mechanisms

Defense Mechanisms

Psychosexual Stages

• Oral Stage: 0-18 Months– infant’s pleasure centers on the mouth

• Anal Stage: 18-36 Months– child’s pleasure involves eliminative functions

• Phallic Stage: 3-6 Years– child’s pleasure focuses on the genitals– Oedipal complex– castration anxiety

Psychosexual Stages

Psychosexual Stages (cont.)

• Latency Stage: 6 Years - Puberty– psychic “time-out”– interest in sexuality is repressed

• Genital Stage: Adolescence and Adulthood– sexual reawakening– source of sexual pleasure is someone else

• fixation - remain locked in particular developmental stage (e.g., anal retentive)

Dissenters and Revisionists

• sexuality – not pervasive force behind personality

• early experience – not as powerful as Freud thought

• importance of conscious thought• sociocultural influences

Dissenters and Revisionists

• Horney’s Sociocultural Approach– both sexes envy the attributes of the other– need for security, not sex, is primary motivator

• Jung’s Analytical Theory– collective unconscious and archetypes

• Adler’s Individual Psychology– perfection, not pleasure, is key motivator

Evaluating Psychodynamic Theory

• Criticisms– too much emphasis on early experiences– too much faith in unconscious mind’s control– too much emphasis on sexual instincts– theory can not be tested

• Contributions– importance of childhood experiences– development proceeds in stages– role of unconscious processes

Humanistic Perspectives

• humanistic perspective - emphasis on a person’s capacity for personal growth and positive human qualities

Humanistic Perspectives

• Abraham Maslow– third force psychology– self-actualization– peak experiences– biased since focus was on highly successful

individuals

Humanistic Perspective

• Carl Rogers– personal growth and self-determination– unconditional positive regard • conditions of worth• self-concept

– empathy– genuineness

Evaluating Humanistic Perspectives

• Contributions– self-perception is key to personality– consider the positive aspects of human nature– emphasize conscious experience

• Criticisms– too optimistic about human nature– promotes self-love and narcissism

Trait Perspectives

• Trait– an enduring disposition that leads to characteristic

responses– traits are the building blocks of personality

• Trait Theories– people can be described by their typical behavior– strong versus weak tendencies

Trait Perspectives

• Gordon Allport– personality understood through traits– behavior consistent across situations– lexical approach 4500 traits

• W. T. Norman– five factor model– broad traits – main dimensions of personality

Five Factor Model of Personality

Five Factor Model of Personality

• Do the big five show up in the assessment of personality in cultures around the world?

• Do the big five personality traits show up in animals?

Evaluating Trait Perspectives

• Contributions– traits influence health, cognitions, career success,

and interpersonal relations• Criticisms– ignores the role of the situation in behavior– ignores nuances of an individual’s personality

Personological Perspective

• personological perspective - focusing on an individual’s life history or life story

• Henry Murray– personology: the study of the whole person– motives are largely unconscious– thematic apperception test (TAT)• need for achievement, affiliation, and power

Life Story Approach

• Dan McAdams– our life story is our identity– intimacy motivation

• Psychobiography– applying personality theory to one person’s life

Evaluating Life Story Approach

• Contributions– rich record of an individual’s experience

• Criticisms– difficult and time-consuming • extensive coding and content analysis

– prone to bias– not easily generalized

Social Cognitive Perspective

• emphasize conscious awareness, beliefs, expectations, and goals

• incorporates principles from behaviorism when exploring:– reasoning– beliefs– self reflection– interpretation of situation

Social Cognitive Perspectives

• Albert Bandura– reciprocal determinism• behavior, environment, and cognitive factors interact to

create personality

• Key Processes and Variables– observational learning– personal control– self-efficacy

Self-Efficacy: Make a Life ChangeActivity Handout 12.3

• Steps for Self-Efficacy Success:– Select something you can reasonably expect to be

able to do– Don’t be discouraged by past failure– Pay attention to successes– Keep written records of performance– Make a list of situations that are both difficult and

not difficult. Begin by tackling the less difficult.

Reciprocal Determinism

Social Cognitive Perspectives

• Walter Mischel– Situationalism• behavior and personality vary considerably across

context

– CAPS Model of Personality• stability over time rather than across

situations• interconnections among cognitions and emotions affect

our behavior

Evaluating the Social Cognitive Theory

• Contributions– focuses on interactions of individuals with their

environments– suggests people can control their environment

• Criticisms– too concerned with change and the situation– ignores the role of biology– very specific predictions hinder generalization

Biological Perspectives

• Personality and the Brain– brain damage alters personality– brain responses correlate with personality

• Eysenk’s Reticular Activation System Theory– extraverts and introverts have different base-line levels of

arousal

• Gray’s Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory– behavioral activation system and behavioral inhibition system

Biological Perspectives

• Role of Neurotransmitters– growth of dopamine receptors stimulated by

warm care-givers– disposes person to reward-sensitivity

(extraversion)– less serotonin in circulation leads to negative

mood (neuroticism)

Biological Perspectives

• Behavioral Genetics– twin studies reveal substantial genetic influence

on Big Five traits– most traits influenced by multiple genes

• Evaluating the Biological Perspective– ties personality to animal learning, brain imaging,

and evolutionary theory– criticisms (e.g., biology may be the affect, not the

cause, of personality)

Personality: Stability vs. Change

• Traits are stable by definition yet positive traits increase across adulthood (social maturity).

Personality Assessment

• Self-Report Tests– beware social desirability– empirically-keyed tests used to get around social

desirability problem• test takers do not know what is being measured• test items not related to purpose of test• MMPI is an example

Personality Assessment

• Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory– 567 items– controls for social desirability– assesses mental health and used to make hiring

decisions and to determine criminal risk• Neuroticism Extraversion Openness• Personality Inventory-Revised – assesses the big five factors and 6 subdimensions

Personality Assessment

• Myers Briggs Type Indicator– four dimensions used to make personnel

decisions:• extraversion-introversion • sensing-intuiting• thinking-feeling• judgment-perception

– not empirically supported– Barnum effect

Personality Assessment

• Projective Tests– …psychodynamic approach– …project own meaning on ambiguous stimuli

• Rorschach inkblot test– personality score based on description of inkblots– questionable reliability and validity

• Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)– series of ambiguous pictures viewed one at a time– elicited stories reveal an individual’s personality

Rorschach Inkblot Test

Thematic Apperception

Test

Other Assessment Methods

• direct behavioral observation• cognitive assessment of attention and

memory• peer ratings• psychophysiological measures (e.g.,

polygraph)• brain imaging

Personality and Health and Wellness

• Personality traits correlated with health– conscientiousness– personal control– self efficacy– optimism– type A/type B behavior pattern

Personality and Health and Wellness

• Subjective Well-Being– …person’s assessment of own positive affect

relative to negative affect, and evaluation of own life in general

Chapter Summary

• Define personality.• Discuss the following perspectives on personality

– psychodynamic– humanistic– trait– personological and life story– social cognitive– biological

• Characterize the main methods of personality assessment.• Summarize how personality relates to health and wellness.

Chapter Summary

• Psychodynamic Perspectives– focus on unconscious determinants– personality structure and defense mechanisms– psychosexual stages of development

• Humanistic Perspectives– Maslow and self-actualization– Rogers and unconditional positive regard

Chapter Summary

• Trait Perspectives– traits are stable over time and situations

• Personological and Life Story Perspectives– personology - study the whole person– identity can be understood through life stories

• Social Cognitive Perspectives– behavior, environment, and cognitive factors– self-efficacy and personal control

Chapter Summary

• Biological Perspectives

• Personality Assessment– self-reports tests– projective tests– other assessment techniques

• Personality and Health and Wellness– healthful personality traits