Introduction to Personality

• Definition: Personality refers to the long-standing set of traits and patterns that lead individuals to behave, think, and feel in consistent ways.
• Objective: Understanding different approaches to personality, focusing on psychoanalytic and psychodynamic approaches, as well as trait theory.

Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Approaches

• Origin: Rooted in the theories of Sigmund Freud.
• Focus: How personality develops, emphasizing the role of the unconscious and childhood experiences.
• Components of Freudian Personality:
• Id:
  • Primitive urges and desires present from birth (e.g., hunger, sex, aggression).
  • Operates on the pleasure principle; seeks immediate gratification.
  • Completely unconscious.
• Superego:
  • Develops through social interactions; represents moral standards and societal rules.
  • Strives for perfection and judges actions based on morality, leading to feelings of guilt or pride.
  • Contains both conscious and unconscious elements.
• Ego:
  • Mediator between the id and superego, operating on the reality principle.
  • Responsible for rational decision-making, balancing desires with realistic constraints from society.
  • Both conscious and unconscious aspects.
• Freudian Concepts:
• Repression:
  • Unacceptable urges are pushed into the unconscious, affecting behavior unconsciously.
• Defense Mechanisms:
  • Strategies used by the ego to reduce anxiety and manage conflicts between id and superego.
  • Types of defense mechanisms include denial, displacement, projection, rationalization, reaction formation, regression, repression, and sublimation.
• Balancing Forces: Healthy personalities achieve a balance between id and superego; imbalances can lead to neuroses or anxiety disorders.

Neo-Freudian Theorists

• Acknowledge Freud’s ideas but emphasize social and cultural influences over sexual instincts.
• Carl Jung: Introduced concepts of the collective unconscious and archetypes (e.g., the wise elder).
• Karen Horney: Focused on social and cultural factors in personality and emphasized the importance of relationships.

Trait Theory

• Definition: Focuses on describing personality traits and characteristics without detailing origins.
• Gordon Allport: Identified over 4,500 personality descriptors, categorizing them into:
• Cardinal Traits: Dominating traits defining a person's overall character (e.g., altruism).
• Central Traits: Traits that are characteristic of an individual (e.g., honesty).
• Secondary Traits: Traits that are less consistent and situation-specific.
• Raymond Cattell: Conducted factor analysis, narrowing down traits into 16 dimensions with the 16 Personality Factors (16 PF) instrument.
• Big Five Personality Traits:
• Developed by Costa and McCrae, summarizing personality in five broad traits:
  • Openness: Creativity vs. routine; curious vs. conventional.
  • Conscientiousness: Organized vs. careless; dependable vs. impulsive.
  • Extraversion: Outgoing vs. introverted.
  • Agreeableness: Trusting vs. suspicious; helpful vs. critical.
  • Neuroticism: Emotional stability vs. anxiety.
  • Evaluated using self-report inventories like the NEO PI.

Testing of Personality

• Objective Tests:
• Self-report inventories such as the MMPI and NEO PI assess personality traits and may include validity scales.
• Projective Tests:
• Aim to reveal unconscious desires and thoughts.
• Examples include:
  • Rorschach Inkblot Test: Respondents describe what they see in inkblots, projecting aspects of their personality.
  • Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): Consent to create narratives based on ambiguous images, revealing social dynamics and personal narratives.
  • Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank: Participants complete sentences revealing their personality traits and struggles.

Conclusion

• Summary: Two primary approaches to understanding personality—psychoanalytic (developmental focus) and trait theory (descriptive focus).
• Importance of both approaches for understanding personality in psychological contexts.