Personality - Psych #8

Personality

A individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting

Sigmund Freud

Founder of psychoanalysis, a controversial theory about the workings of the unconscious mind

Psychoanalysis

An outdated theory of personality that attempts to provide insight into thoughts and actions by interpreting the unconscious motives and unresolved childhood conflicts.

Psychodynamic Perspective

A view of personality that retains some of the aspects of Freudian theory (such as the importance of unconscious though processes), but it less likely to see unresolved childhood conflicts as a source of personality development

Conscious Mind

The thoughts and feelings one is currently aware of

Unconscious Mind

According to Freud, is a region of the mind that is a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories

Preconscious Mind

According to Freud, is a region of the mind holding information that is not conscious but is retrievable into conscious awareness, with effort.

Id

The part of the personality that, according to Freud, consists of unconscious psychic energy and strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives; operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification

• Is present from birth

Pleasure Principle

The mind constantly seeks immediate gratification of instinctual needs (hunger, sex, aggression)

Ego

The largest conscious “executive” part of personality that, according to Freud, negotiates among the demands of the id, the superego, and reality; operative on the reality principle satisfying the id’s desires in ways that will realistically being pleasure rather than pain

• Executive negotiator

Reality Principle

The ego's mechanism for navigating the external world by delaying immediate gratification to meet long-term goals and social demands

Superego

The part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscious) and for future aspirations

• Internalized ideals

• One’s conscience focuses on what the person “should” do

Defense Mechanisms

In psychoanalytical theory, are the ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

Repression (DM)

Puts anxiety-inducing thoughts, feelings, and memories into the unconscious mind

• The basis for all other defense mechanisms

Regression (DM)

Allows an anxious person to retreat to a more comfortable, infantile stage of life (previous psychosexual stage)

Denial (DM)

Lets an anxious person refuse to admit that something unpleasant has happneed

Reaction Formation (DM)

Reverses an unacceptable impulse, causing the person to express the opposite of the anxiety-provoking unconscious feeling

Projection (DM)

Disguises threatening feelings of guilt anxiety by attributing the problems to others

Rationalization (DM)

Displaces real anxiety-provoking explanations with more comforting justifications for one’s actions

Displacement (DM)

Shifts an unacceptable impulse towards a more acceptable or less threatening object or personality

Psychosexual Stages

Childhood stages of developments during which, according to Freud, the id’s pleasure-seeking energies focus on different parts of the party

• A person can become “fixated” or stuck on a stage, leading to problems as an adult

Oral Stage (1-18 months)

Pleasure is derived form chewing, biting, or sucking (mouth-centered)

• Weaning can be a conflict at this stage

Anal Stage (18-36 months)

Gratification comes from bowel/bladder functions; coping for demands for control

• Potty training can be a conflict at this stage

Phallic Stage (3-6 years)

The pleasure zone shifts to the genitals; shifts to incestuous feelings

• Boys cope with incest feelings with mother (Oedipus Complex)

• Girls cope with incest feelings with father (Electra Complex)

Oedipus Complex

In the phallic stage, in which boys cope with incest feelings with their mother

Electra Complex

In the phallic stage, in which girls cope with incest feelings with their father

Latency Stage (6 yrs - puberty)

Sexual feelings are dormant. Child identifies with and tries to mimic same-sex parent, establishing their gender identity.

Genital Stage (puberty++)

Begins at puberty with the maturation of sexual interests

Free Association

A method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter haw trivial or embarrasing

Projective Test

A personality test, such as the Rorscach Inkblot or TAT, that provides ambiguous stimuli to trigger projection of inner thoughts or feelings

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

A projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes.

• Person makes up a story based on a picture they’re shown

Roscharach Inkblot Test

The most widely used projective test; a set of 10 inkblots designed to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing their interpretation of the blots

Issues with the Psychoanalytical Perspective

• Theory based on case studies with leading questions

• Development is lifelong and does not fixate

• Gender identity =/= Oedipus complex

• Underestimation of peer influences

• Believes that infants < 3 could not have emotional trauma

• Overemphasis of sex in development, not scientific

Inferiority Complex

According to Alfred Adler, a condition that comes from being unable to to compensate for normal inferiority feelings

Karen Horney

A neo-Freudian who found psychoanalysts negatively biased toward women and believed cultural variables were the foundation of personality development

Collective Unconscious

Carl Jung’s concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our ancestors

• Information everybody knows from birth

• Archetypes - Universal symbols found in stories, myths, and art

Traits

Aspects of personality that are relatively consistent

The ancient Greeks believed personality was the result of

humors (bodily fluids)

Gordan Allport

US psycholgist and trait theorist who researched the idea that individual personalities are unique.

• Stressed importance of studying mentally healthy people

• Resisted the idea of finding a “personality law “ that would apply to everyone

Cattell’s Personality Factors

Proposition of 16 key personality dimensions or factors to describe personality

• Each factor was measured on a continuim

Big Five Theory

A scientific model for measuring and describing human personality traits. The framework groups variation in personality into five separate factors, compared through factor analysis

Conscientiousness

Measures self-control, organization, diligence, and dependability.

Agreeableness

Measures kindness, helpfulness, cooperativeness, and empathy.

Neuroticism

Measures emotional stability, irritability, and proneness to depression or anxiety.

Openess

Measures curiosity, imagination, and willingness to experience new things.

Extraversion

Measures energy, social interactivity, assertiveness, and enthusiasm

Personality Inventories

Questionnaires (often with true-false or agree-disagree items) on which people respond to items designed to gauge a range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits

• Objective tests

Validity

The extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to test

• Personality inventories offer greater ______ than do projective tests

Reliability

The extent to which a test yields consistent results, regardless of who gives the test or when/where it is given

• Personality inventories are more ______ than projective tests

Minnesotsa Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

The most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests; originally developed to identify emotional disorders (still considered its most appropriate use). This test is now used for many other screening purposes

• Over 500+ T/F questions, meant to assess combatants before teaching violence

MMPI-2

A revised MMPI that assesses test takers on 10 clinical scales and 15 content scales. Sometimes, this device is not used with the original intent of the MMPI.

The original intent of the MMPI is to…

identify emotional disorders

Issues with the Trait Perspective

• Does not take into account how a situation influences behavior

• Doesn’t explain why the person behaves as they do - just how they behave

  • You’re this, but I can’t tell you why.

Humanistic Psychology

A perspective that focuses on the study of conscious experience, the individuals’s freedom to choose, and the individual’s capacity for personal growth

• Emphasized conscious experience

• Focuses on free will and creative ability

• Studies all factors related to the human condition

Self-Actualization

According to Maslov, an ultimate psychological need that arises after basic physical/psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to realize our full and unique potential

Empathy

• Sharing thoughts and understanding

• Listening and reflecting upon another’s feelings.

Unconditional Postitive Regard

According to Rogers, is an attitude of total acceptance towards another person

• People can be more open with those that express unconditional positive regard towards them

Genuineness

Frely expressing one’s feelings and not being afraid to disclose details about oneself

Issues with the Humanistic Perspective

• This perspective has influenced therapy, child-rearing, and the workplace

• Misinterpretation of unconditional positive regard

• Difficulty scientifically testing the theory

• Laid the foundation for positive psychology

Social-Cognitive Perspective

A perspective stating that understanding personality involves considering how people are affected by a particular situation by what they have learned by how they think, and by how they interact socially

Alfred Bandura

The psychologist who developed the social-cognitive perspective and believes that to understand personality, one must consider the situation and the person’s thoughts before, during, and after an event

• People learn by observing and modeling others or through reinforcement

Reciprocal Determinism

The mutual influences between personality and environmental factors. The relation between:

• Thoughts, or cognition

• The environment

  • A person’s behavior

External Locus of Control

The perception that change, or forces beyond your control, determine your fate

Internal Locus of Control

The perception that you control your own fate

Optimistic Explanatory Style

When something goes wrong, the person explains the problem as:

• Temporary, and not their fault

  • Something limited to the situation (isolated)

Pessimistic Explanatory Style

When something goes wrong, the person tends to:

• Blame themselves

• Catastrophize the event

• See the problem as beyond their control

Issues with the Socio-Cognitive Perspective

• Based on a scientific approach

• Doesn’t include the role of emotions, unseen motives, and the role of consistent traits