This week Describing personality Theories of personality Psychodynamic theories of personality Trait theories of personality Humanistic theories of personality Personality Personality is not directly observable but we often make assumptions and judgements about underlying personality cha ID: 370094
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Slide1
PersonalitySlide2
This week:
Describing personality
Theories of personality:
Psychodynamic theories of personality
Trait theories of personality
Humanistic theories of personalitySlide3
Personality
Personality is not directly observable, but we often make assumptions and judgements about underlying personality characteristics of others, based on observationsSlide4Slide5
Defining Personality
Personality = individual’s unique pattern of thoughts, feelings and behaviour that are relatively stable over time and across situations.
Your unique way of thinking, feeling, and behaving in a wide range of situations throughout most of your lifetime.
Incorporates your individual attitudes, values, morals, motivations, wishes, loves, fears and so on which make up ‘you’. Slide6
Activity
Write down 5 characteristics that you think make up your personality.
Write down 5 characteristics that you think make up their personality
of the person next you.
Don’t discuss this!!!
NOTE: Try to be positive or at least neutral. Even if there are negative characteristics that are part of this person’s personality (and we definitely all have them!!) there is no need to write these ones down
Compare your own list to the list your partner wrote about you. Are they similar?Slide7
Theories of personality
Psychologists who study personality approach their study from different
perspectives…
Consequently, a variety of
theories
have been
developed to describe and explain how
personality develops
, why personalities differ and how
personality is
best measured or assessed.A personality theory is an approach to describing and explaining the origins and development of personality
, focusing
on how people are similar, how
they differ
and why every individual is unique. Each
theory is
developed in an attempt to understand, explain
and interpret
the perplexing and often complicated
pattern of
people’s thoughts, feelings and behaviour.Slide8
Psychodynamic Theories of Personality
First developed by Sigmund Freud – a medical practitioner and psychoanalyst.
Personality is a result of unconscious psychological conflicts and how effectively these are resolved by the individual.
Conflicts originate from childhood experiences during which an individual ‘s instinctive urges and societies view of what is ‘acceptable’ behaviour often clash. Slide9
Freud’s Theory
Mind is like an iceberg – most of it is beneath the surface, hidden from the world and ourselves.
Mostly only experience the ‘tip of the iceberg’.
Human mind
organised
on three levels:
Conscious level
: everything we are thinking, feeling, remembering, sensing or aware of at this moment
Preconscious level: info at the ‘back of our mind’, can easily be brought to conscious by thinking about it
Unconscious level:
storage of all the info about ourselves that is not acceptable to the conscious mindSlide10
Activity
Draw a representation of Freud’s iceberg theory by including the three different levels of the human mind.
Human mind
organised
on three levels:
Conscious
level
Preconscious
level
Unconscious levelSlide11Slide12
The structure of personality according to Freud
Individuals personality fully formed by about five or six years of age.
It is continually expanded and refined.
Consists of three basic parts, each pulling the individual in a different direction.
Id
Ego
Superego
The conflict between these parts and the way in which each conflict is resolved determines almost all of our behaviour and shapes personality.
Most serious and frequent internal conflict is between the self-satisfying urges of the id and the moral expectations of the superego. Slide13Slide14
Freud’s Structure of Personality
Id
Represents innate, biological needs which require fulfilment for our survival
Needs such as hunger, thirst, sleep and sex
It is not a structure, but a force which consists of a demanding, impulsive, illogical, irrational and relatively selfish part of our personality
Pleasure principle – its needs must be met to increase pleasure and avoid painSlide15
Freud’s Structure of Personality
Ego
Develops as child grows and begins to understand how the world works – that their needs cannot always be satisfied immediately
Operates out of the Reality principle – deals with the Id’s demands by applying some logic and ‘real-life’ restrictions to it
Plays a mediating role, as it attempts to deal with id demands
and
superego demandsSlide16
Freud’s Structure of Personality
Superego
Our conscience or judging element of our personality, the superego weighs our thoughts, feelings and actions according to the morals and ideals of the society in which we live
Operates by the Moral principle, informing our decisions with knowledge of what is right and wrong
Therefore, also the cause of our feelings of guilt – punishment to the ego when it does not make the ‘right’ decisionSlide17
Example
Suppose that you have decided you will complete your Psychology assessment task tonight, because it is due tomorrow. At 8:30 pm, you still have about an hour’s work left to complete the task. But a movie you really want to watch is just about to start.
Id: “Do the work later. Go relax and watch the movie.”
Superego: “If you leave it until later you won’t do it, forget about the movie and get your work done.”
Ego:………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Slide18
Activity
Id, ego and superego
In groups of 2-3, think of a scenario where the 3 parts of an individual’s mind might come into conflict regarding what would be considered to be appropriate behaviour.
Identify how the id, ego and superego might respond in the situation.
There can be a few different responses for any scenario, but compare different suggestions within your group and decide on what you believe is the most suitable responses.
*Textbook p. 515 for examples if you cant think of oneSlide19
Defence Mechanisms
The ego is constantly playing the role of trying to
mediate
between the id and the superego
There are many instances when this conflict is not effectively resolved and according to Freud, this results in individuals feeling anxiety
However, it is the
ego
’s role to protect us from such anxiety
Defence
mechanism =
the unconscious process by
which the ego defends or protects itself
against anxiety
arising from unresolved internal conflicts
.
By denying, falsifying or distorting reality at an unconscious level, our ego leads us to believe that there is no need to feel
anxiousSlide20
Activity
Read through the defense mechanisms on p. 517
In groups of 2-3 select one or more of the defense mechanisms listed on page 517 of your textbook and create a role play (write a short script) which demonstrates how this defense mechanism might be used in real life.
Swap scripts with another group and try guess which defense mechanism(s) is being portrayed. Slide21
Development of Personality according to Freud
Progresses through a series of 5 stages called the psychosexual stages.
D
ifferent parts of the body become the focus of our attention and pleasure.
Each stage has a crucial development conflict that must be successfully resolved in order to move on to the next stage.
Psychological problems experienced in adulthood are a direct result of childhood experiences and of how well the child can progress through each of the psychosexual stages.
Fixation: individual becomes stuck in one stage and unable to deal with other emotional crises they confront in later stages.
Fixations prevent the development of a ‘normal’ personality. Slide22
Psychosexual Stages of Development
Oral Stage
(Birth to 24 months)
focused on oral pleasures (sucking, biting etc.).
Too much or too little gratification can result in an Oral Fixation or Oral Personality which is evidenced by a preoccupation with oral activities.
This type of personality may have a stronger tendency to smoke, drink alcohol, over eat, or bite his or her nails.
Personality wise, these individuals may become overly dependent upon others, gullible, and perpetual followers. On the other hand, they may also fight these urges and develop pessimism and aggression toward others.Slide23
Read through pages 519-520 and complete the summary tableSlide24
Psychosexual Stages of Development
Genital Stage
(puberty onwards)
Sexual energies are focused on the genitals as they mature and the ability to
reproduce
occurs.Through
the lessons learned during the previous stages, adolescents direct their sexual urges onto opposite sex peers, with the primary focus of pleasure is the genitals.
Where in earlier stages the focus was solely on individual needs, interest in the welfare of others grows during this stage.
If the other stages have been completed successfully, the individual should now be well-balanced, warm and caring. The goal of this stage is to establish a balance between the various life areas.Slide25
The Freudian Slip
Slip of the tongue phenomenon:
Unintentional remarks
Believed to display our hidden desires, thoughts and anxieties.
Not meaningless mistakes but provide insight into the unconscious mindSlide26
Strengths and limitations of psychodynamic theories
Strengths:
Doesn’t overlook development of personality.
Explains how experiences and events influence personality.
Valid use of defense mechanisms.
L
imitations:
States that personality development ‘stops’ or ‘slows down’ at 5 or 6 years of age.
Based on Freud’s personal observations of patients.
Ideas difficult to be tested. Slide27
Trait Theories of Personality
A
personality trait
is a personality characteristic that endures (lasts) over time and across situations
Trait
theories
of personality focus on measuring, identifying and describing individual
differences
in personality in terms of traits or characteristics
The trait approach emphasises differences between individuals rather than similarities
Most personality tests are based on the trait approach to personalitySlide28
Trait Theories of Personality
Trait approach based on 4 main assumptions:
1. personality traits are relatively stable and predictable over time
2. personality traits are stable across different situations
3. personality is made up of many different traits, individuals can have ‘more’ or ‘less’ of a particular characteristic
4. some personality traits are more closely interrelated than others and have a tendency to occur together
Dimension
= sets, or clusters, of traits which are identified as being co-related in a significant waySlide29
Allport’s
hierarchy of Traits
Gordon
Allport
(1897 – 1967)
Widely recognized as the first trait approach to studying personality
Compiled a list of all the words that could be used to describe personality
~ 18000 wordsSlide30
Allport’s
hierarchy of Traits
Allport
organised
these traits into 3 groups:
1. Cardinal traits
: traits which are seen as
motivators
or a driving force in that person’s personality
Cardinal traits are very dominant, but extremely rare
Power could be seen as an example, for an individual such as Hitler or
Voldermort
(seen in virtually all their behavior)
I have the cardinal trait of altruism
I have the cardinal trait of powerSlide31
Allport’s
hierarchy of Traits
2. Central traits
: traits which are present to some degree in all individuals within a culture or society
Allport
suggested that central traits are the basis of our personality and influence our
behaviour
to a large extent (independence, kindness, trustworthiness, sensitivity)
When we describe our own personality or have others attempt to do so, they often describe the person’s central traitsSlide32
Allport’s
hierarchy of Traits
3. Secondary Traits
: like central traits these traits too are present to some degree in all individuals. However, they do not influence
behaviour
to the same degree
Examples of secondary traits include:
Liking a particular style of clothing (bohemian)
Liking a particular style of music (
emo
, country)
Secondary traits can change according to the situation, thus considered ‘superficial’ or ‘peripheral’ traits Slide33
L.A 12.11 p. 526Slide34
Cattell’s
16 Personality Factor model (16PF)
Raymond
Cattell
(1905 – 1995)
Dissatisfied with
Allport’s
qualitative measure
Used statistical procedure called
factor analysis
to reduce Allport’s list
Factor analysis
is when certain pieces of information are seen to be highly related to each other and therefore are seen as a group (or a factor)
For example, words such as happy, talkative, friendly, outgoing correlated more with each other than with other words such as disciplined, anxious and rigid
Thus, those words were grouped together as the factor ‘extraversion’ Slide35
Cattell’s
16 Personality Factor model (16PF)
Through factor analysis,
Cattell
identified 16 different factors or dimensions
Like all trait theories, an individual’s scores were placed on a continuum for each factor, with opposites such as
reserved
and
outgoing
at each extreme
Reserved
OutgoingSlide36
Cattell’s
16 Personality Factor model (16PF)
Cattell
identified 2 levels of traits:
1. Surface trait: lies beneath the ‘surface’ of your personality, can be observed indirectly from your
behaviour
2. Source trait: A group of surface traits that usually occur together are considered together as a source trait. Thus, a source trait is a ‘factor’ or dimension of personality
Cattell’s
model used 16 different factors or source traits to describe an individual’s personality
P. 527 for exampleSlide37
Eyesenck’s
PEN Model
Hans
Eyesenck
(1916 – 1997)
Reduced
Cattell’s
16 personality factors to 3 and called them ‘dimensions of personality’
These dimensions were called:
1. introversion – extraversion
2. neuroticism – emotional stability3. psychoticism (present to some degree in all of individuals)
Measured these dimensions using the EPQ (160 items)
Scores indicate ‘how much’ of each dimension the person displaysSlide38
1. introversion
–
extraversion
Extraversion = social, outgoing, talkative, tend to take risks
Introversion = quiet, thoughtful, reserved
2. neuroticism
– emotional
stability
Neurotisism
= worry, emotional, anxious, moody, tense
Emotional stablitiy = even-tempered, relaxed3. Psychoticism
Lower level traits e.g. aggressive,
unempathetic
, tough-minded. Unlike the other 2, this dimensions does not have an opposite end, psychoticism is present in all to some degree
Introvert
Neuroticism
Extrovert
Emotional stabilitySlide39
http://similarminds.com/eysenck.htmlSlide40
Costa and McCrae Five-Factor Model
Similar methods (factor analysis) have been used to identify five groups of personality traits that statistical analysis has shown occur together often
Five Factor Model includes:
Openness to experience
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
Costa and McCrae combined
Allport’s
word list and
Cattell’s
statistical analysis to determine the 5 factorsSlide41
Costa and McCrae Five-Factor Model
Openness to experience
:
includes traits such as imaginative, curious, artistic, excitable, insightful and unconventional
Conscientiousness: i
ncludes traits such as being
organised
, thorough, efficient, reliable, self-disciplined, dutiful and deliberateSlide42
Costa and McCrae Five-Factor Model
Extraversion:
Includes traits such a as being outgoing, sociable, talkative, energetic, assertive and adventurous – can lead to a tendency for risk-taking
behaviourSlide43
Costa and McCrae Five-Factor Model
Agreeableness:
Includes traits such as being cooperative, compliant, sympathetic, kind, affectionate, forgiving, modest and straightforwardnessSlide44
Costa and McCrae Five-Factor Model
Neuroticism:
Includes traits such as being tense, anxious, moody, irritable, impulsive, self-conscious and vulnerabilitySlide45
http://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/Slide46
Humanistic Theory of Personality
Humanistic theories of personality
emphasize
:
uniqueness of the individual
the positive qualities and potential of all human beings to fulfill their lives
These theories are based on the
assumptions
that:
All people are born good
All people want to strive to reach their full potentialSlide47
Humanistic Theory of Personality
Therefore, according to these theories a
healthy
personality is the result of a person achieving their
full potential
An individual’s personality is viewed as the
total of all experiences and choices
they have had to make up to that point in time
Thus, to completely understand someone’s personality you need to try to understand all the problems they have had to deal with in their lives up to that pointSlide48
Roger’s
Person-
Centred
Theory
Each
of us
contains within
ourselves an enormous potential to grow
and develop
for the rest of our lives, unless something
in the environment prevents this from happening. Self-actualise = achieving ones full potential
This depends
on three key factors:
the
way others
treat them
(that is, whether they are accepted or rejected
by other
people
)
how
they view themself (that is,
their self-concept)
how
effectively they can deal
with negative influences
in their life that cause them
anxiety or conflictSlide49
Roger’s
Person-
Centred
Theory
Self-concept
refers to all the
perceptions and
beliefs an individual has about themself
including their nature, unique qualities and their typical behaviour.
a well-adjusted and
happy individual is someone whose self-image (the person
you think you are),
ideal self
(
the person you want
to be
) and
true self
(the person you actually are) are
all congruent
(match), or are fairly similar across
many aspects
of our view of
self
.Slide50
Roger’s
Person-
Centred
Theory
For example, if it is
important to
you to be generous (ideal self), you
believe you
are generous (self-image), and you behave in
a generous
manner (true self), then by Rogers’ theory it could be said that you would be fairly content and happy with your
self
.
However
, if the self-image,
true self
and ideal self are different, then you are
likely to
experience anxiety or unhappiness.
For
example
, if
you would like to be generous (ideal self), and
you think
you are generous (self-image) but you
behave possessively
(true self), then you are likely to
experience negative
feedback from others, causing
confusion and
dissatisfaction within your
self
.Slide51Slide52
Qsort
test
Rogers and other humanistic theorists believe
that you
cannot ‘score’ or ‘rate’ personality, nor can
you accurately
measure personality in order to develop
a personality profile
Humanistic theorists have, however
, developed
a test called the Q-sort. The Q-sort test is used mainly during therapy to examine the self-concept
, and
the extent to which the true self and the ideal
self match
(or are mismatched
).
http
://www.ryerson.ca/~glassman/Qsort.html