Chapter 11 Instructor Self and Personality

Chapter 11: Personality

Definition of Personality

  • Personality: A pattern of enduring characteristics that differentiate people.

  • Unique behaviors that define each individual.

Psychoanalytic Approaches

  • Psychoanalytic theory: Developed by Freud, suggests that behavior is triggered by unconscious forces.

  • Unconscious: A part of personality a person is not aware of, influencing behavior.

Structuring Personality

Id

  • Represents the raw, unorganized, inborn part of personality.

  • Libido: The psychic energy that fuels basic drives such as hunger and reproduction.

  • Pleasure principle: Drives the id to seek immediate satisfaction and reduction of tension.

Ego

  • Balances the desires of the id with the realities of the external world.

  • Reality principle: Restrains instinctual energy to ensure safety and societal integration.

Superego

  • The final structure to develop, representing societal rights and wrongs as learned from adults.

  • Conscience: Prevents morally improper behavior through guilt.

Psychosexual Stages of Development

  • Oral Stage (Birth to 12-18 months): Focuses on oral gratification.

  • Anal Stage (12-18 months to 3 years): Concerns with expelling and withholding feces, and toilet training.

  • Phallic Stage (3 to 5-6 years): Centers on genital interest, includes the Oedipal conflict leading to identification.

  • Latency Stage (5-6 years to adolescence): Sexual concerns are largely unimportant.

  • Genital Stage (Adolescence to adulthood): Reemergence of sexual interests and mature relationships.

Key Concepts in Developmental Psychology

  • Oedipal conflict: A child's sexual interest in the opposite sex parent leading to identification with the same-sex parent.

  • Identification: Imitating behaviors and adopting values of another person.

  • Fixation: Conflicts that persist beyond the developmental period.

  • Defense Mechanisms: Unconscious strategies used to reduce anxiety by concealing sources.

Freud’s Defense Mechanisms

  • Repression: Pushing unacceptable impulses into the unconscious (e.g., trauma).

  • Regression: Acting as if one were at an earlier stage of development (e.g., tantrums).

  • Sublimation: Diverting unwanted impulses into socially acceptable behaviors (e.g., aggression into military service).

  • Reaction Formation: Expressing unconscious impulses as their opposite (e.g., overly loving someone you resent).

  • Projection: Attributing one's unwanted feelings to another (e.g., blaming others for one’s own feelings).

Trait Theory

  • Trait Theory: Assumes everyone has certain traits.

  • Traits: Enduring dimensions of personality characteristics along which people differ.

The Big Five Personality Traits

  • Openness to experience: Willingness to engage with new ideas.

  • Conscientiousness: Level of organization and dependability.

  • Extraversion: Sociability and assertiveness compared to introversion.

  • Agreeableness: Compassionate and cooperative vs. antagonistic.

  • Neuroticism: Emotional instability and sensitivity to stress.

Biological and Evolutionary Approaches

  • These approaches suggest components of personality are inherited.

  • Temperament: Innate disposition evident early in life.

Humanistic Approaches

  • Focus on people's inherent goodness and growth tendencies.

  • Unconditional positive regard: Acceptance from another regardless of behavior.

  • Self-actualization: Realizing one's highest potential.

Self-Esteem

  • Examines the effects of enhancing children's self-esteem through praise on their performance.

Assessing Personality

  • Psychological tests: Standardized measures for assessing behavior objectively.

Projective Methods

  • Projective personality test: Participants interpret ambiguous stimuli, e.g., the Rorschach Inkblot test.