1. Unit 10 Personality

2. Personality
Personality – an individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking feeling and acting
consistent behaviors
Example –

4. Personality Theories Psychoanalytic Theory Humanistic Theory
Trait Theories
Social Cognitive Theories

5. HistoricalTheories Psychoanalytic Theory (Freud)
childhood sexuality and unconscious drives influence personality
Included stage theory of psychosocial development
Humanistic Theory (Maslow, Rogers)
focused on our inner capacities for growth and self-fulfillment
“Man is Good” philosophy

6. Psychoanalytic Theory
Psychoanalysis – Freud’s theory of personality AND the technique used in treating psychological disorders by exposing and interpreting unconscious tensions.
Healing occurs through the recovery of repressed wishes and desires from the unconscious
Techniques used to expose the unconscious included:
Hypnosis
Dreams – latent and manifest
Free association – way of exploring unconscious by having person relax and say whatever comes to mind

7. Our Personality Conscious- things we are aware of.
Preconscious- Forgotten memories that we can easily recall
Unconscious- thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories of which we are largely unaware.
Repression - thoughts that are too unsettling for people to acknowledge
Expressed in disguised forms
Freudian slips
Dreams
Forgetting

8. Freud’s Idea of the Minds Structure

9. Parts of Personality
Id - unconscious impulses that want to be gratified, without regard to potential punishment.
pleasure principle – avoid pain and receive instant gratification, unconscious
Ex.
Ego– moderates the impulsive demands of id and restraining demands of superego.
Reality principle, partly conscious
Superego - tells us right from wrong and our ideal standards
Moral principle, unconscious, develops last – 5 years

10. Parts of Personality Ego is personality executive
Healthy person’s ego is stronger than id
Strong Superego – virtuous, but guilt ridden
Strong Id – self-indulgent, remorseless

12. ID

13. ID leads us to eating and drinking

14. Superego

15. Ego

16. Id controlling Marge.

17. Freud’s Psychosexual stages
Psychosexual development – a series of developmental stages that an individual passes through and forms their personality
Id’s pleasure seeking energies centers on distinct erogenous zones as we pass through the early stages.
Preoccupation with any one area results in a fixation on it.
Psychosexual stages – childhood stages of development during which the id’s pleasure seeking energies focus on specific erogenious zones (area of body sensitive to sexual stimulation)
Freud believed that personality forms as children pass through a series of psychosexual stages
Freud suggested that pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones as we progress through various psychosexual stages

18. Freud’s Psychosexual Stages
Oral (0-18 months)
Anal (18-36 months)
Phallic (3-6 years)
Latency (6-Puberty)
Genital (Puberty on)
Owen And Phillip Like Girls

19. Oral Stage Important erogenous zone = mouth Biting, sucking, chewing
Fixation
Weaned too early = oral fixation
Ex. overeating, smoking, passive dependence (dependence on friends or family), or exaggerated denial of dependence (acting tough)

20. Anal Stage Develops during toilet training (2-4).
Important erogenous zone = anus
Focused on controlling waste and expelling waste.
Fixation
potty training too early = anal-retentive
Ex. Overly neat and fussy
Potty training not encouraged or haphazard = anal-expulsive
Ex. overly slovenly and messy
Two-year-old Damien frequently refuses to obey his parents because he derives immense pleasure from demonstrating his independence from their control. Freud would have suggested that Damien is going through the anus stage of development.

21. Phallic Stage
Period of time when children first recognize their gender (4-7).
Important erogenous zone = genitals
Unconscious sexual desires for parent of the opposite sex
Oedipus Complex – boys’ feelings of guilt and fear of punishment over sexual desire for mother and feelings of hostility toward father.
Electra Complex – girls’ feelings of guilt and fear of punishment over sexual desire for their father and hostility toward mother
Penis Envy(girls realization that they don’t have a penis and blame Mom) and Castration Anxiety (boys fear of penis removal)
Identification – children incorporate same sex parents’ values into superego = successful conflict resolution in Phallic stage
Fixation
problems in relationships
narcissistic--excessively vain and proud.
afraid or incapable of close love
homosexuality

22. Latency Stage Libido is hidden (7-11). Cooties stage
Dormant sexual feelings.
Boys hang with Dad, Girls hang with mom
Fixation - none

23. Genital Stage Libido is focused on their genitals (12-death).
Maturation of sexual interests
All stages resolved = mentally healthy and sexually matured

24. Psychosexual Stages

25. Defense Mechanisms
Defense Mechanisms tactics of the ego to reduce anxiety by distorting reality
Ex:
Repression
Rationalization
Reaction formation
Projection
Regression
Displacement
Sublimation
Denial

26. Scenario
Quarterback of the high school football team, Brandon, is dating Jasmine. Jasmine dumps Brandon and starts dating Drew, president of the chess club.
Jasmine
Brandon
Drew

27. Repression Pushing anxiety arousing thoughts into our unconscious.
Underlies all other defense mechanisms
Slips of the tongue are incomplete repressions
Why don’t we remember our Oedipus and Electra complexes?
Ex.
Banishes anxiety arousing wishes from consciousness – underlies all other defense mechanisms
Ex. Don’t remember childhood lust for a parent
Can seep out in dreams and slips of tongue
Although Camile has detailed memories of her high school experiences, she remembers very little about the boyfriend who abruptly broke off their marriage engagement.
When she was 8 years old, Inge was sexually abused by her uncle. At 14, Inge felt uncomfortable whenever she saw this uncle but was unable to understand why she felt this way.
Slip of the tongue are in complete repressions

28. Denial Not accepting the ego-threatening truth.
Frank refuses to believe that he is addicted to drugs despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

29. Displacement
Redirecting one’s feelings toward another person or object.
Often displaced on less threatening things.
Children who release unexpressed anger toward their parents by kicking the family pet
While Mr. Gomez was going through a painful divorce, he tended to create unnecessarily difficult tests and gave his students unusually low grades.
Shortly after receiving a traffic ticket for speeding, Fred made numerous hostile comments to his wife about the incompetence of women drivers.

30. Projection
Disguise unacceptable, unconscious impulses by attributing them to others.
Believe that the feelings one has toward someone else are actually held by the other person and directed at oneself.
disguise unacceptable, unconscious impulses by attributing them to others.
Abdul mistakenly believes that his classmates are unusually hostile. In fact, Abdul is the most quarrelsome and aggressive child in the school.
Mrs. Smith, who is White and unconsciously in favor of racial segregation, tells her friends that most Blacks prefer to live in residential neighborhoods inhabited predominantly by Blacks

31. Reaction Formation Expressing the opposite of how one truly feels.
Cootie stage in Freud’s Latent Development.
consciously express feelings that are the opposite of unacceptable unconscious impulses.
Parents who disguise hostility toward their children by becoming overly protective
conscious expression of feelings that are the opposite of unconscious feelings
A religious leader who attempts to overcome his hidden doubts with intense expressions of spiritual certainty
As her parents became increasingly more abusive toward her, Amity began, with apparent sincerity, to emphatically express her great admiration for her parents.
Although Eduardo has repressed his own homosexual desires, he is distressed by a false suspicion that many men frequently stare lustfully at his body

32. Regression
Returning to an earlier, comforting, more infantile form of behavior.
Excessive Fixation
Coping with anxiety by retreating to behavior patterns characteristic of an earlier, more infantile stage of development
Four-year-old Timmy had not wet his bed for over a year. However, he started bed-wetting again soon after his sister was born.
Excessive fixation
For several months after he lost the job he had held for nearly 20 years, Mr. Ullomi frequently lost his temper and suffered periodic crying spells.

33. Rationalization
Coming up with a beneficial result of an undesirable outcome.
Brandon thinks he will find a better girlfriend. “Jasmine was not all that anyway!”
defense mechanism in which self-justifying explanations replace the real, unconscious reasons for actions
Unconsciously motivated by miserliness, Mr. Rioja refused to send his son money to buy the books he needs for his college courses. In defending his actions, Mr. Rioja explained that “parental financial aid prevents teenagers from developing into mature, independent adults.”
Melissa is unconsciously fearful that her husband is a better cook than she. Recently, she refused his offer to prepare dinner because, said she, “You could better spend the time playing with the kids.”

34. Sublimation
Channeling one’s frustration toward a different socially acceptable goal.
Sometimes a healthy defense mechanism.
After an argument with your girlfriend, you go to the gym and lift weights to burn off your pent-up energy
the transformation of unacceptable impulses into socially valued motivations
Bruce has unconscious impulses toward violent aggression, but his ego channels these impulses into his work as a district attorney, putting violent criminals in jail.

35. Neo-Freudian Theorists Psychodynamic Theory
Accept Freud’s basic ideas
Struggle with inner conflicts (wishes, fears, values)
Importance of unconscious
Personality develops in childhood
Different
More emphasis on conscious mind
Disagreed with the importance of childhood sexual instincts
Adler and Horney – social not sexual tensions are important to personality development

36. The Neo-Freudian Theorists
Adler –
inferiority complex – personality is influenced by efforts to conquer feelings inferiority
Horney
sense of helplessness – childhood anxiety is caused by the dependent child’s sense of helplessness
Women’s superego is not weaker as Freud claimed
Jung’s
collective unconscious - Different cultures share same legends
EX.
Neo Freudians – accepted Freud’s basic ideas (id, ego, superego, importance of unconscious, personality develops in childhood)
Different in 2 ways
More emphasis on conscious mind
Doubted that sex and aggression were all consuming motivations
Ex. Adler inferiority complex – behavior is driven by effort to conquer childhood feelings of inferiority
Horney – childhood insecurity is driven by efforts to conquer childhood feelings of inferiorty feelings that trigger our strivings for superiority and power
Jung – believed unconscious contains more than repressed thoughts and feelings, but is a collective unconscious – common resevoir of images derived from our species universal experiences
Psychodynamic theory assumes that much of our mental life is unconscious, we struggle with inner conflicts, and childhood shapes our personality and ways of bcm attached to others.

37. Getting into the Unconscious
Psychodynamic Psychologist – contemporary Freudian Psychologist
Projective Tests - personality test that provides ambiguous stimuli to trigger inner dynamics
Examples
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) – Identify inner feelings through stories made up from ambiguous pictures/scenes
Rorschach Inkblot Tests -
Identify inner feelings by analyzing interpretations of ink blots
Criticized for lacking validity
Tools for assessing personality differ because they are tailored to specific theories
Projective tests – personality tests such as the Roschach ink blot test and TAT tests that provide ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics
Ex. Shown a daydreaming boy, those who imagine he is fantasizing about an achievment are presumed to be projecting their own goals
Rorschach - most widely used projectivie tests –10 inkblots tries to identify peoples inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations
If see weapon = aggressive tendency
Weakness – multiple interpretations depending on the clinician today, a computer aided tool to improve agreement among raters and enhance validity
Not reliable, only a few (hostility and anxiety have demonstrated validity)
Henry Murray found that children's perceptions of photographs were biased by their previous participation in a frightening game. Their perceptual reactions most clearly highlighted the potential value of projective tests
Mr. Dutoit was asked by his psychotherapist to look at some ambiguous pictures and make up a story about each. Mr. Dutoit was most likely taking the TAT
personality assessment tools has been the most harshly criticized for lacking validity

38. Criticisms of Freud’s theory:
1.   Freud had no scientific data to support his theories.
2.   Freud’s theories (unconscious, libido, etc.) cannot be observed.
3.   Theory explains behavior (post-hoc) after the fact.
4.  Doubt that conscience and gender identity form as child resolves Oedipus complex at age 5-6—we gain gender identity early and become masculine or feminine even without a same sex parent
5. Research contradicts that painful memories are repressed
Research contradicts many of his specific ideas
Development is lifelong, not fixed in childhood
Neural networks not mature enough to sustain the emotional trauma as Freud assumed
Freud overestimated parental influence and underestimated child abuse and peer influence
Doubt that conscience and gender identity form as child resolves Oedipus complex at age 5-6—we gain gender identity early and become masculine or feminine without a same sex parent
New ideas of why we dream dispute Freud’s belief that dreams disguise and fulfill wishes.
Slips of tongue can be explained through competition between similar verbal choices in our memory network
Little support that defense mechanisms disguise sexual and aggressive impulses
Suppressed sexuality doesn’t cause psychological disorders
9. Repression – sometimes spare ego’s by neglecting info that is threatening, but repression is rare mental response to terrible trauma. High stress and stress hormones enhance memory
Freud was right that we do have limited access to all that goes on in our minds. Procedural/implicit memory demonstrates two track mind
Unconscious is processing that occurs without our awareness
schema that auto control our perceptions and interpretations
Priming by stimuli
Right hemisphere activity that enables split brain patient’s left hand to carry out instruction, patient can’t verbalize
Parallel processing of different aspects of vision and thinking
Implicit memories that operate without conscious recall –even with amnesia
Emotions that activate instantly before conscious analysis (fear)
Self-concept and stereotypes that automatically and unconsciously influence how we process info
False consensus effect – the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors (people see failures and attitudes in other—similar to Freud’s projection)
Ex. Student’s who cheat on tests, think others do to
Reaction formation – defends self-esteem; defense mechanisms protect our self esteem rather than are motivated by impulses as Freud claimed
Terror management theory – theory of death related anxiety-explores emotional responses to reminders of impeding death.
Ex. Death anxiety increases contempt for others and esteem for oneself, promotes religious sentiments, cling to close friendships
13. Lack of scientific evidence – offers after the fact explanations of any characteristic yet fails to predict such behaviors. Good theories make testable predictions
Ex. Anger over mothers death – unresolved childhood dependency needs are threatened
Not angry – you are repressing your anger
Supporters – some ideas enduring – attention to the unconscious and irrational, self-protective defenses, importance of human sexuality, tension b/w bio impulses and social well-being.

39. Criticism’s of Freud
6. Neural networks not mature enough to sustain the emotional trauma as Freud assumed 7. Freud overestimated parental influence and underestimated child abuse and peer influence 8. New ideas of why we dream dispute Freud’s belief that dreams disguise and fulfill wishes. 9. Slips of tongue can be explained through competition between similar verbal choices in our memory network
False consensus effect – what Freud called projection – tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors. Ex. Students who cheat on tests tend to think many others do likewise.
Terror management theory – theory of death related anxiety, explores people’s emotional behavioral responses to reminders of their impeding death. Death anxiety increases prejudice and esteem for oneself

40. Pros of Freud’s theory
1. Argued that childhood experiences are important in personality development.
2. Information outside of awareness does influence us, but much different than Freud’s concept of unconsciousness
Examples: Procedural memory (implicit), parallel processing of movement, color, shape in a visual scene
3. Defense mechanisms—good descriptions of some of our behaviors.
Examples: Projection = false consensus effect
4. Defense Against Anxiety
Terror management theory – anxiety is triggered by awareness of impeding death
reaction formation that defend self esteem , but not for displacement. Defense mechanisms are motivated by our need to protect our self image and less by our impulses
People who break speed limits tend to think that many others do the same = false consensus effect
People who cheat on their taxes are especially likely to think many others do as well. = false consensus
Support that we defend ourselves against anxiety

41. Humanistic Theory of Personality
Do not believe in Determinism (your actions are dictated by your past).
They believe that humans have free will (our ability to choose your own destiny).
We are innately good and as long as our self-esteem and self-concept are positive we will be happy.
Studied healthy ways people strive for self-actualization and self-determination
Self –determination – people enjoy activities more if they have control and are intrinsically motivated
Third force psycholgy – Prior to 1960s psychologists were divided into two main camps—behaviorist and psychoanlysts, now a third option aka third-force perspective that emphasized hman potential

42. Abraham Maslow’s Self Actualizing Person
Hierarchy of Needs
Self- actualization - motivation to fulfilling our potential.
Self-transcendence – meaning purpose and communion beyond the self
Studied healthy people

43. Who did Maslow study?
Abraham Maslow studied the lives of Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and Eleanor Roosevelt in order to understand the nature of self actualization
Those notable for rich productive lives – shared common characteristics:
Self aware, self accepting, open, spontaneous, loving caring, secure in who they were, interests were problem centered rather than self-centered. Focused on a task they regarded as their mission in life

44. Self-Actualized People
Problem centered rather than self-centered.
Focused their energies on a particular task.
Few deep relationships, rather than many superficial ones.

46. Self-Actualized People
They share certain characteristics:
They are self aware and self accepting
Open and spontaneous
Loving and caring
Not paralyzed by others’ opinions.
Least likely to experience defensive self esteem
Least likely to be conforming
They are secure in who they are.

47. Carl Rogers The object of humans is to become self-actualized.
We are like Acorns
What do Acorns need to grow?
Water sun and soil.
To grow into healthy humans we need interactions with others who are :
Genuine
Accepting (Unconditional Positive Regard)
Empathetic
Mrs. Sunstedt believes that parents should accept and try to understand their children's feelings and should honestly disclose their own inner feelings to their children. Her approach to parent-child interaction was most explicitly recommended by Carl Rogers

48. Roger’s Person-Centered Perspective
Carl Rogers
Unconditional positive regard – total acceptance of another person
Ex. –
Self-concept – all of our thoughts and feelings about ourselves
Central feature of personality
Promoted by unconditional positive regard
Assessing Personal Growth
Ideal self vs. Actual self
Congruency – Ideal Self = Actual Self
Same when have positive self-concept
Genuineness – being open with feelings, dropping facades, being transparent and self-disclosing
defense mechanisms described by Freud are used to minimize the perceived discrepancy between Ideal Self and Actual self
Accepting – people nurture growth by offering unconditional positive self regard –attitude of total acceptance toward another person
Empathy – by sharing and mirroring our feelings and reflecting our meanings
Self-concept – all of our thoughts and feelings about ourselves in answer to question “who am I” – If self concept is positive, act and perceive the world positively, if negative (fall short of ideal self) we feel dissatisfied and unhappy
Nadine tells her therapist that she is jealous of her best friend's popularity and wants to tell everyone about her friend's negative traits. Nadine is afraid her therapist will criticize her for those thoughts, but instead the therapist expresses empathy for Nadine's feelings. This Rogerian therapist is offering unconditional positive regard
Negative self concept – person will fall short of their ideal

49. Evaluating the Humanistic Perspective
Renewed interest in self-concept
Criticisms
Vague and subjective
Individualistic and Western biased
Naïve
Impact is pervasive – influenced much of today’s popular psych. Self- esteem is very impt
Concepts are vague and subjective
Ex. Description of self-actualizing person – open spontaneous loving
Individualism is encouraged – trusting and acting on one’s own feelings, being true to oneself, fulfilling oneself – those who focus beyond self most likely to experience social support, enjoy life, cope with stress
Fails to appreciate reality the human capacity for evil
Which personality theorists have most clearly been credited with encouraging the popular belief that a positive self-concept is the key to happiness and success? Humanistic

50. The Trait Perspective

51. Trait Theory
Trait Theory (Gordon Allport) – describe personality in terms of traits
Trait – a characteristic behaviors and conscious motives (self and peer reported)
Describe rather than explain
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
classifies people according to personality types identified by Carl Jung (flattering terms)
Used in counseling and work development
Not valid predictor
EX.
Rather than focusing on unconscious forces or unsuccessful growth opportunities, dome researches define personality in terms of stable and enduring behavior patterns.
Gordon Allport was first to define personality by traits
Traits- characteristic behaviors and conscious motives
Allport defined personality in terms of identifiable behavior patterns
He was more concerned with describing individual traits than with explaining them
Katherine Briggs and Isabel Briggs Meyers attempted to sort personality according to Carl Young’s personality types based on responses to a questionaire – Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Remains a counseling and coaching tool not a research tool
Kelsey is consistently optimistic, talkative, and impulsive. Each of these characteristics most clearly represents a trait
classifying the many ways in which individuals may differ from one another is most characteristic of the trait perspective.

52. Factor Analysis Eysenck and Eysenck
Factor analysis – statistical analysis used to identify the most basic personality traits
Factor - cluster of behavior tendencies that occur together
Ex.
Eysenck and Eysenck
2 Dimensions
Extroversion versus introversion
Emotional stability versus instability
Eysenck Personality Questionnaire
Trait dimensions allow us to describe countless personality traits
Factor analysis – a statistical procedure that identifies clusters of correlated test items that tap basic components of intelligence such as spatial ability or verbal skill
Eysenck and Eysenck – reduce many normal individual variations to two or three dimensions
Eysenck and Eysenck personality test – answers analyzed and Introverted-extroverted and emotional stability emerged as basic personality dimensions - believe these factors are genetically influenced
Which of the following is a statistical procedure that allows researchers to identify clusters of correlated test items that tap basic components of personality, such as outgoingness, talkativeness, and sociability that reflect extraversion? Factor Analysis

53. Factor Analysis Shows personality as a continuim
Martin is optimistic, impulsive, excitable, and restless. In terms of the Eysencks' basic personality dimensions, he would be classified as unstable, extroverted
Coretta is quiet, pessimistic, anxious, and moody. In terms of the Eysencks' basic personality dimensions she would be classified as unstable introverted

54. Biology and Personality
Brain scans
Brain arousal low in extroverts
Frontal lobe activity low (less inhibition)
Genetics
Temperament
Autonomic nervous system reactivity is high in extroverts
Greater anxiety, less inhibition
Extroverts seek stimulation because their normal brain arousal is relatively low
PET scans show frontal lobe are involved in behavior inhibition is less active in extraverts than introverts
Dopamine tends to be higher in extraverts
Automatic nervous system – Jerome Kagan attributed differences in children’s shyness and inhibition to their ANS reactivity = respond to stress with greater anxiety and inhibition.
People respond to stress with greater anxiety if they have highly reactive autonomic nervous systems
By selective breeding, researchers can produce bold or shy birds. This best illustrates that some personality differences among birds are genetically influenced

55. Assessing Traits
Personality inventory – assess several personality traits at once
Example:
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) – assesses abnormal personality
Empirically derived test - utilizes only those items that have been shown to differentiate particular groups of people
Objective test
Lie scale – assesses faking
Personality inventory – long questionairres covering a wide range of feelings and behaviors , assess several traits at once.
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) – assesses abnormal personality tendencies rather than normal personality traits
Emperically derived – developed by testing a large pool of items then selecting those that discriminate between groups.
Test are objective – can be scored by a computer, but doesn’t mean valid
Dr. Zytowics wants to assess the extent to which a client is suffering from depression, social withdrawal, and other symptoms of an emotional disorder - MMPI
Can give socially desirable answers, but can also score high on a lie scale –I sometimes get angry is a universally true statement
People who take personality inventories can lie to create a good impression. – not valid
Over the last few years, Mr. Helmus has been obsessed with bizarre thoughts and has become increasingly agitated and socially withdrawn. - MMPI would be good

56. The Big Five Factors
The Big Five – evaluates personality on 5 dimensions (more comprehensive)
Conscientiousness
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
Emotional stability vs instability
Openness
Extraversion
trait factors such as Eysenchs introverted-extroverted and unstable-stable dimensions are too simple
Test specifies where you are on 5 dimensions (conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, extraversion –best approximation of the basic trait dimensions
Use mneumonic – Ocean or CANOE
Helping and trusting = high on agreeableness
Highly imaginative = high on openess
Emotional instability = neuroticism = highly anxious and insecure
Organized and disciplined in work = conscientiousness
Sociable and fun-loving = extraversion
Advantage – more comprehensive personality assessment

57. The Big Five Factors

58. The Big Five Factors Stability – Big 5 stable over time
Heritablity – 50%+ on each dimension
Predictability – Yes
Conscientious people earn better grades and are more likely morning types
Extroverts – evening types
Big 5 traits are quite stable
Heritablity – extent to which individual differences are attributable to genes runs about 50% or more for each dimension
Big 5 predict other personal attributs such as highly conscientious earn better grades

59. Somatotype Theory A biological Theory by William Sheldon.
Endomorphs (Fat) tend to be friendly and outgoing.
Mesomorphs (muscular) tend to be more aggressive.
Ectomorphs (thin) tend to be more shy and secretive.
Study has not been replicated.

60. Traits and the Stars
Aries (March 21-April 19): Do some detective work so that you can better understand those you love. Figure out what the other person is going through. Only then will you find out how you can help. Taurus (April 20-May 20): In your midst, there's a person intent on the worst-case scenario. He or she is a valuable ally today. You'll find humor in the exaggeration, and your laughter is healing. Gemini (May 21-June 21): Go out of your way to add elements of absurdity to your day. Your quality of life will be increased immeasurably. Cancer (June 22-July 22): A strength exaggerated becomes a weakness. But does a weakness exaggerated become a strength? Highlight a limitation and you'll find you're better off for having this flaw. Leo (July 23-Aug. 22): People pay attention when you walk into the room today. Make your exit with equal grace. Leave before they want you to and they'll want more. Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Show up in person. You have more than your fair share of charisma today. Noting your winning presence, others will want to help you succeed. Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 23): You have a talent for making relationships work. You're full of solutions, but it's important to know which problem is the most pressing. Pump the other person for information. Scorpio (Oct. 24-Nov. 21): There is a fine line between sharing and over-sharing. Give others the sense of who you are. But do it briefly. Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Relating to others has very little to do with what or who you know. Most people are thinking about themselves and what you can do for them. If you make them feel good about themselves, they'll like you. Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): You're in danger of being too thrifty. Show some disregard for the rules of frugal finance. As you spend, you'll widen the channel for greater earning. Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): It would benefit you to get involved in a group effort. There is much you could contribute, and you have much to gain. You'll ask excellent questions and learn all you need to know to fit in nicely. Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20): You will be certain of your course. But that alone will not be enough to make it go the way you want. Whatever happens, don't complain or explain.
Stock spiel – builds on the observation that each of us is in some ways like no one else and in other ways just like everyone
Barnum effect – Peoples tendency to accept stock positive descriptions. “There’s a sucker born every minute”

61. The Person-Situation Controversy
Person-situation controversy – debate regarding consistency of personality traits across situations
Traits are stable over time
People don’t act consistently in all situations (Walter Mischel studies)
Scores on Personality Tests fail to predict behavior in real-life situations
Ave. outgoingness (expressive style), happiness or carelessness over many situations is predictable
Extraversion correlated with number of social interactions in 1 month
Classical, jazz, blues, and folk music lovers - Open
Country, pop and religious – Extroverts and Conscientious
Person-situation controversy – Are traits consistent across various times and places or is personality ever changing tailored to the particular role or situation
As people grow older, personality stabilizes
Traits are socially significant – they influence our health, thinking job performance
Personality traits predict mortailty, divorce and occupational attainment
People don’t act with predictable consistancy – may be late for class, but not late on assignments
Inconsistency of behaviors makes personality test scores weak predictors of behaviors – personality scores on extraversion, don’t predict how socialble youll be on any given occasion
Predicting behavior
Music preferences – classic, jazz blues folk – open to experience, verbally intelligent
Religious, county, pop – cheerful, outgoing conscientious
Bedrooms/offices – reasonable accuracy of our conscientiousness & open to new experiences
Personal web sites – facebook = present our personalities
can detect someone’s personality
Walter Mischel's studies of college students' conscientiousness revealed only a modest relationship between a student being conscientious on one occasion and being similarly conscientious on another occasion. According to Mischel, this should make psychologists more cautious about emphasizing the consistency of personality Traits
Sheen is usually animated and talkative when he is with his girlfriend, but he is often quiet and reserved at home. He actively participates in many class discussions but frequently seems reluctant to talk with friends at the local soda shop. According to Walter Mischel, Sheen's behavior should lead us to question the consistency of personality traits.
In unfamiliar formal situations – traits remain hidden as attend to social cues
In familiar informal situations – feel less constrained, allowing our traits to emerge—traits are consistent

62. The Social-Cognitive Perspective

63. The Social-C Cognitive Perspective
Social-cognitive perspective (Bandura) – interactive influences on traits and situation on behavior
learn many of our behaviors either through conditioning or observing others (social part)
Emphasize the importance of mental processes (cognitive part)
Focus on our interaction with the environment (interpretation and response to external events)
Albert Bandura –social cognitive perspective – views behavior as influenced by the interaction between people’s traits (including thinking) and social environment
Social-cognitive theorist believe : (sometimes called cognitive-behavioral approach)
1. learn many of our behaviors either through conditioning or observing others (social part)
2. Emphasize the importance of mental processes (cognitive part)
Focus on our interaction with the environment (interpretation and response to external events)
Dr. VanBrunt believes that individuals learn many of their behaviors by observing others and through conditioning. She also emphasizes that how people think about the situations they are involved in affects their behavior. Dr. VanBrunt is most likely a social-cognitive psychologist

64. Social-Cognitive Theories on Personality
Focus on how we interact with our culture and environment
Reciprocal Determinism - traits, environment and behavior all interact and influence each other.
Example:

65. Reciprocal Influences
Ways individuals and the environment interact
Different people choose different environments
Our personalities shape how we interpret and react to events
Our personalities help create situations to which we react

66. The Biopsychosocial Approach to the Study of Personality

67. Personal Control
Personal control – extent to which people perceive control over their environment rather than feeling helpless
Two ways to study personal control
Correlate people’s feelings of control with their behaviors and achievements
Experiment by raising and lowering people’s sense of control and noting the effects
Social Cognitive Perspective emphasizes - Personal control – extent to which people perceive control over their environment rather than feeling helpless

68. Internal and External Locus of Control
External locus of control – the perception that one's fate is determined by luck reflects
Can lead to a state of learned helplessness.
Ex.
Internal locus of control – the perception that you control your own fate
External locus of control – perception that chance or outside forces determine their fate.
Internal locus of control – perception that you control your own fate
- achieve more in school and work, act more independently, enjoy better health and feel less depressed than externals. Better at delaying gratification and coping with various stressors like marital problems
Intrinsic motivation is similar to locus of control. When we are motivated by internal factors then we are likely to feel in control of our feelings toward a situation. When we are motivated by extrinsic factors, then we are at the mercy of others to determine our feels of self worth
Schindler’s list

69. Self-Control
Self-control – ability to control impulses and delay gratification
Predicts good adjustment, better grades, social success
Requires attention and energy
Self control- the ability to control impulses and delay gratification—predicts better grades, social success, good adjustment.
Self control varies – willpower depletes mental energy and depletes blood sugar and neural activity associated with mental focus –requires attention and energy

70. Benefits of Personal Control
Learned helplessness – people feel powerless to change their situation
Tyranny of choice – information overload from too many choices
People who feel helpless and oppressed often perceive control as external and my develop learned helplessness. Measures that increase control (prisons, nursing homes, schools improve health and moral.
Tyranny of choice – too many choices/excess freedom in western cultures contributes to decreasing life satisfaction. Tyranny of choice = info overload, and greater likeliood that we will fell regret over some of the chosen options.

71. Optimism Versus Pessimism
Optimism and Health
Excessive Optimism
Blindness to one’s own incompetence
Positive psychology (Seligman) - uses the scientific method (different from Humanistic Psych) to study the positive aspects of human behavior (similar to Humanistic Psych)
Self Serving Bias – attributing success to personal characteristics
Pessimistic attributional style – attribute poor performance to lack of ability or to situations beyond their control – more likely to persist in getting poor grades
Optimism and health – optimists outlive pessimist or live with fewer illnesses
Excessive Optimism – realistic anxiety over possible future failures can fuel energetic efforts to avoid the dreaded fate. –may outperform more confident peers. Success requires enough optimism to provide hope and enough pessimism to prevent compacency. Excessive optimism can blind us to real risks
Blindness to ones owns incompetance – people are most overconfident when most incompetent.
Positive psych – study fo optimal human functioning—aims to promote and discover strengths and virtues that enable individuals to thrive. Shares with humanism an interest in advancing human fulfillment, but methodology is scientific.
Positive pillars
Positive emotions - happiness
Positive character – exploring and enhancing creativity, courage, compassion, integrity
Positive groups, communities and cultures – healthy family, neighborhood, schools

72. Evaluating the Social-Cognitive Perspective
Based on research
Focuses too much on the situation
Builds from research on learning and cognition
Fails to appreciate persons inner traits – focus too much on sitution

73. Comparing Research Methods

74. Exploring the Self

75. Self
Self – center of our personality, organizer of our thoughts, feelings and actions
Possible selves – who we hope to become and fear becoming
Motivates us to achieve success and avoid failure
Ex.
Spotlight effect – overestimate others’ noticing and evaluating our appearance
Adolescents

76. The Benefits of Self-Esteem
Self-esteem – one’s feeling of high or low self worth

77. Self-Serving Bias
Self-serving bias – readiness to perceive yourself favorably
People accept more responsibility for good deeds than for bad, successes than failures
Most people see themselves as better than average
Defensive self-esteem - Self-confidence that is easily punctured by criticism

78. Culture and the Self
Individualism
Collectivism

79. Individualism versus Collectivism