Refers to an individuals unique and relatively consistent pattern of thinking feeling and behaving Personality theory Describes and explains how people are similar how they are different and why every individual is ID: 753526
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Slide1
Personality
Chapter TenSlide2
Personality:
Refers to an individual’s
unique and relatively consistent pattern of thinking, feeling, and
behaving
Personality
theory:
Describes
and
explains
how people are similar, how they are different, and why every individual is
uniqueSlide3
What Is Personality?
Four
major theoretical perspectives on personality
Psychoanalytic perspective
Humanistic
perspective
Social
cognitive
perspective
Trait perspectiveSlide4
Psychoanalytic Perspective on Personality
Freud
Influenced by Joseph Breuer; used hypnosis; treated patients with psychological symptoms; used free association
Asserted sexuality was fundamental human motive and aggression was second powerful human instinct
Created important worksSlide5
Freud’s Dynamic Theory of
Personality:
Psychoanalytic Approach
Psychoanalysis is both an approach to therapy and a theory of
personality.
Emphasized unconscious motivation: main causes of behavior lie buried in the unconscious
mind
Saw
personality and behavior as the result of a constant interplay among conflicting psychological
forces
P
sychological
forces operate at three different levels of awareness:
Conscious
Preconscious
Unconscious Slide6
Levels of Awareness and the Structure of PersonalitySlide7
Techniques to Reveal the Unconscious
Free association
A psychoanalytical technique in which the patient spontaneously reports all thoughts, feelings, and mental images as they come to
mind
Dream analysis
Content of dreams
Manifest content (surface meaning)
Latent content (true, unconscious meaning)Slide8
The Structure of Personality
Id
Instinctual drives present at birth
Does not distinguish reality from fantasy
Operates according to pleasure principle
Motive is to obtain pleasure and avoid tension or discomfort; this is the most fundamental human motive and guiding principle of id
Immune to logic
Energy
comes from
Eros: Self
-preservation or life instinct
Libido: Psychological
and emotional energy associated with expressions of sexuality; sex drive
Thanatos
: Death
instinct
Reflected in aggressive, destructive, and self-destructive actions Slide9
The Structure of Personality
Ego
Is partly conscious rational component of personality that develops out of the id in infancy
Understands reality and logic
Is most in touch with the demands of the external world
Acts as mediator between id and superego
Reality principle
Is ability to postpone gratification in accordance with demands of external world
Can repress desires that cannot be met in an acceptable mannerSlide10
The Structure of Personality
Superego
At
age 5 or 6, child develops an internal, parental voice that is partly
conscious
Internalization of parental and society’s moral
standards
Responsible for guilt;
it praises
and admonishes
Establishing the SuperegoSlide11
The Ego Defense Mechanisms: Unconscious Self-Deceptions
If a realistic solution or compromise is not possible, the ego may
temporarily reduce
anxiety by distorting thoughts or perceptions of reality through
defense mechanisms
.
RepressionDisplacementSublimation
Rationalization
Projection
Reaction formation
Denial
Undoing
RegressionSlide12
Personality Development
Freud’s psychosexual
s
tages
People progress through five psychosexual stages of development.
Oral, anal, and phallic, latency, and genital stages
Each psychosexual stage represents a different focus of the id’s sexual energies; and each is age-related and focused on different bodily zones.Slide13
Personality Development
Fixation
At each psychosexual stage, the child is faced with a developmental conflict that must be successfully
resolved.
Child may be frustrated or overindulged in
that stage’s
expression of pleasurable
feelings.
In
either case,
the result
of an unresolved developmental conflict is
fixation.Slide14
The Oedipus Complex: A
P
sychosexual Drama
Child’s unconscious sexual desire for the opposite-sex parent; usually accompanied by hostile feelings toward the same-sex parent.Slide15
Latency
and
Genital Stages
Latency (5
years–puberty
)
Because the Oedipus complex causes anxiety,
the sexual
urges of boys and girls become repressed
Children desire to associate with same-sex peers, a preference that strengthens the child’s sexual
identity
Genital
Stage (puberty and older)
Final
resolution of the Oedipus complex in adolescence
Incestuous urges start to resurface; they are prohibited by superego and societal restriction
Person directs sexual urges toward socially acceptable substitutes, who often resemble the person’s opposite-sex parentSlide16
The Neo-Freudians
Neo-Freudians
Followed Freud in stressing the importance of the unconscious and early childhood, but they developed their own personality theories
Key theorists
Carl Jung: Archetypes and collective unconscious
Karen Horney: Focus on security
Alfred Adler: Individual psychologySlide17
The Neo-Freudians
Neo-Freudian disagreement with Freudian theory
Disagreed that behavior was primarily motivated by sexual urges
Disagreed that personality is fundamentally determined by early childhood experiences
Disagreed with Freud’s generally pessimistic view of human nature and societySlide18
Archetypes
and the Collective
Unconscious
Carl
Jung
People motivated
by more general psychic energy to achieve
growth
Collective unconscious based
on human collective evolutionary history (
archetypes)
Espoused mental
images of universal human instincts, themes, and
preoccupations
Common archetypal themes
expressed
in virtually every
culture
First
to describe introverts and
extraverts as personality types
Archetypes in Popular CultureSlide19
Basic
Anxiety and “Womb Envy”
Karen
Horney
C
ultural
and social factors
important in
personality
development
Described
three patterns of behavior that the individual uses to defend against basic
anxiety
M
oving
toward, against, or away from other
people
Proposed that women
envy men’s superior social
status, not their penis
; men envy women’s childbearing
capacity
Believed
that the drive to grow psychologically and achieve one’s potential is
a basic
human motive
Karen HorneySlide20
Feelings
of Inferiority
Alfred Adler
Most
fundamental human motive is
a striving
for
superiority that arises
from universal feelings of inferiority
experienced
during
childhood
These feelings motivate people to
compensate
for real or imagined weaknesses by emphasizing talents and abilities and by working hard to improve
themselves
Overcompensation may cause
superiority
complex;
undercompensation
may cause
inferiority complex
I
mportance
of cultural influences and social
relationships emphasized
Alfred AdlerSlide21
Evaluating Freud and the Psychoanalytic
Perspective on Personality
Strengths
Emphasis on unconscious nature of mental life
Critical influence of early experiences on interpersonal relationships and psychological adjustment
Significant differences in ability to regulate impulses, emotions, and thoughts toward adaptive and socially acceptable ends
Limitations
Inadequacy of evidence
Problems with testability
SexismSlide22
The Emergence of the “Third Force”
Another group of psychologists opposed to both psychoanalysis and behaviorism championed a “third force” in psychology.
Saw people as being innately good
Focused on the healthy personality
Doubted that laboratory research with rats and pigeons accurately reflected human nature
Suggested most important factor in personality is the individual’s conscious, subjective perception of selfSlide23
The Humanistic Perspective on Personality
Humanism
Emphasizes free will, self-awareness, and psychological growth
Emphasizes inherent goodness of people, human potential, self-actualization, self-concept, and healthy personality developmentSlide24
On Becoming a Person
Carl
Rogers
Most basic human motive is
actualizing tendency;
o
ther drives are secondary
People are motivated in accordance with self-concept
Self-concept begins early in life
Regard can be conditional and unconditionalSlide25
Unconditional Positive Regard
Rogers
contended that
healthy personality development is the
result of
being unconditionally valued and loved as
a person.He advised parents and teachers to control a child’s inappropriate behavior without
rejecting the child himself.
Such
a
style of
discipline teaches acceptable behaviors
without diminishing
the child’s sense of self-worth.Slide26
Evaluating the Humanistic Perspective on Personality
Strengths
Made contributions to psychotherapy, counseling, education, and parenting
Subjective experience and the self-concept has become widely accepted
Limitations
Difficult to test or validate scientifically
Based on philosophical assumptions or clinical observations rather than on empirical research
Tends to be too optimistic, minimizing some of the more destructive aspects of human nature Slide27
The Social Cognitive Perspective on Personality
Social cognitive perspective
Emphasizes conscious, self-regulated behavior rather than unconscious mental influences and instinctual drives
Stresses conscious thought processes, self-regulation, and the importance of situational influences
Proposes that sense of self can vary, depending on thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in a given situation
Social cognitive personality theorists
Rely on experimental findings Slide28
Albert Bandura and Social Cognitive Theory
Human behavior and personality
are caused
by the interaction of behavioral, cognitive, and environmental
factors
(reciprocal determinism).
Person’s cognitive skills, abilities, and attitudes represent the person’s self-
system.
Most critical elements influencing the self-system are our beliefs of
self-
efficacy. Slide29
Reciprocal DeterminismSlide30
Evaluating the Social
Cognitive Perspective
on Personality
Strengths
Well
-grounded in empirical, laboratory research
Major impact on the study of
personality
Emphasizes the self-regulation of behavior
Places most of the responsibility for behavior on the person
Limitations
L
aboratory
experiences
are simple
and may not reflect the complexity of human interactions
in the real world
I
nfluences
of the unconscious, emotions, and
conflicts downplayedSlide31
Freud Versus Rogers on Human Nature
Freud
Aggressive instinct is innate, persistent, and pervasive
Essence of human nature is destructive
Good or moral behavior is result of superego control
RogersPeople are positive, forward-moving, constructive, realistic, and trustworthyPeople are innately good; evil due to cultural factors
Truly free humans will move to perpetuate human race and improve society as a whole
Are People
Innately Good . . .
or
Innately Evil
?
Which viewpoint do you think more accurately describes
the essence of human nature?Slide32
Trait Perspective on Personality
Trait
:
Formally
defined as
relatively
stable, enduring predisposition to behave in a
certain way
Trait theorists:
Focus
on identifying, describing
, and measuring
individual differences
in behavioral predispositions
Trait
theorists view the person as being a unique combination of personality characteristics or attributes, called
traitsSlide33
Surface Traits and Source Traits
Surface trait
Characteristics or attributes that can be inferred from observable behavior
4,000 English words describe specific personality traits
(
Allport and Odbert)
Source trait
Most fundamental dimensions of personality; broad, basic traits that are hypothesized to be universal and relatively few in numberSlide34
Representative Trait Theories
Raymond
Cattell
Proposed 16 personality
factors
Used a statistical technique called
factor analysis
to identify
them
Developed the
Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire
(abbreviated
16PF
)
Sixteen is generally considered by others as too many traits
Raymond
CattellSlide35
Representative Trait Theories
Hans
Eysenck
Proposed simpler model of universal source traits, with three different source traits
Introversion-extraversion
Neuroticism-stability
Psychoticism Believed that individual differences in personality are due to biological differences among people
Is backed by more recent findings from neuroscience research
PET scans showed increased activity in regions of extrovert brain associated with the processing of sensory information, as compared with introvert brain.Slide36
Eysenck’s Theory of Personality TypesSlide37
Sixteen Are
Too
Many
, Three
Are
Too
Few: The Five-Factor ModelMcCrae and Costa: Five-Factor ModelMany trait researchers propose that essential building blocks of personality can be described in terms of five basic personality dimensions.Tested in more than 50 cultures
Probably biologically based as evolution found these factors adaptive
Traits seem stable over lifespan
Seem consistent over different situations, and are related to specific brain activities and structuresSlide38
Personality Traits and Behavioral Genetics
Behavior genetics
Interdisciplinary field that studies the effects of genes and heredity on behavior
Basic research strategy of behavior genetics
Compares degrees of difference among subjects with their degrees of genetic relatedness
Evidence for genetic influence
Extraversion and neuroticism
Twin studiesSlide39
Neuroscience of Personality: Brain Structure and the Big Five
Personality Traits and the Brain
Red
and
yellow colors highlight
regions where brain volume was
significantly associated with specific personality traits
.
The
lighter the color, the stronger the
association (
DeYoung
& others, 2010).Slide40
Neuroscience of Personality: Brain Structure and the Big FiveSlide41
Evaluating the Trait Perspective on Personality
Strengths
Psychologists generally
agree that people can be described and compared in
terms of
basic personality
traitsLimitationsHuman personality not really explainedExplanation of how or why individual differences develop not explained
Failure to address other important personality issuesSlide42
Assessing Personality
Psychological tests
: Assess a
person’s abilities, aptitudes, interests,
or personality
on the basis of a
systematically obtained sample of behaviorAny psychological test is useful insofar as it achieves two basic goals:
It
accurately and consistently
reflects
a person’s characteristics on some dimension.
It
predicts a person’s future psychological functioning or behavior.Slide43
Projective Tests
Rorschach Inkblot Test
: Projective test using inkblots, developed by Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach in 1921
What Do You See in the Inkblot?Slide44
Projective Tests
Thematic apperception test (TAT):
A projective personality test, developed by Henry Murray and colleagues, that involves creating stories about ambiguous scenes
The person
is thought
to project his own motives
, conflicts, and other personality
characteristics into
the story he creates.
The Thematic Apperception Test
Involves
creating a story
about a
highly evocative, ambiguous scene
, like
the ones shown in the cards
in the photograph above
.Slide45
Strengths and Limitations of Projective Tests
Strengths
Provision of qualitative information about individual’s psychological functioning
Information can facilitate psychotherapy
Limitations
Can be influenced by testing situation or examiner’s behavior
Scoring highly subjective
Fails to produce consistent results
Poor at predicting future behaviorSlide46
Self-Report Inventories
Minnesota
Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
: A self-report inventory that assesses personality characteristics and psychological
disorders; used to assess
both normal
and disturbed populationsCalifornia Psychological Inventory (CPI):
A
self-report inventory that
assesses personality
characteristics in
normal populations
Sixteen Personality
Factor Questionnaire
(16PF
)
:
A self-
report inventory
developed by Raymond Cattell that generates a personality profile with ratings on 16 trait dimensionsSlide47
Self-Report Inventories
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI):
Self-report personality test that involves categorizing personality types
Test measures person’s preferred way of dealing with information, making decisions, and interacting with others.
Psychologists urge caution in using and interpreting findings.Slide48
Strengths and Limitations of Self-Report Inventories
Most important strengths of self-report inventories
Are standardized
Use established norms
Reliability and validity greater than those of projective tests
Self-inventory weaknesses
Takers may “fake” responses to look better (or worse)
High number of items leads to loss of interest
Takers not always accurate in self-judgments
No personality test, by itself, is likely to provide a definitive description of any given individual