EXPLORING PSYCHOLOGY EIGHTH EDITION IN MODULES David Myers PowerPoint Slides Aneeq Ahmad Henderson State University Worth Publishers, © 2011

2 Personality

Classic Perspectives on Personality Module 30 3

4 The Psychoanalytic Perspective  Exploring the Unconscious  The Neo-Freudian and Psychodynamic Theories  Assessing Unconscious Processes  Evaluating the Psychoanalytic Perspective

5 The Humanistic Perspective  Abraham Maslow’s Self-Actualizing Person  Carl Roger’s Person-Centered Perspective  Assessing the Self  Evaluating the Humanistic Perspective

6 Personality Personality is an individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting. The classic theories of personality offer sweeping perspectives on human nature and have become a part of our cultural legacy

7 Psychoanalytic Perspective In his clinical practice, Freud encountered patients suffering from nervous disorders. Their complaints could not be explained in terms of purely physical causes. Sigmund Freud ( ) Culver Pictures

8 Exploring the Unconscious The unconscious, according to Freud, is a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. Freud asked patients to say whatever came to their minds (free association) in order to tap the unconscious. He called his theory of personality, attributing thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts, and the associated treatments psychoanalysis.

9 Freud’s Idea of the Mind Central to Freud’s theories was the idea that the mind was mostly hidden, like an iceberg where only the tip is above the surface.

10 Personality Structure In Freud’s view personality arises from a conflict between impulse and restraint. He proposed three interacting systems: Id - unconsciously strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives, operating on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification. Ego - the “executive”, mediates the demands of the id and superego Superego – the conscience, provides standards for judgment and future aspirations..

11 Personality Development Freud believed that personality formed during the first few years of life divided into psychosexual stages. During these stages the id’s pleasure- seeking energies focus on pleasure sensitive body areas called erogenous zones. For example, according to Freud, in the phallic stage boys develop sexual desires for their mothers and hatred for their fathers. He called this the Oedipus complex.

12 Psychosexual Stages Freud divided the development of personality into five psychosexual stages.

13 Personality Development Children cope with threatening feelings by repressing them and identifying with the rival parent. Through this identification process, their superego gains strength that incorporates their parents’ values. In Freud’s view, if conflicts were not resolved in one of the stages, a person could fixate their pleasure-seeking energies in that stage. From the K. Vandervelde private collection

14 Defense Mechanisms Freud proposed that the ego protects itself with defense mechanisms, unconsciously reducing anxiety by distorting reality. For example, repression is the basic mechanism which banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness.

15 Six Defense Mechanisms

16 The Neo-Freudian and Psychodynamic Theorists Like Freud, Adler and Horney believed in childhood tensions. However, these tensions were social in nature, not sexual. A child struggles with an inferiority complex during growth and strives for superiority and power. Alfred Adler Karen Horney

17 The Neo-Freudian and Psychodynamic Theorists Jung believed in the collective unconscious, a common reservoir of images derived from our species’ past. This is why many cultures share certain myths and images such as the mother being a symbol of nurturance. Carl Jung ( ) Archive of the History of American Psychology/ University of Akron

18 Assessing Unconscious Processes Evaluating personality from an unconscious mind’s perspective would require a psychological instrument (projective tests) using ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics.

19 Rorschach Inkblot Test The most widely used projective test, the Rorschach Inkblot Test, uses a set of 10 inkblots and was designed by Hermann Rorschach. It seeks to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots. However, both its reliability and validity have been questioned.

20 Evaluating the Psychoanalytic Perspective 1.Personality develops throughout life and is not fixed in childhood. 2.Freud underemphasized peer influence on the individual, which may be as powerful as parental influence. 3.Gender identity may develop before 5-6 years of age.

21 Evaluating the Psychoanalytic Perspective 4.Repression is a rare mental response to trauma, more often high stress situations enhance memory. 5.There may be other reasons for dreams besides wish fulfillment. 6.Verbal slips can be explained on the basis of cognitive processing of verbal choices.

22 Evaluating the Psychoanalytic Perspective The scientific merits of Freud’s theory have been criticized. Psychoanalysis is meagerly testable. Most of its concepts arise out of clinical practice, which are the after-the-fact explanation.

23 Cognitive Research and the Unconscious Mind Modern research shows the existence of non- conscious information processing. This involves: 1.Right-hemisphere activity that enables the split-brain patient’s left hand to carry out an instruction the patient cannot verbalize 2.Parallel processing during vision and thinking 3.Implicit memories 4.Emotions that activate instantly without consciousness 5.Self-concept and stereotypes that unconsciously influence us

24 The Humanistic Perspective By the 1960s, psychologists became discontent with Freud’s negativity and the mechanistic psychology of the behaviorists. These humanistic psychologists instead emphasized human potential.

25 Abraham Maslow’s Self-Actualizing Person Maslow proposed that we as individuals are motivated by a hierarchy of needs. Beginning with physiological needs, we try to reach the state of self-actualization— fulfilling our potential. Abraham Maslowe

26 Carl Rogers’ Person-Centered Perspective Carl Rogers also believed in an individual's self- actualization tendencies. He believed that a growth- promoting environment required: Genuineness Acceptance, including unconditional positive regard - an attitude of acceptance of others despite their failings. Empathy

27 Carl Rogers’ Person-Centered Perspective For Maslowe and Rogers a central feature of personality was self-concept – all the thoughts and feelings we have in response to the question “Who am I?” A positive self-concept lead to a positive world view and a negative self-concept to feelings of dissatisfaction and unhappiness.

Humanistic psychologists sometimes assessed personality by asking people to fill out questionnaires to evaluate their self-concept. Other humanistic psychologists feel that any standardized assessment is dehumanizing and instead relied on interviews and conversations. 28 Assessing the Self

29 Evaluating the Humanistic Perspective Humanistic psychology has a pervasive impact on counseling, education, child-rearing, and management with its emphasis on a positive self- concept, empathy, and the thought that people are basically good and can improve.

30 Evaluating the Humanistic Perspective 1.Concepts in humanistic psychology are vague and subjective and lack scientific basis. 2.The individualism encouraged can lead to self- indulgence, selfishness, and an erosion of moral restraints. 3.Humanistic psychology fails to appreciate the reality of our human capacity for evil. It lacks adequate balance between realistic optimism and despair. Criticisms