Personality Definition: An individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.
Psychodynamic Theories: Posit that behavior is the dynamic interaction between the conscious and unconscious mind.
Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory
Freud's observations of patients with disorders lacking clear physical explanations led to conclusions that
Their troubles reflected unacceptable thoughts and feelings stored in the unconscious mind.
Notably, Freud was a Jewish psychoanalyst who escaped to London from Nazi Germany in 1938. Tragically, many family members perished in extermination camps.
Fun fact: Sigmund Freud was the first psychology theorist to be honored with a bobble-head doll.
Structure of Personality
Freud’s iceberg image illustrates that most of the mind is hidden beneath the conscious surface.
Components of Personality:
Id:
Operates fully unconsciously.
Functions on the pleasure principle, seeking to satisfy basic drives for survival, reproduction, and aggression (Eros and Thanatos).
Ego:
Operates on the reality principle, realistically gratifies the id’s impulses for long-term pleasure.
Contains perceptions, thoughts, judgments, and memories.
Superego:
Focuses on ideal behavior, striving for perfection, functions as the moral conscience.
Levels of Awareness
Freud posited that personality is a result of the mind's three systems: id, ego, and superego.
Conflict and the Tyranny of Sex and Aggression
Freud believed behavior results from ongoing internal conflicts, specifically issues involving sex and aggression.
Such conflicts can produce anxiety, which triggers defense mechanisms to cope, such as repression.
Anxiety and Defence Mechanisms
Defense Mechanisms are unconscious processes utilized to avoid anxiety-arousing thoughts or feelings.
Examples of Defense Mechanisms:
Regression: Retreating to an earlier psychosexual stage where there is psychic energy fixation.
Example: A boy sucking his thumb before his first school day.
Reaction Formation: Switching unacceptable impulses into their opposites.
Example: A person showing exaggerated friendliness to repress anger.
Projection: Attributing one’s threatening impulses to others.
Example: A thief assumes everyone else is a thief.
Rationalization: Offering self-justifying explanations for real, threatening reasons behind actions.
Example: A habitual drinker claims she drinks just for socializing.
Displacement: Shifting sexual/aggressive impulses towards a more acceptable target.
Example: A girl kicks a dog after being scolded by her mother.
Denial: Refusing to believe painful realities.
Example: A partner ignores evidence of an affair.
Development: Psychosexual Stages
Stages:
Oral (0-18 months):
Focus: Pleasure centers on the mouth—sucking, biting, chewing.
Fixations: Smoking, nail-biting, gum chewing.
Anal (18-36 months):
Focus: Pleasure centers on bowel and bladder elimination, coping with control demands.
Fixations: Orderliness, obsessiveness.
Phallic (3-6 years):
Focus: Pleasure zone in the genitals, coping with incestuous feelings.
Fixations: Vanity, exhibitionism, pride.
Latency (6 years to puberty):
Focus: Phase of dormant sexual feelings.
Genital (puberty on):
Focus: Maturation of sexual interests.
Evaluating Freud’s Psychoanalytic Perspective
Key Evaluations:
Development is continuous and not confined to childhood.
Gender identity can develop prior to engagement with a same-sex parent.
Disputes regarding dreams as disguises of wishes.
Criticism of methodology and after-the-fact explanations for traits lacking predictive value.
Evaluating Psychodynamic Perspectives
Contributions:
Highlighted the unconscious
Addressed conflict between biological urges and society’s restraints.
Introduced the concept of defense mechanisms and unconscious terror-management defenses.
The Modern Unconscious Mind
Contemporary psychologists view the unconscious as a processing system occurring without awareness.
Involves:
Schemas
Priming
Right hemisphere activities
Implicit memories
Emotions and stereotypes
Research has substantiated two of Freud’s mechanisms: reaction formation and projection.
Assessing Unconscious Processes
Projective tests:
E.g., Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) or Rorschach test
Designed to evoke projections of inner dynamics revealing unconscious motives.
TAT: People craft stories about ambiguous images reflecting their inner feelings.
Behavioral Perspectives
Skinner
Behavioral perspectives applied to personality emphasize:
Conditioning and developed response tendencies.
Environmental determinism.
Bandura & Mischel
Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory:
Framework of social learning theory emphasizing cognitive processes and reciprocal determinism.
Includes observational learning and self-efficacy.
Mischel's Views:
Explored the person-situation controversy and advocated for an interactional approach.
Evaluating Behavioral Perspectives
Pros:
Based on empirical research; insights into learning and environmental impacts.
Cons:
Heavy reliance on animal studies; fragmented understanding of personality; perceived dehumanization.
Humanistic Perspectives
Rogers and Maslow
Maslow: Emphasized healthy personal growth and the pursuit of self-determination and self-realization via a hierarchy of needs.
Components of self-actualization:
Prioritizing the journey of self-transcendence.
Rogers: Advocated for growth-promoting characteristics like genuineness, acceptance, and empathic relationships.
Importance of unconditional positive regard and self-concept in humanistic theories.
Evaluating Humanistic Theories
Influences:
Important in counseling, education, and management practices.
Criticisms:
Presents vague and subjective constructs; promotes individualism and self-centeredness; potentially naively optimistic.
Biological Perspectives
Eysenck
Eysenck theorized three higher-order traits influenced by genetics:
Extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism.
Genetics and Evolution
Explores behavioral genetics and personality through:
Twin studies revealing heritability estimates of around 50%.
Minimal influence from the shared environment.
Connection between the Big Five traits and brain structures.
An evolutionary approach which discusses traits beneficial for reproductive fitness.
Evaluating Biological Perspectives
Pros:
Strong genetic influence evidence in personality.
Cons:
Conceptual shortcomings regarding heritability estimates; artificial separation of nature and nurture; absence of a cohesive biological theory.
Contemporary Approaches to Personality
Narcissism: A personality trait marked by:
Inflated self-importance.
Need for constant attention and admiration.
Feelings of entitlement.
Tendency to exploit others.
Dark Triad: A combination of negative, antisocial traits including:
Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism.
Culture and Personality
Evidence suggests continuity in personality trait structures across cultures.
Cross-cultural variability noted in traits scores.
Key concepts from Markus and Kitayama focus on independence versus interdependence within cultures, where individualism and self-enhancement play significant roles.
Assessing Knowledge
A series of multiple-choice questions aimed at reinforcing today’s learning outcomes:
Theories that focus on the unconscious and childhood experiences are:
A. Humanistic
B. Psychoanalytic
C. Psychodynamic
D. Social-cognitive
In Freud’s view, which personality structure functions on the reality principle?
A. Id
B. Ego
C. Superego
D. Ultra-ego
The behavior driven by efforts to overcome childhood inferiority was theorized by:
A. Sigmund Freud
B. Alfred Adler
C. Karen Horney
D. Carl Jung
The most thoroughly researched personality test is the:
A. Rorschach inkblot test
B. MMPI
C. Big Five factor test
D. MBTI
Which Big Five trait measures organization?
A. Conscientiousness
B. Agreeableness
C. Extraversion
D. Neuroticism
Factors like childhood experiences and social support represent _____ influences on personality:
A. social-cultural
B. psychological
C. family
D. sociological
Next Week!
Continuation of topics covering various aspects of personality in-depth.