Module 4c – The Individual Mind
Personalities Theories
Personality – derives from the Latin word persona, which
translates into English as “mask.”
 Comprised of consistent ways in which a person’s
behavior differs from that of others, especially in
social context.
Sigmund Freud and the Psychodynamic Approach
Psychodynamic theory – relates personality to the interplay
of conflicting forces within the individual.
 Individual may not be aware of these forces
influencing thought and behavior.
Freud’s theory - had an enormous impact on 20th Century
psychology, but his influence within psychology is waning.
 His ideas are very difficult to test empirically.
 Many psychologists find nothing useful in the
Freudian paradigm, its tenets are still utilized by
some mental health practitioners.
Freud’s Search for the Unconscious
Josef Breuer – psychiatrist who influenced Freud;
encouraged patients to recall details of traumatic early life
experiences to relieve the physical complaints he believed
stemmed from unreleased emotions associated with these
events.
Catharsis - the therapeutic release of pent-up emotional
tension.
Psychoanalysis - this “talking cure” was expanded into a
method of explaining the workings of personality, based on
the interplay of conscious and unconscious internal forces.
Unconscious mind - contains memories, emotions, and
thoughts, including irrational or socially unacceptable ones.
 These thoughts and feelings influence our behavior.
 Psychoanalysis reveals these to achieve catharsis and
help the patient overcome dysfunctional impulses.
 Some patients were less seriously affected by early
childhood traumas than others were.
 He developed hypotheses for the “excessive anxiety”
that some patients seem to manifest. Might be due
to:
 Lack of sexual gratification
 Masturbation
 Traumatic sexual experiences from
early childhood
 He stood by the “seduction hypothesis” for several
years, constructing evidence for sexual abuse from
patients’ dream reports, slips of the tongue, and
other indirect evidence.
 Some patients did not remember these events, but
Freud insisted that his interpretations were correct.
 He later abandoned the seduction hypothesis,
claiming that his patients had “misled” him (not that
he might have been mistaken).
 He claimed that his patients had sexual fantasies as
young children and never came to terms with their
anxiety and guilt.
The Oedipus complex
 Children wish to have sex with their opposite sex
parent but realize that it is forbidden.
 Based (loosely) on an ancient play by Sophocles in
which the protagonist (unknowingly) murders his
father and marries his mother (also unknowingly).
 Like many other constructs proposed by Freud, there
is little reliable empirical evidence to support the
“Oedipus complex.”
 He rarely distinguished between results and
evidence.
Stages of Psychosexual Development in Freud’s Theory of
Personality
 He developed a framework for the development of
personality during childhood and adolescence.
 It is a progression of conflicts about channeling
sexual energy.
 He related personality development to the changing
nature of the individual’s psychosexual interest and
pleasure (all the strong and pleasurable sensations
of excitement that arise from body stimulation.)
 He believed that managing this aspect of
development influences nearly all aspects of
personality.
 He proposed the existence of libido, an innate
psychosexual energy (from the Latin word for
“desire”).
 The preferred channel for gratifying this desire
changes over the lifespan.
 There are five stages, each with its own way for
seeking gratification.
 If normal development is blocked, a person may
become fixated and preoccupied with gratification
of the libido in a manner typical of an earlier period.
Module 4c – The Individual Mind
The Oral Stage (The first year of life)
 The infant derives psychosexual pleasure from
stimulation of the mouth, particularly from
breastfeeding but from other oral contact as well.
 Oral fixation manifests in:
o problematic eating,
o drinking,
o substance use, and
o dependence on/independence from others.
The Anal Stage (About 1 to 3 years old)
 Intense psychosexual pleasure derived from
stimulation of the anal sphincter, (which controls
elimination) related to toilet training, which usually
occurs at this age.
 Anal fixation might involve problems with:
o extreme stinginess and need to maintain
strict order.
o Or the opposite the person is very wasteful
and messy.
The Phallic Stage (About 3 to 6 years of age)
 Psychosexual pleasure derives from stimulation of
the genitals, and the child is attracted to the
opposite-sex parent.
 Phallic fixation involves:
o fear of being castrated (in boys)
o “penis envy” (in girls)
The Latent Period (About 6 years to adolescence)
 The child suppresses psychosexual interest. Play
and interaction is mostly with same sex peers.
 There’s evidence that the “latent period” is a
cultural artifact.
o Children in some non-industrialized
societies do not experience “latency.”
The Genital Stage (Adolescence and beyond)
 The individual has strong sexual interest in other
people. If the other stages were completed
successfully, primary psychosexual satisfaction is
gained from sexual intercourse.
 Fixation in an earlier period of development means
little libido in this stage.
Evaluation of the Stages
 They are difficult to test empirically and research on this
model has been inconclusive.
 Attributes of those “fixated” at certain stages seem to
correlate, there is no evidence that originate in
difficulties at those ages (i.e. “penis envy” in the Phallic
Stage).
Structure of Personality
Id - biological drives that demand immediate gratification.
Ego - the rational, negotiating, and decision-making part of
personality. (Conscious mind)
Superego - internalized values and rules we receive from our
parents and society.
 He thought these components were “warring
factions” struggling for control of personality and
behavior.
o These struggles can cause psychological
distress.
 Psychologists view this model as metaphoric; most
do not see it as the true structure of mind.
 Conflicts and anxiety over unpleasant impulses and
thoughts occur.
Defense Mechanisms against Anxiety
 He proposed the existence of defense mechanisms
that keep these thoughts and feelings banished in
the unconscious.
 These mechanisms usually function as healthy ways
to suppress anxiety.
 They become problematic only if they prevent the
person from effectively dealing with reality.
Rationalization - “making excuses” and reframing unpleasant
events or actions as beneficial or appropriate.
Repression - “motivated forgetting” of unacceptable thoughts
and feelings.
Regression - a return to juvenile behavior.
Denial - refusal to acknowledge a problem.
Displacement - diversion of an unacceptable thought or
impulse from its true target to a less threatening one.
Reaction formation - showing thoughts or feelings extremely
opposite of one’s true ones.
Sublimation – channeling sexual or aggressive energies into
acceptable and pro-social behaviors.
Projection - attributing one’s own undesirable characteristics
or motives to other people.
Module 4c – The Individual Mind
Freud’s Legacy
 His evidence was weak, and some of his conclusions
likely are dubious or wrong.
 He made enduring and useful contributions to
psychology, nonetheless.
 Scholars argue about the extent to which Freud was
responsible for formulating theories associated
with him.
 Humans have a mental life that is at least partly
unconscious.
 People have conflicting motives.
 Childhood experiences contribute to the
development of adult personality and social
behavior.
 Relationships with people in our family-of-origin
influence relationships we have with others
throughout life.
 Sexual development has an impact on psychological
development.
Neo-Freudian (Psychologists and others who adopted some
parts of Freud’s theory and modified others)
Karen Horney - believed that Freud exaggerated the role of
sexuality in human behavior and motivation and
misunderstood the women’s motivations and dynamics of
family relationships.
Carl Jung – put a greater emphasis on the continuity of
human experience and need for spiritual meaning in life.
 He proposed the existence of a “collective
unconscious” reflecting the cumulative experiences
of all our ancestors.
 It contains archetypes - figures and themes that
emerge repeatedly in history and across cultures.
Alfred Adler - founded the school of “individual psychology.”
 “Individual” refers to understanding the whole
person, in contrast with the partitioned model
central to the Freudian framework.
 He proposed that humans naturally seek personal
excellence and fulfillment and strive for superiority.
We create a master plan for achieving this, called a
style of life.
 People who fail suffer from an inferiority complex,
an exaggerated feeling of inadequacy.
 Healthy striving for superiority also involved concern
for the welfare of others.
 Psychologically healthy people have social interest, a
sense of belonging and identification with other
people.
 Psychopathology involves the setting of inadequate
goals, a faulty style of life, and lack of social interest.
The Learning Approach
 Some psychologists are skeptical about personality
in general.
o People adopt a variety of behavioral styles
depending on social context.
o We exhibit one set of behaviors when we
interact with our parents, another at work,
and yet another with friends.
o This relates specific behaviors to specific
experiences.
o The experiences from which we learn are
those of others in our environment.
Gender role - is psychological aspects of being male or
female.
Cross-cultural research - suggests that aspects of gender
roles are learned.
Reinforcements and punishments - are given for
correct/incorrect gender role behaviors.
 Boys can be observed to imitate men, and girls to
imitate women.
Humanistic psychology
Humanistic psychology - deals with values, beliefs, and
consciousness, including spirituality and guiding principles of
living.
Personality - depends on what people believe and how they
perceive and understand the world.
Humanistic psychologists - see people as essentially good.
 This contrasts with the more morally neutral
behaviorism and the essentially negative view of
human nature in psychoanalytic theory.
 Rejected the deterministic, reductivist natures of
behaviorism and psychoanalysis.
 They denied simple cause and effect processes in
behavior.
 They view the person as a whole entity.
 Humanistic psychologists’ study peak experiences,
moments in life when a person feels truly fulfilled or
content.
Research - is usually qualitative in form, recording narratives
and anecdotes about how people behave and think.
Carl Rogers and Unconditional Positive Regard
Carl Rogers - is one of the founders of the school.
Module 4c – The Individual Mind
 He believed that human nature is essentially good, Nomothetic approach - identifies general laws describing
and that people strive toward self-actualization -a aspects of personality influencing behavior.
state of achieving one’s full potential.
Idiographic approach - uses intensive studies of individuals.
 It is the driving force in his model.
It does not produce conclusions that are applied generally to
 Rogers believed that children develop a self-
people.
concept, an image of the person they are.
 They also develop an ideal self, an image of who Personality Traits and States
they would like to be.
 In the model, psychological distress comes from the Trait - consistent, long-lasting behavioral tendency - like
mismatch perceived between the self-concept and sociability, shyness, or assertiveness.
the ideal self. State - a temporary activation of particular behavior.
 Rogers believed that human welfare was best
served when people related in an atmosphere of The Search for Broad Personality Traits
unconditional positive regard.
Trait approach to personality - the search for consistent
 This is the acceptance of the person as he or she is.
personality characteristics that can be measured and studied.
 Most people receive conditional positive regard in
their important relationships.  Many familiar personality traits have been studied.
 The person is held in esteem only when fulfilling
certain requirements set for them by others. The Big Five Model of Personality

Abraham Maslow and the Self-Actualized Personality
Abraham Maslow - proposed that people have a hierarchy of
needs and that the highest need of these is the need to
become self-actualized.
 He listed the characteristics of self-actualized people
based on those who in his opinion, had achieved the
state.
 Characteristics of the self-actualized individual
include:
o An ability to perceive reality accurately
o Independence, spontaneity, and creativity
o Treating others with unconditional positive
regard
o An outlook that emphasizes problem-
solving
o Enjoyment of life
o A good sense of humor
 This is not a scientific list, and merely represents
characteristics that Maslow admired.
Factor analysis - a technique to determine the traits that
correlate most strongly with each other, five groups of
related traits were identified:
 Neuroticism - is the tendency to experience
unpleasant emotions very easily.
 Extraversion - is a tendency to seek stimulation and
enjoy the company of other people.
 Agreeableness - is a tendency to be compassionate
rather than antagonistic towards others.
 Conscientiousness - is the tendency to show self-
discipline, to be reliable, and to strive for
competence and achievement.
 Openness to new Experience - refers to a tendency
to enjoy new experiences and new ideas.

Personality

Personality theory - raises fascinating questions that do not

seem easily answerable.

 Researchers are working on small aspects of these

questions in hopes of eventually synthesizing an
accurate “big picture” of who we really are.

Two Approaches Used to Study Personality

Criticisms of the Big Five description

Module 4c – The Individual Mind
 It was based on a study of the English language, not
on observations of human behavior.
 There are too few traits included.
 There are too many traits included.
 It has limited applicability cross-culturally.

Ester Rada, PhD., publication

2019 Asia-Pacific Consortium of Researchers and Educators

APCoRE Journal of Proceedings Vol. 1, Series 3, Education

FIVE FACTOR TRAITS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN

COLLEGE

Ester T. Rada, PhD

63-67

International network: