Self And Personality

Personality

  • Combination of attributes, motives, values, emotionality, and behaviors.
    • Dispositional traits = enduring & inborn.
    • Characteristic adaptations = motives, goals, self-concept & coping.

Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory

  • Stages:
    • Trust vs. mistrust (0-1 yr): Hope.
    • Autonomy vs. shame & doubt (1-3 yrs): Will.
    • Initiative vs. guilt (3-6 yrs): Purpose.
    • Industry vs. inferiority (6-12 yrs): Competence.
    • Identity vs. role confusion (12-20 yrs): Fidelity.
    • Intimacy vs. isolation (20-40 yrs): Love.
    • Generativity vs. stagnation (40-65 yrs): Care.
    • Integrity vs. despair (65+ yrs): Wisdom.

Trait Theory

  • Personality = set of dispositional trait dimensions consistent across situations.
  • Big Five (OCEAN):
    • Openness.
    • Conscientiousness.
    • Extraversion.
    • Agreeableness.
    • Neuroticism.

Big Five Dimensions Definition

  • Openness: Curiosity vs. preference for sameness.
  • Conscientiousness: Discipline vs. lack of seriousness.
  • Extraversion: Sociability vs. introversion.
  • Agreeableness: Compliance vs. suspiciousness.
  • Neuroticism: Emotional instability vs. stability.

Continuity of Personality

  • Inhibited 3-year-olds become cautious teens.
  • Irritable 3-year-olds become impulsive adolescents.
  • Well-adjusted 3-year-olds become well-adjusted adults.

The Self

  • Self-concept: Perceptions of unique attributes and traits
  • Self-esteem: Evaluation of worth.
  • Self-identity: Sense of who they are.

Self Concept

  • Infancy: Recognize themselves visually; confusion of self and others.
  • Toddlers: Recognize self in mirror by 18 months; form categorical self by 18-24 months.
  • Preschoolers: Concrete sense of self; overestimate abilities.
  • Elementary: Social comparison; more realistic self-adjustment.

Temperament

  • Early, genetically based tendencies.
    • Easy (40%).
    • Difficult (10%).
    • Slow-to-warm-up (15%).
  • Dimensions:
    • Surgency/extraversion.
    • Negative affectivity.
    • Effortful control.

Goodness of Fit

  • Compatibility of temperament with social world demands.
  • Sensitive and responsive parenting.

Changes in Self-Esteem

  • Differentiates with age into:
    • Scholastic competence, social acceptance, behavioral conduct, athletic competence, physical appearance.
  • Trajectory: Stable in early elementary, declines around 9-10, lowest in late teens, rises in adulthood, declines in 70s.

Erikson’s Theory & Identity in Adolescence

  • Critical period for identity formation.
    • May experience an “identity crisis”.
  • Integrate self-concept into a coherent sense of self.
  • Society supports youths with a moratorium period.

Marcia’s Identity Statuses

  • Based on crisis/exploration and level of commitment.
    • Identity Diffusion.
    • Moratorium.
    • Foreclosure.
    • Identity Achievement.
  • Formation takes time and occurs at different rates in different domains.

Ethnic-Racial Identity

  • Sense of identification with an ethnic-racial group.
  • Emerges around 2-3 y-o, develops in elementary school, consolidates in adolescence.
  • Positive ethnic identity buffers against discrimination.

Influences on Identity Formation

  • Cognitive development.
  • Personality.
  • Relationship with parents.
  • Opportunities for exploration.
  • Cultural context.