psych personality

What are the issues in personality?

What are the issues in personality?

1.) Free will or determinism

2.) Nature or nurture

3.) Past, present, or future

4.) Uniqueness or universality

5.) Equilibrium or growth

6.) Optimism or pessimism

Psychodynamic Theory

Behavior is the product of psychological forces within the individual, often outside of conscious awareness

Eros (Life Instinct)

Covers all the self-preserving and erotic instincts

Libido

Sexual energy

Thanatos (Death Instinct)

Covers all the instincts toward aggression, self destruction, and cruelty

Structure of the mind

Id, super-ego, ego

Id

Unconscious. Our hidden true animalistic wants and desires. --Works on the pleasure principle; avoid pain and receive instant gratification.

Ego

Negotiates between the Id and the environment. Develops after Id. --Reality Principle: conscious and unconscious, what everyone sees as our personality

Super-ego

Our conscience (what we think the difference is between right and wrong) Develops last (5 y/o) --Mediates between the superego and id.

Denial

Refusal to acknowledge a painful or threatening reality.

Repression

Exclude painful thoughts or feelings without realizing.

Projection

Attributing own feelings on others

Regression

Revert to childlike behavior

Reaction Formation

Exaggeratedly opposite ideas and emotions

Displacement

Redirection of repressed motives or feelings onto substitute objects

Sublimation

Transforming repressed motives or feelings into more socially accepted forms.

Intellectualization

Undertaking an academic, unemotional study of a topic.

Rationalization

Coming up with a beneficial result of an undesirable outcome.

Oral Stage (0-18 months)

pleasure centers on the mouth- sucking, biting, chewing

Anal Stage (18-36 months)

pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder elimination; coping with demands for control

Phallic Stage (3-6 years)

pleasure zone is the genitals; coping with incestuous sexual feelings

Latency Stage (6-puberty)

A phase of dormant sexual feelings

Genital Stage (puberty on)

maturation of sexual interests

Neo-Freudians

Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, Karen Horney

Carl Jung

Shared Freud's emphasis on unconscious processes--but says libido is ALL life forces (not just sexual).

--Unconscious is positive

--Development by middle age

-Archetypes

Personal Unconscious (Jung)

the part of the unconscious mind containing an individual's thoughts and feelings

Collective Unconscious (Jung)

The part of the unconscious that is inherited and common to all members of a species

Archetypes (Jung)

Inborn tendencies that shape human behavior. (Inherited potentials) --> 5 main ones :)

self archetype (Jung)

the archetype that represents the unity, integration, and harmony of the total personality

shadow archetype (Jung)

responsible for the appearance of unpleasant and socially reprehensible thoughts, feelings, and actions in our consciousness

persona archetype (Jung)

the public face or role a person presents to others

Anima archetype (Jung)

feminine aspects of the male psyche

Animus archetype (Jung)

masculine aspects of the female psyche

Extroversion (Jung)

Focuses on external world and social life

Introversion (Jung)

Focuses on internal thoughts and feelings

Rational Individuals (Jung)

Use thinking and feeling; decides on facts; balanced sense of values.

Irrational Individuals (Jung)

Actions rather than perceptions; intuition; surface perceptions.

Alfred Adler

Believed there was no conflict between Id and superego.

--People have positive motives

-Style of life develops at 4-5

-Compensation

-Inferiority Complex

Compensation (Adler)

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

Inferiority Complex (Adler)

A feeling of inferiority that is largely unconscious, with its roots in childhood.

Karen Horney

Environmental and social factors are important

-Anxiety

-Neurotic trends

-Submission

-Agression

-Detachment

Submission (Moving toward people)

Gives in to others and feels safe when receiving protection and guidance.

Aggression (Moving against people)

Hides inner feelings of insecurity while they lash out

Detachment (Moving away from people)

If i withdraw, nothing can hurt me

Projective Tests

personality assessments that present ambiguous visual stimuli to the client and ask the client to respond with whatever comes to mind

TAT (Thematic Apperception Test)

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

Rorschach Inkblot Test

the most widely used projective test, a set of 10 inkblots, designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to identify people's inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

a personality test that taps four characteristics and classifies people into 1 of 16 personality types

Personality Inventories

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

MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory)

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.

Trait Theory

A theory of personality that focuses on identifying, describing, and measuring individual differences in behavioral predispositions

Gordon Allport

trait theory of personality; 3 levels of traits: cardinal, central, and secondary

Cardinal Trait

a characteristic or feature that is so pervasive the person is almost identified with it

Central Trait

general characteristic; between 5 and 10 of these shape much of our behavior

Secondary Trait

affect behavior in fewer situations

Raymond Cattell

intelligence: fluid & crystal intelligence; personality testing: 16 Personality Factors (16PF personality test)

Factor Analysis

a statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie a person's total score.

Personality Dimensions

extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness to experience

Big Five

openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism

Conscientiousness

the care a person gives to organization and thoughtfulness of others; dependability

Agreeableness

how trusting, good-natured, cooperative, and soft-hearted one is

Neuroticism

degree of emotional instability or stability

Openness

willingness to try new things and be open to new experiences

Extraversion

dimension of personality referring to one's need to be with other people

social-cognitive perspective

views behavior as influenced by the interaction between people's traits (including their thinking) and their social context.

Albert Bandura

Believes that personality is the result of an interaction that takes place between a person and his social context

Reciprocal Determinism

the interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment

Personal Control

the extent to which people perceive control over their environment rather than feeling helpless

External Locus of Control

the perception that chance or outside forces beyond your personal control determine your fate.

Internal Locus of Control

the perception that you control your own fate

Learned Helplessness

the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

Humanistic Perspective

the psychological view that assumes the existence of the self and emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and the freedom to make choices

Self-Actualizing Person

Maslow proposed that we as individuals are motivated by a hierarchy of needs. Beginning with physiological needs, we try to reach the state of self-actualization—fulfilling our potential.

Carl Rogers

Humanisic; self-concept and unconditional positive regard drive personality

Perceived Self

the person you believe yourself to be in moments of honest self-examination

Ideal Self

one's perception of whom one should be or would like to be

Self-Concept

all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, "Who am I?"

Unconditional Positive Regard

according to Rogers, an attitude of total acceptance toward another person

Conditional Positive Regard

positive regard that is given only when the person is doing what the providers of positive regard wish

Positive Psychology

the scientific study of optimal human functioning; aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive

Emotion

States of feeling that contain cognitive, physiological, and behavioral components

Cognitive Emotion

What we believe about the situation

Physiological Emotion

the ANS arousal of sympathetic/parasympathetic branch

Behavioral Emotion

Avoidance tendencies which are reinforced; attack tendencies

Plutchik's Theory of Emotions

Joy, trust, fear, surprise, sadness, disgust, anger, acceptance

Facial-Feedback Hypothesis

emotional expressions can cause the emotional experiences they signify

James-Lange Theory

Cognitive --> Physiological --> Behavioral

Cannon-Bard Theory

Cognitive --> Physiological AND Behavioral

Schachter's Two-Factor Theory

Cognitive --> Physiological AND Cognitive Label --> Behavioral

Learning fear

learn to fear almost anything if paired with something associated with pain, embarrassment

Catharsis Hypothesis

idea that we feel better if we "blow off steam"

Feel-Good, Do-Good Phenomenon

people's tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood

Relative Deprivation

the perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself

Predictors of Happiness

high self esteem, optimistic, outgoing, agreeable, close friendships, meaningful religion, sleep well, exercise

Darwin

Believed that we use emotions to survive

--Development by middle age

--Personal and Collective Unconscious