Identity and Personality

self-concept

: the sum of the ways in which we describe ourselves: in the present, who we used to be, and who we might be in the future

identities

individual components of our self-concept related to the groups to which we belong

self-esteem

our evaluation of ourselves

self-efficacy

the degree to which we see ourselves as being capable of a given skill in a given situation

locus of control

a self-evaluation that refers to the way we characterize the influences in our lives. Either internal (success or failure is a result of our own actions) or external (success or failure is a result of outside factors)

freud’s stages of psychosexual development

based on tensions caused by the libido, with failure at any given stage leading to fixation

Erikson’s stages of psychsocial development

Stem from conflicts that are the result of decisions we are forced to make about ourselves and the environment around us at each phase of our lives • Stages are trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, integrity vs. despair

Kohlberg’s theory of moral reasoning development

Describes the approaches of individuals to resolving moral dilemmas • Six stages are divided into three main phases: preconventional (authority), conventional (social roles/expectations), and postconventional (universal ethical principles)

vygotsky’s theory of cultural and biosocial development

Psychoanalytic perspective

personality results from unconscious urges and desires • Freud: id, superego, ego • Jung: collective unconscious, archetypes

humanistic perspective

emphasizes internal feelings of healthy individuals as they strive toward happiness and self-realization • Maslow: hierarchy of needs • Rogers: unconditional positive regard

type and trait theory

personality can be described as a number of identifiable traits that carry characteristic behaviors

Type theories of personality

ancient Greek humors, Sheldon’s somatotypes, division into types A and B, and the Myers–Briggs type Inventory

Eysenck’s three major traits

psychoticism, extraversion, neuroticism

Trait theorists’ Big Five

openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism (OCEAN)

cardinal, Self-Concept and Identity central, and secondary