1. Personality: Some Definitions
An individual’s relatively distinct & consistent pattern of thinking, feeling, and behaving.
Personality Traits
dispositions to behave in a particular way in a variety of situations
Personality Psychology
The scientific study of the psychological forces that people uniquely themselves.

2. The Main Themes of Course
Interactionist model of behavior
Genes, environment, experiences
Behavior is Multi-faceted
Many causes for behavior
Behavior varies in different situations
Diversity & Commonality
Idiographic & nomothetic
Consistency & variability
Findings based on research
Empirical studies
Replication of studies
Generalizability of findings
Applicable to real life
Validity of theories in personal experiences
Useful in predicting or explaining behavior

3. The 8 Basic Aspects Psychoanalytic Neo-Analytic Biological Behaviorist
Freud
Neo-Analytic
Jung, Horney, Adler
Biological
Pavlov, Eysenck
Behaviorist
Skinner, Dollard, Miller
Cognitive
Kelly, Bandura
Trait
Allport, Cattell, Eysenk
Humanistic
Rogers, Maslow
Interactionist
Murray, Mischel

4. Psychodynamic Perspectives: Freud
Defense Mechanisms
Conflicts: Id & Super Ego
Goal is to reduce anxiety
Common defenses
Denial, repression, rationalization
Psychoanalytic theory
unconscious drives & motives
sexual & aggressive urges
emphasis on early childhood experiences
Structure of personality
id (pleasure principle)
ego (reality principle)
super ego (moral values/beliefs)

5. Psychodynamic Perspectives: Freud
Psychosexual Stages of Development
Oral, anal, phallic, latent, genital
Emphasis placed on early development
Trauma at a stage leads to “fixation”
Consciousness (levels of awareness)
conscious, preconscious, unconscious
Traumatic early childhood experiences repressed into the unconscious

6. Neo-Analysts Carl Jung - Analytical Psychology
Archetypes & the collective unconscious
types: introverts/extroverts (Myers-Briggs test)
Alfred Adler - Individual Psychology
striving for superiority & the inferiority complex
effects of birth order on personality development
Karen Horney – Early Feminist
Basic anxiety
Neurotic coping strategies

7. Biological Perspectives
Biological influences on personality
behavior is determined by genes
behavioral tendencies are inherited
Twin studies
twins are more alike in certain characteristics than siblings and unrelated persons
Some biologically based traits
extraversion vs introversion
optimistic/positive vs pessimistic/negative
exploratory/risk-taking vs cautious/anxious

8. Behavioral/Learning Perspectives
Behaviorism
psychology should study only behavior
observable, can be studied scientifically
rejected notion of the unconscious
Personality is behavior
behavior is the result of classical or operant conditioning
determinism: behavior is caused by environmental stimuli and situations (no free will)
behavior follows “laws” of reinforcement and past experience

9. Cognitive/Social Learning Theory
Cognitive model
people think, problem-solve, reason, etc.
Perceptual indiosyncrasies
Explanatory Styles
Perceptions are individual
Attributions, locus of control, learned helplessness
Social- Cognitive Learning
we learn by observing others behave and observing the consequences that follow
can choose to follow model or not

10. Traits and Skills Introversion-Extroversion
Jung’s 16 PF
Q-test data
George Allport’s Trait Psychology
The Big 5
O. C. E. A. N.
Henry Murray’s Needs and Presses
Expressive Styles
Skills & Intelligence

11. Humanistic-Existential Perspective
Humanism
emphasis on the unique qualities of individual & on free will
opposed to propositions of psychoanalysts and behaviorists
Person-centered theory - Carl Rogers
self-concept (who you believe you are)
congruence vs incongruence (being your true self)
Existential Anxiety
Anxiety: Rollo May
Meaning of life – Victor Frankl
Self-Actualization - Abraham Maslow
emphasized healthy aspects of human behavior
self-actualization (need to fulfill your potential)