Psychology of Personality

Psychology of Personality
Smashna Olena

Personality The organized, developing, psychological system within the individual that represents the collective action of that individual’s major psychological subsystems.

Personality Psychology
A scientific discipline that addresses the questions, “Who am I?” and “Who are others?” Personality psychology involves the study of a person’s mental system, with a focus on its largest, most important parts, how those parts are organized, and how they develop over time.

Systems Framework An outline of the field of personality psychology that divides it into the study of: the definition and location of personality, personality parts, personality organization, and personality development.

What is temperament? Where do the characteristics come from? Temperament is behavioral style: the how of behavior rather than the what or why. Temperamental differences are present at birth; they influence how children behave toward individuals and objects in their environments and how they are affected by the environment. Temperament characteristics explain in part how individuals with many stresses may do well while some with little or no stress have difficulty.

How can professionals help parents deal with infants and children who have difficult temperament characteristics? There are four basic ways to use temperament information to help children and their caregivers: a) Education about the existence of temperament differences; b) Individual behavioral assessment of a particular child, using a standardized questionnaire; c) Environmental intervention; systematically changing the environment to accommodate temperamental characteristics; d) Support groups to share experiences, discuss parenting techniques, and strategies for coping with a spirited youngster.

How do temperament characteristics affect parenting?
While some infants are mild and joyful others are irritable and cry persistently. Easy babies are so pleasant to care for they may receive (and give back) loads of affection and attention. The fussy, spirited child may scream and kick when given attention. As development unfolds, the fussy child may feel aversive to the caregiver and may receive less nurturance and affection. This is a striking reality for some parents who have an easy baby followed by a feisty one (or vice-versa). Many parents feel guilty and wonder if they have done something to harm their child because the spirited ones are so much more difficult to raise.

Are spirited infants and children more likely to have emotional and behavioral problems?
Temperament may make certain children in certain environments more likely to have these problems. These 'risk factors' occur when there is a mismatch between the child's temperament and some demand in the environment-a poor fit between the child's temperament and the expectations for behavior in the situation. 'Easy' babies and children may have 'protective' factors where mismatches are rare and the rate of conflict is low.

The nine characteristics are (NYLS):
Activity level -the amount of physical motion exhibited during the day Persistence -the extent of continuation of behavior with or without interruption Distractibility -the ease of being interrupted by sound, light, etc unrelated behavior Initial Reaction -response to novel situations, whether approaching or withdrawing Adaptability -the ease of changing behavior in a socially desirable direction Mood -the quality of emotional expression, positive or negative Intensity - the amount of energy exhibited in emotional expression Sensitivity -the degree to which the person reacts to light, sound, etc. Regularity -the extent to which patterns of eating, sleeping, elimination, etc. are consistent or inconsistent from day to day.

In 1968 William B. Carey, developed the first practical measure of temperament, the Infant Temperament Questionnaire. Since then he and several associates have authored a series of temperament questionnaires assessing the nine NYLS temperament characteristics in infants as young as one month of age and in children through the end of the twelfth year. The Carey Temperament Scales. Activity: months – the infant moves about much during diapering and dressing 3-7 years – the child speaks so quickly that it is sometimes difficult to understand him/her Adaptability: 3-7 years – the child will avoid misbehavior if punished firmly once or twice

Choleric One of the four ancient personality types; is quick to action, has a short temper, and is lean

Melancholic One of four ancient personality types; is slow to move, self-preoccupied, unhappy and depressed

Sanguine One of four ancient personality types; is cheerful, lively, and easy-going

Phlegmatic One of four ancient personality types; has little energy, is prone to eating too much, and is somewhat indifferent in disposition.

The Intercorrelation of Traits

Childhood Self By age 2 By age 8 Use of “I,” “me,” “mine”
Physical characteristics By age 8 Social identity Personality trait terms Social comparison

Harter’s research on self-perception Children rated themselves on:
Self-Esteem: Multidimensional Harter’s research on self-perception Children rated themselves on: Scholastic competence (feeling smart, doing well in school) Social competence (being popular, liked by others) Behavioral competence (behaving appropriately, not getting in trouble) Athletic competence (being good at sports) Physical appearance (feeling good-looking)

SELF-ESTEEM EXAMPLES I don’t feel anyone else is better than I I am free of shame, blame, and guilt I am a happy, carefree person I have no need to prove I am as good as or better than others I do not have a strong need for people to pay attention to me or like what I do Losing does not upset me or make me feel ‘less than’ others

Influences on Self-Esteem
Competence differences Social feedback (positive or negative) Genetic Parents (cross-cultural) Warm and democratic Enforce clearly stated rules

EXTRAVERSION INTROVERSION
How we prefer to interact with the world and where we direct our energy

EXTRAVERSION Focus attention and energy on the
world outside of themselves. Talk/act first, think later Think out loud - brainstorming Communicate with enthusiasm Respond quickly – enjoy a fast pace Talk more than listen Dominate conversations Like being the center of attention

EXTRAVERSION Know a lot of people Have lots of friends
Are very approachable Reveal personal information Prefer to work with groups Prefer breadth to depth Motto: READY, FIRE, AIM !!!!!

Figure 12.2 Eysenck's Hierarchical Model of Personality Development

The Biological Basis of Personality

INTROVERSION Focus attention and energy on the
world inside of themselves. Think, then act Rehearse things before speaking Listen more than talk Avoid being the center of attention Are energized by spending time alone Need to recharge after group interaction

INTROVERSION Keep their enthusiasm to themselves
May be called shy, cool, aloof Like to share with one person Irritated by repetition Prefer depth to breadth Motto: READY, AIM, FIRE… MAYBE !!!

Representation in the General Population
There are 3 times as many extraverted preference people in the population as introverted preference people.

SENSING iNTUITION The kinds of information that we focus on or naturally notice

SENSING Concentrate on what can be seen,
heard, felt, smelled or tasted. Focus on what is real and concrete Take a practical approach Value common sense If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it Like to hear things sequentially not randomly

SENSING Are literal in the use of words
Prefer specific answers to specific questions Rather do something than think about it Learn from past experiences Like to use and hone established skills Like jobs that have tangible results Live in the present

iNTUITION Naturally read between the lines and
look for meaning in all things. Trust inspiration and inference Think about several things at once Like figuring out how things work Look for interrelatedness rather than face value Value imagination and innovation Find the future intriguing

iNTUITION Love to fantasize Are prone to puns and word games
Tend to give general answers Get irritated when pushed for specifics Present information through leaps, in a roundabout manner Are oriented toward the future

2/3 of the general population has a preference for sensing while 1/3 has a preference for iNtuition.

THINKING FEELING The way that we make decisions
and come to conclusions

THINKING Prefer to make decisions using an impersonal approach. Prefer
decisions that make sense logically. Able to stay cool, calm, and objective when others are upset Value fairness and truthfulness over popularity More firm minded than gentle hearted Naturally see flaws and tend to be critical

THINKING Pride themselves on objectivity
Are sometimes seen as cold, insensitive, and uncaring More important to be right than liked Prefer things that are logical and scientific Are motivated by a desire for achievement and accomplishment

Prefer to make decisions based on
FEELING Prefer to make decisions based on personal values. Take the feelings of others into consideration when making decisions Value empathy and harmony – see the exception to the rule Do anything to accommodate Naturally like to please others

FEELING Prefer harmony over clarity
Accused of taking things too seriously May be seen as overemotional, illogical and weak Will jeopardize own position for others Very thin skinned Avoid conflict at all cost Show appreciation easily Are motivated by a desire to be appreciated

There are more thinking preference males in the general population and more feeling preference females.

JUDGING PERCEIVING The kind of lifestyle that we like to lead

JUDGING Tend to live in an orderly way and are happiest when their lives are structured and matters are settled. Work ethic - work first, play later (if there is time) A place for everything and everything in its place Plan the work and work the plan Don’t like surprises Keep lists and use them Thrive on order

JUDGING Seek to regulate and control life
Set goals and work toward achieving them on time Can become unraveled if things don’t fall into place Are product oriented Derive satisfaction from completing a project See time as a finite resource and take deadlines seriously

PERCEIVING Like to live in a spontaneous way
and are happiest when their lives are flexible. Are happiest leaving their options open Don’t like to plan, prefer to wait and see “Play” ethic – enjoy now, finish the job later (if there is time) Depend on last minute spurts of energy to meet deadlines Like adapting to new situations

PERCEIVING Value creativity, spontaneity, and responsiveness
Change goals as new information becomes available Love to explore the unknown Accused of being disorganized Are process oriented (emphasis is on how the task is completed) See time as a renewable resource and see deadlines as elastic

60% of the general population has a preference for judging while 40% has a preference for perceiving.

Type and Careers Certain personality types will be drawn to certain careers. People within careers often cluster in similar personality types.

Guardians (sj) Rationals (nt) Idealists (nf) Artisans (sp)
MBTI - 4 Temperaments Myers Briggs type indicators facilitate our understanding of people with various personality ‘types.’ Today, we’ll focus on how “The Four Temperaments” arise from the combination of the four dimensions to yield 16 “type indicators.” Guardians (sj) Rationals (nt) Idealists (nf) Artisans (sp)

Myers Briggs Dimensions of Temperament Your preferences in action
Are you one of those organized workers who always gets your projects in before they're due? Or do you put off getting the job done until the very last possible moment? Is your boss someone who readily lets you know how you're doing? Or do they always leave you unsure of precisely where you stand? Do you find that a few people on your staff are incredibly creative but can never seem to get to a meeting on time? Do others require a specific agenda at the meeting in order to focus on the job at hand? Recognize your own type and those of your coworkers using Myers Briggs Type Indicators

Myers Briggs Dimensions of Temperament Your preferences in action
Extraversion / Introversion Where do you get your energy - what “charges your batteries” - group think vs.. introspection, perhaps. Sensing / Intuition How do you gather information. Present / future, practical / imaginative, details / patterns, sequential / random Thinking / Feeling How do you make decisions ? Thinking/feeling, laws/circumstances, justice/mercy Judgment / Perception How do you organize your environment Planned / open ended, control / adapt, resolved / pending

Guardians (sj) Administrators Conservators Inspector (iStJ)
Supervisor (eStJ) Conservators Protector (iSfJ) Provider (eSfJ)

Guardians (sj) CONCRETE communication COOPERATIVE in achieving goals
Skilled in logistics 40% - 45% of the population Security seeking Enculturating as parents, helpmates as spouses, conformity oriented as children

Guardians (sj) Being CONCRETE in communicating & COOPERATIVE in achieving goals, can become highly skilled in LOGISTICS. Thus their best skills are supervising & inspecting (SJT administering), or supplying and protecting (SJF conserving). They are proud of themselves to the extent they are effective in action, do good deeds, and feel confident of themselves. In search of security as they are the "Security Seeking Personality" -- they trust in legitimacy and hunger for membership. 20 of the presidents of the US have been “sj” types. Isabel Myers attributed: dependable, factual, good maintainers, painstaking, routinized, thorough, conservative,consistent, detailed, hard-working, patient, persevering, sensible, stable, and unimpulsive.

Rationals (nt) Engineers Coordinators Architect (iNTp) Inventor (eNTp)
Mastermind (iNTj) Fieldmarshal (eNTj)

Rationals (nt) ABSTRACT communication Utilitarian in achieving goals
Strong in STRATEGIC ANALYSIS 5% - 7% of the population Knowledge seeking Individualizing as parents, mindmates as spouses, learning oriented as children.

Rationals (nt) Their most practiced and developed intelligent operations tend to be marshalling and planning (NTJ organizing). iNTj is considered the most independent of all the types. They are proud of themselves when they feel competence in action, in the degree to which they are autonomous, and their confidence is bolstered by their strong will. Ever in search of achievement, this is the “knowledge seeking” personality -- trusting in reason and hungering for achievement. They tend to migrate toward the sciences and technology. They are infrequent in the population, comprising no more than 7%. There have been 8 “nt” presidents of the US.

Idealists (nf) Advocates Mentors Healer (iNFp) Champion (eNFp)
Counselor (iNFj) Teacher (eNFj)

Idealists (nf) ABSTRACT communication COOPERATIVE in achieving goals
Diplomatic Integration 8% - 10% of the population Encourage imagination & fantasy in their children, spiritual intimacy with spouse, strive for consensus, and continual self renewal for themselves.

Idealists (nf) Can become highly skilled in DIPLOMATIC INTEGRATION. Most practiced & developed in teaching & counseling (NFJ mentoring), or conferring & tutoring (NFP advocating). Strive to be sages in one of these forms of social development. Instinct for interpersonal integration, and often speak interpretively and metaphorically of the abstract world of their imagination. They are proud of themselves when empathic in action, and benevolent, and feel confident of themselves in the degree they are authentic. This is the “Identity Seeking” personality. Often prominent in the humanities, ethics / law, and personnel work. There has never been an “nf” president of the US.

Artisans (sp) Entertainers Operators Composer (iSfP) Performer (eSfP)
Crafter (iStP) Promoter (eStP)

Artisans (sp) CONCRETE communication UTILITARIAN in achieving goals
Skilled in tactical variation 35% - 40% of the population Sensation Seeking They tend to be permissive as parents, playmates as spouses, and play oriented as children

Artisans (sp) Being CONCRETE in communicating, and UTILITARIAN in achieving goals, they can be highly skilled in TACTICAL VARIATION. They tend to be successful in promoting and operating (SPT expediting), or displaying and composing (SPF improvising). They would be virtuosos of these artistic operations. They are proud of themselves in the degree they are graceful in action, daring, and feel confident of themselves when highly adaptable. This is the “Sensation Seeking” personality -- trusting in spontaneity and hungering for impact on others. Their preferred time and place is the ‘here and now.’ They tend to be permissive as parents, playmates as spouses, and play oriented as children. There have been 12 “sp” presidents.

Results of the MBTI assessments.
Who We Are Results of the MBTI assessments. Typical values ? Dept.Vs.Gen’l Population ? Slices of Pie ? Citations / Resources ? Q&A ?

Psychoanalytical Theory of Personality
James J. Messina, Ph.D. Dr Sigmund Freud Oldest of eight children Married with 3 girls and 3 boys Physician-Biologist – Scientific oriented and Pathology oriented theory Jewish-anti-religion-All religion an illusion used to cope with feelings of infantile helplessness In Vienna Austria 78 years till 1938 Based theory on personal experiences Died of cancer of jaw & mouth lifelong cigar chain-smoker What is the Unconscious That portion of the mind inaccessible to usual, conscious thought Get to unconscious through Free Association: spontaneous free flowing associations of ideas and feelings Dream Interpretation Manifest Content: what a person remembers and consciously considers-only a partial representation Latent Content: underlying hidden meaning-vast underlying Unconscious can manifest itself symbolically in a dream Structure of the Mind Id – Pleasure Seeking Ego – Reality Focused Superego – Conscience over the Ego and Id ID basic psychic energy and motivations Operates to demands of Pleasure Principle-strive to satisfy desires and reduce inner tension Sea around an Island EGO deals with real world Operates to demands of Reality Principle solves problems by planning & acting City Hall on island roots and foundation in sea - id Superego internalized social norm & moral forces pressing on and constraining individual action The “over-I” over ego Church on island roots and foundation in sea - id Freudian Slip Psychological error in speaking or writing Evidence of some unconscious urge, desire, or conflict & struggle When ego or superego are not doing their job properly elements of id slip out or are seen Libido Sexual energy which underlies the tension between selfishness and society and inner tensions that strive for relief Psychosexual Theory of Development Five Stages of Development Oral Stage Anal Stage Phallic Stage Latency Period Genital Stage Oral Stage: Birth to 2 year Satisfy drive of hunger and thirst by breast or bottle If fixated after weaned: Over Dependency Over Attachment “Intake” of interesting substances/ideas Anal Stage: 2- 4 years Id wants pleasure of reducing tension by defecating & urinating Toilet training – get superego to impose societal norms Self-control Holding back Freedom of action no control Fixated at Anal Stage Enjoy bathroom humor-making messes-even of other people’s lives Neatness, order & organization and Obstinacy & Stinginess – Anal retentive- passive aggressive Phallic Stage: 4 – 6 years Sexual energy focused on genitals Masturbation Differences between boys and girls Emerging sexual gender identity Personality fixed by end of this stage Oedipus Complex A boy’s sexual feeling for his mother and rivalries with his father Psychological defenses against these threatening thoughts and feelings Form reaction pattern used throughout life Form personality through identification with father Diminish fear of castration-vicariously obtain mother through father Castration Anxiety Unconscious fear of loss of penis and becoming like a female Fear of powerful people overcoming them Fear of revenge of the powerful people Penis Envy A girl’s feelings of inferiority and jealousy Turns affections from mother to father since blame mom for no penis Although can’t have penis can have baby Wants to find a good man like her father and produce a baby Latency Period 5-11 years of age Time between resolution of Oedipus complex and puberty Usually not possible for sexual urges to be directly expressed Sexual energies are channeled into school and friends Genital Stage Adolescence - Adulthood Normal sexual relations Marriage Child-rearing Defense Mechanisms To protect the ego against the painful and threatening impulses arising from the id we distort the reality The processes that distort the reality for the ego are called defense mechanisms Types of Defense Mechanisms Repression Reaction Formation Denial Projection Displacement Sublimation Regression Rationalization Pushes threatening thoughts back into the unconscious Posttraumatic Stress Disorder- PTSD – Common with veterans and victims of sexual abuse False memories – suggested through psychotherapist intentionally or unintentionally Process of pushing away threatening impulses by overemphasizing the opposite in one’s thoughts and actions Examples: Jim Bakker & Jimmy Swaggart Refusing to acknowledge anxiety-provoking stimuli Mind’s means of keeping its own sensations out of conscious awareness Or That fabulous river which runs down the middle of Egypt which many of us sail on Anxiety-arousing impulses are externalized by placing them, or projecting them, onto others. A person’s inner threats are attributed to those around them Newt Gingrich: public diatribe against infidelity of president while engaged in ownlong term infidelity out of public eye The shifting of the targets of one’s unconscious fears or desires Hydraulic Replacement Model Some release valve must be found for the bottled-up aggressive impulses triggered by frustration and humiliation Example: Man angry at boss kicks dog, kids Tools for Anger Workout- Transforming of dangerous urges into positive, socially acceptable motivation Turns sexual energy away fro sexual ends and towards societal goals Is is possible that as society becomes more sexually liberated, art, creativity and even civilization will suffer? Returning to earlier, safer stages of our lives There may be regression to the stage where there was previous fixation A mechanism involving post hoc logical explanations for behaviors that were actually driven by internal unconscious motives Explanation for behavior not even remotely related to the true causes Contributions of Freud First personality theory Emphasis on sexuality as influence Importance of early childhood experience Concept of unconscious Scientific approach to mental health on continuum from physical health Limitations of Freud’s Work Pessimistic and deterministic approach to personality Pathology based theory Hydraulic model of psychic energy exaggerated No controlled studies-poor research Overemphasis on differences between men and women Unconcerned with interpersonal relations, individual identity and adaptation over one’s lifetime Hypermnesia “Excessive memory” situation in which a later attempt to remember something yields information that was not reportable on an earlier attempt to remember. Memory flooding Infantile Amnesia Most adults cannot remember much of what happened to them before age three or four Adults cannot remember any things be they traumatic or not Still not clear why Subliminal Perception Very weak stimuli could be perceived and processed without conscious awareness of such stimulus having occurred. Not consciously aware of stimuli that are nevertheless being processed by some parts of our brain Memory Fact: every person experiences every event from a unique, individual perspective that depends on a person’s needs, goals, assumptions and other experiences Fact: individualized memory is a complex, multifaceted, constantly changing representation -What is reported about the event varies tremendously with the circumstances under which the memory is probed Explicit vs Implicit Memory Explicit memory: can recall or recognize something Implicit memory: change how think or behave as a result of some experience that do not consciously recall Procedural Memory vs Declarative Memory Representation of the skill itself can be present in memory even in the absence of conscious memory for the event during which the skill was acquired. Procedural: Memory for how to do the task Declarative: Memory for facts about a task or event

Dr Sigmund Freud

Dr Sigmund Freud 1856-1939 Oldest of eight children
Physician-Biologist – Scientific oriented and Pathology oriented theory Jewish-anti-religion-All religion an illusion used to cope with feelings of infantile helplessness Based theory on personal experiences Died of cancer of jaw & mouth lifelong cigar chain-smoker

Near his death Freud recorded a brief message for broadcast on the BBC. He wrote out his words beforehand…

I started my professional activity as a neurologist trying to bring relief to my neurotic patients. Under the influence of an older friend, and by my own efforts, I discovered some new facts about the unconscious in psychic life, the role of instinctual urges, and so on. Out of these findings grew a new science, psychoanalysis, a part of psychology, and a new method of treatment of the neurosis. I had to pay heavily for this bit of good luck. People did not believe in my facts and thought my theories unsavoury. Resistance was strong and unrelenting. In the end I succeeded in acquiring pupils and building up an International Psychoanalytic Association. But the struggle is not over. -- sigmund Freud

Freud’s Birthplace and Childhood home Pribor, present day Czech Republic

Freud’s Psychoanalytic Approach:
Model of personality development Philosophy of Human Nature Method of Psychotherapy Identified dynamic factors that motivate behavior Focused on role of unconscious Developed first therapeutic procedures for understanding & modifying structure of one’s basic character

Freud’s consulting office in Vienna, at Bergasse 19, now the site of a Freud Museum

Determinism Freud’s perspective Behavior is determined by
Irrational forces Unconscious motivations Biological and instinctual drives as they evolve through the six psychosexual stages of life

The brain /mind can be at war with itself. Sex And shame in conflict. Can understanding this conflict be reduced to neurology, or are psychological/social/ cultural factors important and irreducible ?

Instincts Libido – sexual energy – survival of the individual and human race-oriented towards growth, development & creativity – Pleasure principle – goal of life gain pleasure and avoid pain Death instinct – accounts for aggressive drive – to die or to hurt themselves or others Sex and aggressive drives-powerful determinants of peoples actions

Eros vs. Thanatos

The Structure of Personality
THE ID — The Demanding Child Ruled by the pleasure principle THE EGO — The Traffic Cop Ruled by the reality principle THE SUPEREGO — The Judge Ruled by the moral principle

Id Basic psychic energy and motivations
Operates to demands of Pleasure Principle - strive to satisfy desires and reduce inner tension “I want it and I want it all now”

Ego functions with the rational part of the mind. The Ego develops out of growing awareness that you can’t always get what you want. The Ego relates to the real world and operates via the “reality principle”. The Ego realises the need for compromise and negotiates between the Id and the Superego. The Ego's job is to get the Id's pleasures but to be reasonable and bear the long-term consequences in mind.

Ego The Ego denies both instant gratification and pious delaying of gratification. The term ego-strength is the term used to refer to how well the ego copes with these conflicting forces. To undertake its work of planning, thinking and controlling the Id, the Ego uses some of the Id's libidinal energy.

Superego The Superego is the last part of the mind to develop. It might be called the moral part of the mind. The Superego becomes an embodiment of parental and societal values. It stores and enforces rules. It constantly strives for perfection, even though this perfection ideal may be quite far from reality or possibility. Its power to enforce rules comes from its ability to create anxiety.

Superego The Superego has two subsystems: Ego Ideal and Conscience. The Ego Ideal provides rules for good behaviour, and standards of excellence towards which the Ego must strive. The Ego ideal is basically what the child’s parents approve of or value. The Conscience is the rules about what constitutes bad behaviour. The Conscience is basically all those things that the child feels mum or dad will disapprove of or punish.

Psychosexual Theory of Development
Five Stages of Development Oral Stage Anal Stage Phallic Stage Latency Period Genital Stage

Each psychosexual stage has three main parts:
A physical focus: where the child’s energy is concentrated and their gratification obtained. A psychological theme: this is related to both the physical focus and the demands being made on the child by the outside world as he/she develops. For each stage, there can be two extremes in psychological reaction - either doing too much or not enough of what is ideal. An adult character type: in the first three stages this adult character type is one that is related to being fixated or stuck at that stage. If a person doesn’t resolve the psychological issues that arise at that stage they will always have problems relating to those issues.

If you have had problems during any of the psychosexual stages which are not effectively resolved, then you will become fixated at one of the earlier stages and when under stress will regress more and more to characteristics of that stage.

Oral Stage: Birth to 2 year
Oral stage: Birth - 18 months (approx.) Physical focus: mouth, lips tongue (sucking). Sucking is the primary source of pleasure for a newborn. Everything goes in the mouth. Sucking = food. Psychological theme: dependency. A baby is very dependent and can do little for itself. If babies needs properly fulfilled can move onto the next stage. But if not fulfilled baby will be mistrustful or over-fulfilled baby will find it hard to cope with a world that doesn’t meet all of his/her demands.

Oral Stage: Birth to 2 year
Adult character: highly dependent/highly independent. If baby becomes fixated at this stage Freud felt that he or she would grow to be an oral character. Mostly these people are extremely dependent and passive people who want everything done for them. However Freud also suggests that another type of oral character is the person who is highly independent and that when under stress the orally fixated person may flip from one type to the other. This exemplifies Freud’s doctrine of opposites.

Anal Stage: 2- 4 years Physical focus: anus (elimination). Until now the baby has had it pretty easy. Now baby is supposed to control bowels. Freud believed baby’s sexual pleasure centred around the anus at this time. Psychological theme: self-control/obedience. These things are not just related to toilet training but also the baby must learn to control urges and behaviours (terrible twos). What goes wrong here is either parents being too controlling or not controlling enough (Freud was a great believer in moderation).

Anal Stage: 2- 4 years Adult character: anally retentive (rigid, overly organised, subservient to authority) vs. anally expulsive (little self-control, disorganised, defiant, hostile).

Fixated at Anal Stage Enjoy bathroom humor-making messes-even of other people’s lives Neatness, order & organization and Obstinacy & Stinginess – Anal retentive- passive aggressive

Phallic Stage: 4 – 6 years Sexual energy focused on genitals
Masturbation Differences between boys and girls Emerging sexual gender identity Personality fixed by end of this stage Physical focus: penis. Freud believed that boys and girls both focussed on the penis. Boys: why hasn’t she got one? Girls: why haven’t I got one? Children become particularly interested in playing with their genitals at this stage.

Phallic Stage: 4 – 6 years Psychological theme: morality and sexuality identification and figuring out what it means to be a girl/boy. Children, according to Freud have sexual feelings for the opposite sexed parent at this stage (and deal with Oedipus / Electra complexes - basically erotic attachment to parent of opposite sex, but since these feelings are not socially acceptable, it may become hostility) and feel some hostility to same-sex parent. Boys experience castration anxiety and girls suffer penis envy. During this time emotional conflicts are resolved by eventually identifying with the same sex parent Adult character: promiscuous and amoral/ asexual and puritanical (Doctrine of opposites again)

Oedipus Complex A boy’s sexual feeling for his mother and rivalries with his father Psychological defenses against these threatening thoughts and feelings Form reaction pattern used throughout life Form personality through identification with father Diminish fear of castration-vicariously obtain mother through father

Castration Anxiety Unconscious fear of loss of penis and becoming like a female Fear of powerful people overcoming them Fear of revenge of the powerful people

Penis Envy A girl’s feelings of inferiority and jealousy
Turns affections from mother to father since blame mom for no penis Although can’t have penis can have baby Wants to find a good man like her father and produce a baby

Latency Period 5-11 years of age
Time between resolution of Oedipus complex and puberty Usually not possible for sexual urges to be directly expressed Sexual energies are channeled into school and friends

Genital Stage Adolescence - Adulthood
Physical focus: genitals Psychological theme: maturity and creation and enhancement of life. So this is not just about creating new life (reproduction) but also about intellectual and artistic creativity. The task is to learn how to add something constructive to life and society. Adult character: The genital character is not fixed at an earlier stage. This is the person who has worked it all out. This person is psychologically well-adjusted and balanced. According to Freud to achieve this state you need to have a balance of both love and work.

Ego-Defense Mechanisms
Are normal behaviors which operate on an unconscious level and tend to deny or distort reality Help the individual cope with anxiety and prevent the ego from being overwhelmed Have adaptive value if they do not become a style of life to avoid facing reality

Defense Mechanisms To protect the ego against the painful and threatening impulses arising from the id we distort the reality The processes that distort the reality for the ego are called defense mechanisms

Types of Defense Mechanisms
Repression Reaction Formation Denial Projection Displacement Sublimation Regression Rationalization

What is the Unconscious
That portion of the mind inaccessible to usual, conscious thought Get to unconscious through Free Association: spontaneous free flowing associations of ideas and feelings

The Unconscious Clinical evidence for postulating the unconscious:
Dreams Slips of the tongue Posthypnotic suggestions Material derived from free-association Material derived from projective techniques Symbolic content of psychotic symptoms NOTE: consciousness is only a thin slice of the total mind

Dr. Amir Raz, rear, and Miguel Moeno
demonstrate the deep effects of hypnosis, suggestion, and top-down processing using brain scans and the “Stroop effect.”

Dream Interpretation Manifest Content: what a person remembers and consciously considers-only a partial representation Latent Content: underlying hidden meaning-vast underlying Unconscious can manifest itself symbolically in a dream

Dream Interpretation “Royal road to the unconscious”
What is important in dreams is the infantile wish fulfillment represented in them Freud assumed every dream has a meaning that can be interpreted by decoding representations of the unconscious material Dream symbol = represents some person, thing, or activity involved in the unconscious process Dream Interpretation “Royal road to the unconscious” What is important in dreams is the infantile wish fulfillment represented in them Freud assumed every dream has a meaning that can be interpreted by decoding representations of the unconscious material Dream symbol = represents some person, thing, or activity involved in the unconscious process Dream Interpretations Knife, umbrella, snake = Penis Box, oven, ship = Uterus Room, table with food = Women Staircase, ladder = Sexual intercourse Water = Birth, mother Baldness, tooth removal = castration Left (direction) = crime, sexual deviation Children playing = masturbation Fire = bedwetting Robber = father Falling = anxiety

Dream Interpretations
Knife, umbrella, snake = Penis Box, oven, ship = Uterus Room, table with food = Women Staircase, ladder = Sexual intercourse Water = Birth, mother Baldness, tooth removal = castration Left (direction) = crime, sexual deviation Children playing = masturbation Fire = bedwetting Robber = father Falling = anxiety

Hypermnesia “Excessive memory” situation in which a later attempt to remember something yields information that was not reportable on an earlier attempt to remember. Memory flooding

Infantile Amnesia Most adults cannot remember much of what happened to them before age three or four Adults cannot remember any things be they traumatic or not

Psychoanalytic Techniques
Free Association Client reports immediately without censoring any feelings or thoughts Interpretation Therapist points out, explains, and teaches the meanings of whatever is revealed Dream Analysis Therapist uses the “royal road to the unconscious” to bring unconscious material to light

Transference and Countertransference
The client reacts to the therapist as he did to an earlier significant other This allows the client to experience feelings that would otherwise be inaccessible ANALYSIS OF TRANSFERENCE — allows the client to achieve insight into the influence of the past Countertransference The reaction of the therapist toward the client that may interfere with objectivity

Resistance Resistance
Anything that works against the progress of therapy and prevents the production of unconscious material Analysis of Resistance Helps the client to see that canceling appointments, fleeing from therapy prematurely, etc., are ways of defending against anxiety These acts interfere with ability to accept changes which could lead to more satisfying life

Contributions of Freud
First personality & psychotherapy theory Emphasis on sexuality as influence Importance of early childhood experience Concept of unconscious Emphasis on Helper Role in therapeutic relationship Scientific approach to mental health on continuum from physical health

Limitations of Freud’s Work
Pessimistic and deterministic approach to personality Pathology based theory Hydraulic model of psychic energy exaggerated No controlled studies-poor research Overemphasis on differences between men and women Unconcerned with interpersonal relations, individual identity and adaptation over one’s lifetime

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Psychology of Personality

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Psychology of Personality

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