Personality Keywords: personality

Personality An individual’s unique and relatively consistent patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. Keywords: personality

Personality Theory Attempts to describe and explain how people are similar, how they are different, and why every individual is unique

Psychoanalytic Approach Developed by Sigmund Freud Psychoanalysis is both an approach to therapy and a theory of personality Emphasizes unconscious motivation – the main causes of behavior lie buried in the unconscious mind Keywords: psychoanalytic approach, unconscious motivation Graphics: picture of Freud pg. 420 Myers

Psychoanalytic Approach Conscious – all things we are aware of at any given moment Keywords: conscious, preconscious, unconscious Graphics: fig. 11.1 pg. 475 Hockenbury

Psychoanalytic Approach Preconscious – everything that can, with a little effort, be brought into consciousness Graphics: fig. 11.1 pg. 475 Hockenbury

Psychoanalytic Approach Unconscious – inaccessible warehouse of anxiety-producing thoughts and drives Graphics: fig. 11.1 pg. 475 Hockenbury

Id: The Pleasure Principle Pleasure principle—drive toward immediate gratification, most fundamental human motive Sources of energy Eros—life instinct, perpetuates life Thanatos—death instinct, aggression, self-destructive actions Libido—sexual energy or motivation

Ego: The Reality Principle Reality principle—ability to postpone gratification in accordance with demands of reality Ego—rational, organized, logical, mediator to demands of reality Can repress desires that cannot be met in an acceptable manner

Superego: Conscience Internalization of societal and parental values Partially unconscious Can be harshly punitive using feelings of guilt

Unconscious mental processes employed by the ego to reduce anxiety Defense Mechanisms Keywords: defense mechanisms Unconscious mental processes employed by the ego to reduce anxiety

Scenario The rebel of CHS, Brandon, is dating Jasmine. Jasmine dumps Brandon and starts dating Drew, president of the psych club!

Repression keeping anxiety-producing thoughts out of the conscious mind When asked about Jasmine, Brandon may say “Who?, I have not thought about her for ages.” Keywords: repression, reaction formation

Reaction Formation replacing an unacceptable wish with its opposite Brandon seems ecstatic that he is not with Jasmine

Displacement When a drive directed to one activity by the id is redirected to a more acceptable activity by the ego Brandon may take his anger our on his younger brother rather than Jasmine Keywords: displacement, sublimation

Sublimation Displacement to activities that are valued by society Brandon becomes preoccupied with working out rather than worrying about Jasmine

Projection reducing anxiety by attributing unacceptable urges or feelings to someone else Although Brandon is the needy one, he claims that his ex is being needy and clingy Keywords: projection, rationalization, regression

Reasoning away anxiety-producing thoughts Rationalization Reasoning away anxiety-producing thoughts Brandon thinks he will find a better girlfriend. “Jasmine was not all that anyway!”

Regression retreating to a mode of behavior characteristic of an earlier stage of development Brandon throws a tantrum because Jasmine doesn’t like him

Denial The failure to acknowledge or recognize Brandon may act like he is still together with Jasmine. He may hang out by her locker and plan dates with her.