Freud (Consumer Behaviour)

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Personality

Personality is a stable, organized collection of psychological traits and mechanisms in the human

being that influences his or her interactions with and modifications to the psychological, social

and physical environment surrounding them. Personality is the particular combination of

emotional, attitudinal, and behavioral response patterns of an individual

Characteristics of personality

Consistency - There is generally a recognizable order and regularity to behaviors. Essentially,

people act in the same ways or similar ways in a variety of situations.

Psychological and physiological - Personality is a psychological construct, but research

suggests that it is also influenced by biological processes and needs.

It impacts behaviors and actions - Personality does not just influence how we move and

respond in our environment; it also causes us to act in certain ways.

Multiple expressions - Personality is displayed in more than just behavior. It can also be seen in

our thoughts, feelings, close relationships and other social interactions.

Jungian theory

Jung has developed the analytical psychology, which differentiated the personal unconscious

from the collective unconscious, which reflects the shared unconscious thoughts among humans.

Another notable contribution to psychology involves Jung's personality theory, which was

particularly notable due to its definitions of introversion and extroversion.

Jungs Introversion and Extroversion Attitudes


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An attitude, according to Jung, is a persons predisposition to behave in a particular way. There

are two opposing attitudes: introversion and extroversion. The two attitudes work as opposing,

yet complementary forces and are often depicted as the classing yin and yang symbol.

The introvert is most aware of his or her inner world. The introverted attitude is more

concerned with subjective appraisal and often gives more consideration to fantasies and dreams.

The extrovert is characterized by the outward movement of psychic energy. This attitude places

more importance on objectivity and gains more influence from the surrounding environment than

by inner cognitive processes.

Jungs Four Functions of Personality

For Carl Jung, there were four functions that, when combined with one of his two attitudes,

formed the eight different personality types.

Feeling is the method by which a person understands the value of conscious activity. Thinking allows a person to understand the meanings of things. This process relies on

logic and careful mental activity.

Sensation refers to the means by which a person knows something exists Intuition knows about something without conscious understanding of where that

knowledge comes from.

The Eight Personality Types Defined by Carl Jung

Jung developed a theory of eight different personality types. Jung's personality types are as

follows:

Extroverted ThinkingThe people understand the world through a mix of concrete ideas

and abstract ones, but the abstract concepts are ones passed down from other people.

Extroverted thinkers are often found working in the research sciences and mathematics.

Introverted Thinking These individuals interpret stimuli in the environment through a

subjective and creative way. The interpretations are informed by internal knowledge and


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understanding. Philosophers and theoretical scientists are often introverted thinking-oriented

people.

Extroverted Feeling These people judge the value of things based on objective fact.

Comfortable in social situations, they form their opinions based on socially accepted valuesand majority beliefs. They are often found working in business and politics.

Introverted Feeling These people make judgments based on subjective ideas and on

internally established beliefs. Oftentimes they ignore prevailing attitudes and defy social

norms of thinking. Introverted feeling people thrive in careers as art critics.

Extroverted SensingThese people perceive the world as it really exists. Their perceptions

are not colored by any pre-existing beliefs. Jobs that require objective review, like wine

tasters and proofreaders, are best filled by extroverted sensing people.

Introverted SensingThese individuals interpret the world through the lens of subjective

attitudes and rarely see something for only what it is. They make sense of the environment by

giving it meaning based on internal reflection. Introverted sensing people often turn to various

arts, including portrait painting and classical music.

Extroverted IntuitiveThese people prefer to understand the meanings of things through

subliminally perceived objective fact rather than incoming sensory information. They rely on

hunches and often disregard what they perceive directly from their senses. Inventors that

come upon their invention via a stroke of insight and some religious reformers are

characterized by the extraverted intuitive type.

Introverted IntuitiveThese individuals, Jung thought, are profoundly influenced by their

internal motivations even though they do not completely understand them. They find meaning

through unconscious, subjective ideas about the world. Introverted intuitive people comprise a

significant portion of mystics, surrealistic artists, and religious fanatics.


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Trait theory

In 1936, psychologist Gordon Allport found that one English-language dictionary alone

contained more than 4,000 words describing different personality traits. He categorized thesetraits into three levels. The trait approach to personality is one of the major theoretical areas in

the study of personality. The trait theory suggests that individual personalities are composed

broad dispositions

Cardinal Traits:Traits that dominate an individuals whole life, often to the point that the

person becomes known specifically for these traits. People with such personalities often

become so known for these traits that their names are often synonymous with these qualities.

Central Traits: These are the general characteristics that form the basic foundations of

personality. These central traits, while not as dominating as cardinal traits, are the major

characteristics you might use to describe another person. Terms such

as intelligent, honest, shy and anxious are considered central traits.

Secondary Traits: These are the traits that are sometimes related to attitudes or preferences

and often appear only in certain situations or under specific circumstances. Some examples

would be getting anxious when speaking to a group or impatient while waiting in line.

Freudian Theory of personality

According to Sigmund Freud'spsychoanalytic theory of personality, personality is composed of

three elements. These elements of personality are known as the id, ego and superego, they work

together to create complex human behaviors.
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The Id

The id is the only component of personality that is present from birth. This aspect of personality

is entirely unconscious and includes of the instinctive and primitive behaviors. According to

Freud, the id is the source of all psychic energy, making it the primary component of personality.

The id is driven by the pleasure principle, which strives for immediate gratification of all desires,

wants, and needs. If these needs are not satisfied immediately, the result is a state anxiety or

tension. For example, an increase in hunger or thirst should produce an immediate attempt to eat

or drink. According to Freud, the id tries to resolve the tension created by the pleasure principle

through the primary process, which involves forming a mental image of the desired object as a

way of satisfying the need.

The Ego

The ego is the component of personality that is responsible for dealing with reality. According to

Freud, the ego develops from the id and ensures that the impulses of the id can be expressed in a

manner acceptable in the real world. The ego functions in the conscious, preconscious,

and unconscious mind. The ego operates based on the reality principle, which strives to satisfy

the id's desires in realistic and socially appropriate ways. The ego will eventually allow the

behavior, but only in the appropriate time and place. The ego also discharges tension created by

unmet impulses through the secondary process, in which the ego tries to find an object in the real

world that matches the mental image created by the id's primary process.

The Superego

The last component of personality to develop is the superego. The superego is the aspect of

personality that holds all of our internalized moral standards and ideals that we acquire from both

parents and society--our sense of right and wrong. The superego provides guidelines for making

judgments. According to Freud, the superego begins to emerge at around age five
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Freuds Stages of Psychosexual Development

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) is probably the most well known theorist when it comes to the

development of personality. Freuds Stages of Psychosexual Development are, like other stage

theories, completed in a predetermined sequence and can result in either successful completion

or a healthy personality or can result in failure, leading to an unhealthy personality. This theory

is probably the best known as well as the most controversial; as Freud believed that we develop

through stages based upon a particular erogenous zone. During each stage, an unsuccessful

completion means that a child becomes fixated on that particular erogenous zone and either

overor under-indulges once he or she becomes an adult.

Oral Stage (Birth to 18 months). During the oral stage, the child if focused on oral pleasures

(sucking). Too much or too little gratification can result in an Oral Fixation or Oral Personality

which is evidenced by a preoccupation with oral activities. This type of personality may have a

stronger tendency to smoke, drink alcohol, over eat, or bite his or her nails. Personality wise,

these individuals may become overly dependent upon others, gullible, and perpetual followers.

On the other hand, they may also fight these urges and develop pessimism and aggression toward

others.

Anal Stage (18 months to three years). The childs focus of pleasure in this stage is oneliminating and retaining feces. Through societys pressure, mainly via parents, the child has to

learn to control anal stimulation. In terms of personality, after effects of an anal fixation during

this stage can result in an obsession with cleanliness, perfection, and control (anal retentive). On

the opposite end of the spectrum, they may become messy and disorganized (anal expulsive).

Phallic Stage (ages three to six). The pleasure zone switches to the genitals. Freud believed that

during this stage boy develop unconscious sexual desires for their mother. Because of this, he

becomes rivals with his fatherand sees him as competition for the mothers affection. During

this time, boys also develop a fear that their father will punish them for these feelings, such as by

castrating them

According to Freud, out of fear of castration and due to the strong competition of his father, boys

eventually decide to identify with him rather than fight him. By identifying with his father, the
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boy develops masculine characteristics and identifies himself as a male, and represses his sexual

feelings toward his mother. A fixation at this stage could result in sexual deviancies (both

overindulging and avoidance) and weak or confused sexual identity according to psychoanalysts.

Latency Stage (age six to puberty). Its during this stage that sexual urges remain repressed and

children interact and play mostly with same sex peers.

Genital Stage (puberty on). The final stage of psychosexual development begins at the start of

puberty when sexual urges are once again awakened. Through the lessons learned during the

previous stages, adolescents direct their sexual urges onto opposite sex peers, with the primary

focus of pleasure is the genitals.

Self

The term self-concept is a general term used to refer to how someone thinks about or perceives

themselves. The self concept is how we think about and evaluate ourselves. To be aware of

oneself is to have a concept of oneself.

Baumeister (1999) provides the following self concept definition: "the individual's belief about

himself or herself, including the person's attributes and who and what the self is".

Lewis (1990) suggests that development of a concept of self has two aspects: -

(1) The Existential Self

This is the most basic part of the self-concept; the sense of being separate and distinct from

others and the awareness of the constancy of the self . The child realizes that they exist as

a separate entity from others and that they continue to exist over time and space. According

to Lewis awareness of the existential self begins as young as two to three months old and

arises in part due to the relation the child has with the world. For example, the child smiles

and someone smiles back, or the child touches a mobile and sees it move.

(2) The Categorical Self


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Having realized that he or she exists as a separate experiencing being, the child next becomes

aware that he or she is also an object in the world. Just as other objects including people have

properties that can be experienced (big, small, red, smooth and so on) so the child is

becoming aware of him or herself as an object which can be experienced and which has

properties. The self too can be put into categories such as age, gender, size or skill. In

early childhood the categories children apply to themselves are very concrete (e.g. hair color,

height and favorite things). Later, self-description also begins to include reference to internal

psychological traits, comparative evaluations and to how others see them.

Carl Rogers (1959) believes that the self concept has three different components:

The view you have of yourself (Self image) How much value you place on yourself (Self esteem or self-worth) What you wish you were really like (Ideal self)

Self Image

A person's self-image is the mental picture, generally of a kind that is quite resistant to change,

that depicts not only details that are potentially available to objective investigation by others

(height, weight, hair color, gender, I.Q. score, etc.), but also items that have been learned by that

person about himself or herself, either from personal experiences or by internalizing the

judgments of others.

Self-image may consist of three types:

1. Self-image resulting from how the individual sees himself or herself.2. Self-image resulting from how others see the individual.3. Self-image resulting from how the individual perceives others see him or her.

Benefits of self image

The benefits from a well-constructed self-image are as following

1. A well-constructed self-image is an accurate presentation of our capabilities; thus, itprovides a fairly reliable guide as to our possible success in endeavors which require

those capabilities.
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2. A well-constructed self-image is inclusive; it allows us to be and do whatever isnecessary

3. A well-constructed self-image grants consistency4. A well-constructed self-image allows us to have self-esteem.5. A well-constructed self-image allows us to love ourselves.

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Freud (Consumer Behaviour)