Theory and Measurement Personality: Theory and Measurement http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YQpbzQ6gzs

Psychologists define personality a person’s fairly consistent ways of thinking, feeling, and acting It is these reasonably stable personality patterns of emotions, motives, and behavior that distinguish one person from another. These patterns of thoughts, behaviors and feelings are distinct for each of us and characterize our adaptation of life.

Theories of Personality: Psychodynamic/Psychoanalytic Theories : Sigmund Freud (Austrian neurologist) founded Psychoanalytic psychology in the late 1880’s. He believed that behaviors and thoughts are affected by the unconscious layer of our mind. Freud saw the mind as consisting of three layers: Conscious Preconscious Unconscious

The human mind is like an iceberg According to Freud… The human mind is like an iceberg The region that pokes through into the light of awareness is called the conscious. Explicit awareness, consists of those things that have become the object of focal attention. Self-awareness. Preconscious mind contains elements of experience that are out of awareness but can be made conscious simply by focusing on them. Anything that has the potential to be given focal attention but is not currently conscious. Unconscious mind is shrouded in mystery. Contains biological instincts of such as sex and aggression. Not available to awareness by simple focusing of attention. memories and impulses that are unacceptable, dangerous, or otherwise anxiety-provoking, and are therefore too difficult for a person to acknowledge; they are defensively kept at a distance from consciousness.

The Structure of Personality. mental structures that help explain different aspects of behavior. Id Ego Superego

The Id The id is present at birth and represents physiological drives and is entirely unconscious. The id is a repository of animal drives inside of a person, exists at birth and is the source of psychic energy and the instincts, the most important of which are sex and aggression. Freud described it as chaos, a cauldron of seething excitations. The id follows the pleasure principle: human beings are creatures who crave immediate gratification from the time they are born. The id demands instant gratification

The ego: stands for reason and good sense, for rational ways of coping with frustration. is a complex psychological organization that acts as an intermediary between the id and the external world. Curbs the appetites of the id and makes plans that fit social conventions. Is guided by the reality principle. The mind realizes that drive satisfaction must be accomplished in ways that are not only effective, but also conducive to living with others; governs the functioning of the ego. uses psychological defenses to prevent improper impulses from arising. Repression is one such psychological defense.

According to Freud…. Repression is the automatic ejection of anxiety-evoking ideas from awareness. It is a Defense Mechanism To explore the unconscious personality, Freud engaged in a form of mental detective work called psychoanalysis. Clients may talk about anything that pops into their mind. Resistance: the desire to avoid thinking about or discussing thoughts. Neurotic: term from Freudian psychology referring to a person or condition with symptoms such as anxiety, insecurity and depression without an organic cause.

The Superego develops throughout childhood, usually incorporating the moral standards and values of parents through identification. Is the conscience in Freudian psychology; learns the rules of civilized society so as to avoid punishment, the person will develop an inclination to appear moral and ethical. functions according to the moral principle. holds out the ideal self and acts as your conscience. floods the ego with feelings of guilt and shame if necessary.

He believed that fixation could occur in an earlier stage Libido: a Latin word that means "wish" or "desire," for Freud, libido was a person’s appetite for pleasure. Psychic energy involving sexual impulses. Focused on sexual feelings in different parts of the body or erogenous zones. Freud theorized that there are five periods of psychosexual development. He believed that fixation could occur in an earlier stage Fixation =a defense mechanism that occurs when a developing person refuses to face the challenges brought about by a new stage of life; as a result, one remains at a more primitive state of psychological development. Insufficient or excessive gratification in any stage could lead to fixation in that stage. Also called arrested development.

Defense Mechanisms: strategies employed by the ego to manage anxiety by distorting reality,  when reality is distorted, those aspects of reality that are considered threatening are no longer clearly perceived. When the ego senses that improper impulses are rising into awareness, it may unconsciously use “Defense Mechanisms” to prevent the impulses from surfacing. This protects the ego from anxiety-evoking material by preventing accurate recognition of it. Repression: Regression: Rationalization: Displacement: Projection: Denial:

1. Oral stage: stage of psychosexual development; the first to appear and is identified with early infancy, the child seeks pleasure by using the mouth. During the first year of life. If it fits into the mouth then it goes in the mouth (e.g. sucking and biting). Conflict centers on the nature and extent of oral gratification. Insufficient or excessive gratification in any stage could lead to fixation in that stage. Adults with oral fixations could experience exaggerated desires for oral activities such as smoking, overeating, alcohol abuse, nail biting. oral-aggressive - traits such as a nail biting habit or being verbally abusive to others. oral-receptive - traits such as smoking or drinking or sucking on candy.

2. Anal stage: (age 2 to 3) stage of psychosexual development, emerges just before the typical period of potty training for Westerners, the child seeks pleasure by holding on to and letting go of waste, from controlling the stimulation of the anal sphincter muscles. Gratification is attained through contraction and relaxation of the muscles that control elimination of waste products from the body. The general issue of self-control. Anal fixations may stem from conflict and lead to anal retentive (excessive self control) or anal expulsive (careless, messiness, and even sadism). anal-expulsive - personalities displaying excessive tendencies toward impulsivity, disorganization, messiness, dominance, and cruelty. anal-retentive - personalities that display stinginess, stubbornness, and an exaggerated tendency toward control, orderliness, and cleanliness.

3. Phallic stage: (age 3 to 5 or 6) stage of psychosexual development, typically identified as a preschool age period, the stage where the child discovers the genital zone and the pleasure that can be had by manipulating that area of the body; the little boy seeks to win the affection of his favorite female and the little girl seeks to win the affection of her favorite male (i.e., mommy and daddy respectively) gratification is attained through the phallic region (penis for boys and clitoris for girls) Boys=Oedipus complex Girls=Electra complex These complexes resolve by age 5 or 6 Phallic fixations could result in sexual deviancies (both overindulgence and avoidance) and weak or confused sexual identity.

4. Latency stage: (age 6 to puberty) stage of psychosexual development, pre-pubescent. Sexual feelings remain unconscious. prefer to play with children of their own gender 5. Genital stage: (puberty and on) stage of psychosexual development; associated with puberty and onwards into adulthood. final stage. Interested in the opposite gender. sexual attraction and urges occur eventually find sexual gratification through intercourse with a member of the opposite gender.

Neo-Freudian Theorists Alfred Adler – overcoming feelings of inferiority shapes personality as does birth order (chronological order of birth within a family) Karen Horney – personality is governed by the real self (that central inner force common to all human beings and yet unique in each, which is the deep source of growth) Carl Jung – his personality theory shared some of Freud's basic concepts, though he altered some of their meanings to meet his viewpoint. His self archetype centers on the ego. archetypes - symbols with universal meaning, emotionally charged and liable to incite the person to action of some sort; represent the common belief that psychologically binds us together and are thebasis of why humans can identify with each another in a deeply profound manner.

The Humanistic Perspective: a movement in psychology that highlights the specifically human aspects of human behavior. Humanistic psychology was founded upon certain basic principles, namely: human beings cannot be understood as a mere sum of separate part-functions human personality is always a reflection of cultural and environmental context human beings cannot be understood without acknowledging their many-layered awareness of themselves and the world humans are not bystanders to their existence; they co-create their lives in the absence of debilitating pathology, humans are open to the future, striving to fulfill meanings, values, and life purposes.

The Humanistic Perspective Abraham Maslow - created his personality theory by drawing upon three currents of thought: Gestalt psychology, functionalism, and psychoanalysis. He theorized that formation of a personality are rooted in a hierarchy of needs (discussed in Motivation chapter) Carl Rogers - created a personality theory that emphasized the person as a whole; accordingly, it is called a person-centered approach. people shape their own personality through free choice and action. defined the self as the center of experience. The self, or self-concept, is not the whole person, but rather the relative awareness of one’s own autonomous functioning. choices are made on the basis of your values.

Major Humanistic Theorists: Carl Rogers (cont) The Self-Concept and Frames of Reference. Self-concept (also called the self) consist of our impressions of ourselves and our evaluations of our adequacy. It is not the whole person, but rather the relative awareness of one’s own autonomous functioning Frames of Reference unique ways of looking at ourselves and the world. Can be congruent or incongruent. congruence - a condition wherein a person’s sense of self is aligned with and accurately reflects its genuine self-actualizing tendency. incongruence - internal inconsistency, when individuals put up a facade and try to conform to the expectations of others

Major Humanistic Theorists: Carl Rogers (cont) Self-esteem (self-worth) and Positive Regard Unconditional positive regard: accept people as having intrinsic merit regardless of their behavior at the moment. The genuine affirmation of a person’s intrinsic value as a unique individual; the basic acceptance and support of a person regardless of what the person says or does Parents help children develop self-esteem when they show them unconditional positive regard. Conditional positive regard - positive regard that is dependent upon real or imagined conditions placed on one’s worth as a human being If parents show conditional positive regard, children may think that they have merit only if they behave as their parents wish them to behave. Some children deny many of their feelings or disown aspects of themselves, distorting the self concept and resulting in anxiety.

The Social-Cognitive Perspective: states that our unique personalities are a result of two factors: interactions with our environments (social) and thought processes (cognition). Personality is learned by observation paired with a person’s values, competencies and expectancies. Albert Bandura is probably best known for his social learning or observational learning theory of behavior, which helped to introduce cognitive processes into the study of behavior after decades of dominance by the behaviorism perspective. Reciprocal Determinism proposes our personalities are shaped by the interaction of our cognition (thoughts and feelings), behavior, and environment. People influence their environment just as their environment influences them.

The Trait Theory Perspective: attempts to describe people in terms of their traits and to predict subsequent behavior. Trait - a relatively stable way of thinking, feeling, and behaving that give rise to consistent behavior. Gordon Allport: An individual’s personality is composed of a unique grouping and weighting of 200 distinct personality traits. Traits can take on one of the four following roles for the individual:  common traits: general traits agreed upon and understood in a particular culture and time period (liberal, conservative) central traits: a small number of important personal traits that characterize an individual’s personality (thrifty, creative, smart, flirtatious, shy, patriotic)  secondary traits: less obvious traits including preferences, attitudes, and situational traits (Jennifer is usually quiet but becomes passionate when discussing modern art) cardinal traits: life-defining central traits developing later in life; very few people possess cardinal traits (Mother Theresa—selfless; Hitler—power hungry). 

The Trait Theory Perspective: Major Trait Theorists (cont): Raymond Cattell - simplified trait descriptions by differentiating between source and surface traits. Surface traits represent personality traits viewable by others. Source traits are the basic personality dimensions underlying surface traits. For example: surface traits = punctual, neat, polite, reliable, and fair-minded source trait = conscientiousness Cattell identified 16 source trait dimensions and created an assessment questionnaire, the Sixteen Personality Factor (16PF). It is widely used.

The Trait Perspective: Hans Eysenck (1916-1997) was a behaviorist who believed that personality differences reflected biological and genetic differences. He further reduced the number of source traits. introversion–extraversion - a person’s preference to directing energies and attention toward inner experiences or outward to the environment and neuroticism–emotional stability - the degree to which a person is moody versus even tempered

The Trait Perspective: The Five-Factor Model (The Big Five) (often remembered by the acronym OCEAN) Openness—willingness to try new things and experiences  Conscientiousness—personal organization and motivation  Extraversion—direction of personal energies  Agreeableness—pleasantness or accommodation in social situations  Neuroticism—emotional stability or instability Big Five Personality Test: http://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/

Learning-Theory Perspective: Behaviorist Theory: personality is plastic and is shaped by situational variables, not internal variables. (John Watson would have loved this movie) “Trading Places” 1983

Current theory and research on Personality Biological Theories focus on the roles that neurochemistry, genetics, and the brain play in the make-up and expression of personality. behavioral genetics - an interdisciplinary field that studies the effects of genetics and heredity on behavior and personality. Current theory and research on Personality positive psychology - a contemporary movement in psychology that emphasizes the quantitative study of human strengths and optimal human functioning, it focuses on the study of resilience and well-being by relying primarily on statistical data analysis. social media – does social media affect one’s personality? Can you determine one’s personality by their social media interactions? Facebook profiles reveal personality traits to researchers

Personality Assessment Interviews = In a structured interview, a line of questioning is followed regardless of the subject’s answers.  In an unstructured interview, the interviewer is free to alter subsequent questions to follow up on the subject’s answers. Behavioral observation = Psychologists watch others’ behavior as a means of assessing personality. Their methods are systematic: rating scales - a numerical rating or score to specific behaviors. frequency counts - counting the number of times a behavior occurs in a given time frame

Personality Assessments can be Objective or Projective. Objective Tests standardized tests or questionnaires in which the test taker views a statement or question and then chooses from a set of predetermined responses. This forced-choice format lends itself to statistical analysis determining strong validity and reliability. Forced-choice format – answer choices are finite and limited to a specific range of answers such as true–false, yes–no options, or numbered scales. Reliability - steady and consistent performance or scores over repeated measurements; the consistency of test results. Validity- accuracy of a score; the ability of a test to measure what it was designed to measure.

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2) is a commonly administered objective personality test containing 567 true-false statements. It is used in a variety of settings to: assess symptoms of maladjustment diagnose psychological disorders. assess symptoms of social and personal adjustment It is the most widely used test in clinical work, as well as the most widely used personality measurement in psychological research. MMPI-2 contains: 4 validity scales and 10 clinical scales The scales were empirically constructed; based on actual clinical data rather than on psychological theory. Confidence in the MMPI has developed because of its extensive use and strong validity and reliability.

1. I like mechanics magazines 2. I have a good appetite 3 1. I like mechanics magazines 2. I have a good appetite 3. I wake up fresh & rested most mornings 4. I think I would like the work of a librarian 5. I am easily awakened by noise 6. I like to read newspaper articles on crime 7. My hands and feet are usually warm enough 8. My daily life is full of things that keep me interested 9. I am about as able to work as I ever was 10. There seems to be a lump in my throat much of the time 11. A person should try to understand his dreams and be guided by or take warning from them 12. I enjoy detective or mystery stories 13. I work under a great deal of tension 14. I have diarrhea once a month or more 15. Once in a while I think of things too bad to talk about 16. I am sure I get a raw deal from life 17. My father was a good man 18. I am very seldom troubled by constipation 19. When I take a new job, I like to be tipped off on whom should be gotten next to 20. My sex life is satisfactory 21. At times I have very much wanted to leave home 22. At times I have fits of laughing & crying that I cannot control 23. I am troubled by attacks of nausea and vomiting 24. No one seems to understand me 25. I would like to be a singer 26. I feel that it is certainly best to keep my mouth shut when I’m in trouble 27. Evil spirits possess me at times 28. When someone does me a wrong I feel I should pay him back if I can, just for the principle of the thing. 29. I am bothered by acid stomach several times a week 30. At times I feel like swearing

Other Objective Personality tests:

Projective Test - a type of personality test where individuals are asked to interpret ambiguous stimuli. These tests are based on the premise that individuals will “project" their own unconscious motives or personality traits into their interpretation. People are shown ambiguous stimuli such as inkblots or ambiguous drawings and asked to describe what they look like. The Rorschach Inkblot Test consists of 10 cards: five cards with black-and-white inkblots on a white background and five cards with colored inkblots on a white background. Respondents are asked to describe what they see in the inkblot and the examiner records the answer, which is interpreted based on established criteria. A response that reflects the shape of the blot is considered a sign of adequate reality testing. A response that integrates several features of the blot is considered a sign of high intellectual functioning. The Rorschach is the most widely used projective personality test.

A Rorschach Inkblot

Projective Tests (cont) The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) consists of 20 black-and-white pictures of ambiguous situations. The respondent views the pictures and is asked to create a story about the person or people in the pictures. Responses are interpreted by a psychoanalyst who looks for motives and feelings projected onto the people in the pictures. Also used in research on motivation.

These drawings provide a measure of self-perceptions Projective Tests (cont) House-Tree-Person test: the test taker is asked to a draw a house, a tree, and a person. Great for kids. These drawings provide a measure of self-perceptions and attitudes. As with other projective tests, it has flexible and subjective administration and interpretation. Look for: pressure and shading placement size erasures

House =reflect our ideas about family.

Tree = reflect parts of us we have difficulty facing (ego, sense of self).

Person = reflect parts of us we mostly feel ok to acknowledge. The perception of self or the self one wishes to be.

House-Tree-Person test: (cont) Reliability and validity studies have been most supportive of the cognitive uses of the test in 3 to 10 year old children. Many clinicians use a projective drawing task as it is an "ice breaker" and an easy way to engage kids. While there is evidence to indicate it is useful for screening purposes, there is evidence to indicate it Is not as useful for forensic cases. (challenged like a polygraph test) Rotter Incomplete Sentence Test: is a projective test consisting of a series of 40 incomplete sentences to finish.

Projective Tests (cont) Rotter Incomplete Sentence Test 1. I feel . . . 2. I regret . . . 3. Other people . . . 4. I am best when . . . 5. What bothers me is . . . 6. The happiest time . . .. 7. I am afraid of . . . 8. My father . . . 9. I dislike to . . . 10. I failed . . . 11. At home . . . 12. Boys . . . 13. My mother . . .. 14. I suffer . . .

Projective Tests (cont) Handwriting Analysis: http://quizstop.com/askhand.htm Slant Size Pressure Upper zone letters Lower zone letters Word spacing Line spacing Page margins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-nPahVs6xw