Theories Personality

& Assessment
+
Definition of Personality?
Personality refers to the relatively enduring
characteristics that differentiate one person
from another and that lead people to act in a
consistent and predictable manner, both in
different situations and over extended periods
of time.
Personality is defined as: the enduring or
lasting patterns of behavior and thought (across
time and situation).
+ Personality

Four Major Perspectives on Personality

Psychoanalytic - unconscious motivations

Trait - specific dimensions of personality
Humanistic - inner capacity for growth
Social-Cognitive - influence of environment
+
Sigmund Freud

University of Vienna 1873

Voracious Reader
Medical School Graduate

Specialized in Nervous
Disorders : Some patients’ disorders
had no physical cause.

(1856-1939)
+ Sigmund Freud

 What is the structure and development of

personality, according to Sigmund Freud and his
successors (i.e.,psychoanalysts)?

 According to psychoanalysts, much of behavior is

caused by parts of personality which are found in
the unconscious and of which we are unaware.

 Freud’s 3 levels of awareness/consciousness:

 the conscious mind;
 the preconscious mind; and
 the unconscious mind.
+ Psychoanalysis: The Unconscious
“the
“themind
mind isislike
like an
aniceberg mostlyhidden”
iceberg--mostly hidden”

Conscious Awareness Unconscious

small part above surface below the surface
(Preconscious) (thoughts, feelings,
wishes, memories)

Repression
Banishing unacceptable
thoughts and passions to
unconscious:
Dreams and Slips
 + Psychoanalysis:
Freud’s Theory of Personality
 Three levels ofconsciousness:
+ Psychoanalysis:
Freud’s Theory of Personality

 Freud’s theory suggest that personality is composed of

the id, the ego, and the superego.

 id: the unorganized, inborn part of personality whose

purpose is to immediately reduce tensions relating to
hunger, sex, aggression, and other primitive impulses.

 ego: restrains instinctual energy in order to maintain the

safety of the individual and to help the person to be a
member of society.

 superego: the rights and wrongs of society and consists

of the conscience and the ego-ideal.
+Freud and Personality Structure
Id - energy constantly striving to satisfy basicdrives
Pleasure Principle

Ego - seeks to gratify the Id in realistic ways

Reality Principle

Super Ego
- voice of conscience
that focuses on how
Id we ought to behave
+ Freud’s Theory:
“the ID”
 The id uses the most primitive of thinking process.
 Basic biological urges (e.g., hunger, self-protection).
 The id operates on the Pleasure Principle.
 Seeks pleasure and avoids pain:“I want what I want NOW!”
 The id operates completely at an unconscious level.
 No direct contact with reality.
 The id has 2 major instincts:
 Eros: life instinct = motivates people to focus on pleasure-
seeking tendencies (e.g., sexual urges).
 Thanatos: death instinct = motivates people to use aggressive
urges to destroy.

 The energy for the id’s instincts comes from the libido, (the
energy storehouse).
+ Freud’s Theory:
“the Ego”

 Theego consists of a conscious faculty for

perceiving and dealing intelligently with reality.
 The ego acts as a mediator between the id and
the superego.
 The ego is partly conscious.
 Deals with the demands of reality.
 Makes rational decisions.
 +
Freud’s Theory:
“the Ego”
 The ego serves the ID:
 The rational part of personality that maintains
contact with reality.
 Governed by ‘Reality Principle’
 “What consequences are there to my behavior?”

 The ego is the Executive of the personality

 The ego controls higher mental processes.
 Reasoning, problem solving.
 The ego uses these higher mental processes to help satisfy the urges of the ID.
 +
Freud’s Theory:
“the Superego”

 Superego: the moral part of personality.

 Internalized rules of parents and society.

 Superego consists of two parts:

 Conscience: “notions of right/wrong.”
 Ego Ideal: “how we ideally like to be.”

 Superego: constrains us from gratifying every impulse (e.g.,

murder) because they are immoral, and not because we might
get caught.

 Superego: partly conscious, partly unconscious.

+
Freud: superego, id, andego
According to Freud, an individual’s feelings,
thoughts, and behaviors are the result of the
interaction of the id, the superego, and the
ego.
+
Freud’s Theory of Personality:
 The id, the ego, and the superego are continually in
conflict with one another.

 This conflict generates anxiety.

 If the ego did not effectively handle the resulting

anxiety, people would be so overwhelmed with
anxiety that they would not be able to carry on with
the tasks of everyday living.

 The ego tries to control anxiety (i.e., to reduce

anxiety) through the use of ego defense
mechanisms.
+ Ego Defense Mechanisms:
Defense Mechanisms
Ego Id
When the inner war
gets out of hand, the
result is Anxiety

Ego protects itself via

Defense Mechanisms
Super
Ego
Defense Mechanisms reduce/redirect
anxiety by distorting reality
+ Ego Defense Mechanisms

 Definition: An defense mechanism is a psychology

tendency that the ego uses to help prevent people from
becoming overwhelmed by any conflict (and resulting
anxiety) among the id, the ego, and the superego.

 Defense mechanisms operate at an unconscious

level:
 We are not aware of them during the time that we are
actually using them.
 However, we may later become aware of their
previous operation and use.
+ Freud’s Theory:
Defense Mechanisms

 Repression: pushing unacceptable and anxiety-

producing thoughts into the unconscious; involves
intentional forgetting but not consciously done; repressed
material can be memories or unacceptable impulses.
 A rape victim cannot recall the details of the attack.

 Regression: acting in ways characteristic of earlier life

stages/earlier stage of personality.
 A young adult, anxious on a trip to his parents/ home,
sits in the corner reading comic books, as he often did
in grade school.
+ Freud’s Theory:
Defense Mechanisms
 Reaction formation: replacing an anxiety-producing
feeling with its exact opposite, typically going
overboard; repressed thoughts appear as mirror
opposites.
 A man who is anxious about his interest in gay men
begins dating women several times a week.
(Boman Irani in Munnabhai MBBS)

 Rationalization: creating false but believable excuses

to justify inappropriate behavior; real motive for
behavior is not accepted by ego.
 A student cheats on an exam, explaining that cheating
is legitimate on an unfair examination.
+ Freud’s Theory:
Defense Mechanisms
 Denial: claiming and believing that something which is
actually true is false.
 A person disbelieves that she is age, asserting that “I
am not getting older.”

 Displacement: redirecting emotional feelings (e.g.,

anger) to a substitute target; involves directing
unacceptable impulses onto a less threatening
object/person.
 A husband, angry at the way his boss treated him,
screams at his children.
 Instead of telling your professor what you really think
of her, you tailgate and harass a slow driver on your
way home from school.
 + Freud’s Theory:
Defense Mechanisms
 Projection: attributing one’s own unacceptable feelings
or beliefs to others; perceiving the external world in
terms of one’s own personal conflicts.
 An employee at a store, tempted to steal some
merchandise, suspects that other employees are
stealing.

 Sublimation: substitute socially acceptable behavior for

unacceptable impulses.
 Playing video games instead of getting in a fight.
+ Freud:
Stages of Personality Development

 Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality

suggests that personality develops through a series
of stages, each of which is associated with a major
biological function.

 More specifically, Freud theorized that as people

age, they pass through several systematic stages of
psychosexual development in their personality.
+ Psychosexual Stages of Development
are Source of Unconscious Conflicts.
 The stages of personality development involve critical
events that occur in every child’s life.

 At each level, there is a conflict between pleasure and

reality.
 The resolution of this conflict determines personality.

 At any stage, “a fixation” can occur:

 If needs are either under-gratified or over-gratified, we
become fixated at a particular stage.

 Each stage also involves an erogenous zone.

 Parts of the body that involve sexual pleasure.
 Freud and Personality Development
“personality
“personality forms
forms during
during the
thefirst
first few
few years
years of
of life,
life,
rooted
rooted in
in unresolved
unresolved conflicts
conflicts of early childhood”
ofearly childhood”

Psychosexual Stages
Oral (0-18 mos) - centered on the mouth
Anal (18-36 mos) - focus on bowel/bladderelim.
Phallic (3-6 yrs) - focus on genitals/“Oedipus Complex”
(Identification & Gender Identity)
Latency (6-puberty) - sexuality is dormant
Genital (puberty on) - sexual feelings toward others

Strong conflict can fixate an individual at Stages 1,2 or3

+ Freud’s Stages of Personality
Development:
 Oral stage: the oral state is the first period, occurring
during the first year of life.

 Anal stage: next comes the anal stage, lasting from

approximately age 1 to age 3.

 Phallic stage: the phallic stages follows, with interest

focusing on the genitals.

 Latency period: then follows the latency period lasting

until puberty.

 Genital stage: after puberty, people move into the

genital stage, a period of mature sexuality.
+
(1) Oral stage of development:
 Time period: Birth to 18 months:
 Erogenous zone is mouth.
 Gratification through sucking and swallowing.

 Oral fixation has two possible outcomes.

 Oral receptive personality:
 Preoccupied with eating/drinking.
 Reduce tension through oral activity.
 eating, drinking, smoking, bitingnails

 Passive and needy; sensitive to rejection.

 Oral aggressive personality:
 Hostile and verbally abusive to others.
+
(2) Anal stage of development:
 Time period: 1 1/2 to 3 years of age.

 Erogenous zone is the anus.

 Conflict surrounds toilet training.

 Anal fixation has two possible outcomes.

 Anal retentive personality.
 Stingy, compulsive orderliness,stubborn,
perfectionistic.
 Anal expulsive personality.
 Lack of self control, messy,careless.
+
(3) Phallic stage of development:
 Time period: 3 to 6 years.

 Erogenous zone is the genitals: self-stimulation of the

genitals produces pleasure.

 At age 5 or 6, near the end of the phallic stage, children

experience the Oedipal conflict (boys)/the Electra conflict
(girls)--a process through which they learn to identify with
the same gender parent by acting as much like that parent
as possible.

 Oedipus complex (boys) vs Electra complex (girls)

 Child is sexually attracted to the other sex parent and
wishes to replace the same sex parent.
+
(3) Phallic stage of development:
 Oedipus complex (little boys):

 Castration anxiety:
 Son believes father knows about his desire for mom.
 Fears dad will castrate him.
 Represses his desire and defensively identifies with
dad.
+
(3) Phallic stage (continued):
 Electra complex (little girls):

 Penis envy:
 Daughter is initially attached to mom.
 Shift of attachment occurs when she realizes she lacks a
penis.
 She desires dad whom she sees as a means to obtain a
penis substitute (a child).
 Represses her desire for dad.
 incorporates the values of her mother
 accepts her inherent “inferiority” in society
+
(4) Latency Period:

 During the latency period, little girls and little boys try
to socialize only with members of their own gender.

 Freud posits that children do this so as to help

minimize the awareness of “sexuality.”

 Thus, they continue the process of sexual repression

that began in the previous stage (for those who
successfully made it through the Oedipal
Complex/Electra Complex).
+
(5) Genital Stage:

 When adolescence begin puberty, they enter the 5th stage of

psychosexual development.

 They develop secondary sexual characteristics (e.g., pubic

hair).

 The onset of the physical sexual characteristics “re-awakens”

people sexual urges, and thus they are no longer able to
successfully repress their sexual desires, impulses, and
urges.

 They begin searching for a marital mate, with whom they can
share sex and intimacy.
+
Summary of Freud (on personality):

 Freud’s psychoanalytic theory has provoked a number of

criticisms.
• a lack of supportive scientific data;
• the theory’s inadequacy in making predictions; and
• its limitations owing to the restricted population on which
it is based.

 Still, the theory remains popular.

• For instance, the neo-Freudian psychoanalytic theorists
built upon Freud’s work, although they placed greater
emphasis on the role of the ego and paid greater
attention to social factors in determining behavior.
+ Psychoanalysis:
Freud and Personality
Evaluating the Psychoanalytic
Perspective
Were Freud’s theories Current research
the “best of his time” contradicts
or were they simply many of Freud’s
incorrect? specific ideas

Development does not

stop in childhood

Slips of the tongue are Dreams may not be

likely competing unconscious
“nodes” in memory network drives and wishes
+ Summary:
Freud and Personality

Freud’s Ideas as Scientific Theory

Theories must explain observations
and offer testable hypotheses

Few Objective Observations Few Hypotheses

(Freud’s theories based on his recollections &

interpretations of patients’ free associations,
dreams & slips o’ the tongue)

Does Not PREDICT Behavior or Traits

+ 4 Types of Personality Theories:
(1) Psychodynamic approaches
to personality.

(2) Humanistic approaches

to personality.
(3)Trait approaches to personality.

(4). Social Cognitive approaches

to personality.
+ Psychodynamic (Psychoanalytic)
Theories:
Many are called Neo-Freudians. All place less emphasis on sex.
 CarlJung:
 Personal vs. Collective Unconscious.
 Balance between introversion and extroversion.

 Alfred Adler:
 Striving for superiority = motivation to master
environment.
 Notion of an Inferiority Complex.

 KarenHorney:
Personality is Cultural rather than biological.
+(2) Humanistic Personality
Theories:
 Source of information about personality:
• obtained from self-reports from the general
population and people in therapy.
 Cause of behavior, thoughts, and feelings:
• self concepts,
• self-actualizing tendencies.
• conscious feelings about oneself (based on one’s
previous experiences).
 Outlook on humans:
• positive.
 Comprehensiveness of theory:
• fairly comprehensive.
+ Maslow’s Hierarchy of human motives:
one must satisfy lower needs before one
satisfies higher needs.
 Humanistic Personality Theories:
+
Abraham Maslow
 Self-actualization is the culmination of a lifetime of inner-
directed growth and improvement:
• Challenging ourselves to the fullest.
• Can you identify a self-actualized individual?
• Characteristics of the self-actualized person:
 Creative and open to new experiences.
 Committed to a cause or a higher goal.
 Trusting and caring of others, yet not dependent.
 Have the courage to act on their convictions.
(+3)Trait Personality Theories (cont):

 Trait approaches have tried to identify the most basic

and relatively enduring dimensions along which people
differ from one another--dimensions known as traits.
 How many trait dimensions are there?
 How can we measure these trait dimensions?
 Where do these trait dimensions originate?
 (3) Trait Personality Theories (cont):
+
Allport

 Allport: Most important personality traits are those that

reflect our values.

 Allport suggested that there are 3 kinds of traits:

• cardinal: a single personality trait that directs most of a
person’s activities (e.g., greed, lust, kindness).
• central: a set of major characteristics that make up the
core of a person’s personality.
• secondary: less important personality traits that do not
affect behavior as much as central and cardinal traits
do.
 (3) Trait Personality Theories (cont):
Eysenck
 Hans Eysenck:
found two (2) major
trait dimensions:
• introversion
versus
extroversion
(quiet versus
sociable).
• Neuroticism
versus
emotional stability
(moody versus calm).
+ (3) Trait Personality Theories (cont):
Cattell’s Theory of Personality:
 Cattell’s Trait Theory:
 Distinguished 3 types of traits:
 Dynamic.
 Ability.
 Temperament.

 Also:
 Surface Traits: Less important to personality.
 Source Traits: More important basic underlying
traits.
 Cattell identified 16 basic traits.
• He developed the 16PF to measure these traits.
+(3)Trait Personality Theories (cont):

 Recently personality theorists have begun to converge on the

view that there are 5 basic personality dimensions:
 1: emotional stability versus neuroticism:
 calm, secure, self-satisfied VS anxious, insecure, self-pitying.

 2: extraversion versus introversion:

 sociable, fun-loving, affectionate VS retiring, sober, reserved.

 3: openness versus close-mindedness:

 imaginative, independent VS practical, conforming.

 4: agreeableness versus disagreeableness:

 kind, trusting, helpful VS ruthless, suspicious, uncooperative.

 5: conscientiousness versus undependable:

 organized, careful, disciplined VS disorganized, careless,
impulsive.
+
Five Factor Model of Traits
+
Five Factor Model of Traits
The Big Five
• Calm/Anxious
Emotional Stability
• Secure/Insecure

Extraversion • Sociable/Retiring
• Fun Loving/Sober

Openness • Imaginative/Practical
• Independent/Conforming

Agreeableness • Soft-Hearted/Ruthless
• Trusting/Suspicious

Conscientiousness • Organized/Disorganized
• Careful/Careless
+
Trait Theories of Personality:
Summary
 Traits:
 Characteristics or typical ways of acting:
 Consistency:
 across situations, over time.
 Distinctiveness:
 each personality is unique.

 Explain why individuals behave in certain ways.

 How many traits are there, and what are they?

 Not easy to answer; little consensus.
 +
Do traits exist?
The Trait-Situation Debate
 Walter Mischel (1968) argued that:
 Behavior is not consistent across time or situation.
 If no consistency, not much point in arguing for “personality.”
 Thus, “personality” is an illusion.

 Situationism:
 Mischel believed that behavior is influenced more by the situation than
any internal “trait.”

 Person x situation interactionism:

 Both (a) internaltraits and (b) the situation we are in are important
determinants of behavior.
 + (4) Social-Cognitive (Learning)
 Source of information about personality:

Observations of behavior, and questionnaire responses from the

general population.
 Cause of behavior, thoughts, andfeelings:
•reciprocalinfluence between people (cognitions and
behavior) and their environmental situations, colored by
their perceptions of control.
 Outlook on humans:
•neutral: neither positive nor negative.
 Comprehensiveness of theory:
•not very comprehensive.
+ Social-Cognitive-Learning
Perspective
Behavior learned through
conditioning and observation

What we think about our situation

affects our behavior

Interaction of
Environment and Intellect
+ Social-Cognitive Personality
Theories:
Social Learning Theory
 Bandura: Theoretical origins in behaviorism.

 Emphasizes the role of learning in personality.

 Classical Conditioning.
 Operant Conditioning .
 Modeling.

 Instead of studying what’s going on inside the person (traits),

study what is going on outside the person (environment).

 How does the environment shape personality?

 Learning Theories

1) Learning through association - Classical Conditioning.

2) Learning through consequences – Operant Conditioning.

3) Learning through observation –Modeling/Observational Learning

live, verbal, and symbolic.
+ Social-Cognitive Personality
Theories:
Social Learning Theory
 Bandura also emphasized the importance of cognition in
personality development.

 People develop a sense of self-efficacy:

 Our beliefs about our ability to achieve goals.
 Individuals with higher self-efficacy:
 accept greater challenges.
 try harder to meet challenges.

 Bandura also discusses the notion of Reciprocal

Determinism:
 The individual and the environment continually
influence one another.
+ Social-Cognitive Personality Theories:
Reciprocal Determination
Personal/
Cognitive
Factors

Environment
Behavior
Factors

Internal
Internal World
World ++ External
External World
World ==Us
Us
+ Social-Cognitive PersonalityTheories:
Reciprocal Determination
+ Social-Cognitive PersonalityTheories:
Personal Control
Internal Locus of Control:
You pretty much control your own destiny

External Locus of Control:

Luck, fate and/or powerful others control your destiny.

Methods of Study:
• Correlate feelings of control with behavior.
• Experiment by raising/lowering people’s sense of
control and noting the consequences and effects.
+
Comparison of Personality
Theories
 The Humanistic Perspective

Maslow’s Roger’s
Self-Actualizing Person-Centered
Person Perspective

“Healthy” rather than “Sick”

Individual as greater than the sum of test scores
+ Humanistic Personality Theories:
Maslow and Rogers
 Humanistic approach (Third Force):
 Rejected Freud’s pessimistic view of personality.
 Rejected Behaviorist’s mechanistic view.
 More optimistic/positive about human nature.
 Humans are free and basically good.
 Humans are inner-directed.
 Everyone has the potential for healthy growth.
 Health growth involves Self actualization:
 “Be all you can be.”
 Given the right environmental conditions,
we can reach our full potential.
Roger’s Person-Centered Perspective
People are basically good
with actualizing tendencies.

Given the right environmental

conditions, we will develop
to our full potentials

Genuineness, Acceptance, Empathy

Self Concept: central feature

of personality (+ or -)
Self- Concept

•Reaction of others
•comparison with others

Self-worth- •social roles

•Identification
•Parents

Self-image

Ideal Self
+
Humanistic Personality Theories:
Carl Rogers
Self-concept: our image or perception of ourselves (Real
Self versus Ideal Self).

 We have a need for positive regard/approval from others.

 Conditions of worth or conditional positive regard.
 The conditions under which other people will approve of us.
 We change our behavior to obtain approval.
 What we need is: Unconditional positive regard.
 Anxiety signifies that we are not being true to our ideal self.
 Well-adjusted persons: self-concept & experience (Congurent)
 Poorly adjusted person: self-concept &
experience.(Incongurent)