1. Chapter 11: Personality: Theory, Research, and Assessment

2. Defining Personality: Consistency and Distinctiveness Personality- explains the stability in a person’s behavior over time and across situations (consistency) and the behavioral differences among people reacting to the same situation (distinctiveness) Personality Traits- durable disposition to behave in a particular way in a variety of situations –Adjectives like honest, moody, impulsive, and excitable describe dispositions that represent personality traits The Five-Factor Model –Factor analysis- correlations among many variables are analyzed to identify closely related clusters of variables –McCrae and Costa have used factor analysis to create the five-factor model of personality

3. 5 Factor Model –Extraversion-High Extraversion scores signify that a person is outgoing, sociable, upbeat, friendly, assertive, and gregarious. Some trait models refer to this as positive emotionality –Neuroticism-High Neuroticism scores signify that a person is anxious, hostile, self- conscious, insecure, and vulnerable. Some models call this negative emotionality –Openness to experience- Openness to experience is associated with curiosity, flexibility, vivid fantasy, imaginativeness, artistic sensitivity, and unconventional attitudes

4. 5 Factor Model –Agreeableness- Agreeableness is associated with people who are sympathetic, trusting, cooperative, modest, and straightforward. It may have its roots in temperament –Conscientiousness-are diligent, disciplined, well organized, punctual, and dependable. Some models refer to this trait as constraint. It is related to high productivity in a variety of occupational areas

5. Psychodynamic Perspectives Freud’s Structure of personality Id - the primitive, instinctive component of personality that operates according to the pleasure principle, which demands immediate gratification and engages in primary- process thinking (primitive, illogical, irrational, and fantasy oriented). Ego - the decision-making component of personality that operates according to the reality principle, seeking to delay gratification of the id’s urges until appropriate outlets can be found, thus mediating between the id and the external world. Superego - he moral component of personality that incorporates social standards about what represents right and wrong. The superego emerges out of the ego at around 3-5 years of age.

6. Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory Unconscious forces can influence behavior. –Levels of awareness Conscious-consists of whatever one is aware of at a particular point in time. Unconscious-contains thoughts, memories, and desires that are well below the surface of conscious awareness but that nonetheless exert great influence on behavior. Preconscious- contains material just beneath the surface of awareness that can easily be retrieved. conflicts center on sex and aggressive impulses having far reaching consequences. These conflicts lead to anxiety, which causes the ego to construct defense mechanisms, exercises in self-deception, as protection.

7. Figure 11.2 Freud’s model of personality structure

8. Figure 11.3 Freud’s model of personality dynamics

9. Table 11.1 Defense Mechanisms, with Examples

10. Freud on Development: Psychosexual Stages Freud believed that the foundation of personality is laid by the age of five. He theorized that the ways in which children deal with immature sexual urges (sexual used as a general term meaning physical pleasure) during different stages of development shape personality. Psychosexual stages –Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, Genital Fixation = Excessive gratification or frustration Overemphasis on psychosexual needs during fixated stage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUB85lSj4pM http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v= gFNU-RHTMO0http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v= gFNU-RHTMO0

11. Table 11.2 Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual Development

12. Other Psychodynamic Theorists Carl Jung: Analytical Psychology –Personal (houses material that is not within one’s conscious awareness because it has been repressed or forgotten) and collective unconscious (houses latent memory traces inherited from people’s ancestral past) –Archetypes- emotionally charged images and thought forms that have universal meaning, such as the mandala Alfred Adler: Individual Psychology –Striving for superiority –Compensation

13. Other Psychodynamic Theorists Alfred Adler: Individual Psychology –The foremost source of human motivation is striving for superiority – a universal drive to adapt, improve oneself, and master life’s challenges. –Compensation- involves efforts to overcome imagined or real inferiorities by developing one’s abilities everyone feels some inferiority and works to overcome it

14. Figure 11.4 Jung’s vision of the collective unconscious

15. Evaluating Psychodynamic Perspectives Pros –The unconscious –The role of internal conflict –The importance of early childhood experiences –The use of defense mechanisms Cons –Poor testability –Inadequate empirical base –Sexist views

16. Behavioral Perspectives Skinner’s views- personality is learned through conditioning –Conditioning and response tendencies response tendencies are constantly be strengthened and weakened by new experiences; acquired through learning over the course of the lifespan. Bandura’s social cognitive theory- focusing on how cognitive factors such as expectancies regulate learning –Observational learning-behavior is shaped by exposure to models, or a person whose behavior they observe.

17. Behavioral Perspectives Self-efficacy-one’s belief about one’s ability to perform behaviors that should lead to expected outcomes Mischel’s views –People make responses that they think will lead to reinforcement in the situation at hand –The person-situation controversy- both the person and the situation are important determinants of behavior

18. Figure 11.5 A behavioral view of personality

19. Figure 11.6 Personality development and operant conditioning

20. Evaluating Behavioral Perspectives Pros –Based on rigorous research –Insights into effects of learning and environmental factors Cons –Over-dependence on animal research –Fragmented view of personality (carving up personality into stimulus-response relations with no unifying structural concepts tying these pieces together) –Dehumanizing views (no free will)

21. Humanistic Perspectives Carl Rogers’s person-centered theory –Self-concept- a collection of beliefs about one’s own nature, unique qualities, and typical behavior, a person’s mental picture of himself or herself. Conditional/unconditional positive regard Incongruence (When self-concepts don’t match reality) creates anxiety

22. Figure 11.7 Rogers’s view of personality structure

23. Figure 11.8 Rogers’s view of personality development and dynamics

24. Humanistic Perspectives Abraham Maslow’s theory of self-actualization- a persons need to fulfill one’s potential –Hierarchy of needs- a systematic arrangement of needs, according to priority, in which basic needs must be met before less basic needs are aroused –The healthy personality- are tuned in to reality and at peace with themselves. They are open and spontaneous and sensitive to others’ needs, making for rewarding interpersonal relations. They are self- actualizing persons

25. Figure 11.9 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

26. Figure 11.10 Maslow’s view of the healthy personality

27. Evaluating Humanistic Perspectives Pros –Recognized importance of subjective views –Recognized importance of self-concept –Laid foundation for positive psychology Cons –Many aspects of theory are difficult to test –Unrealistic optimism –More empirical research needed

28. Biological Perspectives Eysenk’s theory- views personality as a hierarchy of traits –Determined by genes- genes influence physiological functioning, thereby influencing ease of acquiring conditioned responses –Extraversion-introversion Behavioral genetics –Twin studies- identical twins are more similar than fraternal twins in personality characteristics, with heritability estimates in the vicinity of 40%. The evolutionary approach- certain traits and the ability to recognize them may contribute to reproductive fitness— a reproductive advantage.

29. Figure 11.11 Eysenck’s model of personality structure

30. Evaluating Biological Perspectives Pros –Convincing evidence for genetic influence Cons –Too much reliance on heritability estimates (vary depending on sampling procedures and other considerations, and should only be used as ballpark figures) –No comprehensive biological theory

31. A Contemporary Empirical Approach: Terror Management Theory Conflict between self-preservation and ability to foresee death –We feel terror because we have a desire to preserve ourselves, but also have the cognitive ability to recognize that death is inevitable Culture and self-esteem –Cultures provide worldviews—traditions, stories, and institutions—that salve this existential anxiety, and provide us with a sense of order in our lives. Our self- esteem corresponds to our sense of self-worth engendered by our confidence in our culture’s solutions.

32. Figure 11.13 Overview of terror management theory

33. Contemporary Empirical Approaches: Terror Management Theory Increasing subjects’ mortality salience causes them to: –Punish moral transgressions more harshly –Be less tolerant of criticism of their country –Give greater rewards to those who uphold cultural standards –Respect cultural icons more Other research indicates that people are also willing to discriminate against others to preserve their self esteem.

34. Culture and Personality Independent self –American culture seems to foster an independent view of self, in which children are encouraged to see themselves as autonomous and self-reliant Interdependent self –Some East Asian cultures seem to foster a view of self in which children are encouraged to see themselves in relation to others, as part of a social unit

35. Figure 11.14 Culture and conceptions of self