Ch.+14+-+Personality
Personality
Chapter 14
Lesson Overview
Introduction to Personality Theories
Psychoanalytic Theory
Psychodynamic Theories
Trait Theories
Humanistic Theories
Social-Cognitive Theory
Introduction to Personality
There are four main theories of personality:
Psychoanalytic Theory: This theory focuses on childhood sexuality and unconscious motivations.
Psychodynamic Theories: These take a modern approach to psychoanalytic theory.
Humanistic Theory: This theory emphasizes inner capacities for growth and self-fulfillment.
Trait Theory: This theory concentrates on patterns of behavior, i.e., traits.
Social-Cognitive Theory: This theory examines the interaction between people's traits/thinking and their social environment.
Psychoanalytic Theory
Overview of Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud was an Austrian neurologist known as the founder of psychoanalysis. His observations of patients who exhibited symptoms with no neurological causes led him to discover the concept of the unconscious mind.
Unconscious: Refers to a reservoir of mostly inaccessible thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories.
Conscious: This is the state where individuals are aware of and have access to specific thoughts.
Preconscious: This contains thoughts outside of awareness but can be accessed if needed.
Free Association: A method of exploring the unconscious where the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, regardless of how trivial or embarrassing.
Personality Structure
Freud proposed a structure of personality consisting of three components:
Id: This part of personality aims to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives; it operates largely unconsciously.
Superego: It represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment and future aspirations; it is partly conscious.
Ego: Referred to as the "executive" part of personality, mediating demands of the id, superego, and reality; it is partly conscious.
The interaction among these components is crucial in understanding personality. The ego functions primarily in the conscious mind, making peace between the id's desires and the superego's morals.
Psychosexual Stages of Development
Freud proposed that personality develops through a series of childhood stages, each focusing on different erogenous zones.
Erogenous Zones
Oral Stage
Anal Stage
Phallic Stage
Latency Stage
Genital Stage
Key Concepts
Oedipus Complex: In the phallic stage, boys develop unconscious sexual desires for their mother and jealousy/hate for their father. This leads to feelings of fear of punishment known as castration anxiety.
Electra Complex: A similar concept involving daughters developing feelings for their father, introduced by later theorists.
Identification: Children incorporate their parents' values into their developing superegos as a resolution of rivalry.
Fixation: If conflicts during a psychosexual stage are not resolved, the individual may become fixated at that stage.
Defense Mechanisms
According to Anna Freud, ego defense mechanisms are protective methods for reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality:
Rationalization: Offering self-justifying explanations instead of addressing threatening unconscious reasons for one’s actions.
Regression: Retreating to an earlier psychosexual stage when conflicts arise.
Displacement: Shifting sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable object.
Denial: Refusing to believe or even perceive painful realities.
Reaction Formation: Switching unacceptable impulses into their opposites.
Projection: Attributing one’s own impulses to others.
Projective Testing
Projective tests offer ambiguous images designed to trigger projection of inner dynamics:
Rorschach Inkblot Test: Created by Herman Rorschach. It identifies people's inner feelings through their interpretations of inkblots.
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): Participants express their inner feelings and interests by creating stories about ambiguous images.
Modern Views on Psychoanalysis
Currently, psychologists acknowledge the significance of unconscious mental processes but contend that:
The unconscious is more about information processing than Freud's original notions.
Some defense mechanisms such as reaction formation and projection have research support, whereas repression appears to be rare as traumatic experiences often enhance memory.
Freud’s assertion about the importance of sexuality is seen as overstated. Development is considered a lifelong process rather than confined to childhood.
Freud’s theories often provide after-the-fact explanations without predictive power regarding behaviors and traits.
Psychodynamic Theories
Overview
Psychodynamic theories have been influenced by Freud's psychoanalysis but present different perspectives. Followers of Freud’s theories are known as neo-Freudians.
Key Figures
Karen Horney: Emphasized that childhood anxiety creates a desire for love and security while opposing many of Freud's gender-biased views about superegos.
Carl Jung: Proposed the existence of a collective unconscious containing archetypes like the Persona (the social self) and the Shadow (the hidden self).
Alfred Adler: Introduced the concept of the inferiority complex, suggesting that much of human behavior springs from childhood feelings of inferiority.
Humanistic Theories
Overview
Humanistic theories emphasize the potential for healthy personal growth and highlight two influential figures:
Abraham Maslow
Carl Rogers
Self-Concept
Self-Concept: Central feature of personality involving our thoughts and feelings about ourselves.
Abraham Maslow's Contributions
Hierarchy of Needs: A pyramid representing a range of human needs that must be in sequence, beginning with basic psychological needs, progressing to higher-level safety and psychological requirements.
Self-Actualization: The ultimate physiological need that arises once basic needs are met and self-esteem is achieved, focused on fulfilling one’s potential.
Self-Transcendence: The pursuit of identity, meaning, and purpose beyond the self that follows self-actualization.
Carl Rogers' Contributions
Person-Centered Perspective: Argues that people inherently possess good qualities and the tendency for self-actualization.
Three Facilitative Conditions for Growth:
Acceptance: Offering unconditional positive regard (an accepting, caring attitude that fosters self-acceptance)
Genuineness: Openness with feelings and dropping pretenses.
Empathy: Sharing and reflecting others' feelings.
Critiques of Humanistic Theories
Despite the criticisms, humanistic theories remain influential and provide a different perspective in psychology:
Individualism: Critics argue that promoting individualism may lead to selfishness, as self-actualization emphasizes personal truth.
Vagueness and Subjectivity: Some critique the vagueness in defining and identifying the traits of a self-actualizing person.
Optimism: Critics assert that the inherently positive view of human nature neglects the capacity for evil.
Trait Theories
Overview
Trait theories propose that personality is describable by fundamental traits, which are characteristic patterns of behavior.
Trait: A disposition to feel and act in certain ways, evaluated through self-report inventories or peer reports.
Key contributor: Gordon Allport, who developed the foundation of many personality assessments.
Examples include the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).
Dimensions of Traits
Traits can be understood in terms of dimensions similar to physical qualities:
Eysenck's Dimensions: Identified two key dimensions of personality:
Extroversion-Introversion: Indicates a spectrum between sociability and solitude.
Emotional Stability-Instability: Measures a range from emotional resilience to volatility.
The Big Five Factors
Research has identified five significant factors that describe personality:
Openness: The openness to experience, intellect, or imagination.
Conscientiousness: A high score indicates efficiency and organization, while a low score signifies haphazardness.
Extraversion: Measures sociability versus solitude.
Agreeableness: High scorers are sympathetic and cooperative, while low scorers tend to be cold and harsh.
Neuroticism: Relates to emotional stability and tendencies toward negative emotional states.
These factors are sometimes summarized with the acronym O.C.E.A.N.
Assessing Traits
The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) is the most researched and widely utilized personality test:
It was originally created to identify emotional disorders but is now applied broadly for various screening purposes.
It involves a questionnaire format where participants respond to items designed to gauge feelings and behaviors across various contexts.
Evaluating Trait Theory
Measurements affirm the existence of stable traits over time, particularly as individuals age. Although traits are relatively stable, behaviors may evolve according to contextual influences.
Social Cognitive Theories
Overview
The social-cognitive perspective views behavior as influenced by the interaction between personal traits (including thinking) and social environment.
Albert Bandura is a key figure in its development.
Reciprocal Determinism
This term describes the interplay of behavior, personal factors (like emotions and thoughts), and environmental influences. An example includes:
A shy student (personal factor) perceiving that most classmates are seated upon their arrival (environmental factor), leading them to choose a back seat to avoid social interactions (behavior).
The Concept of the Self
The self is regarded as the central aspect of personality, organizing thoughts, emotions, and actions. The discourse surrounding self has gained notable attention in recent research fields.
Spotlight Effect
This is the tendency to overestimate the degree to which others notice and evaluate our appearance or behavior, akin to believing a spotlight is shining on us, exemplifying what is often referred to as