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Personality Theoriesand Assessment
Prepared by
J. W. Taylor V
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Personality
A persons internally based
characteristic ways of
acting and thinking
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The Journey
The Psychoanalytic Approach to
Personality
The Humanistic Approach and the
Social-Cognitive Approach to
Personality
Trait Theories of Personality and
Personality Assessment
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The PsychoanalyticApproach to Personality
Freudian Classical PsychoanalyticTheory of Personality
Neo-Freudian Theories
of Personality
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Freudian Classical Psychoanalytic
Theory of Personality
Developed by Sigmund Freud in the late
nineteenth century and continued until
his death in 1939
Freud received a medical degree and
established a practice as a clinical neurologist
treating patients with emotional disorders
Believed sex was a primary cause of
emotional problems and was a critical
component of his personality theory
Remains an important influence in
Western culture
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Freuds Three Levels of Awareness
1. The conscious mind is what you are presently aware of,what you are thinking about right now
2. The preconscious mind is stored in your memory that youare not presently aware of but can gain access to
3. The unconscious mindis the part of our mind of which wecannot become aware
It contains, however, the primary motivations for all of ouractions and feelings our biological instinctual
drives (such as for food and sex)and repressed unacceptablethoughts, memories, andfeelings, especiallyunresolved conflictsfrom our earlychildhood experiences
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Freuds
Three-Part Personality Structure
Id
Ego
Superego
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The Id
Is the original personality, the only part present atbirth and the part out of which the other two parts ofour personality emerge
Resides in the unconscious mind Includes our biological instinctual drives, the primitive
parts of our personality located in our unconscious
Life instincts for survival, reproduction, and pleasure
Death instincts, destructive and aggressive drivesdetrimental to survival
Operates on a pleasure principle; that is, it demandsimmediate gratification for these drives without theconcern for the consequences of this gratification
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The Ego
Starts developing during the first year or so of lifeto find realistic and socially-acceptable outlets for
the ids needs Operates on thereality principle, finding gratification
for instinctual drives within the constraints of reality(the norms and laws of society)
Part of the ego is unconscious (tied to the id) and part
of the ego is conscious and preconscious (tied to theexternal world)
Serves as the executive manager of the personality
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The Superego
Represents ones conscience and idealizedstandards of behavior in their culture
Operates on a morality principle, threatening to
overwhelm us with guilt and shame
The demands of the superego and the id will come intoconflict and the ego will have to resolve this turmoilwithin the constraints of reality
To prevent being overcome with anxiety because oftrying to satisfy the id and superego demands, the egouses what Freud called defense mechanisms,processes that distort reality and protect us from anxiety
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Freuds Defense Mechanisms
Repression Unknowingly placing anunpleasant memory orthought in the unconscious
Not remembering a
traumatic incident in
which you witnessed a
crime
Regression Reverting back toimmature behavior from anearlier stage ofdevelopment
Throwing temper tantrumsas an adult when youdont get your way
Displacement Redirecting unacceptablefeelings from the originalsource to a safer substitutetarget
Taking your anger towardyour boss out on your
spouse or children by
yelling at them and not
your boss
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Freuds Defense Mechanisms
Sublimation Replacing sociallyunacceptable impulseswith socially acceptablebehavior
Channeling aggressive
drives into playing football
or inappropriate sexual
desires into art
ReactionFormation
Acting in exactly theopposite way to onesunacceptable impulses
Being overprotective ofand lavishing attention on
an unwanted child
Projection Attributing ones ownunacceptable feelings and
thoughts to others and notyourself
Accusing your boyfriend
of cheating on you
because you have felt likecheating on him
Rationalization Creating false excuses forones unacceptablefeelings, thoughts, or
behavior
Justifying cheating on an
exam by saying that
everyone else cheats
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Unhealthy Personalities
Develop not only when we become toodependent upon defense mechanisms, but also
when the id or superego is unusually strong or theego unusually weak
Freud believed that our behavior is largelyshaped by id, ego, superego conflict and the
conflicts centering on sex and agression urgesand frustration in satisfying them.
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Freuds
Psychosexual Stage Theory
Freud believes that the child is the father to the man.
Was developed chiefly from his own childhood memoriesand from his years of interactions with his patients andtheir case studies that included their childhood memories
An erogenous zone is the area of the body where theids pleasure-seeking psychic energy is focused during aparticular stage of psychosexual development
A change in erogenous zones designates thebeginning of a new stage
Fixationoccurs when a portion of the ids pleasure-seeking energy remains in a stage because of excessivegratification or frustration of our instinctual needs andcontinue throughout the persons life and impact theirbehavior and personality traits (failure to move forward)
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Five Psychosexual Stages
Oral Stage (birth to 18 months)
Anal Stage (18 months to 3 years)
Phallic Stage (3 to 6 years)
Latency Stage (6 years to puberty)
Genital Stage (puberty to adulthood)
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Freuds Psychosocial States
of Personality Development
Stage (age range) Erogenous Zone Activity Focus
Oral
(birth to 1 years)
Mouth, lips, and
tongue
Sucking, biting, and
chewing
Anal
(1 to 3 years)
Anus Bowel retention and
elimination
Phallic
(3 to 6 years)
Genitals Identifying with same-sex
parent to learn gender role
and sense of morality
Latency
(6 years to puberty)
No erogenous
zone
Cognitive and social
development
Genital
(puberty to
adulthood)
Genitals Development of sexual
relationships, moving
toward intimate adult
relationships
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Potty Training
Parents try to get the child to have self-control
during toilet training
If the child reacts to harsh toilet training by trying to get
even with the parents by withholding bowel movements, ananal-retentive personality with the traits
of orderliness, neatness, stinginess,
and obstinacy develops
The anal-expulsive personality
develops when the child rebelsagainst the harsh training and
has bowel movements
whenever and wherever
he desires
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Phallic Stage Conflicts
In the Oedipus conflict, the little boy
becomes sexually attracted to his
mother and fears the father (his rival)will find out and castrate him
In the Electra conflict, the little girl is
attracted to her father because hehas a penis; she wants one and feels
inferior without one (penis envy)
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Identification
In the process of identification, the child adopts
the characteristics of the same-sexed parents and
learns their gender role (the set of behaviorsexpected of someone of a particular sex)
It is during identification that the superego begins
to develop
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Evaluation of Freuds
Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality
Freuds notion of an unconscious level of
awareness is not accessible to anyone and is
impossible to examine scientifically
Indeed, unconscious information processing doesimpact our thinking and behavior
However, the unconscious is not a storehouse of
instinctual drives, conflicts, and repressed memories
and desires
Although early childhood experiences are
indeed important, there is little evidence for his
psychosexual stages impacting development
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Evaluation of Freuds
Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality
Contemporary researchers think repression,
seldom, if ever, really occurs
We understand today how Freuds questioningduring therapy may have created such
repressed memories in his patients
There is evidence we fight hard to maintain
self-esteem, but not necessarily throughdefense mechanisms as Freud described
them
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Neo-Freudian
Theories of Personality
Agree with many of Freuds basic ideas,
but differ in one or more important ways
Carl JungsCollective
Unconscious
Alfred AdlersStriving for
Superiority
Karen Horneyand the
Need for
Security
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Carl Jungs
Collective Unconscious
The collective unconscious
is the accumulated universal experiences
of humankind, with each of us inheriting
the same cumulative storehouse of all
human experiences These experiences are manifested in
archetypes, which are emotionally
charged images and symbols of all the
important themes in the history of
humankind (e.g., God, mother, hero)
Notions of collective unconscious and
archetypes are more mystical than
scientific and cannot be empirically tested
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Carl Jungs
Collective Unconscious
Jung proposed two main personality attitudes,extraversion and introversion
Jung also proposed four functions/styles of
gathering information Sensing is the reality function in which the world is
carefully perceived
Intuiting is more subjective perception
Thinking is logical deduction Feeling is the subjective emotional function
The two personality attitudes and four functionsare the basis for the Myers-Briggs TypeIndicator, still in wide use today
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Alfred Adlers
Striving for Superiority
Adler thought the main motivation was what hetermed striving for superiority to overcome
the sense of inferiority that we feel as infantsgiven our totally helpless and dependent state
A healthy person learns to cope with thesefeelings, becomes competent, and develops a
sense of self-esteem (compensation) Inferiority complex is the strong feeling of
inferiority felt by those who never overcomethis initial feeling of inferiority
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Karen Horney and
The Need for Security
Focused on dealing with our need for security,rather than a sense of inferiority
A childs caregivers must provide a sense of security
for a healthy personality to develop or else basicanxiety, a feeling of helplessness and insecurity in ahostile world, will result
Three neurotic personality patterns
Moving toward peopleA compliant, submissive person
Moving against peopleAn aggressive, domineering person
Moving away from people
A detached, aloof person
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The Humanistic Approach
and the Social-CognitiveApproach to Personality
The Humanistic Approachto Personality
The Social-Cognitive Approach
to Personality
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Alternative Approaches
Humanistic theories developed in the 1960s as a part
of a response to the deterministic psychoanalytic and
strict behavioral psychological approaches that then
dominated psychology and the study of personality The humanistic approach emphasizes conscious free will
in ones actions, the uniqueness of the individual person,
and personal growth
During the 1960s, social-cognitive theorists rebelledagainst the narrowness of the strict behavioral
approach to the development of personality,
emphasizing both social and cognitive factors along
with conditioning to explain personality development
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The Humanistic
Approach to Personality
Abraham Maslow is considered the father ofthe humanistic movement
He studied the lives of very healthy and creativepeople to develop his theory of personality
Maslows hierarchy of needsis anarrangement of the innate needs that motivate
our behavior, from the strongest needs at thebottom of the pyramid to the weakness needsat the top of the pyramid
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Maslows Hierarchy of Needs
Self-Actualization
Self-
Esteem
Social
Safety
Physiological
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Maslows Hierarchy of Needs
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Self-Actualization
Characteristics of self-actualized people include
Accepting themselves, others, and the nature of world for
what they are
Having a need for privacyand only a few close,
emotional relationships
Being autonomous and
independent, democratic,
and very creative Having peak experiences,
which are experiences of deep
insight in which you experience
whatever you are doing as fully as possible
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Critique
Maslow hierarchy of needs is criticized for
being based on non-empirical vague
studies of a small number of people that hesubjectively selected as self-actualized
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Rogers Self Theory
Carl Rogers was a client-centered therapist
who dealt with young, bright college
students with adjustment problems Emphasized self-actualization
Believe that people have a strong need for
positive regard to be accepted by and have
the affection of others, especially the significantothers in our life
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Rogers Self Theory
Our parents set up conditions of worth, the
behaviors and attitudes for which they would give
us positive regard
Meeting conditions of worth continues throughout life, and
a person develops a self-concept of what others think he
should be
Unconditional positive regard acceptance and
approval without conditions
Empathy from others, and having others be genuine with
respect to their own feelings is necessary if we are to self-
actualized
Note that neither Maslow nor Rogers theories are
research-based
S C
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The Social-Cognitive
Approach to Personality
Is research-based by combining
elements of three major research perspectives
Cognitive
Behavioral Sociocultural
Maintains that learning through environmental
conditioning contributes to personality
development However, social learning/modeling and cognitive
processes, such as perception and thinking, are also
involved and are actually more important to the
development of our personality
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Banduras Self-System
The self-system is the set of cognitive processes bywhich a person observes, evaluates, and regulateshis/her social behavior
There is a conscious decision to choose what behavior toengage in, acting in accordance with the assessment ofwhether the behavior will be reinforced or not
Self-efficacyis a judgment of ones effectiveness indealing with particular situations and plays a major role in
determining our behavior Low self-efficacy is associated with depression, anxiety, and
helplessness
High self-efficacy is associated with self-confidence, positiveoutlook, and minimal self-doubt
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Rotters Locus of Control
Locus of controlis a persons perception
of the extent to which he/she controls what
happens to him/her External locus of control refers to the
perception that chance or external forces
beyond your control determine your fate
Internal locus of control refers to theperception that you control your own fate
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Locus of Control
People with an internal locus of control perceive
their success as dependent upon their own needs,
but they may or may not feel that they have the
competence (efficacy) to bring about successfuloutcomes in various situations
People with an internal locus of control are
psychologically and physically better off
External locus of control may contribute to
learned helplessness, a sense of hopelessness
in which one thinks that he/she is unable to
prevent unpleasant events
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Self-Perception
Attribution is the process by which we
explain our own behavior and that of others
Internal attribution means that the outcome isattributed to the person
External attribution means that the outcome is
attributed to factors outside the person
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Self-Perception
Self-serving biasis the tendency to make
attributions so that one can perceive
oneself favorably If the outcome is positive, we make an internal
attribution for it
If the outcome is negative, we make an external
attribution for it Self-serving bias is adaptive because it protects
us from falling prey to learned helplessness and
depression
L d H l l
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Learned Helplessness
and Depression
Can result from:
Internal attributions for negative outcomes
(I failed the test because I am no good at math) External attributions for positive outcomes
(I aced the test because it was so easy)
Pessimistic explanations are also stable
(i.e., the causes are permanent, I will always
have no ability for math) and global
(I have no ability for anything)
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Trait Theories of Personalityand Personality Assessment
Trait Theories of Personality
Personality Assessment
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Trait Theories of Personality
Personality traitsare internally based, relatively
stable characteristics that define an individuals
personality
Each trait is a dimension, a continuum ranging from oneextreme of the dimension to the other
Trait theorists use factor analysis and other
statistical techniques to tell them how many basic
personality factors (or traits) are needed to describehuman personality, as well as what these factors are
Factor analysis identifies clusters of test items (e.g., on a
personality test) that measure the same factor/trait
Th N b d Ki d
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The Number and Kind
of Personality Traits
Raymond B. Cattell, using factor analysis,
found that 16 traits were necessary to
describe human personality
Hans Eysenck, also using factor analysis,
argued for three trait dimensions
Cattell and Eysenck differed because the
number of traits depends on the level ofcategorization in the factor analysis
Eysencks theory is at a more general and
inclusive level of abstraction than Cattells
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Eysencks Three-Factor Theory
Eysenck argued that these traits are determined by heredity
Extraversion-
Introversion
Neuroticism-
Emotional
stability
Psychoticism-
Impulse
control
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Eysencks Three-Factor Theory
The biological basis for the extraversion-introversion trait is level of cortical arousal
(neuronal activity) Introverts have higher normal-levels of arousal
than an extravert, so extraverts need to seekout external stimulation to raise the level of
arousal in the brain to a more optimal level
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Eysencks Three-Factor Theory
People who are high on the neuroticism-
emotional stability dimension tend to be overly
anxious, emotionally unstable, and easily upset
because of a more reactive sympathetic nervous
system
The psychoticism-impulse control trait is
concerned with aggressiveness, impulsiveness,and empathy
A high level of testosterone and a low level of MAO, a
neurotransmitter inhibitor, lead to high levels of
psychoticism
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Five-Factor Model of Personality
These five factors appear to be universal
and are consistent from about age 30 to
late adulthood
These factors are measured using an
assessment instrument called the NEO-PI
Th Bi Fi P lit
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The Big Five Personality
Trait Dimensions
Dimension High End Low End
Openness Independent, imaginative,
broad interests, receptive
to new ideas
Conforming, practical,
narrow interests, closed to
new ideas
Conscientiousness Well-organized,
dependable, careful,
disciplined
Disorganized,
undependable, careless,
impulsive
Extraversion Sociable, talkative,
friendly, adventurous
Reclusive, quiet, aloof,
cautious
Agreeableness Sympathetic, polite, good-
natured, soft-hearted
Tough-minded, rude,
irritable, ruthless
Neuroticism Emotional, insecure,
nervous, self-pitying
Calm, secure, relaxed, self-
satisfied
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Personality Assessment
The main uses of personality tests are to aid
in diagnosing people with problems,
counseling, and making personnel decisions
Personality
Inventories
Projective
Tests
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Personality Inventories
Are designed to measure multiple traits of
personality, and in some cases, disorders
Are a series of questions or statements for whichthe test taker must indicate whether they apply to
him or not
The MMPI (the Minnesota Multiphasic
Personality Inventory) is the most widely used,translated into more than 100 languages
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MMPI
Uses a True/False/Cannot Say format with 567
simple statements (e.g., I like to cook)
Developed to be a measure of abnormal
personality, with 10 clinical scales such asdepression and schizophrenia
Items were developed and tested to differentiate
different groups of people (a representative sample
of people suffering a specific disorder versus a
group of normal people) on certain dimensions; to
be retained, the two groups generally responded to
an item in opposite ways
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MMPI
Contains three validity scales, which
attempt to detect test takers who are
trying to cover up problems and fake
profiles or who were careless in theirresponding
Its test construction method leads to
good predictive validity for its clinical
scales and its objective scoring
procedure leads to reliability in
interpretation
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Projective Tests
Contain a series of ambiguous stimuli, such
as inkblots, to which the test taker
must respond about hisperceptions of the stimuli
Sample tests
Rorschach Inkblots Test
Thematic Apperception
Tests (TAT)
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Rorschach Inkblots Test
Contains 10 symmetric inkblots used inthe test, in which the examiner then goesthrough the cards and asks the test taker
to clarify her responses by identifying thevarious parts of the inkblot that led to theresponse
Assumes the test takers responses are
projections of their personal conflicts andpersonality dynamics
Widely used but not demonstrated to bereliable and valid
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Thematic Apperception Tests (TAT)
Consists of 19 cards with black and white
pictures of ambiguous settings and one blank
card
Test taker has to make up a story for each card
he sees (what happened before, is happening
now, what the people are feeling and thinking,
and how things will turn out)
Looks for recurring themes in the responses
Scoring has yet to be demonstrated to be either
reliable or valid
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