Personality(genpsy)

Universitas Gadjah Mada Faculty of Psychology

Session 22

Topics

• Personality theory and personality measurement

  • Four major theories about personality:

    • Psychoanalysis/Psychodynamics

    • Humanistic Theory

    • Type and Trait Approach

    • Cognitive and Learning Theory

Why Are We the Way We Are?

• Nature vs. Nurture:

  • Genes (Nature): The influence of genetics on personality.

  • Environment (Nurture): The role of environmental factors in personality development.

Origins of Personality

• Major Influencing Factors:

  • Genes: Biological basis of behavior and personality.

  • Childhood Experiences: Impact of early life on personality (Psychodynamic Perspective).

  • Ways of Thinking: Influences from social cognition.

  • Environmental Influences: Behavioral shaping through surroundings.

  • Innate Drive: Humanistic perspective emphasizing the innate drive to achieve potential.

A. Personality Theory

• Definition: A theory consists of assumptions that explain the causal relationship behind personality traits.

• Characteristics of Personality:

  • Stability across time and situations in cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions.

A. Personality Measurement

• Idiographic Approach(idiot=unique):

  • Focuses on unique personality traits of individuals.

• Nomothetic Approach(mono=1):

  • Acknowledges uniqueness but identifies common traits across individuals.

Personality Theory

• Core Idea: A framework that seeks to explain stable traits concerning thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Basic Characteristics of Temperament

1. Activity Level

2. Emotionality

3. Sociability

B. Major Theories about Personality

1. Biological/Genetics Perspective

2. Psychoanalysis/Psychodynamics

3. Humanistic Theory

4. Type and Trait Approach

5. Cognitive and Learning Theory

B. Major Theories 1: Biological/Genetics Perspective

• Inquiry into how genetics impact personality.

• Study of Twins:

  • Comparison between identical and fraternal twins reared together vs. apart to assess hereditary traits.

B. Major Theories 2: Psychoanalysis/Psychodynamics

• Main Proposition: Personality is driven by unconscious motives.

• Core Concepts:`

  • Level of Consciousness:

    • Conscious: Awareness of thoughts.

    • Pre-Conscious: Easily accessible thoughts.

    • Unconscious: Difficult to retrieve thoughts.

  • Personality Structure:

    • Id: Operates on the pleasure principle.

    • Ego: Mediates between id and reality.

    • Superego: Represents moral standards.

B. Major Theories 2: Psychosexual Development

• Stages:

  1. Oral Stage(mouth)-birth to 1 yrs old=pleasure from the mouth such as sucking

  2. Anal Stage(bladder control)-1 to 3 yrs old=learn to control bodily fuctions such as peeing

  3. Phallic Stage(genital)-3 to 6 yrs old=aware of gender differences

  4. Latency Stage(puberty)-6 yrs old to puberty=supressed sexual feelings

  5. Genital Stage(genital)-puberty to adulthood=awakened sexual feelings

B. Major Theories 2: Self Defense Mechanisms (SDM)

• Purpose: Tackle conflict between id and superego.

• Common Examples of SDM:

  • Denial=ignoring source of anxiety

  • Repression=make unconciouss/try to forget source of anxiety

  • Projection=attributing bad personal characteristic towards others

  • Reaction Formation(react formed)=warding off uncomfortable thoughts by expressing its opposite

  • Rationalization=making rational excuses for unexcusable actions

  • Displacement=shifting negative emotions towards a thing to another thing

  • Sublimation=turning socially unacceptable impulses to admirable behavior

B. Major Theories 2: Personality Measurement in Psychodynamics

• Projective Techniques:

  • Measuring a person’s subconciousness by asking them to discribe the vague stimuli provided by the psychoanalyst

  • Examples:

    • Rorschach inkblot test=Inkblot

    • Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)=image

    • Sentence Completion Test (SSCT)=incomplete sentence

B. Major Theories 3: Humanistic Theory

• Main Proposition: Personality develops as individuals strive for self-actualization and personal growth.

Important Concepts

• Self-Actualization: Fulfilling one's potential.

• Person-Centered Approach(self centered): Highlights the need for unconditional positive regard to promote growth.

• Positive Psychology: Focus on individual strengths and optimal functioning.

• opposite of humanistic:

  • conditional postive regards=acceptence & love only given if certain aspects are met; leads to self-deception

assesment

• holistic approach=use various angles/point of view

B. Major Theories 4: Type and Trait Approach

• Focus: Description of personality traits rather than causes.

Historical Perspective

• Allport and Odbert: Identified 18,000 personality-related words.

• Cattell: Conducted factor analysis to identify 16 personality factors.

• McCrae and Costa: Developed the Big Five Personality Factors (OCEAN).

Big Five Personality Factors

1. Openness to Experience

2. Conscientiousness=organized & diligent

3. Extraversion=outgoing

4. Agreeableness

5. Neuroticism=sensitivity to negative emotion

Type and Trait Personality Measurement

• Methods:

  1. objective self-report measures = measure what a person believe’s their personality is

  2. projective techniques = uncover a persons subconcious conflicts

B. Major Theories 5: Cognitive and Learning Theory

• Proposition: Personality results from interactions between cognitive processes(behaviour/traits) and environmental stimuli(external rewards) based on one’s beliefs about it.

  ex=if a person get rewarded for a certain trait, the person will evaluate that trait based on their belief & external reaction to decide if that trait will stay and develop stronger or not

Key Theorists

• Skinner: Focused on learned behaviors.

• Kelly: Developed personal construct theory.

• Rotter: Introduced concepts of expectancy and locus of control.

• Bandura: Established social learning theory, emphasizing self-efficacy and observational learning.