11 / Personality (incomplete from 11.6)

Personality

an individual's unique set of consistent behavioral traits

What is the concept of personality used to explain?

1. The stability in a person's behavior over time and across situations (consistency)

2. The behavioral differences among people reacting to the same situation (distinctiveness)

Personality traits

a durable disposition to behave in a particular way in a variety of situations. 

ex) "Jan is very conscientious", "Jamaal is too timid to succeed in that job."

Factor analysis 

a statistical procedure where correlations among many variables are analyzed to identify closely related clusters of variables.

Five-factor model of personality traits

a framework that describes personality traits based on give higher-order traits referred to as the "Big Five": Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. 

What are people who score high in Extraversion characterized as?

outgoing, sociable, upbeat, friendly, assertive, and gregarious. 

They also have a more positive outlook on life and are motivated to pursue social contact, intimacy, and interdependence. 

What do people who score high in Neuroticism tend to be like?

anxious, hostile, self-consciousness, insecure, vulnerable. 

They also tend to exhibit more impulsiveness and emotional instability than others. 

What is Openness associated with?

curiosity, flexibility, imaginativeness, intellectual pursuits, interests in new ideas, unconventional attitudes. 

People who are high in openness also tend to be tolerant of ambiguity. 

What do people who score high in agreeableness tend to be like?

sympathetic, trusting, cooperative, modest, straightforward. 

Agreeableness is also correlated with empathy and helping behavior. 

What do Conscientious people tend to be like?

diligent, well-organized, punctual, and dependable. 

Conscientiousness is associated with strong self-discipline and the ability to regulate oneself effectively. 

trait theory

goal is to specify a set of distincy personality dimensions for use in summarizing fundamental psychological differences between people

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

a standardized psychometric test used to assess personality traits and psychopathology, commonly used by mental health professionals to understand an individual's personality and identify potential mental health issues. 

What did Freud's psychoanalysis require (the process)?

It required lengthy verbal interactions with patients, during which Frued probed deeply into their lives. This gave rise to Freud's psychoanalytic theory.

What does psychoanalytic theory attempt to explain? How?

Psychoanalytic theory attempts to explain personality by focusing on the influence of early childhood experiences, unconsciousnes conflicts, and sexual urges. 

What is the Structure of Personality suggested by Freud?

1. id

2. ego

3. superego

What is the id?

the primitive, instinctive, compoenent of personality that operates according to the pleasure principle. 

• The id houses the raw biological urges (to eat, sleep, poop, copulate, and so on) that energize human behavior. 

• The id operates according to the pleasure principle. 

• The id engages in primary-process thinking. 

Pleasure principle

demands immediate gratification of its urges. 

(the id operates according to this)

Primary-process thinking

primitive, illogical, irrational, and fantasy oriented.

What is the ego?

the decision-making component of personality that operates according to the reality principle. 

• The ego mediates between the id (forceful desires for immediate satisfaction) and the external social world (its expectations and norms regarding suitable behavior). 

• The ego considers social realities — society's norms, etiquette, rules, and cutoms — in deciding how to behave. 

• The ego is guided by the reality principle. 

Reality principle

seeks to delay gratification of the id's urges until appropriate outlets and situations can be found. 

Secondary-process thinking

relatively rational, realistic, and oriented toward problem solving. 

(The ego engages with this)

What is the superego?

the moral component of personality that incorporates social standards about what represents right and wrong. 

• The superego emerges out of the ego at around 3-5 years of age. 

• In some people, the superego can become irrationally demanding in its striving for moral perfection, and they become plagued by excessive feelings of guilt. 

What are the Levels of Awareness as sighted by Freud?

1. Conscious

2. Preconscious

3. Unconscious

"Freudian slip"

"Slips of the tongue," which Freud noticed and claimed revealed a person's true feelings. 

What is the Conscious level of awareness?

The conscious consists of whatever one is aware of at a particular point in time. 

ex) For example, at this moment, your consciousn may include the train of thought in this text and a dim awareness in the back of your mind that your eyes are getting tired and you're beginning to get hungry. 

What is the Preconscious level of awareness?

The preconscious contains material just beneath the surface of awareness that can easily be retrieved. 

ex) your middle name, what you had for supper last night, or an argument you had with a friend yesterday

Defense mechanisms

largely unconscious reactions that protect a person from unpleasant emotions, such as anxiety and guilt. 

Repression

Keeping distressing thoughts and feelings buried in the unconscious

ex) A traumatized soldier has no recollection of the details of a close brush with drath. 

Projection

Attributing one's own thoughts, feelings, or motives to another

ex) A woman who dislikes her boss thinks she likes her boss but feels that the boss doesn't like her. 

Displacement

Diverting emotional feelings (usually anger) from their original source to a substitute target. 

ex) After a parent scolding, a young girl takes her anger out on her little brother. 

Reaction formation

Behaving in a way that is exactly the opposite of one's true feelings.

ex) A parent who unconsciously resents a chld spoils the child with outlandish gifts. 

Regression

A reversion to immature patterns of behavior. 

ex) An adult has a temper tantrum when he doesn't get his way. 

Rationalization

Creating false but plausible excuses to justify unacceptable behavior. 

ex) A student watches TV instead of studying, saying that "additional study wouldn't do any good anyway."

Identification

Bolstering self-esteem by forming an imaginary or real alliance with some person or group. 

ex) An insecure young man joins a fraternity to boost his self-esteem. 

homophobia

involves an intense fear and intolerance of homosexuality.

Freud's psychosexual stages

A theory that proposes personality develops through distinct stages, each focused on a particular erogenous zone and its associated pleasure or conflict, from infancy to adulthood. 

Psychosexual stages

developmental periods with a characterstic sexual focus that leave their mark on adult personality.

What are the five stages of Freud's psychosexual development?

1. Oral

2. Anal

3. Phallic

4. Latency

5. Genital

Describe the Oral stage of Freud's Psychosexual Development. 

• 0-1 yrs of age

• What: Mouth (sucking, biting)

• How: Weaning (from breast or bottle)

Describe the Anal stage of Freud's Psychosexual Development. 

• 2-3 yrs of age

• Where: Anus (expelling or retaining feces)

• How: Toilet training

Describe the Phallic stage of Freud's Psychosexual Development. 

• 4-5 yrs of age

• Where: Genitals (masturbating)

• How: Identifying with adult role models; coping with Oedipal crisis

Describe the Latency stage of Freud's Psychosexual Development. 

• 6-12 yrs of age

• Where: None (sexually repressed)

• How: Expanding social contacts

Describe the Genital stage of Freud's Psychosexual Development. 

• Puberty onward

• Where: Gentials (being sexually intimate)

• How: Estbalishing intimate relationships; contributing to society through working

Oedipal complex

children manifest erotically tinged desired for their opposite-sex parent, accompanied by feelings of hostility toward their same-sex parent. 

What did Carl Jung theorize? What was his theory called?

Like Freud, Jung theorized that each person has conscious and unconscious levels of awareness. However, he ALSO proposed that the entire huamn race shares a collective unconscious, which also contains archetypes.

collective unconscious

a storehouse of latent memory traces inherited from people's ancestral past. 

archetypes

emotionally charged images and thought forms that have universal meaning. 

ex) Jung found numerous cultures in which the mandala, or "magic circle," has served as a symbol of the unified wholeness of the self. 

What did Alfred Adler call his own approach to personality? 

Individual psychology. 

According to Adler, what is the foremost source of human motivation? What made him think that way?

According to Adler, the foremost source of human motivation is a striving for superiority. 

He noted that young children understandably feel weak and helpless in comparison with more competent older children and adults. These early inferiority feelings supposedly motivate them to acquire new skills and develop new talents. 

Compensation

involves efforts to overcome imagined or real inferiorities by developing one's abilities. 

Inferiority complex

exaggerated feelings of weakness and inadequacy. 

Overcompensation

An individual's attempt to mask or deny feelings of inferiority by excessively emphasizing or exaggerating strengths

ex) People may work to acquire status, power, and the trappings of success (fancy clothes, impressive cars) to cover up their underlying inferiority complex. 

What is birth order? What did Adler note about it?

Birth order is a child's position within their family. 

Adler noted that first-borns, second children, and later-born children enter varied home environments and are treat differently by parents and that these experiences are likely to affect their personality. 

In regards to psychodynamic theories, what has decades of research demonstrated?

1. unconscious forces can influence behavior

2. internal conflict often plays a key role in generating psychological distress

3. early childhood experiences can influence adult personality

4. people use defense mechanisms to reduce their experience of unpleasant emotions. 

In what ways have psychodynamic formulations been critisized?

1. Poor testability

2. Unrepresentative samples

3. Overemphasis on case studies

4. Contradictory evidence

5. Sexism

Behaviorism

a theoretical orientation based on the premise that ceintific psychology should study only observable behavior. 

Observational learning

occurs when an organism's responding is influenced by the observation of others.

Model

a person whose behavior is observed by another

Self-efficacy

refers to one's belief about one's ability to perform behaviors that shuld lead to expected outcomes. 

Locus of control

the degree to which people belive that they have control over their lives and outcomes

Mischel's Person-Situation Controversy

Predicts that people will often behave differently in different situations (people will make responses they think will lead to reinforcement in the situation at hand). 

ex) if you believe hard work in your job will pay off by leading to raises and promotions, you'll probably be diligent and industrious; but if you think hard work in your job is unlikely to be rewarded, you may behave in a lazy and irresponsible manner. 

Humanism

a theoretical orientation that emphasizes the unique qualities of humans, especially their freedom and their potential for personal growth. 

Roger's Person-Centered Theory

emphasizes self-realization through sensitivity training, encounter groups, and other exercises intended to foster personal growth. 

self-concept

a collection of beliefs about one's own nature, unique qualities, and typical behavior.

ex) a self-concept might include beliefs such as "I'm easygoing" or "I'm sly and crafty" or "I'm pretty" or "I'm hardworking". 

incongruence

the degree of disparity between one's self-concept and one's actual experience. 

congruence

if a person's self-concept is reasonably accurate with reality. 

hierarchy of needs

a systematic arrangement of needs, according to priority, in which basic needs must be met before less basic needs are aroused. 

need for self-actualization

the need to fulfill one's potential

What do critics argue about humanistic perspectives?

1. many aspects of humanistic theory are difficult to put to a scientific test.

2. humanists have been unrealistically optimistic in their assumptions about human nature and their descriptions of the healthy personality.

3. more empirical research is needed to solidify the humanistic view.