POST MIDTERM-Personality

Personality

• An individual's characteristic patterns of thought, emotion and behaviour, together with the psychological mechanisms (hidden or not) behind those patterns.

Psychological Triad

• How people think, behave and feel

Choleric

• A personality type characterized by assertiveness, confidence, and a tendency to take charge.

Melancholic

• A personality type associated with introspection, sensitivity, and a tendency toward melancholy or sadness.

Phlegmatic

• A Personality type characterized by calmness, thoughtfulness, and reserved nature.

Sanguine

•  A personality type associated with optimism, enthusiasm, and social extroversion.

6 Approaches to Studying Personality

• Psychoanalytical

• Behavioural

• Cognitive

• Trait

• Biological

• Humanistic

Psychoanalytical Model

• Pioneered by Sigmund Freud. He believed the mind was composed of the id, ego and superego (the tripartite model). He also believed most of the mind was unconscious. Freud also believed that childhood experiences had a lasting impact on personality and believed that individuals progressed through psychosexual stages. Adverse events during a stage in the psychosexual progression could result in the person becoming fixated or stuck on that stage.

Id

•  Wants pleasure above all. Has no sense of morality or patience. Resides in our unconscious mind, although we feel it’s influence consciously. The Id is present from birth.

Superego

• Our conscience. Very high sense of morality and social rules. Exists almost entirely in our unconscious mind with only a very small conscious portion. Superego is present after we learn about right and wrong, starting around age 4.

Ego

• Tries to balance Id and Superego. Sensitive to reality. Exists in both conscious and unconscious minds. The ego is most accessible to our consciousness. Determines what we will actually do and prioritizes long term pleasure over short term.

overexpressed id

• An overexpressed id leads to recklessness, impulsivity and even criminality.

overexpressed superego

• An overexpressed superego results in a preachy, holier-than-thou personality.

Freudian Slip

• Random misspeaks reflect the desires of our unconscious mind. Ex: someone calling their teacher mom reflects that you see that teacher as a nurturing maternal figure, or wish for her support.

Preconscious

• Information that is not currently in awareness but can easily be brought to awareness. The Ego and Superego partially reside in the preconscious.

Dreams and the 2 types of Content they Contain

• Dreams are highly revealing of our unconscious mind. Dreams have manifest content (what is literally happening) and latent content (hidden meanings that speak to the desires you have)

Cons of Frueds Theory

• Freud's theory is controversial because it’s unfalsifiable and unmeasurable. Additionally, since Freud’s work is based on pt interactions he can’t share, we can’t verify his hypothesis.

Thanatos

•  In psychoanalytic theory, destructive tendencies, and the energy related to them

What are Defense Mechanisms? What are the 8 Main Ones?

Freud believed in defense mechanisms for your ego to reduce anxiety by altering your perception of the situation. Defense mechanisms are automatic mental strategies that function to relieve us of anxiety by distracting us from stressors, or disguising their true nature. There are 8 main defense mechanisms

• Denial

• Repression

• Rationalization

• Projection

• Sublimation

• Displacement

• Intellectualization

• Reaction Formation

Denial

• Refusing to accept info presented to your conscious mind, or refusing to accept that you actually desire your dark desires.

Repression

• Prevents you from consciously accepting troubling facts, feelings or memories. Repressed thoughts can damage the id and superego and lead to bad behaviours.

Rationalization

•  Using logic to justify bad behaviour. A key component of rationalization is you rationalize AFTER you have done the bad thing.

Projection

• Moving the focus off you, and onto someone else. Anxiety inducing thoughts or impulses are assumed to be the thoughts of someone else. For example, you dislike someone for no reason, to not feel bad about it you convince yourself they dislike you.

Sublimation

•  A more mature defense mechanism (the others can be problematic for your character). This defense mechanism makes you find a socially acceptable outlet for your desires. Sublimation is the sign of a well adjusted mind, balancing the id and superego.

Displacement

• Forbidden impulses are redirected to a safer target (Ex: you are angry at your boss but you can’t get mad at him so you take it out on your wife)

Intellectualization

• Anxiety-producing and threatening situations are translated into intellectual terms devoid of emotion

Reaction Formation

• Anxiety producing thoughts and impulses are replaced with their opposite (ex: you want a gf, can’t get one, so you become a misogynist.)

The Behavioural Approach

•  Believe that internal mental processes are immeasurable, therefore, they study observable behaviors. Behaviourists believe we are born as blank slates, with no personality types, and our personality is shaped by the environment. For example, an outgoing child will get “punished” for their personality by being bullied in school, and therefore, become reserved and quiet. Parents reward their children for being nice, in hopes to raise nice personalities. The behavioural approach is too limited as it disregards feeling, which is why the cognitive approach was created.

Cognitive Approach and it’s 4 Main Components

• The cognitive approach has 4 main components. Observation, reinforcement, modelling, and cognition.

Observation

• Observing interactions and situations in the world (You see Amanda answer a q in class)

Reinforcement:

•  Seeing whether those situations result in positive or negative reinforcements (Amanda gets a candy for getting the right answer)

Cognition

• Debating on what choice to make (do you know enough? Should you raise your hand for candy?)

Modelling

• Acting according to your observations (You raise your hand).

Reciprocal Determinism

•  The continuous interaction between behavior, personal factors, and the environment.

What is the Trait Approach? What are Some Cons? Most Widely Used Approach?

•  A trait is a personality characteristic that is consistent, stable and varies from person to person. The trait approach views personality as a combination of traits. Synonyms can pose problems for the trait approach (ex: gracious, considerate and friendly all can mean kind). When researchers use various methods to condense the number of traits, the final number has great variance, from 3-4000. The most widely used trait model uses the big 5.

The Big 5

Openness, Conscientiouness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism

Openness

 Level of creativity and adventure.

Conscientiousness

• Level of thoughtfulness and diligence. People who score high here have high self control, have concrete plans, and are organized. Low scorers are casual, unscheduled and unrestricted.

Extraversion

• : Level of sociability, assertiveness, and excitement-seeking.

Agreeableness

 Ability to put others needs above their own

Neuroticism

• Level of emotional stability and resilience

Cons of the Big 5

• Doesn’t explain variability in traits depending on different situations (school vs home); doesn’t address how individual differences in personality emerge.

Early Trait Theories Before Big 5

• Early Trait theories before the big 5 model was Catell’s 16 personality factors, and Eysneck’s original model which only contained introversion-extraversion and neuroticism-stability. He later added superego control-psychoticism.

What is the Biological Approach?

• Considers neuroanatomy, genetics and evolution.

Amygdala

• Involved in feelings of anxiety and fear. Also plays a major role in pessimism.

What is the Neuro Theory for Neuroticism and Stability?

• Neuroticism and stability are influenced by the lateralization of frontal lobe activity. Individuals with high left frontal lobe activity are emotionally stable and optimistic, but can also be angry, while those with right frontal lobe activity are neurotic.

What is the Neural Theory and NT for Extraversion and Openness?

• Extraversion and openness share the theme of neural plasticity, and are correlated with pathways in the brain that use dopamine

What is the NT for conscientiousness, agreeableness and neuroticism

• Conscientiousness, agreeableness and neuroticism are related to cognitive stability, and correlated with pathways involving serotonin.

Heritability of Personality + Twin Studies

•  The degree to which genetic differences correlate with variations in traits. Openness is the most heritable trait, and agreeableness is the least.

• Minnesota study found twins raised together or apart had similar personality traits.

Temperament

•  Innate, biologically based patterns of behavior and emotional responsiveness that appear before personality develops.

Easy Temperament

• A temperament characterized by adaptability, regularity in biological functions, and a generally positive mood

Slow to Warm Up Temperament

•  A temperament characterized by hesitancy and cautiousness in new situations

Difficult Temperament

• A temperament characterized by intense emotional reactions, irregular biological functions, and a generally negative mood

What is the Humanistic Model?

• Emphasizes personal growth, self actualization, and the inherent goodness of humans. All humans are driving towards self-actualization, and this goal is what shapes their personality

• Maslow’s Hierarchy Bottom to Top

• Physiological Needs: Basic requirements for survival, such as food, water, and shelter

• Safety Needs: Things like shelter and security needed for safety

• Belongingness and Love: The need for social connections, relationships, and a sense of belonging

• Esteem Needs: The desire for recognition, self-respect, and achievement. 

• Self Actualization: A person’s full potential.

Self Actualization

•  Self-actualization is an intrinsic human motivation, representing the pursuit of one's full potential. Most people do not self-actualize, but have brief peaks of self-actualization

Rorschach Inkblot Test + Cons

• What you see in inkblots reveals your unconscious and conscious thoughts. This test is not reliable or valid though. It is also expensive and timely to administer.

Self Report Measure Cons (3)

• Purpose behind the questions may be obvious, so people are likely to have fake answers to get a specific result

• Social desirability bias may lead to skewed self assessment

• You may be unaware of your own personality traits (ex: narcissism)

Behavioural Measures of Assessing Personality + Cons

• Observing people's behaviour to assess personality traits.

• Cons: Situational differences, expensive

Myers-Briggs + Cons

•  Assigns individuals to 1/16 personality types. Has low reliability and validity.

MMPI

• Consists of only true and false questions to assess personality. Additionally, the test compares you to other people who answered the same as you. Highly accurate as it screens for lying.