Behavioral Sciences 6: Identity and Personality

Psychoanalytic Perspective

Personality results from unconscious urges & desires. Theorists: Freud, Jung, Adler, and Horney.

Freud’s Theory

Id: Base urges of survival and reproduction. Superego: The idealist and perfectionist. Ego: Mediator between the two and the conscious mind. The ego uses defense mechanisms to decrease stress. All three operate, at least in part, in the unconscious.

Jung

Collective unconscious links all humans together. Personality is influenced by archetypes.

Adler & Horney

Unconscious is motivated by social urges.

Humanistic Perspective

Emphasizes the internal feelings of healthy individuals as they strive for happiness and self-realization. Includes Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Rogers’s unconditional positive regard.

Type & Trait Theory

Personality can be described by identifiable traits that carry characteristic behaviors.

Type Theories

Ancient Greek humors, Sheldon’s somatotypes, divisions into Type A and Type B, and Myers-Briggs Type Inventory.

Trait Theories - PEN

Psychoticism (nonconformity), extraversion (sociable), neuroticism (arousal in stressful situations).

Trait Theories - Big Five

Openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. OCEAN mnemonic.

Trait Theories - 3 Basic Traits

Cardinal traits (traits around which a person organizes their life), central traits (major characteristics of personality), secondary traits (more personal characteristics and limited in occurrence).

Social Cognitive Perspective

Individuals react with their environment in a cycle called reciprocal determinism. People mold their environments according to their personality, and those environments in turn shape their thoughts, feelings and behaviors.

Behaviorist Perspective

Our personality develops as a result of operant conditioning. It is reward-and-punishment based.

Biological Perspective

Behavior can be explained as a result of genetic expression.

Self-Concept

The sum of ways we describe ourselves.

Identities

Individual components of our self-concept related to the group to which we belong.

Self-Esteem

The closer our actual self is to our ideal self and our ought self (who others want us to be), the ↑ our self-esteem.

Self-Efficacy

The degree to which we see ourselves as being capable at a given skill or situation.

Learned Helplessness

A state of hopelessness that results from being unable to avoid repeated negative stimuli.

Locus of Control

"Internal: We control our own success/failure

External: Outside factors have more control"

Freud: Psychosexual Stages

Stages of personality development based on tensions caused by the libido (sex desire). Failure at any stage leads to fixation and personality disorder.

Oral

0-1 year

Anal

1-3 years

Phallic

3-6 years

Latent

6-puberty

Genital

Puberty-adult

Erikson: Psychosocial Stages

Stages stem from conflicts throughout life. Stages: Trust vs. Mistrust (0–1), Autonomy vs. Shame (1–3), Initiative vs. Guilt (3–6), Industry vs. Inferiority (6–12), Identity vs. Role Confusion (12–20), Intimacy vs. Isolation (20–40), Generativity vs. Stagnation (40–65), Integrity vs. Despair (65–death).

Trust vs. Mistrust

0-1 year

Autonomy vs. Shame

1-3 years

Initiative vs. Guilt

3-6 years

Industry vs. Inferiority

6-12 years

Identity vs. Role Confusion

12-20 years

Intimacy vs. Isolation

20-40 years

Generativity vs. Stagnation

40-65 years

Integrity vs. Despair

65-death

Kohlberg: Moral Development

Stages based on moral dilemmas. Six stages in three phases. Example: Mr. Heinz dilemma.

Vygotsky: Zone of Proximal Development

The skills that a child has not yet mastered and require a more knowledgeable other to accomplish.

Imitation & Role-Taking

Common ways children learn from others.

Reference Group

The group to which we compare ourselves.

Kohlberg: Post-conventional

"Just because the law says to do it doesn't mean it is ethical!"

Kohlberg: Conventional

"You need to drive slower because the law says so!"

Kohlberg: Pre-conventional

"I must share this toy because if I don't, then I will get in trouble."