18 - Personality Psychology

Personality Psychology

Introduction to Personality

  • Personality: Understanding one’s identity, and the influences that shape who you are.

Overview

  • Key Topics:

    • Definition of personality

    • Historical and current theoretical approaches:

      • Psychodynamic Approach

      • Humanistic Approach

      • Trait Approach

      • Social-Cognitive Approach

What is Personality?

  • An individual's consistent pattern of thinking, feeling, and behaving.

    • Stability: Traits remain relatively stable over time and across different situations.

    • Uniqueness: Each person's personality is distinct, reflecting individual differences.

Elements of Personality Theories

  • Personality Structures: Elements that remain consistent over time.

  • Between-Person Variability: Differences in personality between individuals.

  • Personality Processes: Changes in psychological experiences and behavior.

  • Within-Person Variability: How an individual’s personality traits may change over time and in different situations.

Psychodynamic Approach

Overview

  • Key Theorist: Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

Emphases

  • Focus on:

    • Unconscious determinants of behavior

    • Sexual and aggressive instincts

    • Early childhood experiences

  • Neglects systematic testing of the theory.

Structure of Personality

  • Id:

    • Present from birth, operates unconsciously, seeks immediate gratification (pleasure principle).

  • Ego:

    • Develops over time, partly conscious, mediates between id and reality (reality principle).

    • Can repress impulses if no compromise is found.

  • Superego:

    • Develops through internalizing societal rules, provides moral standards, causing feelings of guilt or inferiority when standards aren't met.

Levels of Personality Operation

  • Conscious: Awareness of thoughts.

  • Preconscious: Unaware but easily retrievable thoughts.

  • Unconscious: Thoughts and desires not easily accessible, including unacceptable feelings and memories.

Defense Mechanisms

  • Purpose: Protect the ego from anxiety by distorting reality.

  • Examples:

    • Denial: Refusal to acknowledge threatening situations.

    • Repression: Forgetting distressing events.

    • Rationalization: Justifying unacceptable behavior.

    • Projection: Attributing one's own unacceptable thoughts to others.

    • Reaction Formation: Expressing the opposite of one’s true feelings.

    • Displacement: Redirecting feelings to a less threatening target.

    • Regression: Returning to childlike coping mechanisms.

    • Compensation: Overachieving in one area to compensate for another lack.

    • Sublimation: Channeling unacceptable urges into socially acceptable actions.

Psychodynamic Assessment

  • Free Association: Encouraging spontaneous thought expression.

  • Projective Tests: Ambiguous stimuli used to gauge unconscious processes (e.g., Rorschach inkblot test).

Humanistic Approach

Key Concepts

  • Humans are inherently good and capable of personal growth.

  • Focus on conscious beliefs and feelings regarding oneself and the world.

Major Theorists

  • Abraham Maslow:

    • Introduced the concept of self-actualization, where higher needs are pursued after basic needs are met.

    • Hierarchy of needs: physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization.

  • Carl Rogers:

    • Focused on self-concept and the pursuit of congruence between the actual and ideal selves.

    • Emphasizes the importance of unconditional positive regard in therapy.

Assessment Techniques

  • Q-sort Method: Evaluates the alignment between actual self and ideal self.

Trait Approach

Overview

  • Traits are stable, enduring predispositions influencing behavior.

  • Traits are not definitive categories but dimensions.

The Big Five Personality Traits

  • OCEAN Model:

    • Openness: Creativity and appreciation for experience.

    • Conscientiousness: Organization and dependability.

    • Extraversion: Sociability and excitement-seeking.

    • Agreeableness: Compassion versus antagonism.

    • Neuroticism: Emotional stability versus instability.

Assessment of Traits

  • Self-report questionnaires: (e.g., NEO-Personality Inventory) measure trait characteristics.

Limitations of Trait Approach

  • May oversimplify personality to five traits.

  • Descriptive rather than explanatory of personality development.

  • Neglects situational influences on behavior.

Social-Cognitive Approach

Overview

  • Emphasizes cognitive processes and social contexts in understanding behavior.

Key Components

  • Self-Referent Cognitions: Beliefs regarding oneself that affect emotions and behavior.

    • Includes: Beliefs, self-efficacy, goals, and behavioral standards.

Assessment Techniques

  • Combination of explicit and implicit measures assessing self-efficacy, self-esteem, and behavior based on context.

Summary of Approaches

  • Each approach provides a different lens on personality, encompassing structure, processes, and assessment methods.

In-Class Activity

  • Take the Big 5 Test to assess personality traits via the provided link.