Ch6: Identity and Personality

Self-Concept

Answers “who am I?”

Sum of identities

Self-Schema

Self-given label with set of qualities

Identity

Individual components of self-concept

Related to groups we belong

Gender Identity

Self-appraisal of masculinity and femininity

Established at 3

Gender Identity: Androgyny

Very masculine and feminine

Gender Identity: Undifferentiated

Not masculine or feminine

Gender Schema Theory

Key gender identity components transmit from culture and society

Ethnic Identity

Individual’s ethnic group

Shared ancestry, cultural heritage, language

Impacted by societal views

National Identity

Based on political cultures

Shared history, media, cuisine, national symbols

Hierarchy of Salience

Situations decide which identity most important

Depend on work invested into identity and associated rewards and self-esteem

Self-Discrepancy Theory

3 selves

Self-Discrepancy: Actual Self

Self-concept (way we view ourselves)

Self-Discrepancy: Ideal Self

Who we want to be

Self-Discrepancy: Ought Self

How others think we should be

Self-Esteem

Measure how one feels about themselves

Closer 3 selves = higher self-esteem

Self-Efficacy

Belief in self-ability to succeed

Self-Efficacy: Overconfidence

High self-efficacy

Self-Efficacy: Learned Helplessness

Low self-efficacy

Cannot escape predicament unless situation changes

Locus of Control

Characterization of life influences

Internal Locus of Control

Control own fate

Successes/failures result from own actions

External Locus of Control

Events in life caused by luck/outside influences

Freud: Psychosexual Development

Libido present at birth

Drive to eliminate libidanal tension control psychological processes

5 stages

Freud: Fixation

Overindulged or overfrustrated during psychosexual development stage

Cause neurosis (personality based on stage)

Freud Stage 1: Oral Stage

0-1 year

Libido: Mouth

Gratification: Putting objects in mouth

Fixation: Dependency

Freud Stage 2: Anal Stage

1-3 years

Libido: Anus

Gratification: Waste elimination and retention (toilet training)

Fixation: Orderliness or slopiness

Freud Stage 3: Phallic/Oedipal Stage

3-5 years

Libido: Oepidal conflict (males) and electra conflict (females)

Gratification: Sublimate energy (identify with parent, establish sexual identity, internalize moral values)

Freud Stage 4: Latency

Until puberty

Sublimated libido

Freud Stage 5: Genital Stage

Puberty to adulthood

Enter into heterosexual relationships

Erikson: Psychosocial Development

Resolving internal conflict builds individual skills and traits

8 stages

Erikson Stage 1: Trust vs Mistrust

0-1 year

Trust: Environment and self

Mistrust: Suspicious of world

Erikson Stage 2: Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt

1-3 years

Autonomy: Control over world and self-restraint

Shame and Doubt: Persisting external locus of control

Erikson Stage 3: Initiative vs Guilt

3-6 years

Initiative: Sense of purpose and enjoy accomplishments

Guilt: Fear of punishment restricts self

Erikson Stage 4: Industry vs Inferiority

6-12 years

Industry: Competent to exercise abilities

Inferiority: Inadequacy and low self-esteem

Erikson Stage 5: Identity vs Role Confusion

12-20 years

Physiological revolution

Identity: Fidelity (ability to see self as unique)

Role Confusion: Identity and personality changes

Erikson Stage 6: Intimacy vs Isolation

20-40 years

Intimacy: Love and intimate relationships

Isolation: Avoid commitment and alienation

Erikson Stage 7: Generativity vs Stagnation

40-65 years

Generativity: Productive, caring, contribute to society

Stagnation: Self-indulgent, bored

Erikson Stage 8: Integrity vs Despair

65 years

Integrity: Wisdom, ready to face death

Despair: Bitterness, fear of death

Kohlberg: Moral Reasoning

Develop cognitive abilities = More complex and nuanced thinking

Resolving moral dilemmas

3 phases, 2 stages each

Kohlberg Phase 1: Preconventional Morality

Preadolescent thinking

Emphasize consequences of choices

Preconventional Stage 1: Obedience

Avoid punishment

Heinz Dilemma: Steal drug = Go to jail

Preconventional Stage 2: Self-Interest

Gain reward

Heinz Dilemma: Save wife = More time together

Instrumental Relativist Stage: Based on reciprocity and sharing

Kohlberg Phase 2: Conventional Morality

Early adolescence

Consider relationships with others and social rules

Conventional Stage 3: Conformity

Seek approval of others

Heinz Dilemma: Stealing = Wrong

Conventional Stage 4: Law and Order

Maintain social order

Heinz Dilemma: Everyone stealing = Cannot continue business

Kohlberg Phase 3: Postconventional Morality

More advanced moral reasoning (not present in everyone)

Based on social mores that may conflict with laws

Postconventional Stage 5: Social Contract

Moral rules ensure greater good

Focus on individual rights

Heinz Dilemma: Everyone has right to live, businesses have right to profit from products

Postconventional Stage 6: Universal Human Ethics

Consider abstract principles

Heinz Dilemma: Wrong to hold another life for ransom

Vygotsky: Cultural and Biosocial Development

Internalize interpersonal and cultural rules = develop cognitive activity

Vygotsky: Zone of Proximal Development

Skills in development process

Require help from “more knowledgeable other”

Role Models

Imitate behaviours from models

Children: Parents, siblings. teachers

Adolescents: Media, peers

Role-Taking

Experiment with identities of others

Understand different perspectives

Theory of Mind

Ability to understand how another’s mind works (what others think of self)

Theory of Mind: Looking-Glass Self

Reaction to others’ perceptions of self

Reflecting selves back to ourselves

Theory of Mind: Reference Group

Self-concept depend on comparison group

Personality

Thoughts, feelings, traits, behaviours of individual across time and location

Describe how person acts

Personality: Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic Perspective

Personality from unconscious internal states (urges and desires)

Psychoanalytic: Freud

Personality from 3 entities (id, ego, superego)

Freud: Id

Basic primal urges for survival and reproduction

Pleasure principle: Gratify tension

Id: Primary Process

Obtain gratification for frustration now

Use wish fulfillment (mental image) to satisfy

Freud: Ego

Relieve anxiety from id and superego with defense mechanisms

Mediator between entities and conscious mind

Reality principle: Consider reality to guide/inhibit id

Ego: Secondary Process

Postpone pleasure principle until satisfaction can be obtained

Suspend primary process

Freud: Superego

Refined needs for ideal self → Perfectionism

Right vs wrong

Feel pride at accomplishments and guilt at failures

2 subsystems

Superego: Conscience

Improper actions resulting in punishment

Superego: Ego-Ideal

Proper actions resulting in reward

Access to Id, Ego, and Superego

Conscious

Preconscious: Not aware

Unconscious: Repressed

Instincts

Influence behaviours

Innate psychological representation of biological need

Life Instincts

Eros

Promote survival (thirst, hunger, sex)

Death Instincts

Thanatos

Unconscious wish for death and destruction

Defense Mechanisms

Ego difficulty for relieving anxiety from id and superego clash

1: Deny/falsify reality

2: Unconscious

8 mechanisms

Defense Mechanism: Repression

Force undesired thoughts to unconscious

Unconscious forgetting

Defense Mechanism: Suppression

Conscious forgetting

Defense Mechanism: Regression

Revert to earlier developmental state

Defense Mechanism: Reaction Formation

Unconscious conversion of urge to its opposite

Defense Mechanism: Projection

Attribute undesired feelings to others

Projection: Rorschach Inkblot Test

Patient project unconscious feelings onto shape

Projection: Thematic Apperception Test

Patient creates stories from shapes to reveal unconscious thoughts

Defense Mechanism: Rationalization

Justify behaviour in acceptable manner for self and society

Defense Mechanism: Displacement

Transfer undesired urge between people/objects

Defense Mechanism: Sublimation

Transform undesired urges into socially acceptable behaviours

Psychoanalytic: Jung

Libido = psychic energy

Personality from archetypes

2 unconscious parts

Jung: Personal Unconscious

Similar to Freud definition

Jung: Collective Unconscious

Shared amongst humans

Residue of ancestral experiences

Archetypes

Images of common emotional experiences

Archetype: Persona

Personality present to public

Adapt to social interactions (emphasize good qualities, suppress undesirable qualities)

Archetype: Anima

“man’s inner woman”

Archetype: Animus

“woman’s inner man”

Archetype: Shadow

Unpleasant and socially reprehensible thoughts

Jung: Self

Intersection of collective unconscious, personal unconscious, and conscious mind

Strive for unity (mandala)

Jung: Personality Dichotomies

3 pairs (1 dominating per pair)

Dichotomies: Extraversion vs Introversion

E: Orientation to external world

I: Orientation to inner/personal world

Dichotomies: Sensing vs Inuiting

S: Objective info

N: Abstract info

Dichotomies: Thinking vs Feeling

T: Logic and reason

F: Value system/personal beliefs

Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI)

Jung’s 3 dichotomies + 1 other dichotomy

Label personality types

MBTI: Judging vs Perceiving

J: Prefer orderliness

P: Prefer spontaneity

Psychoanalytic: Adler

Personality from striving for superiority

Enhance (benefit society) or cause disorder (selfish)

Consider impacts of family and society

Adler: Inferiority Complex

Individual sense of physical and social imperfection

Adler: Creative Self

Force shaping individual uniqueness and personality

Adler: Style of Life

Manifest creative self

Describe process of achieving superiority

Adler: Fictional Finalism

Future expectations motivate actions more than past

Psychoanalytic: Horney

Personality from interpersonal relationships

Govern by 1 of 10 neurotic needs to improve life and interactions