Ch 10- Personality

Definition: Personality

Personality = stable pattern of Affect, Behavior, and Cognition

Various historical & contemporary perspectives:

• Temperament approaches

• Psychodynamic approaches

• Learning approaches

• Humanistic approaches

• Biological approaches

• Trait approaches

Temperament approaches

-Hippocrates

-Galen

-Inmanuel Kant

-Wilhelm Wundt

Hippocrates

Temperament

• Theorized that personality traits and human behaviors are based on four separate temperaments associated with four fluids (“humors”) of the body.

• 4 temperaments influenced by 4 humors (fluids) in body to explain personality

  • Choleric– yellow bile from liver

  • Melancholic– black bile from kidneys

  • Sanguine (optimistic/– red blood from heart

  • Phlegmatic – white phlegm from lungs

Galen

Temperament

• Believed both diseases and personality differences could be explained by imbalances in the humors and that each person exhibits one of the four temperaments.

• Extended Hippocratic view; focus on imbalances of humors (for disease and personality)… popular for around 1000 years

  • Choleric = passionate, ambitious, bold

  • Melancholic = reserved,, anxious, unhappy

  • Sanguine = joyful, eager, optimistic

  • Phlegmatic = calm, reliable, thoughtful

Immanuel Kant

Temperament

Added lists of traits to describe each of the 4 temperaments

•Very ”black and white” approach… there’s no overlap between the 4 “types”

Wilhelm Wundt

Temperament

Suggested 2 axes of temperaments:

1. Emotional/Non-emotional

2. Changeable/Unchangeable

Emotional/non-emotional

separated strong emotions (melancholic, choleric) from the weak emotions (phlegmatic, sanguine).

Changeable/unchangeable

divided the changeable temperaments (choleric, sanguine) from the unchangeable ones (melancholic, phlegmatic).

Frans Gall

•Proposed relationship between skull bumps & areas with personality = phrenology

•Developed chart mapping skull areas with traits & characteristics

•However, lack of empirical support (pseudoscience)

PSYCHODYNAMICS

•Common emphasis on the unconscious as well as childhood experiences

• Freud (1900s)

• Neo-Freudians (Adler, Jung, Horney, Erikson)

Freud

psychodynamics

•First comprehensive personality theory

•Main idea: unconscious drives & childhood experiences; emphasis on sex & aggression

Neo-Freudians

psychodynamics

•Adler, Jung, Horney, Erikson

•Agree on importance of childhood experiences

•Still focus on unconscious

•Less emphasis on sex; more emphasis on social environment & culture

Freud’s Personality Theory

•We are only aware of a small amount (about one-tenth) of our mind’s activities and most of it remains hidden from us in our unconscious.

•Unacceptable urges and desires are kept in our unconscious through repression.

•The information in our unconscious affects our behavior, although we are unaware of it.

•Mind consists of 3 layers

• Conscious

• Preconscious

• Unconscious = unaware & unable to access; stores unacceptable urges & desires; impacts our behavior

-Freudian slip

Freudian Slip

•when you say something you didn’t mean to (esp. sexual or aggressive in nature)… but, you only ”didn’t mean to” because it represents an ”unacceptable” thought or urge

• Idea – it slipped out of your unconscious

  • Dowd note: The best way (only way) to analyze Freudian slips is via self-acceptance and self-knowledge.

    • In OCD treatment, for instance, it’s really important to understand the difference between ego-dystonic and ego-syntonic thoughts, behaviors, feelings, etc.

      • Both of these terms also come from Freud

Id

- Contains primitive urges (for hunger, thirst, and sex).; Impulsive, instinctual.; Operates on the “pleasure principle” – seeks immediate gratification.

• •Primitive urges

• Unhealthy Dominant id= Narcissistic and Impulsive; maybe psychopath if no

Ego

reality principle = helps id satisfy desires in a realistic way

• seeks balance

• Navigates conflict between id & superego

• ”reality principle”

• Observable by others

• HEALTHY” personality = good balance of 2 other forces. If no healthy balance, neurosis (negative emotions)

Superego

develops through interactions with others & learning right vs wrong (conscience)

• •seeks control

• •Socialized; ”right vs wrong”

• •“morality principle”

• •Too strong superego = controlled by guilt, fails to experience pleasure

Neurosis

•anxiety, or, not experienced at all thanks to depression/psychopathy/narcissism) = ego’s inability to maintain balance

defense mechanisms

•Ego’s attempts to navigate conflict (get rid of anxiety) = may result in defense mechanisms

•Unconscious protective behaviors to reduce anxiety

•Goal: restore balance between id & superego

•Freud: everyone uses them sometimes; overuse is problematic

Mixed empirical support

Denial

refusal to accept real events because they are unpleasant

EX: refusing to admit one has a vaping problem

Displacement

transferring inappropriate urges/behaviors to a more acceptable or less threatening target

EX: mad at one’s boss so instead kicking one’s dog

Projection

attributing unacceptable desires to others

EX: someone cheats on their partner & suspects partner is cheating on them

Rationalization

justifying behaviors by substituting acceptable reasons for less-acceptable reasons

EX: “I didn’t fail test because I didn’t study – the test itself was bogus”

Reaction formation

reducing anxiety by adopting beliefs contrary to your actual beliefs or feelings

EX: angry at a person for always being late, but instead you act overly nice to them and even say they shouldn’t be in a rush, “take your time”

Regression

returning to coping strategies for less mature stages of development

EX: after failing an exam, rather than working harder, reverting back to just binging cartoons

Repression

suppressing painful memories and thoughts – and UNABLE to even access them (ex: in trauma)

Sublimation

redirecting unacceptable desires through socially acceptable channels

EX: rather than seek revenge for someone who died by drunk driving accident, instead starting a support group