1. THEORIES OF PERSONALITY

2. We will discuss…
Meaning of Psychoanalytic approach by Sigmund Freud
Levels of Consciousness
Structure of Personality
Psychosexual stages of development
Defence mechanisms

3. Theories of Personality
Type & TRAIT
Behavioural
Humanistic
Psychodynamic
NEO-FREUDIAN
Theories of Personality
Theories of Personality
A number of approaches and theories have been developed to understand and explain behavioural differences among individuals, and behavioural consistencies within an individual. These theories are based on different models of human behaviour. Each throws light on some, but not all, aspects of personality.

4. Theories of personality
Psychodynamic
APPROACH
Propounded by SIGMUND FREUD - physician,
hypnosis to treat people with physical and emotional problems.
Freud used free association and dream analysis, to understand the internal functioning of the mind.
The approach focuses on:
the role of the unconscious mind in the development of personality.
Biological causes of personality differences
Propounded by SIGMUND FREUD who was a physician, and developed this theory in the course of his clinical practice
hypnosis to treat people with physical and emotional problems.
Freud used free association (a method in which a person is asked to openly share all the thoughts, feelings and ideas that come to her/his mind), dream analysis, to understand the internal functioning of the mind.
The approach focuses on:
the role of the unconscious mind in the development of personality.
Biological causes of personality differences

5. Psychodynamic approach
Levels of Consciousness
Conscious
Preconscious
Unconscious
Structure of Personality Id
Ego
Superego
Psychosexual Stages of Development
Oral
ANAL
PHALLIC
Latency
GEnital

6. Psychodynamic approach I. Levels of Consciousness
Freud’s theory considers the sources and consequences of emotional conflicts and the way people deal with these. In doing so, it visualises the human mind in terms of three levels of consciousness: 1)Conscious 2)Preconscious 3)Unconscious
Freud’s theory considers the sources and consequences of emotional conflicts and the way people deal with these. In doing so, it visualises the human mind in terms of three levels of consciousness:
1)Conscious: which includes the thoughts, feelings and actions of which people are aware. The uppermost part of one’s mind. This is very similar to STM.
2)Preconscious: which includes mental activity of which people may become aware only if they attend to it closely. Information is available but not currently conscious.
3)Unconscious : which includes mental activity that people are unaware of. Information that cannot be brought to consciousness easily or voluntarily.

7. REFLECTION SPOT…
Reflect upon your dreams…it will give you some idea of your unconscious

8. Psychodynamic approach II. Structure of personality
According to Freud’s theory, the primary structural elements of personality are three:
Id: It works on the pleasure principle
Ego: It works by the reality principle, and often directs the id towards more appropriate ways of behaving.
Superego: it is the moral branch of mental functioning.
Thus, in terms of individual functioning Freud thought of the unconscious as being composed of three competing forces. In some people, the id is stronger than the superego; in others, it is the superego. The relative strength of the id, ego and superego determines each person’s stability.
Also known as Topographical Model of personality
According to Freud’s theory, the primary structural elements of personality are three:
1) Id: It is the source of a person’s instinctual energy. It deals with immediate gratification of primitive needs, sexual desires and aggressive impulses. It works on the pleasure principle, which assumes that people seek pleasure and try to avoid pain. Id does not care for moral values, society, or other individuals.
2) Ego: It grows out of id, and seeks to satisfy an individual’s instinctual needs in accordance with reality. It works by the reality principle, and often directs the id towards more appropriate ways of behaving. Thus, while the id is demanding, unrealistic and works according to pleasure principle, the ego is patient, reasonable, and works by the reality principle.
3) Superego: The best way to characterise the superego is to think of it as the moral branch of mental functioning. The superego tells the id and the ego whether gratification in a particular instance is ethical. It helps control the id by internalising the parental authority through the process of socialisation.
Thus, in terms of individual functioning Freud thought of the unconscious as being composed of three competing forces. In some people, the id is stronger than the superego; in others, it is the superego. The relative strength of the id, ego and superego determines each person’s stability.

9. Reflection Spot…
When does your ‘id’ dominates you?

10. Psychodynamic approach III. Psychosexual stages of development
five-stage theory of personality (also called psychosexual) development.
Problems encountered at any stage may arrest development, and have long-term effect on a person’s life.
1) ORAL(0-1 yr): A newborn’s instincts are focused on the mouth which is infant’s primary pleasure seeking centre. The infant achieves oral gratification through feeding, thumb sucking, biting and babbling. It is during these early months that people’s basic feelings about the world are established.
Freud proposed a five-stage theory of personality (also called psychosexual) development. Problems encountered at any stage may arrest development, and have long-term effect on a person’s life.
1) ORAL(0-1 yr): A newborn’s instincts are focused on the mouth. This is the infant’s primary pleasure seeking centre. It is through the mouth that the baby obtains food that reduces hunger. The infant achieves oral gratification through feeding, thumb sucking, biting and babbling. It is during these early months that people’s basic feelings about the world are established. Thus, for Freud, an adult who considers the world a bitter place probably had difficulty during the oral stage of development.

11. 2) ANAL(1-2 yrs): It is found that around ages two and three the child learns to respond to some of the demands of the society. One of the principal demands made by parents is that the child learns to control the bodily functions of urination and defecation.
3) PHALLIC(3-6 yrs): A major developmental achievement of this stage is the resolution of the Oedipus complex.
2) ANAL(1-2 yrs): It is found that around ages two and three the child learns to respond to some of the demands of the society. One of the principal demands made by parents is that the child learns to control the bodily functions of urination and defecation.
3) PHALLIC(3-6 yrs): At around ages four and five children begin to realise the differences between males and females. They become aware of sexuality and the sexual relationship between their parents. During this stage, the male child experiences the Oedipus Complex, which involves love for the mother, hostility towards the father, and the consequent fear of punishment or castration by the father (Oedipus was a Greek king who unknowingly killed his father and then married his mother). A major developmental achievement of this stage is the resolution of the Oedipus complex. This takes place by accepting his father’s relationship with his mother, and modelling his own behaviour after his father.

12. 4)LATENCY(6 to puberty): The child continues to grow physically, but sexual urges are relatively inactive. Much of a child’s energy is channelled into social or achievement related activities. 5)GENITAL(puberty to death): The person attains maturity in psychosexual development. The sexuality, fears and repressed feelings of earlier stages are once again exhibited
4)LATENCY(6 to puberty): This stage lasts from about seven years until puberty. During this period, the child continues to grow physically, but sexual urges are relatively inactive. Much of a child’s energy is channelled into social or achievement related activities.
5)GENITAL(puberty to death): The person attains maturity in psychosexual development. The sexuality, fears and repressed feelings of earlier stages are once again exhibited. People learn to deal with members of the opposite sex in a socially and sexually mature way. However, if the journey towards this stage is marked by excessive stress or over-indulgence, it may cause fixation to an earlier stage of development.

13. DEFENSE MECHANISMS
The psychological defense mechanisms are ways of dealing with stress through unconsciously distorting one’s perception of reality.
They enable us to deal with stressful situations in our daily lives.
However, failure to realize their existence, and over use of them can lead to problems with our ability to face reality.

14. Defense Mechanism
Rationalization- Attempt to justify one’s actions with an excuse rather than admitting one’s failure or mistake. In other words distorts unacceptable ideas and behaviors to justify them. Makes excuses to try to make it seem like unacceptable behavior is ok. For example: John was late for practice because he overslept. When asked by his coach the reason for his delay, he responded that he could not get a ride to practice.

15. Denial- Belief in a falsehood, rather than accept the reality of the truth. In other word a person refuses to accept the reality of anything that is bad.
For example People think that they won’t get sick and die from smoking because they are in denial.

16. Identification- Acting like or modeling someone’s behavior
Identification- Acting like or modeling someone’s behavior. Associating someone else’s accomplishments as your own. For example Sally became a big fan of the Cardinal baseball team. She wore a jersey and hat almost all the time. She beamed with pride whenever they won a game, and became visibly upset whenever they lost.

17. Displacement- Expressing feeling toward someone or something not associated with the source of the feelings. In other words to transfer an impulse or idea from a threatening object to a LESS threatening object. Example: If you are yelled at by your boss you can’t yell back you’ll get fired. So, you go home and yell at your loved ones!

18. Projection- Blaming unpleasant feelings or inappropriate actions on others. People deal with unacceptable impulses by acting as if other people have them. They see their own faults in other people. For example Lucy was upset when Alice, the new girl in school, started to hang around with her friends. Lucy was afraid that her friends were being stolen from her. She did not talk to Alice, and tried to insult her whenever possible. One of Lucy’s friends asked her why she did not like Alice. She responded, that Alice did not like her, she was stuck up, and not very friendly.

19. Repression- Blocking out thoughts about unpleasant things or experiences. Pushes painful or stressful ideas into the subconscious. When people let their emotions and urges build up inside of them they eventually explode through outbursts of anger and maybe developing other psychological and emotional.

20. Regression : returning to an earlier means of dealing with frustration or an earlier, less threatening, time that required less responsibility. When someone is under a lot of stress, they return to behavior from an earlier stage of development. For example Jane was in a hurry to get to work. She was going 90 M.P.H. When the highway patrolman stopped her. As he approached the car to write her a ticket, she started to cry.

21. Compensation : Attempt to make up for a lack of something or some ability by getting or achieving something else. for example Don was not physically attractive and he knew it. In order to make himself look better he always dressed in the finest clothes money could buy.

22. Sublimation: Transforming unacceptable behaviors into acceptable ones
Sublimation: Transforming unacceptable behaviors into acceptable ones. In other words when people channel impulses into socially acceptable behavior. For example :Someone who is aggressive can channel their aggression into playing sports.
Reaction Formation: People act the opposite of how they really feel for example acting like you hate someone you really have a crush on

23. THANK YOU…