Notes on Personality Psychology

PERSONALITY

  • Definition of Personality

    • Describes long-standing traits and patterns that cause individuals to think, feel, and behave in consistent ways.

    • Originates from the Latin word 'persona', which refers to a mask worn by actors to project specific personality traits.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES

  • Hippocrates (370 BCE)

    • Proposed that personality traits and human behaviors stem from four temperaments tied to bodily fluids (the humors):

    1. Choleric - Yellow bile: passionate, ambitious, bold.

    2. Melancholic - Black bile: reserved, anxious, unhappy.

    3. Sanguine - Red blood: joyful, eager, optimistic.

    4. Phlegmatic - White phlegm: calm, reliable, thoughtful.

    • Galen built on this by linking diseases and personality differences to humor imbalances.

  • Phrenology (Franz Gall, 1780)

    • Proposed that personality traits could be identified by skull bumps; discredited due to lack of empirical evidence.

  • Immanuel Kant (18th century)

    • Expanded upon Galen’s temperaments by detailing traits of each.

  • Wilhelm Wundt (19th century)

    • Suggested that personality can be analyzed across two major dimensions:

    1. Emotional/non-emotional (strong emotions vs. weak emotions).

    2. Changeable/unchangeable (changeable vs. unchangeable temperaments).

  • Psychodynamic Perspectives (20th Century)

    • Sigmund Freud: Developed the first comprehensive theory of personality involving unconscious drives related to sex and aggression.

    • Neo-Freudians: Acknowledged Freud’s emphasis on childhood experiences but shifted focus from sex to social and cultural influences.

LEVELS OF CONSCIOUSNESS

  • Unconscious

    • Represents mental processes we are unaware of; Freud argued we are only conscious of about 10% of our mental activities.

    • Unacceptable urges are repressed but still influence our behaviors.

    • Freudian slips: Accidental slips of the tongue revealing hidden urges.

ID, EGO AND SUPEREGO

  • Freud's Structural Model of Personality

    • Describes personality as a dynamic interplay between:

    1. Id: Primitive urges for gratification; operates on the pleasure principle, seeking immediate satisfaction.

    2. Superego: Represents internalized societal rules; acts as a moral compass striving for perfection and inducing feelings of pride or guilt.

    3. Ego: Balances the demands of the Id and Superego; operates on the reality principle to satisfy id desires in a practical manner.

  • Effects on Personality

    • A balanced interaction produces a healthy personality; an imbalance can lead to neurosis and unhealthy behaviors.

DEFENSE MECHANISMS

  • Definition: Unconscious protective behaviors employed by the ego to manage anxiety and restore balance.

  • Freud acknowledged these as universal but cautioned against their overuse.

STAGES OF PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT

  • Freud's Five Psychosexual Stages

    1. Oral Stage (Birth – 1 year)

    • Erogenous zone: mouth.

    • Pleasure from eating and sucking; conflict is weaning.

    • Fixation leads to smoking, overeating, nail biting.

    1. Anal Stage (1-3 years)

    • Erogenous zone: anus.

    • Pleasure from bowel and bladder control; conflict in toilet training.

    • Fixation results in anal-retentive (stingy, orderly) or anal-expulsive (messy) personalities.

    1. Phallic Stage (3-6 years)

    • Erogenous zone: genitals.

    • Major conflict being Oedipus/Electra complex, resulting in feelings of desire for opposite-sex parent and rivalry with same-sex parent.

    • Fixation leads to issues of vanity and over-ambition.

    1. Latency Stage (6-12 years)

    • Erogenous zone: none, with sexual feelings dormant as focus shifts to social interactions and skills.

    1. Genital Stage (12+)

    • Erogenous zone: genitals.

    • Sexual reawakening occurs as urges refocus on socially acceptable relationships.

ALFRED ADLER

  • Individual Psychology

    • Focus on compensating for inferiority feelings; introduced the term 'inferiority complex' as the belief of inadequacy.

    • Emphasized social interest and connection as crucial for personality development.

    • Suggested that birth order influences personality.

    • Identified three social tasks:

    1. Occupational (careers)

    2. Societal (friendship)

    3. Love (partnership).

ERIK ERIKSON

  • Psychosocial Theory of Development

    • Proposes personality develops throughout life via eight stages, each focusing on social relationships and the successful resolution of conflicts.

CARL JUNG

  • Analytical Psychology

    • Stressed the balance between conscious and unconscious thought and introduced:

    • Personal Unconscious and Collective Unconscious: shared mental patterns across humanity.

    • Archetypes: universal themes reflecting common experiences (e.g., hero, mother).

    • Persona: the mask adopted in social contexts, balancing true self and societal expectations.

  • Extroversion and Introversion

    • Proposed two attitudes:

    • Introverts: energize in solitude, prefer written communication, more cautious in interactions.

    • Extroverts: energize in social settings, seek engagement, less prone to self-reflection.

KAREN HORNEY

  • Advocated self-realization but rejected the concept of penis envy, attributing sexual differences to cultural factors.

  • Introduced three coping styles in response to basic anxiety:

    1. Moving toward people - dependence on others for love.

    2. Moving against people - aggression and assertiveness.

    3. Moving away from people - withdrawal and avoidance.

THE BEHAVIORAL PERSPECTIVE

  • Behaviorism: Focuses on observable behaviors shaped by the environment through learning and reinforcement.

  • B.F. Skinner: Proposed that personality varies with experiences throughout life.

THE SOCIAL-COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE

  • Albert Bandura: Combined learning with cognitive factors, introducing:

    • Reciprocal Determinism: interaction between cognitive processes, behavior, and environment.

    • Observational Learning: learning through observing others, shaping acceptable behavior in the culture.

    • Concept of Self-efficacy: confidence in abilities, affecting how challenges are approached.

LOCUS OF CONTROL (JULIAN ROTTER)

  • Locus of Control: Explains beliefs about personal control over life outcomes.

    • Internal locus: belief that outcomes are due to personal efforts; linked to better performance and health.

    • External locus: belief that outcomes depend on external forces; linked to feelings of helplessness.

THE PERSON-SITUATION DEBATE (WALTER MISCHEL)

  • Mischel noted that behavior varies significantly across situations, challenging the consistency of personality traits.

  • Marshmallow Study: Examined self-control in children, correlating delay of gratification with future success and behavior.

HUMANISTIC APPROACHES

  • Focus on healthy personality development.

    • Abraham Maslow: Studied self-actualized individuals, finding traits like creativity and acceptance.

    • Carl Rogers: Linked personality to self-concept (ideal vs. real self). High congruence leads to self-worth, while incongruence leads to maladjustment.

BIOLOGICAL APPROACHES

  • Personality differences attributed to genetic predispositions.

    • Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart: Showed heritability in personality traits. Traits above 0.50 heritability include leadership, alienation, and resistance to stress.

SOMATOTYPES (WILLIAM H. SHELDON)

  • Proposed three body types linked to personality:

    1. Endomorphs: sociable, relaxed, good-humored.

    2. Mesomorphs: adventurous, assertive, competitive.

    3. Ectomorphs: anxious, artistic, quiet.

TRAIT THEORISTS

  • Gordon Allport identified 4,500 English words for personality, categorizing them into:

    1. Cardinal traits (dominant).

    2. Central traits (core personality).

    3. Secondary traits (situational).

  • Raymond Cattell reduced traits to 16 measured on a continuum.

  • Hans & Sybil Eysenck based their model on genetic influences and two dimensions:

    1. Extroversion/Introversion.

    2. Neuroticism/Stability.

FIVE FACTOR MODEL

  • Big Five Traits (OCEAN):

    1. Openness: openness to experience.

    2. Conscientiousness: diligence and dependability.

    3. Extroversion: sociability and outgoingness.

    4. Agreeableness: cooperative and compassionate.

    5. Neuroticism: emotional instability.

HEXACO MODEL

  • HEXACO Traits:

    • (H) Honesty-humility: sincerity, modesty.

    • (E) Emotionality: sensitivity, anxiety.

    • (X) Extraversion: sociability.

    • (A) Agreeableness: gentleness.

    • (C) Conscientiousness: organization.

    • (O) Openness: creativity.

CULTURAL UNDERSTANDINGS OF PERSONALITY

  • Cultures significantly influence personality:

    • Individualist cultures: focus on independence and personal achievement (e.g., Western nations).

    • Collectivist cultures: emphasize social harmony and group needs (e.g., Asian countries).

  • Regional differences exist within the U.S. based on select migration compatibility.

SELF-REPORT INVENTORIES

  • Used for a variety of purposes, including employment and psychological assessments.

  • MMPI: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, widely utilized for psychological diagnosis, consists of true/false questions covering multiple psychological scales.

PROJECTIVE TESTS

  • Rely on projection to assess the unconscious through ambiguous stimuli:

    • Rorschach Inkblot Test: interpreting inkblots reveals unconscious struggles.

    • Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): storytelling about ambiguous pictures reveals personal narratives.

    • Rotter Incomplete Sentence Blank (RISB): completing sentences exposes fears and desires.