Copyright © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. Module 31: Personality

MODULE 31 Copyright © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. Personality The pattern of enduring characteristics that differentiate people – those behaviors that make each of us unique

MODULE 31 Copyright © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. Psychoanalytic Approaches Psychoanalytic theory –Freud’s theory that our behavior is triggered by forces within personality of which we are not aware Unconscious –A part of the personality of which a person is not aware

MODULE 31 Copyright © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. Structuring Personality Id –Raw, unorganized, inborn part of the personality –Libido Psychic energy that fuels primitive drives –Pleasure principle Immediate reduction of tension and the maximization of satisfaction

MODULE 31 Copyright © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. Structuring Personality Ego –Strives to balance the desires of the id and the realities of the objective, outside world –Reality principle Instinctual energy is restrained in order to maintain the safety of the individual and help integrate the person into society

MODULE 31 Copyright © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. Structuring Personality Superego –The final personality structure to develop that represents the rights and wrongs of society as taught and modeled by a person’s parents, teachers, and other significant individuals –Conscience Prevents us from behaving in a morally improper way –Ego-ideal Represents the “perfect person” we wish we were

MODULE 31 Copyright © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

MODULE 31 Copyright © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. Developing Personality Fixation –Refers to conflicts or concerns that persist beyond developmental period in which they first occur

MODULE 31 Copyright © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. Defense Mechanisms Unconscious strategies that people use to reduce anxiety by concealing the source from themselves and others