Studied by 21 people
01:830:338:02--Personality Psychology at Rutgers NB taught by Dr./Prof Herman
Personality psychology
studies how personality originates, develops, and functions
What is personality?
a dynamic and organized set of characteristics possessed by a person that uniquely influences his or her cognitions, motivations, and behaviors in various situations
The study of personality
a scientific analysis of individual differences that help account for why and how people react uniquely to various situations
Primary focus in the study of personality
offer explanations for each individual’s unique ways of responding to his or her physical, social and cultural environments
free association
say the first thing that comes to your mind
therapeutic technique central to psychoanalysis in which the therapist encourages patients to report, without restriction, any thoughts that occur to them no matter how irrelevant, unimportant, or unpleasant
considered the fundamental role in psychoanalysis
Unconscious (Freud)
depository of hidden wishes, needs, and conflicts of which the person is unaware and filled with sexual / aggressive impulses and unresolved issues
Freud believed a great deal of our behavior is unconsciously driven
Resistance
in psychoanalysis, when unwilling to disclose painful memories
Freud believed resistance caused those memories to be repressed in the unconscious
Dreams
“royal road to the unconscious”
dream analysis
psychoanalytic technique used to probe the unconscious through interpretation of the patient’s dreams
Dream analysis process
analyze / interpret symbols present in the dream to (try to) discover the latent content or hidden meanings
Freud believed dream symbols had universal meanings
Conscious
the ideas and sensations of which we are aware
Preconscious
contains the experiences that are unconscious but that could be conscious easily
Unconscious
contains the experiences and memories of which we are not aware
instincts
the driving forces in personality, govern behavior, and motivate to seek gratification and homeostasis
two main instincts motivate us
life and death instincts
life instincts
instinctive urges to preserve life, includes basic needs (primarily our sexual drives or instincts)
libido (life instinct)
originally sexual instincts, later revised to psychic and pleasurable gratification of life instincts
death instincts
instincts to return to a state of balance, free of painful struggles before death…as a result, comes aggression
Freud believed that people hold an unconscious desire to die but that this wish is largely tempered by the life instincts — in his view, self-destructive behavior is an expression of the energy created by the death instincts
3 systems of the mind
id, ego, and superego
id
pleasure principle, original aspect of personality, rooted biologically, consisting of unconscious sexual and aggressive instincts
wants immediate gratification
Freud’s ego
the executive functioning of personality
aims to balance the needs of the id and the extremes of the superego in appropriate and realistic ways
superego
strives for perfectionism
internalization of societal values instilled primarily by parents to teach right and wrong responses in given situations results in satisfaction or guilt and same
where our conscience comes from
Psychotherapy
includes ALL types / modalities of therapy
Freud is considered
the first major force in psychology
strong superego results in…(3)
realistic anxiety, neurotic anxiety, and moral anxiety
realistic anxiety
fear of danger from the external world
degree of anxiety must be equal to the degree of harm
neurotic anxiety
when individuals fear that their instincts / id desires will get out of control and cause them to do smtn they’ll regret
result of conflict between id ego and superego
moral anxiety
when one does something against one’s own conscience or when one fears excessive criticism / demands from parents or society
psychosexual stages of development
oral
anal
phallic
latency
genital
each stage is characterized by an erogenous zone / area of the body through which child seeks gratification
fixation (in psychosexual stages)
defensive attachment to an earlier stage as a result of a traumatic experience in a particular stage
Freud considered fixation to be defense against anxiety
ex. an oral fixation
Oedipus complex / Electra complex
during phallic stage, children supposedly fall in love with the parent of the opposite sex and see the same sex parent as the rival
Freud only believed in the OC, Jung actually coined the EC and Freud fought it
OC results in development of superego, EC results in inadequate superego
Fixation at phallic stage
recklessness, narcissism, incapability of close love, excessive vanity or pride
Freud also theorized that this could be a cause of homosexuality
Fixation in anal phase
parent(s) forcing potty training too quickly
results in stinginess, constrictedness, and stubborness
Freudian outlook on life
Determinism
also very concerned about how one is raised
Freud’s age at which personality is set
age 6
oral stage fixation
parental deprivation or overindulgence
pessimism or optimism
suspiciousness or gullibility
self-belittlement or cockiness
passivity or manipulativeness
psychoanalytic thought suggests
we’re all “a little neurotic” and conflicts of childhood form the core of neurotic disorders
defense mechanism
an unhealthy, universal reaction people unconsciously use to protect themselves from pain and keep anxiety at bay
repression
Unconsciously banishing painful memories from consciousness
suppression
active and conscious attempt to stop anxiety-provoking thoughts by simply not thinking about them
stored in the preconscious
denial
refusal to perceive an unpleasant event in reality
rationalization
justifying / making excuses for maladaptive behaviors
e.g “I drink because my kid drives me crazy” or “my life is harder than everybody else’s”
displacement
unconsciously redirecting anger onto substitute objects or people
sublimation
(form of displacement) displacing anger on others in ways that are “socially acceptable”
e.g when it’s considered “okay” (say, in a tv show like The Sopranos) when someone kills / bullies / somehow mistreats someone else out of anger, when that other person “deserves it” or is considered a bad person
regression
mature behavior —> immature behavior
i.e backsliding, taking a step backwards, etc.
projection
attributing our own undesirable traits on to others
reaction formation
converting undesirable traits to their opposites
intellectualization
dissociation between thoughts and feelings with elaborate rationale to explain unbearable pain
e.g when a person comes up with a justification for their partner hitting them
undoing
performing an act to nullify or make amends for an undesirable one
e.g when a cheating spouse returns home with flowers for their partner
Freud’s assessment techniques
free association
dream analysis
analysis of resistance
transference
transference
ambivalence (attitudes of both affection and hostility) toward “parents” that are displaced onto therapist
positive transference
special affection toward the therapist; usually develops first (praise, trust, falling in love)
counter transference
therapist’s reaction with personal feelings towards patient
negative transference
showing anger and hostility towards therapist
Jung’s “psyche”
the total personality — all of the interacting systems within human personality which accounts for all mental life & behavior
Psychic energy
energy that flows continuously from consciousness to unconsciousness and back
manifests itself in our various feelings, thoughts, and behaviors and is considered an outcome of the conflict between forces within the personality
Jung believed without psychic energy there is no life
Self-realization & individuation
integration of all aspects of the psyche and is the aim of individual development
ultimate goal is to fulfill our unique potentials and natures—continues all throughout life
humanism
individuation
the process of becoming the individual you are meant to be
ego (Jung)
in the center of consciousness…it’s the unifying force in the psyche
contains thoughts including behavior, feelings, and memories
Jung’s psyche
includes personal unconscious and collective unconscious
differs from Freud
personal unconscious
in the psyche; contains all the forgotten experiences that have lost their intensity often due to unpleasantness or just weak impressions and only accessible under certain circumstances
collective unconscious
a storehouse of latent memories of our human and prehuman ancestry consisting of instincts and archetypes that we inherit as possibilities and that often affect our behavior
Jung’s four archetypes
self
shadow
persona
anima/animus
archetypes
universal themes or symbols that can be activated by forces operating in the psyche, thereby generating visions that are projected onto current experiences
universal theme or an idea which is common to all of mankind
persona
archetype consisting of the role humans play in order to meet the demands of others
shadow
archetype consisting of the inferior, evil, and repulsive side of human nature
personal unconscious: all experiences humans reject on moral or aesthetic grounds
collective unconscious: universal personifications of evil within our psyches
the selfishness, repressed instincts, and “unauthorized” self that your conscious mind rejects
anima & animus
elements of the opposite sex within us — the feminine archetype in a man (anima) and masculine archetype in a woman (animus)
they are the abstract symbol sets that formulate the archetype of the Self
in a woman her contra sexuality is masculine and governs her rational thinking function and we call this the Animus
in a man his contra sexuality is feminine and governs his irrational feeling function and we call this the Anima
self
archetype that leads people to search for ways of maximizing the development of their potential
the destiny of realizing who we are, the “way to individuation”
psychological types
basic attitudes and functions towards life
extraversion
outgoing and relatively confident approach to life
introversion
retiring and reflective approach to life
the four functions (ways people relate to the world)
sensing, thinking, feeling, and intuiting
sensing
initial, concrete experiencing without reason or evaluation
thinking
understand events through the use of reason and logic
feeling
gives us an evaluation of events by judging whether they are good or bad
intuiting
rely on hunches whenever we have to deal with strange situations with no established facts
the “rational" (judging) functions
thinking and feeling
the “irrational” (perceiving) functions
sensation and intuition
Jung’s dreams
involuntary and spontaneous eruptions of repressed materials rooted in the personal and collective unconscious
method of amplification
method used to interpret dreams and reveal their meanings…starts with a symbol and followed by giving numerous associations to it
word association test
patients are presented with stimulation words and asked to respond…records time it took between word and response
painting therapy
believed paintings must be expressions of their innermost selves
individual psychology
theory which seeks to understand the behavior of each person as an organized entity and focuses on the whole personality
teleological
power, will, or belief that individuals are guided to move towards goals
teleological position
belief that goals determine behavior and behavior is directed and shaped by a designing force
Adler believed all behavior is directed by…
future goals
our purpose is to attain perfection and all driven by feelings of inferiority
(Adler) ultimate goal is […]
superiority; the striving to attain perfection
done so to make up for feelings of inferiority
2 paths to superiority & when they’re determined
constructive & destructive
determined by age 5
constructive path to superiority
healthy
destructive path to superiority
personal superiority at the expense of others
organ inferiority
when one organ, or portion of the body, is weaker than the rest
the body’s other organs would work together in order to compensate for the weakness of this “inferior” organ
caused exaggerated strivings as the result of feeling unmanliness
not the defect itself that produces striving but the person’s attitude toward it
replaced with feelings of inferiority
masculine protest
attempt to compensate for feelings of inferiority by acting as though superior to others
overcompensation
exaggerated attempts by individuals to overcome feelings of inferiority by action as though they are personally superior to others
Adler believed women were […] and therefore […]
1) placed in an inferior position by society
2) take on masculine behavior
Adler saw lesbianism as…
an extreme manifestation of the masculine protest
opposite extreme = super-feminine
[result of overcompensation]
Adler’s male equivalent of lesbianism
“Don Juan” type
proving manhood by seducing women
[result or overcompensation]
normal perception to Adler: all should acknowledge […] and use these feelings […]
1) some feelings of inferiority
2) as motivators
Adler’s compensation
other areas of the body making up for the function lacking in the inferior portion
in some cases the weakness may be overcompensated transforming it into a strength
if an individual overcompensates, then an […] would occur, fostering the danger of the individual becoming […]
1) inferiority complex
2) egocentric, power-hungry, aggressive and/or worse
1) to be “perfectly thin”
2) overcompensation
3) a feeling of inferiority
e.g in anorexia nervosa, the fictive final goal is […], which is an […] on the basis of […]
