1. Theories Personality & Assessment

2. Definition of Personality?
Personality refers to the relatively enduring characteristics that differentiate one person from another and that lead people to act in a consistent and predictable manner, both in different situations and over extended periods of time.
Personality is defined as: the enduring or lasting patterns of behavior and thought (across time and situation).

3. Personality Four Major Perspectives on Personality
Psychoanalytic - unconscious motivations
Trait - specific dimensions of personality
Humanistic - inner capacity for growth
Social-Cognitive - influence of environment

4. Medical School Graduate
Sigmund Freud
University of Vienna 1873
Voracious Reader
Medical School Graduate
Specialized in Nervous
Disorders : Some patients’ disorders
had no physical cause.
( )

5. Sigmund Freud
What is the structure and development of personality, according to Sigmund Freud and his successors (i.e.,psychoanalysts)?
According to psychoanalysts, much of behavior is caused by parts of personality which are found in the unconscious and of which we are unaware.
Freud’s 3 levels of awareness/consciousness:
the conscious mind;
the preconscious mind; and
the unconscious mind.

6. Psychoanalysis: The Unconscious
“the mind is like an iceberg - mostly hidden”
Conscious Awareness
small part above surface
(Preconscious)
Unconscious
below the surface
(thoughts, feelings,
wishes, memories)
Repression
Banishing unacceptable
thoughts and passions to
unconscious:
Dreams and Slips

7. Psychoanalysis: Freud’s Theory of Personality
Three levels of consciousness:
Conscious mind: things we are focusing on.
Preconscious mind: things are are not currently aware of but which we could focus on.
Unconscious mind: that which we are unaware of.

8. Psychoanalysis: Freud’s Theory of Personality
Freud’s theory suggest that personality is composed of the id, the ego, and the superego.
id: the unorganized, inborn part of personality whose purpose is to immediately reduce tensions relating to hunger, sex, aggression, and other primitive impulses.
ego: restrains instinctual energy in order to maintain the safety of the individual and to help the person to be a member of society.
superego: the rights and wrongs of society and consists of the conscience and the ego-ideal.

9. Freud and Personality Structure
Id - energy constantly striving to satisfy basic drives
Pleasure Principle
Ego - seeks to gratify the Id in realistic ways
Reality Principle
Ego
Super Id
Super Ego
- voice of conscience
that focuses on how
we ought to behave

10. Freud’s Theory: “the ID”
The id uses the most primitive of thinking process.
Basic biological urges (e.g., hunger, self-protection).
The id operates on the Pleasure Principle.
Seeks pleasure and avoids pain:“I want what I want NOW!”
The id operates completely at an unconscious level.
No direct contact with reality.
The id has 2 major instincts:
Eros: life instinct = motivates people to focus on pleasure- seeking tendencies (e.g., sexual urges).
Thanatos: death instinct = motivates people to use aggressive urges to destroy.
The energy for the id’s instincts comes from the libido, (the energy storehouse).

11. Freud’s Theory: “the Ego”
The ego consists of a conscious faculty for perceiving and dealing intelligently with reality.
The ego acts as a mediator between the id and the superego.
The ego is partly conscious.
Deals with the demands of reality.
Makes rational decisions.

12. Freud’s Theory: “the Ego”
The ego serves the ID:
The rational part of personality that maintains contact with reality.
Governed by ‘Reality Principle’
“What consequences are there to my behavior?”
The ego is the Executive of the personality
The ego controls higher mental processes.
Reasoning, problem solving.
The ego uses these higher mental processes to help satisfy the urges of the ID.

13. Freud’s Theory: “the Superego”
Superego: the moral part of personality.
Internalized rules of parents and society.
Superego consists of two parts:
Conscience: “notions of right/wrong.”
Ego Ideal: “how we ideally like to be.”
Superego: constrains us from gratifying every impulse (e.g., murder) because they are immoral, and not because we might get caught.
Superego: partly conscious, partly unconscious.

14. Freud: superego, id, and ego
According to Freud, an individual’s feelings, thoughts, and behaviors are the result of the interaction of the id, the superego, and the ego.

15. Freud’s Theory of Personality:
The id, the ego, and the superego are continually in conflict with one another.
This conflict generates anxiety.
If the ego did not effectively handle the resulting anxiety, people would be so overwhelmed with anxiety that they would not be able to carry on with the tasks of everyday living.
The ego tries to control anxiety (i.e., to reduce anxiety) through the use of ego defense mechanisms.

16. Ego Defense Mechanisms:

17. Ego Defense Mechanisms
Definition: An defense mechanism is a psychology tendency that the ego uses to help prevent people from becoming overwhelmed by any conflict (and resulting anxiety) among the id, the ego, and the superego.
Defense mechanisms operate at an unconscious level:
We are not aware of them during the time that we are actually using them.
However, we may later become aware of their previous operation and use.

18. Freud’s Theory: Defense Mechanisms
Repression: pushing unacceptable and anxiety- producing thoughts into the unconscious; involves intentional forgetting but not consciously done; repressed material can be memories or unacceptable impulses.
A rape victim cannot recall the details of the attack.
Regression: acting in ways characteristic of earlier life stages/earlier stage of personality.
A young adult, anxious on a trip to his parents/ home, sits in the corner reading comic books, as he often did in grade school.

19. Freud’s Theory: Defense Mechanisms
Reaction formation: replacing an anxiety-producing feeling with its exact opposite, typically going overboard; repressed thoughts appear as mirror opposites.
A man who is anxious about his interest in gay men begins dating women several times a week.
Rationalization: creating false but believable excuses to justify inappropriate behavior; real motive for behavior is not accepted by ego.
A student cheats on an exam, explaining that cheating is legitimate on an unfair examination.

20. Freud’s Theory: Defense Mechanisms
Denial: claiming and believing that something which is actually true is false.
A person disbelieves that she is age, asserting that “I am not getting older.”
Displacement: redirecting emotional feelings (e.g., anger) to a substitute target; involves directing unacceptable impulses onto a less threatening object/person.
A husband, angry at the way his boss treated him, screams at his children.
Instead of telling your professor what you really think of her, you tailgate and harass a slow driver on your way home from school.

21. Freud’s Theory: Defense Mechanisms
Projection: attributing one’s own unacceptable feelings or beliefs to others; perceiving the external world in terms of one’s own personal conflicts.
An employee at a store, tempted to steal some merchandise, suspects that other employees are stealing.
Sublimation: substitute socially acceptable behavior for unacceptable impulses.
Playing video games instead of getting in a fight.

22. Freud: Stages of Personality Development
Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality suggests that personality develops through a series of stages, each of which is associated with a major biological function.
More specifically, Freud theorized that as people age, they pass through several systematic stages of psychosexual development in their personality.

23. Psychosexual Stages of Development are Source of Unconscious Conflicts.
The stages of personality development involve critical events that occur in every child’s life.
At each level, there is a conflict between pleasure and reality.
The resolution of this conflict determines personality.
At any stage, “a fixation” can occur:
If needs are either under-gratified or over-gratified, we become fixated at a particular stage.
Each stage also involves an erogenous zone.
Parts of the body that involve sexual pleasure.

25. Freud’s Stages of Personality Development:
Oral stage: the oral state is the first period, occurring during the first year of life.
Anal stage: next comes the anal stage, lasting from approximately age 1 to age 3.
Phallic stage: the phallic stages follows, with interest focusing on the genitals.
Latency period: then follows the latency period lasting until puberty.
Genital stage: after puberty, people move into the genital stage, a period of mature sexuality.

26. Summary of Freud (on personality):
Freud’s psychoanalytic theory has provoked a number of criticisms.
a lack of supportive scientific data;
the theory’s inadequacy in making predictions; and
its limitations owing to the restricted population on which it is based.
Still, the theory remains popular.
For instance, the neo-Freudian psychoanalytic theorists built upon Freud’s work, although they placed greater emphasis on the role of the ego and paid greater attention to social factors in determining behavior.

27. Psychoanalysis: Freud and Personality

28. Summary: Freud and Personality

29. 4 Types of Personality Theories:
(1). Psychodynamic approaches to personality. (2). Humanistic approaches to personality. (3). Trait approaches to personality. (4). Social Cognitive approaches to personality.

30. (1) Psychodynamic Personality Theories:
Source of information about personality:
Obtained from expert analyst from people in therapy.
Cause of behavior, thoughts, and feelings:
unconscious internal conflict associated with childhood experiences.
Also, unconscious conflicts between pleasure-seeking impulses and social restraints.
Outlook on humans:
negative.
Comprehensiveness of theory:
very comprehensive.

31. Psychodynamic (Psychoanalytic) Theories:
Many are called Neo-Freudians. All place less emphasis on sex.
Carl Jung:
Personal vs. Collective Unconscious.
Balance between introversion and extroversion.
Alfred Adler:
Striving for superiority = motivation to master environment.
Notion of an Inferiority Complex.
Karen Horney:
Personality is Cultural rather than biological.

32. (2) Humanistic Personality Theories:
Source of information about personality:
obtained from self-reports from the general population and people in therapy.
Cause of behavior, thoughts, and feelings:
self concepts,
self-actualizing tendencies.
conscious feelings about oneself (based on one’s previous experiences).
Outlook on humans:
positive.
Comprehensiveness of theory:
fairly comprehensive.

34. Humanistic Personality Theories: Maslow and Rogers
Humanistic approach (Third Force):
Rejected Freud’s pessimistic view of personality.
Rejected Behaviorist’s mechanistic view.
More optimistic/positive about human nature.
Humans are free and basically good.
Humans are inner-directed.
Everyone has the potential for healthy growth.
Health growth involves Self actualization:
“Be all you can be.”
Given the right environmental conditions, we can reach our full potential.

36. Humanistic Personality Theories: Carl Rogers
Self-concept: our image or perception of ourselves
(Real Self versus Ideal Self).
We have a need for positive regard/approval from others.
Conditions of worth or conditional positive regard.
The conditions under which other people will approve of us.
We change our behavior to obtain approval.
What we need is: Unconditional positive regard.
Anxiety signifies that we are not being true to our ideal self.
Well-adjusted persons: self-concept & experience.
Poorly adjusted person: self-concept & experience.

37. Maslow’s Hierarchy of human motives: one must satisfy lower needs before one satisfies higher needs.

38. Humanistic Personality Theories: Abraham Maslow
Self-actualization is the culmination of a lifetime of inner- directed growth and improvement:
Challenging ourselves to the fullest.
Can you identify a self-actualized individual?
Characteristics of the self-actualized person:
Creative and open to new experiences.
Committed to a cause or a higher goal.
Trusting and caring of others, yet not dependent.
Have the courage to act on their convictions.

39. (3) Trait Personality Theories (cont): Allport
Allport: Most important personality traits are those that reflect our values.
Allport suggested that there are 3 kinds of traits:
cardinal: a single personality trait that directs most of a person’s activities (e.g., greed, lust, kindness).
central: a set of major characteristics that make up the core of a person’s personality.
secondary: less important personality traits that do not affect behavior as much as central and cardinal traits do.

40. (3) Trait Personality Theories (cont): Eysenck
Hans Eysenck: found two (2) major trait dimensions:
introversion versus extroversion (quiet versus sociable).
Neuroticism versus emotional stability (moody versus calm).

41. (3) Trait Personality Theories (cont):
Recently personality theorists have begun to converge on the view that there are 5 basic personality dimensions:
1: emotional stability versus neuroticism:
calm, secure, self-satisfied VS anxious, insecure, self- pitying.
2: extraversion versus introversion:
sociable, fun-loving, affectionate VS retiring, sober, reserved.
3: openness versus close-mindedness:
imaginative, independent VS practical, conforming.
4: agreeableness versus disagreeableness:
kind, trusting, helpful VS ruthless, suspicious, uncooperative.
5: conscientiousness versus undependable:
organized, careful, disciplined VS disorganized, careless, impulsive.

42. Five Factor Model of Traits

43. Five Factor Model of Traits

44. Social-Cognitive-Learning Perspective
Behavior learned through
conditioning and observation
What we think about our situation
affects our behavior
Interaction of
Environment and Intellect

45. Social-Cognitive Personality Theories: Social Learning Theory
Bandura: Theoretical origins in behaviorism.
Emphasizes the role of learning in personality.
Classical Conditioning.
Operant Conditioning .
Modeling.
Instead of studying what’s going on inside the person (traits), study what is going on outside the person (environment).
How does the environment shape personality?

46. Social-Cognitive Personality Theories: Social Learning Theory
Bandura also emphasized the importance of cognition in personality development.
People develop a sense of self-efficacy:
Our beliefs about our ability to achieve goals.
Individuals with higher self-efficacy:
accept greater challenges.
try harder to meet challenges.
Bandura also discusses the notion of Reciprocal Determinism:
The individual and the environment continually influence one another.

47. Social-Cognitive Personality Theories: Reciprocal Determination
Factors
Environment
Factors
Behavior
Internal World + External World = Us

48. Social-Cognitive Personality Theories: Reciprocal Determination

49. Social-Cognitive Personality Theories: Personal Control
Internal Locus of Control:
You pretty much control your own destiny
External Locus of Control:
Luck, fate and/or powerful others control your destiny.
Methods of Study:
Correlate feelings of control with behavior.
Experiment by raising/lowering people’s sense of control and noting the consequences and effects.

50. THE END