Unit 1: Personality & Approaches

Perspectives in Psychology

different ways of understanding and explaining human behavior and mental processes

Psychodynamic/Psychoanalytic

• how unconscious thoughts and feelings drive our behavior

• defense mechanisms, fixations, id/superego/ego, psychosexual stages

• Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung

Behaviorism

• how we learn to respond to stimuli in our environment

• rewards/punishments, stimulus/response

• Pavlov, B.F. Skinner, John Watson

Humanism

• how to meet human needs so that we may reach out fullest potential (self-actualization)

• unconditional positive regard, hierarchy of needs

• Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers

Biological

• genetic and biological patterns influence our experience and behaviors

• brain structures, heritability, hormones, neurotransmission

• Gazzaniga, Sperry

Evolutionary

• how natural selection has caused the evolution of certain traits in a population

• adaptation, survival of the fittest

• Charles Darwin

Cognitive

• how we think, remember, analyze, and interpret the world

• perception, problem solving

• Lev Vygotsky

Socio-cultural

• how situations, environment, and cultures shape our thinking and behaviors

• family influence, impact of society

• Matsumoto, Milgram, Vygotsky

Abraham Maslow (Father of humanism)

• develops Hierarchy of Needs

• studied those he admired (self-actualized)

Hierarchy of Needs

1. Self-actualization

2. Esteem

3. Love and belonging

4. Safety needs

5. Physiological needs

Carl Rogers

Inspired by Maslow, developed the person-centered perspective (understanding individual’s unique perspective through empathy, to foster growth)

Carl Rogers theorized, we grow as we AGE:

Accepting (unconditional positive regard)

Genuine (open, transparent)

Empathetic (reflecting feelings)

Unconditional Positive Regard

individual is accepted and loved as they are regardless of conditions or judgments, fostering personal growth and self-actualization

Self-actualizing tendency

the innate drive in every individual to grow to their fullest potential

Trait theories

personality is made of stable characteristics (traits) that consistently influence how a person thinks and behaves

Gordon Allport (1920s)

Original developer of the trait perspective analyzing individual differences

Gordon Allport’s self report inventories (cardinal, central, secondary)

Cardinal traits: traits that best define you

Central traits: traits that you consistently display

Secondary traits: the traits that you sometimes display

Raymond Cattell (1950s) - Factor Analysis

Developed factor analysis, a statistical analysis technique that identifies traits based on behaviors that tend to coincide

Paul Costa and Robert McCrae (2000s): The Big Five

Five traits that accurately predict behavior:

• Conscientiousness (organized, disciplined, goal-directed)

• Agreeableness (warmth, kindness, empathy)

• Neuroticism (emotional stability, resilience)

• Openness (imagination, curiosity, creativity)

• Extraversion (high levels of sociability)

Personality Inventories

standardized tools that measure individual personality traits and characteristics through self-report questionnaires

Mind according to Freud

• Conscious: thoughts and feelings that we are aware of

• Preconscious: info. we aren’t aware of but which we can retrive into the consciousness

• - Unconscious: unacceptable thoughts, wishes, or feelings locked deep in the mind

Personality according to Freud

Id (the child): unconscious psychic energy whose sole goal is pleasure, instant gratification, basic physical drives

Superego (the parent): internalized societal ideals, strives for discipline and perfection, your conscience
Ego (the adult): the conscious part of the personality mediating between the id and the superego, your reality

Defense mechanisms

conflict between the id and superego cause anxiety; the ego reduces this anxiety with defense mechanisms

Displacement

emotional impulses are redirected from the original source to a safer more acceptable substitute target

Denial

Refusal to accept reality protecting themselves from uncomfortable reality

Projection

attributing one’s unacceptable feelings/thoughts/motives of themselves onto someone else (deflecting self criticism)

Rationalization

individuals justify and explain their behaviors or feelings in a rational/logical manner to avoid confronting the true underlying reasons

Reaction Formation

individuals suppress unacceptable impulses by unconsciously displaying the opposite behavior or emotion

Regression

individual reverts to earlier stages of development (child-like behaviors) when faced with stress or emotional conflict

Repression

distressing thoughts/feelings are unconsciously blocked from entering conscious awareness

Sublimation

negative urges/impulses are channeled into socially acceptable or constructive activities

Albert Bandura’s Reciprocal Determinism

Behavior, internal cognitive factors, and environmental influences all operate as interlocking determinants of each other

Individualist

the self is defined as a free agent (motivated by personal traits and goals)

Collectivist

the self is defined as part of the group (motivated by relationships and communal success)

Self-esteem

general feelings of self worth

Self-efficacy

sense of competence on a particular task

Spotlight effect

the tendency to assume others pay more attention to us than they actually do

Martin Seligman’s experiment on Learned Helplessness (1965)

found that dogs would ‘learn’ helplessness (Divided sections with shocking on one side and safe side, activated when light blinked)

Self-serving bias

tendency to attribute one’s successes to personal characteristics and failures to external factors, enhancing one’s self-esteem

Narcissism

excessive self-love and self-absorption

Internal Locus of Control

the belief that one’s actions and decisions influence the outcome and events in their life

External Locus of Control

the belief that outcomes and events are determined by external forces or ‘fate’ rather than one’s own actions

Explanatory style

How a person explains the reason behind events, whether they blame themselves or outside factors

Optimistic Explanatory Style

the habit of explaining good things as likely to happen again and bad things as one-time events

Pessimistic Explanatory Style

explaining bad things as likely to come again and good things as one-time events