PSY1411 - Chapter 12 - Personality

Definition: Personality is an individual’s characteristic style of behaving, thinking, and feeling.
Four Main Approaches:
- Trait-Biological: Focuses on identifying and measuring traits that are stable over time.
- Psychodynamic: Originated by Freud, centers on unconscious processes and childhood experiences.
- Humanistic-Existential: Emphasizes personal growth and the search for meaning.
- Social-Cognitive: Examines how personality is influenced by social interactions and cognitive processes.

Personality Inventories: Rely on self-reporting using questionnaires that assess behavior and mental states.
- MMPI-2-RF: A widely-used clinical questionnaire assessing personality and psychological conditions through an actuarial method.
- Self-reporting Format: Respondents indicate their agreement with statements through a series of multiple-choice items.

Definition: Utilize ambiguous stimuli to elicit responses that may reveal aspects of an individual's personality.
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): Respondents create stories about ambiguous pictures, unveiling their motives and social world perception.

Trait Definition: A relatively stable disposition to behave consistently (Gordon Allport).
Behavioral Dispositions: Traits may stem from preexisting conditions influencing behavior or motivations guiding behavior.
Search for Core Traits:
- Methods: Traits classified through language (adjectives) and organized hierarchically using factor analysis.
- Big Five Model (OCEAN/CANOE):
- Openness: Creativity vs routine.
- Conscientiousness: Organization vs chaos.
- Extraversion: Sociability vs withdrawal.
- Agreeableness: Trust vs suspicion.
- Neuroticism: Stability vs emotional volatility.

Influence of Biology: Personality can change due to brain pathologies, pharmaceutical effects, and brain damage (e.g., Phineas Gage).
Heritability:
- Variation in personality traits is estimated to be about 40% from genetic factors
Trait Dimensions and Genetic Correlations:
- Openness: 0.41, Conscientiousness: 0.31, Extraversion: 0.36, Agreeableness: 0.35, Neuroticism: 0.37.

Statistical Differences:
- Women: More verbally expressive and nurturing.
- Men: More physically aggressive and assertive.
- Attributions: Cultural expectations vs biological influences (sex hormones).

Structure of the Mind: Comprised of three components - Id, Ego, and Superego.
Conflict and Anxiety: Generated from interactions between these three systems.
Defense Mechanisms: Strategies used to cope with anxiety include rationalization, projection, regression, and sublimation.

Stages of Personality Development:
- Oral Stage: Dependence on oral stimulation.
- Anal Stage: Control over bowel movements.
- Phallic Stage: Exploration of anatomy and incestuous feelings.
- Latency Stage: Focus on skill development.
- Genital Stage: Mature sexual relationships.

Focus: Healthy choices shape personality.
Self-Actualization: Realizing inner potential after basic needs are met (Maslow’s hierarchy).
Flow: Described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi as a state when one is fully engaged in an activity that matches their skills.

Key Concepts: Personality reflected through thoughts and behaviors in social contexts.
- Person-Situation Controversy: Debates the influence of personality vs situational factors on behavior.
Expectancies and Goals: Personal goals and expectations shape behavioral patterns (internal vs external locus of control).

Self-Concept: Knowledge of one’s own traits and characteristics; includes the “I” (experiencing self) and “Me” (self that is known).
Self-Esteem: Reflects how much an individual values themselves, influenced by relationships and personal evaluations.
- Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale: Assesses self-worth through agreement with statements about personal value.

Definition: Tendency to prefer things associated with oneself, such as names, indicating unconscious bias towards self-similarities (e.g., name-letter effect).