Personality Theories and Key Concepts in Psychology

Adler

Focused on feelings of inferiority and striving for superiority

Believed personality is shaped by efforts to overcome childhood inferiority

Emphasized social interest (community feeling) and birth order

Behaviorists

Emphasize that personality is learned through conditioning (classical & operant).

Biology and personality

Personality is influenced by genetics, brain structures, and neurotransmitters

Traits like extraversion and emotional stability have heritable components

Twin studies show strong genetic influence

Criticism of humanists

Too optimistic and unrealistic about human nature

Lacks scientific evidence and testable concepts

Concepts are vague and subjective

Criticism and supports of Freud's theories

Not scientifically testable (unfalsifiable)

Based on small, biased samples

Overemphasis on sex and the unconscious

Support of Freud's theories

Defense mechanisms supported by research.

Importance of unconscious processing

Early childhood experiences do affect development

Dreams

Freud believed dreams reveal unconscious desires

Manifest content

What you remember from a dream.

Latent content

Hidden meaning of a dream.

False consensus effect

The tendency to overestimate how much others share our beliefs and behaviors.

Free association

A psychoanalytic technique where patients say whatever comes to mind; access unconscious thoughts

Freud's iceberg

Conscious mind = small visible part.

Preconscious = just below awareness

Unconscious = largest part, hidden (thoughts, desires, memories)

Freud's theory of personality (id, ego, superego)

Id: pleasure principle, seeks immediate gratification

Ego: reality principle, mediates between id and superego

Superego: moral standards, conscience

Freud's theory of personality development

Psychosexual stages: oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital.

Freudian slips

"Slips of the tongue" that reveal unconscious thoughts or desires.

Horney

Focused on anxiety from social relationships.

Rejected Freud's idea of penis envy

Emphasized cultural and social influences

Individualism vs. collectivism

Individualism: focus on personal goals and independence (e.g., U.S.).

Collectivism: focus on group goals and interdependence (e.g., many Asian cultures)

Jung (inc. collective unconscious)

Believed in a shared unconscious across all humans.

Collective unconscious: universal memories and archetypes

Archetypes = universal symbols (hero, mother, etc.)

Collective unconscious

Universal memories and archetypes.

Archetypes

Universal symbols (hero, mother, etc.).

Maslow

Created hierarchy of needs.

Myers-Briggs

Personality test based on Jung's ideas.

Sorts people into 16 personality types

Criticized for lack of reliability and validity

Neo-Freudians

Followers of Freud who modified his ideas.

Less focus on sex, more on social relationships

Includes Adler, Horney, Jung

Optimism vs. pessimism (too much, etc.)

Optimism: expecting positive outcomes (linked to better health).

Pessimism: expecting negative outcomes

Excessive optimism can lead to unrealistic expectations and poor decisions

Personality

An individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.

Person-situation controversy

Debate over whether behavior is caused by personality traits or situations.

Psychoanalysis

Freud's theory and therapy focusing on unconscious conflicts.

Uses techniques like free association and dream analysis

Psychodynamic

Modern version of Freud's ideas.

Focus on unconscious processes and early experiences

Rogers (3 parts of growth climate, etc.)

Humanistic psychologist.

Focused on self-concept and growth

Genuiness, acceptance, empathy

Rorschach inkblot test

Projective test using ambiguous inkblots.

Terror management theory

People's behavior is motivated by fear of death.

We seek meaning, self-esteem, and cultural beliefs to cope

Thematic apperception test (TAT)

Projective test using ambiguous pictures.

People tell stories to reveal unconscious motives

Trait theorists

Aim to describe personality using stable traits.

Examples: Allport, Cattell, Eysenck