Chapter 11: Personality

Freud

said that only about one- tenth of our mind is conscious, and the rest of our mind is unconscious.

Immanuel Kant

developed a list of traits that could be used to describe the personality of a person from each of the four temperaments.

Conscientiousness

: characterized by competence, self- discipline, thoughtfulness, and achievement- striving (goal- directed behavior)

Greek physician

and philosopher Galen suggested that both diseases and personality differences could be explained by imbalances in the fluids and that each person exhibits one of the four temperaments.

Agreeableness

: the tendency to be pleasant, cooperative, trustworthy, and good- natured.

Bandura

suggested that whether we choose to imitate a models behavior depends on whether we see the model reinforced or punished.

Julian Rotter

proposed the concept of locus of control, another cognitive factor that affects learning and personality development.

Context

: the behavior that occurs refers to the environment or situation, which includes rewarding /punishing stimuli.

Defense mechanisms

: unconscious protective behaviors that aim to reduce anxiety.

Incongruence

: when there is a great discrepancy between our ideal and actual selves; can lead to maladjustment.

Extrovert

: a person who is energized by being outgoing and socially oriented.

narrowed down Allports list and identified 16 factors or dimensions of personality: warmth, reasoning, emotional stability, dominance, liveliness, rule- consciousness, social boldness, sensitivity, vigilance, abstractedness, privateness, apprehension, openness to change, self- reliance, perfectionism, and tension.

Raymond Cattell

Reactivity

: how we respond to new or challenging environmental stimuli; self- regulation refers to our ability to control that response.

Behaviorists

view personality as significantly shaped by the reinforcements and consequences outside of the organism.

Heritability

: the proportion of difference among people that is attributed to genetics.

Humanistic perspective

: focuses on how healthy people develop.

Adler

proposed the concept of the inferiority complex.

Emotional Nonemotional

: separated strong from weak emotions (the melancholic and choleric temperaments from the phlegmatic and sanguine)

unconscious motivation

He (Adler) emphasized conscious rather than , since he believed that the three fundamental social tasks are explicitly known and pursued.

Id

: contains our most primitive drives or urges, and is present from birth.

Mischel

designed a study to assess self- regulation in young children (the marshmallow study)

Extroversion

: characterized by sociability, assertiveness, excitement- seeking, and emotional expression.

Sanguine

person: joyful, eager, and optimistic.

Reaction formation

: someone expresses feelings, thoughts, and behaviors opposite to their inclinations.

Jung

believed its a compromise between our true self and what society expects us to be.

Analytical psychology

: focuses on working to balance opposing forces of conscious and unconscious thought, and experience within ones personality.

Hans

Psychologists and Sybil Eysenck were personality theorists who believed personality is largely governed by biology.

imagination

Openness to experience: characterized by , feelings, actions, and ideas.

Introvert

: a person who may be quiet and reserved, or social, but their energy is derived from their inner psychic activity.

Cognitive processes

: all characteristics previously learned, including beliefs, expectations, and personality characteristics.

Albert Bandura

presented a social- cognitive theory.

Hippocrates

theorized that personality traits and human behaviors are based on four separate temperaments associated with four fluids of the body: choleric temperament, melancholic temperament, sanguine temperament, and phlegmatic temperament.

Regression

: an individual acts much younger than their age.

psychoticism

High on : tend to be independent thinkers, cold, nonconformists, impulsive, antisocial, and hostile.

Franz Gall

, a German physician, proposed that the distances between bumps on the skull reveal a persons personality traits, character, and mental abilities.

Ego

: the rational part of our personality; the part of our personality that is seen by others; balance the demands of the id and superego in the context of reality; operates on the "reality principle- "helps the id satisfy its desires in a realistic way.

Inferiority

complex: a persons feelings that they lack worth and dont measure up to the standards of others or of society.

Behavior

: anything that we do that may be rewarded or punished.

immediate gratification

It directs impulses for hunger, thirst, and sex; operates on the "pleasure principle,- "seeks .

Neuroticism

: the tendency to experience negative emotions.

Erikson

identified eight stages, each of which represents a conflict or developmental task.

Superego

: develops as a child interacts with others, learning the social rules for right and wrong; acts as our conscience; is our moral compass that tells us how we should behave.

Selective migration

: the concept that people choose to move to places that are compatible with their personalities and needs.

TEMAS Multicultural Thematic Apperception Test

: a tool designed to be culturally relevant to minority groups, especially Hispanic youths; uses images and storytelling cues that relate to minority culture.

Personality

: the long- standing traits and patterns that propel individuals to consistently think, feel, and behave in specific ways.

Carl Jung

developed his theory, analytical psychology.

Skinner

argued that personality develops over our entire life, not only in the first few years.

B F Skinner

believed that environment was solely responsible for all behavior, including the enduring, consistent behavior patterns studied by personality theorists.

Projection

: a person refuses to acknowledge her own unconscious feelings and instead sees those feelings in someone else.

Congruence

: when our thoughts about our real self and ideal self are very similar; when our self- concept is accurate**

Personality

the long-standing traits and patterns that propel individuals to consistently think, feel, and behave in specific ways

choleric temperament, melancholic temperament, sanguine temperament, and phlegmatic temperament

Hippocrates theorized that personality traits and human behaviors are based on four separate temperaments associated with four fluids of the body

Choleric person

passionate, ambitious, and bold

Melancholic person

reserved, anxious, and unhappy

Sanguine person

joyful, eager, and optimistic

Phlegmatic person

calm, reliable, and thoughtful

emotional/nonemotional and changeable/unchangeable

However, Wundt suggested that a better description of personality could be achieved using two major axes

Emotional/Nonemotional

separated strong from weak emotions (the melancholic and choleric temperaments from the phlegmatic and sanguine)

Changeable/unchangeable

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

The unconscious

mental activity of which we are unaware and are unable to access

Repression

a process that keeps unacceptable urges and desires in our unconscious

our biological aggressive and pleasure-seeking drives versus our internal (socialized) control over these drives

According to Freud, our personality develops from a conflict between two forces

Imagine three interacting systems within our minds

the id, ego, and superego

Id

contains our most primitive drives or urges, and is present from birth

It directs impulses for hunger, thirst, and sex; operates on the "pleasure principle,"

seeks immediate gratification

Superego

develops as a child interacts with others, learning the social rules for right and wrong; acts as our conscience; is our moral compass that tells us how we should behave

The ego finds the middle ground

It helps satisfy the ids desires in a rational way that will not lead us to feelings of guilt

Defense mechanisms

unconscious protective behaviors that aim to reduce anxiety

Repression

anxiety-causing memories from consciousness are blocked

Reaction formation

someone expresses feelings, thoughts, and behaviors opposite to their inclinations

Regression

an individual acts much younger than their age

Projection

a person refuses to acknowledge her own unconscious feelings and instead sees those feelings in someone else

Oral stage (birth to 1 year)

pleasure is focused on the mouth

Anal stage (1-3 years)

children experience pleasure in their bowel and bladder movements

Phallic stage (3-6 years)

children become aware of their bodies and recognize the differences between boys and girls

Latency period (6 years to puberty)

this period is not considered a stage, because sexual feelings are dormant as children focus on other pursuits

Genital stage (from puberty on)

there is a sexual reawakening as the incestuous urges resurface

Individual psychology

focuses on our drive to compensate for feelings of inferiority

Inferiority complex

a persons feelings that they lack worth and dont measure up to the standards of others or of society

occupational tasks (careers), societal tasks (friendship), and love tasks (finding an intimate partner for a long-term relationship)

With these ideas, Adler identified three fundamental social tasks that all of us must experience

Analytical psychology

focuses on working to balance opposing forces of conscious and unconscious thought, and experience within ones personality

Collective unconscious

a universal version of the personal unconscious, holding mental patterns, or memory traces, which are common to all of us

Archetypes

ancestral memories

extroversion and introversion

Jung proposed two approaches toward life

Extrovert

a person who is energized by being outgoing and socially oriented

Introvert

a person who may be quiet and reserved, or social, but their energy is derived from their inner psychic activity

Moving toward people

relies on affiliation and dependence

Moving against people

relies on aggression and assertiveness

Moving away from people

centers on detachment and isolation

Social-cognitive theory

emphasizes both learning and cognition as sources of individual differences in personality

Reciprocal determinism

cognitive processes, behavior, and context all interact, each factor influencing and being influenced by the others simultaneously

Cognitive processes*

• all characteristics previously learned, including beliefs, expectations, and personality characteristics

Behavior

anything that we do that may be rewarded or punished

Context

the behavior that occurs refers to the environment or situation, which includes rewarding/punishing stimuli

Self-efficacy

our level of confidence in our own abilities, developed through our social experiences

Locus of control

our beliefs about the power we have over our lives

Internal locus of control

believe that most of our outcomes are the direct result of our efforts

External locus of control

believe that our outcomes are outside of our control

Self-regulation

will power

Humanistic perspective

focuses on how healthy people develop