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Personality
Definition • personality is an individual's unique thoughts, feelings and behavior that persist over time and
different situations • personality theorists attempt to describe how individuals remain consistent in their thoughts,
feelings and behaviors • they also attempt to explain how people differ in their personalities
Six Psychological Perspectives
• There are six main schools of thought regarding personality: – psychodynamic: focuses on unconscious motives and structures to explain personality – humanistic: focuses on the fundamental goodness of people and their attempts to strive for higher levels of functioning
– constitution (or type): proposes a relationship between body type and personality characteristics
– trait: examines stable characteristics of the person that help explain behavior – social-‐cognitive: focuses on environmental contingencies and accompanying mental processes to explain personality
– behavioral: focuses on the fundamentals of learning to explain behavior
Psychodynamic: Sigmund Freud • the most well-‐known psychodynamic theorist if Sigmund Freud. • Freud focused on the power of inner forces as motivators to shape personality
• he believed that these unconscious motivations could be examined through the use of
psychoanalysis, which includes three main techniques: – free association: allowing the patient to say whatever comes to mind – dream analysis: attempts to examine the latent (hidden) content of a dream through examining its manifest (remembered) dream elements
– hypnosis: a state of suggestibility induced by the therapist (learned through his studies with Jean Martin Charcot)
• through his association with his mentor, Josef Breuer, Freud's psychodynamic theory is based
on a few key findings of Breuer's that Freud elaborate on: 1. underlying symptoms can be relieved through the expression of the strangulated affect,
or bring these unconscious motives to the surface-‐-‐the process of purging these emotions is called catharsis
2. the symptoms someone displays have an emotional logic and the key to psychoanalysis is to unlock the mysteries of these symptoms
3. a lot of abnormal behaviors are a result of emotionally abrasive experiences in our childhood; they unconsciously grow into abnormal behaviors as the person gets older
• Freud’s theories are based on psychic determinism, or the assumption that our early life
determines our behavior and unconscious reactions. • Freud believed we all had certain drives and instincts which guide our behavior:
– eros: the life instinct which seeks to preserve the species; hunger, thirst and sex; tied to the libido
– libido: our sexual energy – thanatos: our desire to return to the womb; manifested in aggressive and destructive behavior
• Freud believed that everyone progressed through five stages of psychosexual development • these stages are:
– oral stage (0-‐1 years): achieves libidinal satisfaction from oral activities such as eating and sucking
– anal stage (1-‐3 years): autonomy is developed through bladder and bowel control – phallic stage (3-‐6 years): the child comes to develop a sexual attachment to the opposite sexed parent and to see the same sexed parent as a rival for those affections • Oedipus Complex: boys want to possess the mother and see their father as a sexual rival • Electra Complex: girls want to possess the father and see their mother as a sexual rival
– latency period (6-‐puberty): a period of sexual rest for both sexes where sex-‐role identities develop
– genital stage (puberty on): a reawakening of sexual urges and a desire for heterosexual relationships
• Freud believed that the mind or our personality was made up of three constructs:
– the id: the child within us; the primitive, unconscious part of our mind that seeks expression of wishes and emotions (called the pleasure principle)
– the ego: uses the reality principle to satisfy the id and superego safely and effectively in the real world; the mediator that develops with experience and is the rational part of our mind
– the superego: society's values and morals; our conscience; the parent within us which is guided by the idealistic principle
• Individuals constantly strive to present their best self and reduce anxiety • Freud called this preserving ego integrity • To do this, individuals employ a variety of defense mechanisms:
– repression: involuntary memory loss about something anxiety-‐producing – suppression: voluntarily not thinking about something anxiety-‐producing – denial: not facing up to the reality of a situation – rationalization: making up excuses for our actions – displacement: rechanneling aggression in a negative way; taking our frustrations out on a substitute person or object
– sublimation (also called compensation): rechanneling aggression in a neutral or positive way – projection: putting onto others our own tendencies, motives or traits – reaction formation: behaving outwardly that opposite of how we inwardly feel – fantasy: escaping reality through daydreaming or using the imagination – procrastination: putting off something anxiety-‐producing until a later time – fixation: becoming stuck at a specific stage of psychosexual development because it is safer for ego integrity
– regression: returning to an earlier stage of psychosexual development
• neo-‐Freudians refined and developed Freud's theories • they did not agree that our libido guided the majority of our actions but found other sources for
our motives
Freud’s Consciousness Diagram p. 597
Psychodynamic: Carl Jung • Carl Jung was Freud's handpicked successor in the field of psychodynamic theory-‐-‐he differed
from Freud on several fundamental issues. • Jung believed that our personality or mind was made up of three constructs. • he differed, however, from Freud's concepts of the id, ego and superego. Jung's three components
were: – conscious ego: our consciousness awareness of ourselves and how we present our self to the outside world; Freudian defense mechanisms are employed to preserve ego integrity
– personal unconscious: motives and behaviors that are unique to the individual hidden away in the unconscious
– collective unconscious: racial memory; our understanding of mankind's past; our intuitive tendencies toward universal, reoccurring symbols called archetypes
• some of the more notable archetypal characters found in literature are:
– hero: saves the day; defeats evil; protects the weak – mother: surrounds, encompasses and protects the individual; can be both a person or an institution
– shadow: the dark side of our nature; our hidden, bad tendencies we do not like to acknowledge – trickster/magician: plays sly pranks and malicious tricks; usually represented as half man, half animal
– child-‐god: an individual who has powers or knowledge beyond their years – anima: the projection of femininity from a man's collective unconscious; seeing in others our own opposite sexed characteristics
– animus: the projection of masculinity from a woman's collective unconscious; seeing in others our own opposite sexed characteristics
– persona: the Greek word for "mask;" the different faces we put on in different environments – self: the desire for unity where the personal and collective unconscious intersect
• Jung believed in the process of individuation, where a mature person becomes a unified whole and the epitome of self – the individual develops a unique pattern of traits, and established a relationship between the personal and collective unconscious, called differentiation
– Jung believed that everyone has an innate desire to pursue their own inner harmony, a process called transcendent function
– enantiodromia occurs when an unconscious idea runs counter to a conscious one, although the individual strives toward equally developing all parts of their psyche
– individuation occurs when the personal and collective unconscious are brought into consciousness and reconciled with the ego
• Jung believed in mandala symbolism, our striving for completeness or wholeness • mandala is the Sanskrit word for "circle" or desire for wholeness is represented in art through
complete symbols such as the circle • Jung also believed that what most people felt were coincidence were actually acts of synchronicity • this is the term he used to define an individual's unconscious awareness of a greater
understanding in the world, sort of a tapping into the consciousness of the universe
• Jung also examined personality types and temperaments • he believed that personality traits lay along a continuum and individuals tended to fall
somewhere along this continuum • the opposite ends of this continuum he called polar opposites
Psychodynamic: Alfred Adler • Alfred Adler believed that individuals possess innate positive motives that are the primary
determinant of our personality • our major goal was the achievement of perfection; we strive for superiority • we would strive to overcome personal and social obstacles through compensation • Adler later modified his theories and believed that individuals attempted to overcome feelings of
inferiority, what he termed the inferiority complex • later, he revised his theories again and focused on how the individual strives for personal and
social perfection • to help us achieve this, we develop fictional finalisms which are goals we set to guide our
behaviors
• Adler also believed that birth order had an impact on an individual’s development • in general, younger siblings would have a more difficult time than older siblings • Adler believed in a style of life, the way in which an individual expresses their creativity and
thereby achieves superiority in their own unique way
Psychodynamic: Karen Horney • Karen Horney thought that basic anxiety was a greater motivating force than our libido • this may develop in children whose parents are overly oppressive, indifferent or inconsistent in
their child-‐rearing • in coping with these, individuals develop one of three neurotic trends, irrational approaches to
dealing with this anxiety • Horney believed that, in interacting with others, we tend to develop into the following types:
– compliant type: moving toward others in attempts to be submissive – aggressive type: moving against others in attempts to gain power – detached type: moving away from others to avoid being hurt
• Horney focused on cultural determinants of behavior and, as such, believed that the individual could change throughout the life cycle
Psychodynamic: Erik Erikson • Erik Erikson believed that individuals went through eight crises throughout their lives in which a
positive or negative resolution to the crisis occurred. • these are called the "Eight Ages of Man," and make up Erikson's eight stages of psychosocial
development • the stages are:
– trust versus mistrust (0 -‐ 1): the infant develops a sense of trust in the world if his or her needs are met
– autonomy versus doubt (1 -‐ 3): the toddler develops a sense of independence through bladder and bowel control (coincides with Freud's anal stage; Anna Freud was Erikson's therapist during his psychological training)
– initiative versus guilt (3 -‐ 5 1/2): the child learns to initiate actions, especially during play, indicating a move to cognitive, not just physical independence
– industry versus inferiority (5 1/2 -‐ 12): the child competes against his or her peers in producing acceptable work in school
– identity versus role-‐confusion (adolescence): the teenager develops a sense of identity, strives for more self-‐understanding and establishes goals for the future
– intimacy versus isolation (young adulthood): a feeling of belonging either with a close group of friends or through marriage
– generativity versus stagnation (middle adulthood): generativity is Erikson's term for a concern for future generations; in this stage adults assist their growing children or the community to make the world a better place for them in the future
– integrity versus despair (later adulthood): the individual looks back over their life and assesses whether is was a positive or negative existence
Humanistic Perspective
• the focus of humanistic theory is: – on the here and now – attempting to help the individual through the process of unconditional positive regard (unconditional support) in achieving self-‐actualization
– a realization of the individual's full potential and comforting sense of place in the world • the emphasis is on the whole person, not an examination into only one dysfunctional part of
personality
Humanistic: William James • William James developed the concept of self-‐-‐anything that a person can lay claim to be part of his
or her person that distinguishes them from others • James defined four parts to the self:
– material self: refers to material possessions – social self: how we are perceived by others (akin to Jung's persona) – spiritual self: our reasoning, emotions and psychological faculties – pure ego: the person's internal stream of consciousness
Humanistic: Carl Rogers
• Carl Rogers developed his theories through clinical settings • Adler's concept of striving toward perfection and James' concept of self where building blocks for
Roger's theories • he believed that all organisms had a biological push toward fulfillment called an actualizing
tendency • individuals attempted to fulfill their own self-‐concepts or images they have formed of themselves
through a self-‐actualizing tendency • when an individual's real self matches their potential or ideal self, Rogers believes the individual
has become a fully functioning person-‐-‐individuals strive for this congruence
Humanistic: Abraham Maslow • Abraham Maslow believed in our self-‐actualizing tendency by satisfying certain needs • he arranged these in a hierarchical structure with the lower level needs representing our survival
needs and the upper level needs our growth or meta-‐needs • he represented these needs in a pyramid, using the concept that the lower needs had to be met to
form the foundation on which to build the higher level needs.
Constitution or Type Perspective • constitution theory focuses on the connection between a person's body type and their personality
Constitution: Hippocrates • Hippocrates believed that our personalities were associated with the four basic fluids in our body • these humors of the body are:
– black bile: melancholy or sad – blood: sanguine or cheerful – phlegm: phlegmatic or apathetic – yellow bile: choleric or excitable
Constitution: William Sheldon
• William Sheldon divides the human physique into three body types, or somatotypes • most people have some characteristics of all three of these, with one somatotype dominant • the somatotypes are:
– endomorphs: round bodies with large abdomens – mesomorphs: upright bodies with strong bones and muscles – ectomorphs: thin, fragile bodies
• Sheldon also divided our personality or temperaments into three types: – viscerotonia: fond of food, people and comfort; very sociable – somatotonia: love of activity and physical adventure – cerebrotonia: very private, restrained and self-‐conscious
• the body and temperament types can be combined in a variety of configurations with certain elements being emphasized over others
Trait Perspective
• trait theory concerns itself more with describing rather than explaining personality • traits cannot be observed in a person but can be inferred from their behaviors • trait theory disagrees with the limited number of types advocated by the constitution theorists • trait theorists believe there are multiple dimensions and each individual possesses these traits to
greater or lesser degrees
Trait: Gordon Allport • Gordon Allport believed that these traits exist in our nervous system and influence our behavior
in various situations • he believed that each individual had their own unique constellation of traits, although the single
traits could be attributed to many people. • along with H.S. Odbert, Allport identified 17,953 words from the dictionary that described
personality • only about 4500 of these words made up stable or enduring traits. • when synonyms were removed, the list was reduced to about 200 basic traits • traits can be classified in three ways:
– cardinal traits: a general trait that influences everything an individual does; this is very rare – central traits: traits that in individual typically exemplifies in their normal behavior – secondary traits: traits which appear only in specific situations
Trait: Hans Eysenck • examined personality traits using factor analysis which looks for common factors among different
groups • identified three distinct personality dimensions:
– extroversion—individuals who are social and respond to the external environment – neuroticism—the extent to which people are moody and unstable – psychoticism—how hostile, ruthless and insensitive one is
Trait: Raymond Cattell
• Raymond Cattell found that when these 200 traits were attributed to people, certain traits tended to cluster around each other
• for example, if someone were considered amiable, they may also be considered flexible and open to experiences
• he began by studying surface traits, traits that are readily observable in people • based on his research, called factor analysis, he found that there were roughly 16 basic
personality traits, called source traits, because they represent a person’s underlying personality • these traits can be determined using the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire—the 16 PF
Trait: Costa & McCrae • the original idea was proposed by Ernest Tupes and Raymond Christal in 1961 • Paul Costa and Robert McCrae have subsequently demonstrated through cross-‐cultural studies
that there are five basic dimensions of personality traits • The Big Five traits can be remembered by the acronym OCEAN:
* openness—non-‐openness (or intelligent or sophisticated or culture): perceptive, analytical, artistic, creative, knowledgeable
* conscientiousness-‐-‐undirectedness (or dependability): organized, responsible, hard-‐working, practical, reliable
* extroversion-‐-‐introversion (or surgency): talkative, assertive, spontaneous, energetic, outspoken
* agreeableness-‐-‐antagonism (or pleasantness): warm, kind, flexible, forgiving, good-‐hearted * neuroticism—emotional stability: relaxed, objective, even-‐tempered, secure, peaceful
• they believed most people recognized their traits as their own “and it is well that they do. A person’s recognition of the inevitability of his or her one and only personality is…the culminating wisdom of a lifetime.”
• they agree with the assumption of stability of personality traits
Social-‐Learning Perspective • the social learning theory (or social cognitive theory) focuses on the influence on the environment
on the individual and how his or her behavior is changed correspondingly • the process by which the individual, the situation and the environment all influence one another is
called reciprocal determinism
Social-‐Learning Perspective: Albert Bandura • Albert Bandura is probably the most well-‐known of the social learning theorists • he believed that we developed behaviors based on observational learning • Bandura believed that an individual then evaluates their behavior in a situation according to
internal expectancies • the environmental feedback that ensues from this behavior can alter the internal expectancies for
future behavior • self-‐efficacy is the belief that we posses the necessary skills to master a task or situation • our perception of self-‐efficacy determines if we’re willing to take risks and try new things
• western cultures perpetuate the idea of individualism, that each person is defined by their personal traits and unique goals
• collective efficacy is the belief that, as a group or society, we can achieve our goals together • individualist societies are ones in which individuals pursue their own interests; collectivist societies
define individuals in terms of their membership in a group moving toward the goals of the group
Social-‐Learning Perspective: George Kelly • known for personal construct theory • personal constructs are developed from our understanding of the world around us • we develop bipolar categories to gauge and categorize the world, and then apply this
understanding • the application of these personal constructs makes up our personality • also known for the Role Construct Repertory Test—helps to identify how balanced individuals are
in using their personal constructs – those who use very few personal constructs tend to stereotype others – those who use too many personal constructs can have difficulty in predicting others’ behaviors
Social-‐Learning Perspective: Julian Rotter
• Julian Rotter proposed that these expectancies can be influenced by one's locus of control, or an expectancy that reinforcement is under either internal or external control
• people who believe they are masters of their own fate have an internal locus of control • those who believe their behavior is due to destiny have an external locus of control
Social-‐Learning Perspective: Walter Mischel • Walter Mischel proposed that there is only an apparent consistency of behavior when we observe
others because we are seeing them in only a limited number of social situations • known for the Cognitive-‐Affective Personality System (CAPS) • he believes that we tend to look for behaviors to validate our assumptions about the consistency
of someone's behavior and ignore evidence to the contrary • he later revised his theory indicating there are actually some aspect that are relatively consistent,
for example intelligence and academic achievement • our individual differences are determined by five factors and situational characteristics:
– encoding strategies – previous experiences and current expectations – unique goals and values – our emotional reactions – our personal behavioral abilities
• from these we develop somewhat consistent responses to situations, called behavioral signatures, that characterize our personality
Behavioral Perspective: B.F. Skinner & John Watson
• B.F. Skinner believed that a person's behaviors were a result of past conditioning rather than some innate personality characteristic
• the parameters of their behaviors are based on what has worked for them in the past which, in essence, are conditioned responses to environmental stimuli
• Skinner, as well as John Watson, are keen to point out the science can only record observable fact and, consequently, only an organism's behaviors can be used
• attributing behaviors to motives or personality traits is too speculative
• Skinner agrees that early childhood is important in the formation of behaviors because it can establish reinforcement contingencies, patterns of reinforcement the individual has received throughout life
• this determines their behaviors, although new behaviors can change due to changes in reinforcement contingencies
Methods of Personality Testing
• personal interview: – conversation with the purpose of obtaining information from the person being interviewed – used in clinical settings – can be unstructured or structured – structured interviews can draw out information on sensitive topics – the interviewer looks for more than verbal information but also facial expressions, bodily responses, posture and gestures
– creating favorable impressions of a subject based on their personality characteristics is called the halo effect
• direct observation: – observing a person’s actions firsthand in everyday situations over a long period of time – used by behaviorists and social learning theorists – works best with young children because they are less self-‐conscious – most observations are based on the frequency-‐count method of data collection – can be subject to observer misinterpretation – can be expensive and time-‐consuming – an awareness by the subjects that they are being observed can cause a change in their behavior, called the Hawthorne Effect
• objective tests: – personality tests that are administered and scored in a standard way – used by trait theorists – 16PF and MMPI-‐2 are examples – self-‐report bias is possible as is familiarity with the test format
• projective tests: – personality tests consisting of ambiguous or unstructured material – used by psychodynamic theorists – the TAT and Rorschach test are examples – a more relaxed type of testing – unconscious thoughts can be uncovered – the true purpose of the test can be disguised – analysis relies on the skill of the examiner
AP Check
AP students in psychology should be able to do the following: • Compare and contrast the major theories and approaches to explaining personality:
psychoanalytic, humanist, cognitive, trait, social learning, and behavioral. • Describe and compare research methods (e.g. case studies and surveys) that psychologists use to
investigate personality. • Identify frequently used assessment strategies (e.g., the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality
Inventory [MMPI], the Thematic Apperception Test [TAT]), and evaluate relative test quality based on reliability and validity of the instruments.
• Speculate how cultural context can facilitate or constrain personality development, especially as it relates to self-‐concept (e.g. collectivistic versus individualistic cultures).
• Identify key contributors to personality theory (e.g. Alfred Adler, Albert Bandura, Paul Costa and Robert McCrae, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers).
