�    Personality

�    An individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting

�    Four basic perspectives

�    Psychoanalytic

�    Trait

�    Humanistic

�    Social-cognitive

�    From Freud’s theory which proposes that childhood sexuality and unconscious motivations influence personality

The Psychoanalytic Perspective

�    Psychoanalysis

�    Technique of treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions

�    Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality sought to explain what he observed during psychoanalysis

�    Free Association

�    Method of exploring the unconscious

�    Person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing

�    Unconscious

�    Freud-a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes. Feelings and memories

�    Contemporary-information processing of which we are unaware

�    Preconscious-  information that is not conscious, but is retrievable into conscious awareness

Personality Structure

�    ID

�    A reservoir of unconscious psychic energy

�    Strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives

�    Operates on the pleasure principle. Demanding immediate gratification

�    SUPEREGO

�    The part of personality that presents internalized ideals

�    Provides standards for judgement and for future aspirations

�    EGO

�    The largely conscious, “executive” part of personality

�    Mediates among the demands of the id, superego and ego

�    Operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id’s desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain

Personality Development

�    Psychosexual Stages-  the childhood stages of development during which the pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones

�    Oedipus Complex-  a boy’s sexual desires towards his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father

Freud’s Psychosexual Stages

STAGE                                FOCUS

Oral (0-18 months)              Pleasure centers on the mouth---sucking, biting, chewing

Anal (18-36 months)            Pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder elimination; coping with demands for control

Phallic (3-6 years)                Pleasure zone in genitals; coping with incestuous sexual feeling

Latency ( 6 to puberty)        Dormant sexual feelings

Genital (puberty on)             Maturation of sexual interests

Personality Development

�    Identification-  the process by which children incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superegos

�    Gender Identity-  one’s sense of being male or female

�    Fixation- a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, where conflicts were unresolved

Defense Mechanisms

�    Defense Mechanisms-  the ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

�    Repression-  the basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness

�    Regression-  defense mechanism in which an individual retreats, when faced with anxiety, to a more infantile psychosexual stage where some psychic energy remains fixated

�    Reaction Formation- defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their opposites.  People may express feelings that are the opposite of their anxiety-arousing unconscious feelings.

�    Projection-  defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others

�    Rationalization-  defense mechanism that offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one’s actions

�    Displacement-  defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person…as when redirecting anger towards a safer outlet

Neo-Freudians

�    Alfred Adler-  importance of childhood social tension

�    Karen Horney-  sought to balance Freud’s masculine biases

�    Carl Jung-  emphasizes collective unconscious…concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species’ history

Assessing The Unconscious

�    Projective Test-  a personality rest, such as the Rorschach or TAT, that provided ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics

�    Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)-  a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes

�    Rorschach Inkblot Test- the most widely used projective test, uses a set of 10 inkblots designed by

Hermann Rorschach to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots.

The Trait Perspective

�    Trait-  a characteristic pattern of behavior; a disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports

�    Personality Inventory-  a questionnaire (often with true-false or agree-disagree items) on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits

The “Big Five” personality Factors

Trait Dimension                    Description

Emotional Stability                 Calm versus anxious

Secure versus insecure

Self-satisfied versus self-pitying

Extraversion                            Sociable versus retiring

Fun-loving versus sober

Affectionate versus reserved

Openness                                 Imaginative versus practical

Preference for variety versus preference for routine

Independent versus conforming

Extraversion                            Soft-hearted versus ruthless Trusting versus suspicious Helpful versus uncooperative

Conscientiousness                   Organized versus disorganized Careful versus careless Disciplined versus impulsive

�    Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

�    The most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests

�    Originally developed to identify emotional disorders (still considered its most appropriate use)

�    Now used for many other screening purposes

�    Empirically Derived Test-  a test developed by testing a pool of  items and then selecting those that discriminate between groups…similar to MMPI

Evaulating The Trait Perspective

�    Situational influences on behavior are important to consider

�    People can fake desirable responses on self-report measures of personality

�    Averaging behavior across situations seems to indicate that people do have distinct personality traits

Humanistic Perspective

�    Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)-  studied self-actualization processes of productive and healthy people

�    Self-Actualization-  the ultimate psychological need that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one’s potential

�    Carl Rogers (1902-1987)-  focused on growth and fulfillment of individuals

�    Requires three conditions

1.   Genuineness

2.   Acceptance- unconditional positive regard

3.   Empathy

�    Unconditional Positive Regard- an attitude of total acceptance toward another person

�    Self-Concept- all of our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in an answer to the question “Who am I”?”

�    Self-Esteem- one’s feelings of high or low self-worth

�    Self-Serving Bias- a readiness to perceive oneself favorably

�    Individualism- giving priority to one’s own goals over group goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications

�    Collectivism- giving priority to the goals of one’s group (often one’s extended family or work group) and defining one’s identity accordingly