1. Personality Essential questions: What is a personality?
Is our personality encoded or learned?
Does it ever change?
What other factors influence our personalities?
What describes our own personality?

2. What is Personality?
How would you define personality?
“Personality psychologists” study how people:
THINK FEEL BEHAVE
Your personality is a relatively stable combination or these characteristics

3. Top Enduring Issues Nature vs. Nurture Person vs. Situation
Stability vs. Change
4. Unconscious vs. Conscious

4. Freud and the psychoanalysts: Evolutionary Psychologists:
So what makes you, you??
Neuropsychologists:
You are a compilation of synaptic connections that are strengthened by experience!
Social Psychologist
You are a member of a group or culture whose behaviors depend largely on those around you! (final unit)
Freud and the psychoanalysts:
You are the screwed up product of your childhood conflicts (siblings, parents, friends).
*Humanistic Psychologist:
You are innately good and need love and support to achieve your “ideal self”!
Add cognitive and behavioral
YOU!!
Evolutionary Psychologists:
You are governed by your survival instincts.
Behavioral: Your behaviors are learned through reward and punishment.
Cognitive: You are how you think.

5. Psychodynamic Psychologists
Emphasis unconscious conflict (we are not aware of the effects it has on our personality)
Focus is on the negative
Difficult to overcome
Therapy can only provide insight into problem, not necessarily a solution

6. Psychodynamic Psychologists
Freud
Unconscious drives of sex and aggression (ID, Superego)
Psychosexual Stages (Conflicts with Mother/Father)
Alfred Adler
Birth order creates inferiority, unconsciously
Jung
We all have universal similarities due to the collective unconscious
Erik Erikson
Psychosocial stages of development
Karen Horney
Our general anxiety over our success and failures create neurotic tendencies

7. Freud’s Personality StructureID
Born with this
Governed by “Pleasure Principle”
Houses unconscious drives of sex (libido) and aggression
Selfish, irrational, seeks instant gratification
EGO
Develops during infancy (6 months)
Governed by “Reality Principle”
Seeks to gratify Id urges at an appropriate time
Inherits inevitable anxiety produced by Id-Superego conflict
Donald Duck
SUPEREGO
Develops during childhood (6 years)
Governed by “Judicial” or “Moral Principle”
The internalized parent
Seeks to do what is right and good (conscience)
Causes us to feel guilty for our desires/id impulses

8. Freud’s Psychosocial Stages
Oral (0-1.5 yrs)
Conflict: Weaning
Fixation: Oral (cigarettes, need to chew pens, gum, etc.)
Anal ( yrs)
Conflict: Potty Training
Fixation: Anal Retentive or Expulsive
Phallic (4-6 yrs)
Conflict: Overcoming attraction to parents
Oedipus and Electra Complex; Penis Envy
Fixation: Poor relationships with the opposite sex
i.e. “promiscuous behavior” in females
Latent (7-11)
Sexual desires are repressed
Genital (12-adult)
Normal sexual relationships

9. Freud’s Defense Mechanisms
Create a vignette (scenario and skit) for your defense mechanism
You will act it out in front of your classmates
They will guess what defense mechanism you are demonstrating

10. The Defense Mechanisms
Denial (Negation)
Refusal to acknowledge a painful reality
Repression
Unpleasant thoughts are excluded from consciousness; “motivated forgetting”
Projection
Attributing one’s own feelings, motives, or wishes to others
Identification
Taking on the characteristics of other to avoid feeling incompetent
Regression
Reverting to childlike behavior
Rationalization
Making up a logical explanation for an emotionally painful event rather than dealing with the pain

11. The Defense Mechanisms
Intellectualization
Thinking about stressful problems in an abstract way to detach oneself from them
Reaction formation
Expression of exaggerated ideas and emotions that are opposite of true feelings
Displacement
Shift repressed motives from an original object to a substitute object
Sublimation
Redirecting repressed motives and feelings into socially acceptable activities
Undoing
After-the-fact defense mechanism involving “making up” for guilt-producing actions

12. Neo-Freudians: Alfred Adler
He was the younger, “weaker” son in his family
“Inferiority” influenced personality
Inferiority complex
Fixation on feelings of personal inferiority that can lead to emotional and social paralysis
Birth Order
Oldest
Middle
Youngest
Only
Dethronement
When the next child is born, the older one is forced to share parental attention
Compensation
Our efforts to win back parental love after dethronement

13. Neo-Freudians: Carl Jung
One of Freud’s best students – his “surrogate son”
Freud was said to have fainted in his presence several times!
Existence of collective unconscious in addition to the personal unconscious
Archetypes
Mother
Hero
Villain

14. Neo Freudians Erik Erikson
Disagreed with psychosexual stages
Instead, created his psychosocial stages
Trust vs. Mistrust
Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
Initiative vs. Guilt
Industry vs. Inferiority
Identity vs. Role confusion
Intimacy vs. isolation
Generativity vs. stagnation
Integrity vs. despair

15. Neofreudians: Karen Horney
Our general social anxieties create neurotic tendencies
These anxieties can manifest in “normal ways”….
i.e. nervous and doubtful of your abilities; seek constant approval from others
Or “neurotic” ways
Develop OCD?

16. Uncovering the Unconscious
How do we determine what is in the unconscious?
Dream analysis (Chapter 3- What do your dreams tell you)
Free association (Write freely for 1 minute)
Freudian “slip of the tongue”
Projective Personality Tests
Rorschach
Thematic Apperception Test

17. Refresher: Psychodynamic Theories of Personality
According to psychodynamic theories, what drives personality and human behavior?
What are some methods that Freud employed to uncover this?
Dream analysis, Free association- Can tell us about the unconscious, but don’t “assess”

18. Uncovering the Unconscious: Psychodynamic Assessments
According to Freud, what is projection?
With this in mind, how might you develop a method by which a person “projects” in order to assess their unconscious?

19. Uncovering the Unconscious: Psychodynamic Assessments
Projective tests
Ambiguous stimuli
Patient projects their unconscious when they describe what they see
Examples
Rorschach test
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

20. Rorschach Test “Blotto”- Interesting answers?
Most commonly used P.T. (Behind MMPI- (Minn. Multiphasic Pers. Inv.)
10 inkblots – 5 color, 5 black/white
Subjects describe all 10 inkblots
Examiner then goes through cards again and asks questions for clarification/detail
Provides subject with considerable freedom to respond

21. Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
Examiner chooses 10 cards with ambiguous black-and-white drawings of people in various emotional, yet undetailed situations
Have psychodynamic undertones (i.e. aggression)
Subjects must tell a story about each card and themes provide insight

22. Experience the Tests
Take the TAT test and have a partner “interpret” results using psychodynamic concepts!!
Strengths and weaknesses of the test?
Take the Word Association test!
Come up with ten words
Some words should include concepts that Freud believed affected a personality
i.e. “Mother”, “sex”, “red” (as in aggression)
Read them to your partner- they should say first thing that comes to their mind when they hear that word. Analyze the results.

24. Assessing Projective Personality tests
Strengths
Early experiences do shape personality
Human emotion and motivation are important in understanding personality
Concept of the unconscious is emphasized
Useful therapeutic techniques
Criticisms
Lack reliability and validity (recent attempts to standardize interpretations have resulted in more support)
Subjective
Pessimistic (drives are determined during childhood)
Today, common results are posted online- biased results

25. Early Applications
Projective tests were once used for diagnosing psychological disorders
Rorschach intended it to be used for schizophrenic diagnoses, not projective testing
Example:
John Wayne Gacy
Murdered 33 boys in Chicago in 1970s
Interviewed and given Projective Personality Assessments to determine existence of mental illness
Buried Dreams: Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer
Ewing and Cahill

26. Modern Applications Rorschach Exner’s Comprehensive System of scoring
How much of the inkblot is referenced, story that is told, level of detail (i.e. Form, Movement, Color)
Personality Assessment- Insight into underlying motivations of person’s current issues and behaviors
Forensic Psychology
TAT
Personality assessment, Personality disorders, thought disorders, crime suspect evaluation, high-stress occupation screenings
Also used internationally (France, Argentina, India)

27. Other Projective Techniques (Provide interesting insight into personality, but lack reliability or clinical purpose)
House, Tree, Person
Draw and describe each
Word Association
Mother, Father, Sex
Complete the sentence
A best friend _______
Mothers ___________
My worst experience was __________________.
Next time you gaze at the clouds to determine a shape, think of what you may be projecting!!

28. Humanistic Theories Emphasize the goodness in humans
You have the potential to control your future
Why would Freud disagree with this?

29. To achieve your true self…

30. Carl Rogers The impact of love
Positive Regard
Conditional – you are only loved when you conform to others’ wishes
Unconditional – you are loved no matter what choices you make
Positive regard impacts personality and happiness
Real self – what you really are
Ideal self – what you want to be
Will overlap if you get unconditional positive regard!
REAL SELF
IDEAL SELF
REAL SELF
IDEAL SELF

31. Behaviorist Theories
Behaviorist theories claim that personality is formed through environmental stimuli – reinforcement and punishment.
Example psychologists include Albert Bandura, John Watson and B.F. Skinner

32. Behaviorist Theories Albert Bandura
Observational learning theory
Bobo Doll experiment
People learn what they watch
If you grow up watching your parents run marathons, you will be an active person that values fitness

33. Behaviorist Theories Classical Conditioning
Watson and Pavlov
Aspects of personality could be learned simply by pairing stimuli together
Watson and Baby Albert experiment
Fear can be learned
You fear new social situations because of an embarrassment that you suffered from in the past

34. Behaviorist Theories Operant Conditioning
You will NOT swear, Johnny!
Skinner
personality could be learned by being reinforced or punished for certain behaviors.
You are a hardworking person because you’ve been rewarded for good grades by your parents

35. Cognitive Theories
Personality is primarily a function of thoughts and thought processes.
Rotter’s Locus of Control
Internal Locus of Control – things that happen in your life are a result of your own actions.
E.g. “I made varsity because I spent the whole off-season training to do so!”
External Locus of Control – things that happen in your life are a result of forces beyond your control.
E.g. “I made varsity because my horoscope said I would have a lucky day!”

36. Cognitive Theories Albert Bandura
Self efficacy is defined as one’s belief that they will be successful in the things they do.
Individuals with a higher sense of self efficacy tend to be happier and more successful.
i.e. “Can I do this? Am I doubtful of myself?”
If you are doubtful, you may not even try to push yourself in the first place

37. Cognitive Theories Walter Mischel
Self-regulation.
people often change their personality depending on the situation they are in.
people change their actions and responses on the basis of past experiences as well as an assessment of the current situation.

38. Afterthoughts…
If you want to know more about your personality, you can complete online “objective” tests
Mostly fit into the “trait-type” perspective
Generate different terms to describe you.
Objective tests – Standardized, closed-ended
Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (Cattell’s 16PF)
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2)
Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory
Preferred by trait and type theorists