Personality
Personality: Personality refers to people’s typical way of thinking, feeling and behaving
It is relatively consistent over time and ***across different situation (it has variability in different situations, for instance, at work vs at home)
Involves features which distinguish us from each other
Influences or causes of our typical patterns of behaviour
The influence of genes, shared environmental factors, and non-shared environmental factors on personality - what to twin studies tell us?
Twin studies indicate the importance of genetics in personality, however, they also indicate the environment
/
Detangling twin and adoption studies has three factors
Genes
Shared environmental factors
Non-shared environmental factors
Through twin/adoption studies, it has shown that environment plays little to no role in personality; Dr: Fortune also shared her personal example of a sister (not twin) but same environment, and they have different personalities
Twin studies have shown that certain personality traits have more heredity than others
Freud’s perspective: conscious vs. unconscious, id, ego, superego influences on personality.
Genetics and personality Caution
Identifying certain genes linked to personality does not mean that those genes pre-determine us to a certain personality
3 important notes
It is unlikely that one gene is linked to a specific trait
Genes interact with the environment, it is impossible to separate genes from the environment
Estimates of the influence of genes are just estimate which apply to groups, not individuals
Freud Psychodynamic approach
Freud argued that our behaviour is motivated by our unconscious: the part of personality that contains the beliefs, memories, feelings, urges, drives, and instincts which an individual is not aware of
To understand personality, requires the exposing of content from the unconscious
The content of unconscious cannot be observed directly as the meanings are disguised through symbols
The unconscious is also not tangible, we do not know if it exists, not scientifically testable
Freud’s model has 3 parts
Id: bulk of unconscious personality
Ego: Conscious
Super Ego: Conscious
Id: raw, in born part of personality whose purpose is to reduce tension derived from primitive desires (sexual, hunger, aggression)
libido: limitless energy source putting pressure on various parts of the personality
Id runs on the pleasure principle: goal is the immediate reduction of tension (id) and the maximization of pleasure (libido)
Reality limits the demand of the id
Ego: Strives to balance the desires of the id and the realities of the objective, outside world
Developed shortly after birth
Operates on the reality principle: instinctual energy is restrained, limited to maintained the safety of an individual and to integrate them into society
The ego is the “executive” personality
The ego makes decisions, controls actions, thinking, and just has a higher problem solving order compared to the Id
Super Ego: An “angel” who represents the rights and the wrongs of society passed down by teachings, parents, etc.
Two parts: The conscience and the ego-ideal
Conscience:
Ego-ideal: Ideal self as who want to be; motivating us to take a specific action
Id is trying to led to all these urges
Super ego is trying to manage all these urges
Ego is a healthy personality, superego strives for perfection which is not possible while Id, an unrestricted primitive drive surrounding pleasure will result in constant fulfilling
Freud’s defense mechanism
5 stages: there is a conflict/challenge a child has to navigate in order to not be fixated in later life (adulthood). These conflicts they navigate are societal norms and their sexual urges and
Fixations are conflicts that persist
Defense mechanism: Anxiety is an important danger signal to the ego with requires actions
Two forms of anxiety
Realistic anxiety: seeing a poisonous snake
Neurotic anxiety: in which irrational impulses, derived from the Id, threaten to burst and become uncontrollable (unconscious thoughts that are not socially acceptable)
Anxiety is not liked, it is an unpleasant feeling, so Freud believed that people develop defensive mechanisms to combat it
These are unconscious strategies we have to reduce anxiety, which is concealing the source from ourselves and others
Unconscious strategies people use to reduce anxiety by concealing the source from themselves and others.
Adaptive in the short-term, but can become maladaptive if they become default, or are chronically relied upon.
Can lead to disconnection from self, from others, from reality.
Chronically stuffing things down, rather than dealing with them leads to what??
5 important defensive mechanisms
Defense mechanisms: what are they, what purpose do they serve, and know the following: repression, rationalization, projection, displacement.
Defense mechanism: Anxiety is an important danger signal to the ego with requires actions
Repression: primary defense mechanism where unacceptable/unpleasant Id impulses are pushed back into the unconsciousness
A thought/desire being pushed out of conscious awareness because it is traumatic and threatening
Projection: People defend against recognition of their own negative thoughts, feelings, motivations by projecting them onto others.\
You absolve yourself by passing it onto others
e.g., I’m thinking about cheating on my partner, so I accuse them of cheating on me.
Displacement: When we unleash our emotions on a ‘safer’ or more socially acceptable target.
Unleashing rage on another target (items)
e.g., my boss yelled at me at work, so I come home and yell at my partner for not doing the dishes.
Rationalization: Generating reasonable explanations (essentially excuses) for unacceptable behavior or setbacks/personal failures
Something that we have done that we should not have done
Ego constructs a rational motive to explain the unacceptable action caused by the impulses of the Id
Rationalization means one can express the dangerous impulse (Id) while superseding (ignoring) the superego (most sane outcome/best outcome)
E.g., I am tired so I am not going to study
Explains some of the biggest atrocities like the holocaust (harming the jewish people)
Jung’s notion of the collective unconscious and archetypes.
Concept from Jung: The concept of collective unconscious refers to a shared, inherited reservoir of information and experiences within all human beings' unconscious minds. According to Carl Jung, every person’s psyche is tied to the collective unconscious due to our shared heritage. We share a set of common symbols and archetypes which seemingly span cultures and eras.
Archetypes: Archetypes are universal symbols and character types found across cultures. Common Jungian archetypes include the hero and the mother.
Dreams: Jung believed dreams provide a window into the collective unconscious. He worked with his patients to examine the symbols and images in people’s dreams.
Horney’s notion of how gender roles impact development.
Rejected Freud’s psychoanalytic theory that women believed they are inferior due to a lack of a penis (penis envy)
Argued that women are envious of men due to the liberty they get: success, independency, freedom “attached to the organ”
Main proposals from Horney:
Argued that personality develops from societal relationships and depends on the relationship between a child and parent, specially how well the child’s needs are met
One of the first to emphasize the importance of societal/gender roles in shaping personality
For instance, role of women to be docile to men
Messaging for women in teaching is to be like men; be assertive to be taken seriously
Eysenck and Catell’s 3 dimensions of personality.
Cattel and Eysenck: Developed Factor Analysis to identify core defining personality traits
Researchers give a questionnaire to many participants, asking them to describe themselves by referring to a list of traits.
Factor analysis: statistical method of identifying associations among many variables.
All traits are boiled down to less traits
Cattell suggested that 16 pairs of source traits represented the basic dimensions of personality.
They computed traits associated with one another in the same person, a researcher can identify the most fundamental patterns or combinations of traits—called factors—that underlie participants’ responses.
From these, he developed the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16 PF)
Eysenck used Factor Analysis to identify patterns of traits, he found personality could best be described in 3 terms
Extraversion: relates to the degree of sociability: sociable, active, assertive
Neuroticism: encompasses emotional stability, both positive and negative
Psychoticism: refers to the degree to which reality is distorted; includes aggression and impulsivity (crude, undesirable behaviours)
By evaluating people along these 3 dimensions, Eysenck has been able to predict behaviour accurately in a variety of types of situations.
Big 5 model of personality traits (know the 5 and be able to identify them in scenarios).
The Big Five Personality Traits (McCrae and Costa): Most commonly used and influential trait approach, which argues that 5 traits or factors lie at the core of personality.
Big Five: determined through modern factor analytic statistical techniques, researchers have identified a similar set of five factors.
O = Openness to experience: Feelings, ideas, etc. E.g., practical Convention vs Curious
C = Conscientiousness: Competence. E.g.Impulsive vs Dependable
E = Extraversion: Relates to sociability: quiet vs outgoing
A = Agreeableness: Cooperation: Critical/Suspicious vs Trusting
N = Neuroticism: tendency towards unstable emotions: Calm vs Anxious
There is a spectrum of low score and high score to determine personality trait
Bandura’s ideas about reciprocal determinism and self-efficacy
Bandura’s Reciprocal determinism: A feedback loop; the environment does affect personality, but people’s behaviour and personalities are also assumed to “feed back” and modify the environment.
Essentially two factors, environment and personalities which are not linear,
Self-efficacy (Bandura): the belief in one’s personal capabilities or ability to produce a desired outcome. People with high self-efficacy have
Higher aspirations
Show greater persistence in working to attain goals
Achieve greater success than those with lower self-efficacy.
Direct reinforcement and encouragement from others also play a role in developing self-efficacy.
Encourage failure and liberty to experience failure
Rogers ideas about need for positive regard, conditions of worth/conditional regard vs. Unconditional positive regard, and the impact this has on our self-concept, anxiety levels.
Rogers argued our need for positive regard reflects the desire to be loved and respected, it is contingent on outsiders (society, family). This is due to us as humans being motivated to change for good, and innate good drive.
We grow increasingly dependent on others for this regard.
We see and judge ourselves through the eyes of other people, relying on their values, becoming preoccupied with what they think of us.
Rogers’ Notion of Self-Discrepancies
Self-concepts: Generalized sense of who we think we are
Placing value on the opinions of others can lead to a conflict between people’s experiences and their self-concepts.
The discrepancies of self-concepts with others’ opinions will lead to psychological disturbances such as persistent anxiety.
When the “ideal self,” (the person we would like to be) is significantly different from our “true self,” (who we are in reality) we experience anxiety and dissatisfaction.
Rogers also referred to these discrepancies as being driven by conditions of worth.
Unconditional positive regard: an attitude of acceptance and respect on the part of an observer, no matter what a person says or does
You get no judgement on who you are
You may have experienced this when you confided in someone you trusted.
Gives people the opportunity to evolve and grow cognitively and emotionally and to develop more realistic self-concepts.
Conditional positive regard: acceptance is contingent on others’ expectations.
Others withdraw their love and acceptance if you do something they don’t approve of, resulting in discrepancies, frustration, and anxiety. For instance, confining in someone you trust of something wrong you did, but they do not approve of it
Ways personality is assessed/measured: projective tests like the inkblot and TAT, self-report measures like the MMPI, behavioural assessments.
Rorschach test: showing series of visual stimuli and asking them what the figures represent to them
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): showing series of picture and asking them to write a story
Not conclusive according to critics as it requires particular skill and care in their interpretation
Self-Report Measures of Personality
Sometimes the best (and only way) to find out what a person is thinking or feeling is to ask them directly.
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) is a self-report test that identifies people with psychological difficulties and is employed to predict some everyday behaviours.
Consists of a series of 567 items
True, false, or cannot say responses
Questions cover a variety of issues, from mood like “I feel useless at times” to opinions like “people should try to understand their dreams,” health, etc.
No right or wrong answers (interpretation of pattern of responses).
Behavioural Assessment: Looking at someone's personality can also be done by watching them: measuring an individual’s behaviour which is used to describe personality characteristics.
Can be carried out naturalistically or in a laboratory setting.
Behavioural assessment is carried out objectively, quantifying behaviour as much as possible.
Particularly appropriate for observing (and modifying) specific behavioural difficulties like aggression.
Allows assessment of the specific nature and frequency of a problem and allows researchers to determine scientifically whether interventions have been successful.
The best predictor of behaviour is past behaviour