The Individual & Society

Personality

Today

• What is personality?

• What are some approaches to the study of personality?

Personality

• Personality: Total organization of the inherited and acquired characteristics of an individual as evidenced in the individual’s behavior

• Examples of personality traits: moody, impulsive, friendly, helpful, etc.

Some Approaches to the Study of Personality

• Psychodynamic

• Behavioralism

• Humanism

Psychodynamics

• Emerged with the work of Sigmund Freud

• Emphasizes unconscious motives and desires, childhood experiences in shaping personality

Example: Sigmund Freud• Personality has three components:

Id, Ego, Superego

• Defense mechanisms help individuals manage conflict between above and reduce anxiety

• Children pass through several stages of psychosexual development that influence personality

Example: Sigmund Freud

Example: Sigmund Freud

Critiques of Psychodynamic Approach

• Not falsifiable and therefore unscientific

• Based on generalizations made from a small number of patients (usually unhealthy) to the whole human population

• Not based on studies that follow people from childhood to adulthood – conclusions about influence of childhood experience based on adult’s unreliable memories

Behaviorism

• Emerged in the 1910s, led by John B. Watson

• Focuses on actions, not thoughts, which can be observed

• Unlike psychodynamic theorists, behaviorists study only observable behavior

• Major theorists: BF Skinner, Albert Bandura, and Walter Mischel

Example: BF Skinner• Strongly emphasized role of society on

the individual

• Personalities shaped by operant conditioning: altering habits by behaviors or operants that themselves have an observable effect on the environment– Positive and negative reinforcement and

punishment

• Worked with lab animals like rats and rabbits to test ideas

Example: BF Skinner

Example: BF Skinner

Critiques of the Behavioralist Approach

• Usually based on animal studies of behavior and then generalized to apply to human beings

• Emphasizes situational influences on personality, so underestimates the importance of underlying personality traits or biological factors

Humanistic Psychology• Emerged in the 1950s

• Focus on the ability of human beings to think consciously and rationally, to control their biological urges, and to achieve their full potential

• People are responsible for their lives and actions and have the freedom and will to change their attitudes and behavior

• Major theorists: Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers

Example: Abraham Maslow• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs : Five levels

of human achievement each of which must be satisfied before moving up to the next to finally reach “self actualization”

• Studied exceptional historical figure, such as Abraham Lincoln and Eleanor Roosevelt whom he thought had exceptionally good mental health.

• Identified several characteristics that self-actualizing people share

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Critiques of Humanistic Approach

• Too naïvely optimistic and fail to provide insight into less pleasant side of human nature

• Cannot be easily tested.

• Concepts such as that of the self-actualized person are vague and subjective; may reflect Maslow’s own values and ideals

• Also biased toward individualistic values