Psychology- Exam 3

Modules 8 & 9

personality

unique and relatively stable ways in which people think, feel, and behave

• includes character and temperament

character

the value judgements made about a person’s moral and ethical behavior

temperament

the enduring characteristics with which each person is born

what did hippocrates believe about personality

theorized that personality traits and humans behaviors are based on 4 separate temperaments associated with the 4 humors of the body 

what are the four humors

1. choleric

2. melancholic

3. sanguine

4. phlegmatic

choleric definition and what personality it is associated with 

• yellow bile from the liver

• passionate, ambitious, and bold

melancholic definition and what personality it is associated with 

• black bile from the kidneys

• reserved, anxious, unhappy

sanguine definition and what personality it is associated with 

• ed blood from the heart

• joyful, eager, optimistic 

phlegmatic definition and what personality it is associated with 

• white phlegm from the lungs

• calm, reliable, and thoughtful 

what did galen believe about personality

believed both diseases and personality differences could be explained by imbalances in the humans and that each person exhibits one of the 4 temperaments 

• was the prevailing theory for 1000 years

Franz Gall

proposed that the distances between the bumps on the skill reveal a person’s personality traits, character, and mental abilities (was discredited) 

3 theories of personality

1. people change overtime

2. past experiences shape who we are

3. we are not always aware of why we do the things we do

how did Freud divide the structure of the mind

1. conscious

2. preconscious

3. unconscious

conscious mind

level aware of immediate surroundings and perceptions

preconscious mind

information is available but not currently concious

unconscious mind

level in which thoughts, feelings, memories, and other information are kept that are not easily or voluntarily brought into conconscious

what is the personality iceberg

• shows the personality as divided into 3 parts

• each exists at one or more levels of consciousness

• each part in constant state of conflict with others (ID, superego, ego)

ID

• focused on immediate gratification and survival

• present at birth and is completely unconscious

• operates on the pleasure principle 

what is the pleasure principle

desire for immediate satisfaction of needs without regard for consequences

superego

contains the conscience, provides a sense of right and wrong

• partly conscious

• contains the ego ideal and the conscience

what is the ego ideal

part of superego that contains the standards for superego

conscience

part of superego that produces guilt, depending on how acceptable the behavior is

ego

the “I” caught in the middle

• part of personality that develops out of a need to deal with reality

• mostly conscious

• rational and logical

• operates on reality principle

what is the reality principle

the ego when it tries to satisfy the demands of the ID in ways that do not result in negative consequences

what is a fixation in relation to the psychosexual stages

• disorder in which the person does not fully resolve the conflict in a particular stage 

• results in personality traits and behaviors associated with that earlier stage

what are the 5 psychosexual stages

1. oral 

2. anal

3. phallic

4. latency

5. genital

oral stage

• first 18 months

• erogenous zone= mouth

• primary conflict= weaning

• weaning too soon or late can result in an oral fixation

anal stage

• between 18-36 months

• erogenous zone= the anus

• source of conflict= toilet training

• anal expulsive/retentive personality can occur when toilet training is too harsh 

anal expulsive 

a person fixated in the anal stage who is messy, destructive, and hostile

anal retentive

a person fixated in the anal stage who is neat, fussy, stingy, and stubborn 

phallic stage

• between 3-6 years

• erogenous zone= the genitals

• source of conflict= the awakening of sexual curiosity

• males develop castration anxiety

• females develop penis envy

• fixation can be the Oedipus/Electra complex

Oedipus/Electra Complex

child develops a sexual attraction to the
opposite-sex parent and jealousy of the same- sex parent

Latency stage

• 6- puberty

• sexual feelings are repressed while the child develops intellectually, physically, and socially

genital stage

• during and after puberty

• sexual feelings reawaken with appropriate targets

• entry into adult social and sexual behavior

defense mechanisms

unconscious distortions of a person’s perception of reality that reduce stress and anxiety

denial

refusing to recognize or acknowledge a threatening situation

repression

“pushing” threatening or conflicting events or situations out of conscious memory 

Rationalization

making up acceptable excuses for unacceptable behavior

projection

placing one’s own unacceptable thoughts onto others, as if the thoughts belonged to them and not to oneself

reaction formation

forming an emotional reaction or attitude that is opposite of one’s threatening or unacceptable actual thoughts

displacement

expressing feelings that would be threatening if directed at the real target, onto a less threatening substitute target

regression

falling back on childlike patterns as a way of coping with stressful situations

identification

trying to become like someone else to deal with one’s anxiety

compensation/ substitution

trying to make up for areas in which a deficit is perceived by becoming superior in some other area

sublimation

turning socially unacceptable urges into socially acceptable behavior 

Neo freudian views

• agreed that childhood experiences matter

• less emphasis on sex

• focused on the social environment and effects of culture on personality

Alfred Alder

• individual psychology

• proposed the driving force behind all human endeavors, emotions, and thoughts was the seeking of superiority and compensating for feelings of inferiority

• placed focus on social connections during childhood development

• developed birth order theory

inferiority complex

persons feelings that they lack worth and do not measure up to the standards of others or of society

birth order theory

• first borns feel inferior to younger children who receive attention = they become overachievers

• middle children feel superior to the dethroned older children= they become competitive

• younger children feel inferior because they do not have freedom and responsibility

this theory has very little support 

karen horney

• developed a theory based on basic anxiety

• replaced the concept of penis envy with womb envy

feminist psychology

emphasizing the female perspective that accounts for both gender and social stuctures

basic anxiety

anxiety created when a child is born into the bigger and more powerful world of older children and adults

neurotic personalities

personalities typified by maladaptive ways of dealing with relationships 

Moving Toward people coping strategy (compliance)

seeking love, affective, approval= overly dependent and submissive

moving against people coping strategy (aggression)

asserting power or control= hostile, competitive, manipulative

walter Mischel (part of person-situation debate)

• behavior was inconsistent across different situations but more consistent within situations

• behavior is consistent in equivalent situations across time

• data did not support that a person’s personality traits are consistent across situations

what is the humanistic perspective (in relation to personality)

focuses on how healthy people develop 

Abraham Maslov

• studied healthy, creative people (Einstein, Roosevelt, Lincoln)

• Found that they shared similar characteristics= open, creative, loving, spontaneous, compassionate, accepting, concerned for others

Carl Rogers

• linked personality to self-concept

• divided the self into the ideal self and the real self 

• believed we needed congruence between the ideal and real self

ideal self

the person we would like to be

real self

the person we actually are

high congruence

greater sense of self worth and a healthy productive life

incongruence

maladjustment and risk for disorders

what are the 5 traits in the 5-factor model

1. Openness

2. Conscientiousness

3. Extraversion

4. Agreeableness

5. Neuroticism

trait-situation interaction

• assumption that particular circumstances of any given situation will influence the way in which a trait is expressed

• characteristic adaptations are influenced by self-concept, cultural corms, life events, social interactions, and persistent, heritable traits

Self Report Inventories

• objective tests to assess personality

• often use multiple choice items or numbered scales

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

• most commonly used

• used to be used to diagnose disorders

• scored on 10 scales

1. hypochondriasis

2. depression

3. hysteria

4. psychopathic deviance

5. masc vs fem

6. paranoia

7. psychasthenia (obsessive/compulsive)

8. schizophrenia

9. hypomania

10. social introversion

projective tests

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

Rorschach Inkblot test

projective test that uses 10 inkblots as the ambiguous stimuli 

thematic apperception test (TAT)

projective test that uses 20 pictures of people in ambiguous situations as the visual stimuli