Psych Chapter 11: Personality

Chapter 11: Personality

"I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become." ~Carl G. Jung

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Summary

Pesonality- An individual's unique and relativiely consistent patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving Personality Theory- Attempts to describe and explain similarities and differences in people's patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving.

Index

1. What is personality?

2. Psychoanalytic Perspective

3. Humanistic/Social Cognitive Perspective

4. Trait Perspective

5. Assessing Personality: Psychological Tests

Explaining Personality

Some people are outgoing, expressive, and fun-loving. Other people consistently display the opposite qualities. Are such personality differences due to early childhood experiences? Genetics? Social environment? Personality theories attempt to account for the individual differences that make each one of us unique. The unusual situation of the twins switched at birth provides a way for researchers to make multiple comparisons based on both genetics and the environment

"Unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later in uglier ways." ~Sigmund Freud

Three different level of awareness:Conscious: Information you are immediately aware of preconscious: Information you are not currently aware of but can easily bring to conscious awareness Unconscious: Thoughts, urges, and wishes that are difficult to bring to conscious awareness

The Ego Defence Mechanisms: Unconscious Self-Deceptions

The ego has a difficult task, it must be strong, flexible, and resourceful to mediate conflicts among the demands of the id, the moral authority of the superego, and external restrictions. If a solution or compromise is not possible, the ego may use a Defense Mechanism- largely unconscious distortions of thoughts or perceptions that act to reduce anxiety.

Projection

Repression

Denial

Displacement

Rationalization

Regression

Freud's Psychosexual Stages

The psychosexual stages are age-related developmental periods, and each stage represents a different focus of the id's sexual energies

Gallery

Psychologists and their differing perspectives

Interactive Question

"Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it."~ Bruce Lee

Trait Perspective on Personality

A theory of personality that focuses on identifying, describing, and measuring individual differences in behavioral predispositions

Surface traits & Source Traits

Surface traits- personality characteristics or attributes that can be easily inferred from observable behaviors (Ex. happy, exuberant, spacey, gloomy). There are more than 4,000 words that could be used to describe specific personality traits. Source traits- broad basic traits that are hypothesized to be universal and relatively few in number. Researchers have argued that source traits have a stronger genetic link and are more stable than surface traits; others disagree. Trait theorists believe that there are relatively few source traits. A goal is to identify most basic set of universal source traits that can be used to describe all individual differences.

Trait Theories: Raymond Cattell & Hans Eysenck

Cattell took the list of 4,000 terms and reduced them to about 171 characteristics by eliminating terms that seemed redundant or uncommon. After a statistical technique called factor analysis, he reduced the list further to 16 key personality factors. Hans Eysenck, a British psychologist, proposed an even simpler model of source traits. He broke this down to three dimensions: introversion-extraversion, neuroticism-emotional stability, and psychoticism. Eysenck believed that by combining the first two dimensions, people can be classified into four basic types: Introverted-neurotic, introverted-stable, extraverted-neurotic, and extraverted-stable.

Each basic type is associated with a different combination of surface traits (ex. outgoing, joke-loving people would be classified as extraverted-stable, while someone with a darker, serious mood may be classified as introverted-neurotic.

Eysenck proposed that an introvert's nervous system is more easily aroused than is an extravert's nervous system.

Other Personality Trait Theories

Michael Ashton and Kibeom Lee proposed a six-factor model, which is an expansion on the five-factor model. They took a "Lexical" approach, which refers to the vocabulary of a language. This turns up a sixth factor of honesty-humility, and they called this model H.E.X.A.C.O. The Big Five neuroticism factor is called emotionality in HEXACO.There are some indications that some personalities may have shifted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

The Five-Factor ModelMany thought Cattell's model was too complex and that the 16 factors could be reduced further, and Esenck's three-dimensional theory seemed too limited. This led to the "Big Five"- this identifies extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience as the fundamental building blocks of personality. To help you remember this, you can use the acronym O.C.E.A.N.

Interactive Question

Interactive Question

Psychological Tests: Projective Tests

A psychological test is a test that assesses a person's abilities, aptitudes, interests, or personality based on a systematically obtained sample of behavior. Projective Tests- A type of personality test that involves a person's interpretations of an ambiguous image.

Person creates stories about ambiguous scenes. Including characters' feelings and the story ending. The story is scored on motives, needs, anxieties, and conflicts.

Developed by Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach in 1921. 10 cards, 5 black and white and 5 in color. Examiner records person's response verbatim & behavior, gestures, and reactions

Mainly used in psychotherapy. provides qualitative information about psychological functioning. Highly subjective, requiring the examiner to make judgments. Question validity and reliability.

Strengths & Limitations

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Rorschach Inkblot Test

Interactive Question

Assessing personality: Psychological Tests

A psychological test is a test that assesses a person's abilities, aptitudes, interests, or personality based on a systematically obtained sample of behavior. Self-Report Inventories- A type of psychological test in which a person's responses to standardized questions are compared to established norms.

Self-report inventory assessing personality characteristics and psychological disorders; used to assess both normal and disturbed populations.

Inventory that assesses personality characteristics in normal populations. 400 true-false items on the long version.

Designed to assess personality types rather than measure personality traits. measures a person's preferred way of dealing with information, making decisions, and interaction with others

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

Califorina Psychological Inventory (CPI)

Myers-Briggs Type Indicater (MBTI)

Strengths & Limitations of Self-report Inventories

Strengths- Their standardization and their use of established norms. Each person receives the same instructions and responds to the same items. The MMPI and the CPI are scored by computer. The validity and reliability of self-report inventories are far greater than those of projective tests. Limitations- People can fake their responses despite the items designed to detect inconsistencies and exaggerations. People are prone to respond in a set way (ex. answering true whether it is true or not). People are not always accurate judges of their own behavior, attitudes, or attributes. They may deny their true feelings, needs, and attitudes (ex. may indicate they enjoy parties, when in fact they prefer to avoid social gatherings).

Interactive Question

Interactive Question

What questionsDo you have?

Displacement

Defense mechanism that involves unconsciously shifting the target of an emotional urge to a substitute target that is less threatening or dangerous. (Ex. employee angered by a supervisor's unfair treatment may displace their hostility onto family members when they come home)

Projection

The attribution of one's own unacceptable urges or qualities to others (Ex. A married woman who is sexually attracted to a co-worker accuses him of flirting with her)

Repression

The unconscious exclusion of anxiety-provoking thoughts, feelings, and memories from conscious awareness. Unconscious forgetting. (Ex. traumatic events, embarrassments, disappointments, episodes of physical pain/illness, and unacceptable urges)

Denial

The failure to recognize or acknowledge the existence of anxiety-provoking information (Ex. despite having multiple drinks every night, a man says he is not an alcoholic because he never drinks before 5 pm)

Regression

Retreating to a behavior pattern characteristic of an earlier stage of development (Ex. after her parents ' bitter divorce, a 10-year-old girl refuses to sleep alone, crawling into bed with her mother)

Rationalization

Justifying one's actions or feeling with socially acceptable explanations reather than consciously acknowledging one's true motives or desires (Ex. After being rejected by a university, a student explains that he is glad bacause he would be happier at a smaller, less competitive school)

Born in 1856 in the Czech Republic, and moved to Vienna at 4 y/o. Studied medicine and became an outstanding physiological researcher. First investigator of a new drug with anesthetic and mood-altering properties-- cocaine. Found it to be addictive. The youngest of six children became an important psychoanalyst theorist.

Theories evolved gradually over decades of self-analysis and observations of patients in his private practice. Embraced the technique of hypnosis to help patients talk freely and express pent-up emotions, free association. Continued to refine, leading to psychoanalysis.

Freud's psychoanalysis stresses the importance of unconscious forces, sexual and aggressive instincts, and early childhood experiences. This has become part of our common culture, but many have not held up under research scrutiny.

This is the completely unconscious irrational component of personality that seeks immediate satisfaction of instinctual urges and drives. Id is connected to the biological urges--hunger, thirst, physical comfort, sexuality. Id is ruled by the pleasure principle- fundamental human motive to obtain pleasure and avoid tension or discomfort

Id

This is the partly conscious rational component of personality that regulates thoughts and behavior, and is most in touch with the demands of the external world. The ego is ruled by the reality principle- the capacity to postpone gratification until the appropriate time or circumstances exist in the external world. (ex. child learning to wait their turn for the playground swing rather than pushing another child off, may require scoalding from their parent)

Ego

The partly conscious, self-evaluative, moralistic component of personality that is formed through the internalization of parental and societal rules. Your superego represents your conscience, issuing demands "like a strict father with a child" or Jimmy Cricket

Superego

Neo-Freudian: Follower & Dissenter

Carl Jung (1875-1961)

Born in a small town in Switzerland, Jung was fascinated by myths, folktales, and religions of his own and other cultures. Intrigued by Freud's ideas, corresponded with him at great length. Jung believed the deepest part of the individual psyche is the collective unconscious- the hypothesized part of the unconscious mind that is inherited from previous generations and that contains universally shared ancestral experiences and ideas. Think of it as reflecting shared human experiences

Neo-Freudian: Follower & Dissenter

Karen Horney (1885-1952)

Emigrated from Germany to the United States during the Great Depression in the 1930s and was trained as a Freudian psychoanalyst. Karen found her patients were more concerned with jobs and economic problems than their sex lives; therefore, she stressed the importance of cultural and social factors in personality development. Freud did not focus on this idea.Karen also deeply disagreed with Freud's interpretation of female development, especially his concept of penis envy, and claimed it was their superior status in society. She developed the concept of "womb envy," which is that men envy women's capacity to bear children. Her work angered her peers at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute (where she had been teaching longer than any of them). Her refusal to back down led to her demotion and ultimate departure.

Neo-Freudian: Follower & Dissenter

Alfre Adler (1870-1937)

Born in Vienna, became associated with Freud after studying medicine. Adler disagreed with Freud on several issues from the beginning of his interest in psychoanalysis. Adler put his emphasis on the importance of conscious thought processes and social motives. Adler believed the most fundamental human motive is striving for superiority- the desire to improve oneself, master challenges, and move toward self-perfection and self-realization Believed humans were motivated to grow and achieve their personal goals.

Anna Freud (1895-1982)

Anna followed in her father's footsteps as an eminent psychoanalyst and became his successor as leader of the international psychoanalytic movement. Expanded on her father's theory, she applied psychoanalysis to therapy with children. Her obituary stated that she "virtually invented the systematic study of the emotional and mental life of the child."

The Humanistic Perspective

Carl Rogers (1902-1987)

The humanistic perspective emphasizes free will, self-awareness, and psychological growth. Grew up in Chicago, in a large, close-knit family. Developed his personality theory from his clinical experiences, and referred to his patients as "clients" to emphasize their voluntary participation in therapy. Actualizing tendency- innate drive to maintain and enhance the human organism Self-concept- set of perceptions and beliefs that you hold about yourself Conditional positive regard- sense that the child is valued and loved only when they behave in a way that is acceptable to others Unconditional positive regard- child's sense that they will be valued and loved even if they don't conform to the standards and expectations of others

Social Cognitive Perspective on Personality

Albert Bandura (1925-2021)

Bandura emphasized the importance of conscious cognitive processes, social experiences, self-efficacy beliefs, and reciprocal determinism. Reciprocal determinism- explains human functioning and personality as caused by the interaction of behavioral, cognitive, and environmental factors. Each factor is both influenced and influences the other factors. Self-efficacy- beliefs that people have about their ability to meet the demands of a specific situation; a feeling of self-confidence. "The most effective way of developing a strong sense of efficacy is through mastery experiences. Successes build a robust belief in one's efficacy." -Albert Bandura

Introvert v. Extrovert

Assuming people tend to seek out the optimal level of arousal, extroverts would seek stimulation from their environment more than introverts. While introverts would be more uncomfortable than extraverts in a highly stimulating environment, introverts would be much less likely to seek out stimulation. Research shows extroverted students tend to study in a relatively noisy, open area of a university library, whereas introverted students prefer to study in a quiet section of the library.