PERSONALITY CONCEPTIONS

The Five-Factor Model of Personality pioneered by McRae and Costa is comprised of five
main super-factors: openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and
neuroticism1. McRae and Costa proposed a design in which an individual scores somewhere
along each super-factor scale. The scale with the highest scoring value determines the
dominant super-factor and the scale with the lowest score indicates the least dominant
super-factor of an individual. They believed this process would provide a reliable description
of an individual’s personality. Openness is described as adventurous, creative, curious and
willing to embrace the unknown2. A person deemed agreeable is good-natured with warm
energy as they strive to accommodate and support others in a cooperative way3.

Sigmund Freud’s Psychodynamic theory explained the human psyche as a three-tier

structure consisting of a conscious, pre-conscious and unconscious component4. The
conscious level is the thoughts and perceptions humans are aware of and experience daily5.
The pre-conscious level consists of stored memory and knowledge that is retrieved on
occasional occurrences6. The unconscious protects the conscious by repressing any fears,
traumatic experiences, unacceptable urges, and desires that cause distress to the conscious
psyche7. Freud further developed this theory which aligned each of the concepts with an
interactive principle. Within the unconscious, the ID is present and is characterised as
selfish, demanding instant gratification and satisfaction of needs8. ID’s constant search for
pleasure places it in constant conflict with the superego which is situated in the pre-
conscious9. The superego inflicts guilt and shame onto the individual when their behaviour
is driven by the ID10. It is the morality concept responsible for reminding an individual of the
obligations and expectations of society11. Within the conscious is the Ego which is the
mediator between the ID and superego and is the most dominant force in a healthy
personality12. To balance the superego and the ID, the ego may enforce defence
mechanisms such as denial, which is the refusal to acknowledge an experience for fear of
encountering stress or painful emotions. Prolonged denial can lead to anxiety and
depression in the long term13.

1
Gebert, K. and Green, D., 2021. SACE Stage 2 Psychology Essentials Workbook. 1st ed. Adelaide: Adelaide Tuition Centre.
2
Gebert, K. and Green, D., 2021. SACE Stage 2 Psychology Essentials Workbook. 1st ed. Adelaide: Adelaide Tuition Centre.
3
Gebert, K. and Green, D., 2021. SACE Stage 2 Psychology Essentials Workbook. 1st ed. Adelaide: Adelaide Tuition Centre.
4
Gebert, K. and Green, D., 2021. SACE Stage 2 Psychology Essentials Workbook. 1st ed. Adelaide: Adelaide Tuition Centre.
5
Gebert, K. and Green, D., 2021. SACE Stage 2 Psychology Essentials Workbook. 1st ed. Adelaide: Adelaide Tuition Centre.
6
Gebert, K. and Green, D., 2021. SACE Stage 2 Psychology Essentials Workbook. 1st ed. Adelaide: Adelaide Tuition Centre.
7
Gebert, K. and Green, D., 2021. SACE Stage 2 Psychology Essentials Workbook. 1st ed. Adelaide: Adelaide Tuition Centre.
8
Gebert, K. and Green, D., 2021. SACE Stage 2 Psychology Essentials Workbook. 1st ed. Adelaide: Adelaide Tuition Centre.
9
Gebert, K. and Green, D., 2021. SACE Stage 2 Psychology Essentials Workbook. 1st ed. Adelaide: Adelaide Tuition Centre.
10
Gebert, K. and Green, D., 2021. SACE Stage 2 Psychology Essentials Workbook. 1st ed. Adelaide: Adelaide Tuition Centre.
11
Gebert, K. and Green, D., 2021. SACE Stage 2 Psychology Essentials Workbook. 1st ed. Adelaide: Adelaide Tuition Centre.
12
Gebert, K. and Green, D., 2021. SACE Stage 2 Psychology Essentials Workbook. 1st ed. Adelaide: Adelaide Tuition Centre.
13 Cherry, K. (29AD). What Does It Mean When Someone Is In Denial? [online] Verywell Mind. Available at:

https://www.verywellmind.com/denial-as-a-defense-mechanism-5114461 [Accessed 3 Mar. 2022].

TED LASSO’S PERSONALITY

Ted Lasso is the most dominant in openness and agreeableness when reviewed against the
five-factor model. His warm and optimistic attitude is met with hostility from the football
community, especially the press, “You’re … now charged with the leadership of a Premier
League football club despite clearly possessing very little knowledge of the game,” to which
Ted patiently asks, “You got a question in there?” and receives a rude response of, “Yeah…is
this a f*cking joke?”14 He remains undeterred and continues to smile and answer in the
most gracious manner, demonstrating high levels of agreeableness15. The public greets him
in the streets with “Hey w*nker, don’t you f*ck up the match!” and Ted welcomes the
comment good-naturedly, “I appreciate you; we’ll see what happens.”16 Responding
sanguinely in adversity is typical behaviour amongst individuals who score high on the
agreeableness scale and the ability to converse with strangers is derived from openness as
one of his super-factors. To accept and endure such a risky opportunity is owed to Ted’s
adventurous attitude, common amongst individuals who possess openness as their super-
factor. Ted remarks when travelling to England, "Taking on a challenge is a lot like riding a
horse, isn't it? If you're comfortable while you're doing it, you're probably doing it
wrong.17" His excitement and curiosity to embrace an unfamiliar environment confirms
openness as his dominant factor. Another reason for welcoming the coaching job exhibits
his agreeableness and willingness to put others before himself. His marriage is struggling,
and his wife asked for space, so “I gave her 4,438 miles worth of it.”18 When his wife and son
visit from America his agreeableness is emphasised when they are discussing divorce, “If
there is something I could do or something I could say that would make you be happy, just
being with me, I’d do it… in a nanosecond.”19

Ted’s openness does not extend to dealing with his own feelings about past traumatic
experiences. His father died by suicide when he was 16 and Ted holds resentment towards
him because, “he quit on his family.”20 His persistent ideology is present when he tells his
soon to be ex-wife, “I promised myself I would never quit anything in my life.21” He often
compensates for the painful feelings threatening to spill from his ID with his superego
employing the defence mechanism, denial22, 23. When one of Ted’s players is humiliated by
another teammate he tells him, “You know what the happiest animal on earth is? It’s a
goldfish. You know why? Got a ten-second memory.”24 This clearly demonstrates denial as

14 Ted Lasso. (2020). [TV Series] Apple TV.

15 Ted Lasso. (2020). [TV Series] Apple TV.
16 Ted Lasso. (2020). [TV Series] Apple TV.
17 Ted Lasso. (2020). [TV Series] Apple TV.
18 Ted Lasso. (2020). [TV Series] Apple TV.
19 Ted Lasso. (2020). [TV Series] Apple TV.
20 Ted Lasso. (2020). [TV Series] Apple TV.
21 Ted Lasso. (2020). [TV Series] Apple TV.
22
Gebert, K. and Green, D., 2021. SACE Stage 2 Psychology Essentials Workbook. 1st ed. Adelaide: Adelaide Tuition Centre.
23 VanDerWerff, E. (2021). Ted Lasso’s deep, dark secret. [online] Vox. Available at: https://www.vox.com/culture/22663547/ted-lasso-

episode-8-recap-review-season-2-man-city [Accessed 5 Mar. 2022].

24 Ted Lasso. (2020). [TV Series] Apple TV.
his defence mechanism but proves to be unstainable as he struggles to accept his impending
divorce and confront his insecurities buried in his ID25. Guilt and shame inflicted by his
superego, engulf him after he sleeps with another woman26. He confesses his feelings to his
friend who replies with a shrug, “what did you do wrong?”27 This highlights the discrepancy
between Ted’s superego perception and a realistic ego view. Throughout the season Ted
experiences anxiety attacks which are common with people whose personality is driven by
their superego28. He believes he can outrun his problems and avoids seeking help which
leads to discomfort when he is introduced to a sports psychologist29. He tries to withdraw
from his appointment by denying and invalidating his emotions and when prompted to
discuss what led him to have an anxiety attack, he leaves afraid of revisiting the painful
emotions30. This behaviour is common with individuals who have experienced something
traumatic in their childhood. They prefer to help others and keep ignoring their own
problems until the id's needs and repressed feelings eventually demand to be recognised by
the conscious mind31.

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF TRAIT AND PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY

The Trait theory is one of the most widely recognised and useful theories of personality to
date32. The five-factor model is inclusive of all demographics including age, race and gender
and the systematic approach can be applied across many cultures33. The five main traits
provide a broad description of an individual’s personality which can predict future
behaviour34. McRae and Costa proposed that humans are born with a predominant trait but
does not provide reasoning to why personality changes over time altering the highest
scoring factor of an individual35. Furthermore, the dominant super-factor may change or
reduce in different social contexts minimising the validity and the reliability of predicting
behaviour36.

Freud’s Psychodynamic theory is praised for including the effects of nature and nurture on
personality37. Nature encompassing the ID, ego and superego and nurture referring to
childhood experiences38. This concept has allowed for further theories to develop such as

25 Ted Lasso. (2020). [TV Series] Apple TV.

26 Ted Lasso. (2020). [TV Series] Apple TV.
27 Ted Lasso. (2020). [TV Series] Apple TV.
28
Gebert, K. and Green, D., 2021. SACE Stage 2 Psychology Essentials Workbook. 1st ed. Adelaide: Adelaide Tuition Centre.
29 VanDerWerff, E. (2021). Ted Lasso’s deep, dark secret. [online] Vox. Available at: https://www.vox.com/culture/22663547/ted-lasso-

episode-8-recap-review-season-2-man-city [Accessed 5 Mar. 2022].

30 Ted Lasso. (2020). [TV Series] Apple TV.
31
VanDerWerff, E. (2021). Ted Lasso’s deep, dark secret. [online] Vox. Available at: https://www.vox.com/culture/22663547/ted-lasso-
episode-8-recap-review-season-2-man-city [Accessed 5 Mar. 2022].
32
Gebert, K. and Green, D., 2021. SACE Stage 2 Psychology Essentials Workbook. 1st ed. Adelaide: Adelaide Tuition Centre.
33
Gebert, K. and Green, D., 2021. SACE Stage 2 Psychology Essentials Workbook. 1st ed. Adelaide: Adelaide Tuition Centre.
34
Gebert, K. and Green, D., 2021. SACE Stage 2 Psychology Essentials Workbook. 1st ed. Adelaide: Adelaide Tuition Centre.
35
Gebert, K. and Green, D., 2021. SACE Stage 2 Psychology Essentials Workbook. 1st ed. Adelaide: Adelaide Tuition Centre.
36
Gebert, K. and Green, D., 2021. SACE Stage 2 Psychology Essentials Workbook. 1st ed. Adelaide: Adelaide Tuition Centre.
37 Charlotte (2000). Strengths and Weaknesses of Psychodynamic Approach. [online] Getrevising.co.uk. Available at:

https://getrevising.co.uk/grids/strengths_and_weaknesses_of_psychodynamic_approach [Accessed 7 Mar. 2022].

38 Charlotte (2000). Strengths and Weaknesses of Psychodynamic Approach. [online] Getrevising.co.uk. Available at:

https://getrevising.co.uk/grids/strengths_and_weaknesses_of_psychodynamic_approach [Accessed 7 Mar. 2022].

Piaget and the Development Theory39. Conversely, Freud has been criticised for his scientific
flaws as his assumptions are unfalsifiable as there is no possible way to empirically test the
unconscious mind40. It relies on the behaviour being deterministic based on childhood
experiences and not because of one’s own agency, reducing the validity of the argument41.

1199 words

39 Charlotte (2000). Strengths and Weaknesses of Psychodynamic Approach. [online] Getrevising.co.uk. Available at:

https://getrevising.co.uk/grids/strengths_and_weaknesses_of_psychodynamic_approach [Accessed 7 Mar. 2022].

40 Vinney, C. (2019). Psychodynamic Theory: Approaches and Proponents. [online] ThoughtCo. Available at:

https://www.thoughtco.com/psychodynamic-theory-4588302 [Accessed 7 Mar. 2022].

41 Vinney, C. (2019). Psychodynamic Theory: Approaches and Proponents. [online] ThoughtCo. Available at:

https://www.thoughtco.com/psychodynamic-theory-4588302 [Accessed 7 Mar. 2022].

 APPENDIX- CHARACTER DESCRIPTION

Figure 2 Ted Lasso at a press conference in 'Ted Lasso'

Figure 1 Ted Lasso in the TV series ‘Ted Lasso’

Ted Lasso is an American football coach from Kansas who is employed by Rebecca Welton,
the owner of the Premier League football (soccer) club, Richmond42. Ted finds himself
travelling to England leaving his son and a rocky marriage with his wife behind. On his
arrival, he is ridiculed by the football community due to his little knowledge of the game,
“Heck, you could fill two Internets with what I don’t know about football.43” Yet he remains
determined to lead the mediocre team to victory. However, his philosophy is not focused on
the final score of a game. Instead, he believes in helping the players grow as individuals
before uniting them as a team. His motto is “believe” as seen by the hand-made poster he
has taped in the locker room44. He knows that to achieve success the players need to
believe in themselves and each other. After winning his first match he humbly reports, “I
believe you can outscore your opponent and still lose. Just like you can score less than them
and win.45” It is later revealed that Rebecca Welton got ownership of the football club in the
divorce from her philandering husband46. She hired Ted as part of a revenge plan to
humiliate and hurt her ex-husband because she believed that with his management the club
would fail47. Despite everyone’s disbelief and dislike towards him, Ted is persistent in
integrating himself into the team and England life with his warm and optimistic “Lasso way”.
He mends relationships within the team whilst building his own no matter how much they

42 Agrawal, S. (2021). “Ted Lasso” Summary & Analysis - The Misfit Who See Things Differently | DMT. [online] Digital Mafia Talkies.

Available at: https://dmtalkies.com/ted-lasso-tv-series-analysis/ [Accessed 6 Mar. 2022].

43 Ted Lasso. (2020). [TV Series] Apple TV.
44 Agrawal, S. (2021). “Ted Lasso” Summary & Analysis - The Misfit Who See Things Differently | DMT. [online] Digital Mafia Talkies.

Available at: https://dmtalkies.com/ted-lasso-tv-series-analysis/ [Accessed 6 Mar. 2022].

45 Ted Lasso. (2020). [TV Series] Apple TV.
46 Agrawal, S. (2021). “Ted Lasso” Summary & Analysis - The Misfit Who See Things Differently | DMT. [online] Digital Mafia Talkies.

Available at: https://dmtalkies.com/ted-lasso-tv-series-analysis/ [Accessed 6 Mar. 2022].

47 Agrawal, S. (2021). “Ted Lasso” Summary & Analysis - The Misfit Who See Things Differently | DMT. [online] Digital Mafia Talkies.

Available at: https://dmtalkies.com/ted-lasso-tv-series-analysis/ [Accessed 6 Mar. 2022].

try and avoid him and his rapid-fire of get-to-know-you questions “We’re gonna do first
concert, best concert. You go ahead and go first.48” Eventually his charming personality
warms the icy hearts of England, and he becomes a beloved and adored “gaffer”49.
However, Ted finds it harder to stay upbeat as he struggles with anxiety attacks. This arises
as his marriage diminishes and he breaks the promise to himself to never “quit” anything in
life50. This mindset stems from his father dying by suicide when Ted was 16 and his denial
towards the traumatic event51. Ted Lasso’s generosity and encouragement are
manifestations of his own self-blame of the incident and the fact that he wishes he told his
dad more that “he was a good dad.52” He is emotionally available to everyone because he
feels his own problems aren’t worthy, leaving him to bottle them up and put a smile on
instead to brighten someone else’s day53.
Ted Lasso’s personality type is an ESFJ54 which describes him as “friendly, outgoing, reliable,
helpful and seeks to please others.55”

Word count: 450

48 Ted Lasso. (2020). [TV Series] Apple TV.

49 Ted Lasso. (2020). [TV Series] Apple TV.
50 Ted Lasso. (2020). [TV Series] Apple TV.
51 Ted Lasso. (2020). [TV Series] Apple TV.
52
Ted Lasso. (2020). [TV Series] Apple TV.
53 VanDerWerff, E. (2021). Ted Lasso’s deep, dark secret. [online] Vox. Available at: https://www.vox.com/culture/22663547/ted-lasso-

episode-8-recap-review-season-2-man-city [Accessed 5 Mar. 2022].

54 Roberts, M. (n.d.). Ted Lasso Personality Type, Zodiac Sign & Enneagram | So Syncd. [online] So Syncd - Personality Dating. Available at:

https://www.sosyncd.com/database/ted-lasso-personality-type-zodiac-sign-enneagram/ [Accessed 5 Mar. 2022].

55
Gebert, K. and Green, D., 2021. SACE Stage 2 Psychology Essentials Workbook. 1st ed. Adelaide: Adelaide Tuition Centre.
Figure Reference List

Figure 1: Rotten Tomatoes. (n.d.). Ted Lasso. [online] Available at:

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/ted_lasso [Accessed 5 Mar. 2022].

Figure 2: Ted Lasso. (2020). [TV Series] Apple TV.

Reference list

Agrawal, S. (2021). “Ted Lasso” Summary & Analysis - The Misfit Who See Things Differently
| DMT. [online] Digital Mafia Talkies. Available at: https://dmtalkies.com/ted-lasso-tv-series-
analysis/ [Accessed 6 Mar. 2022].

Charlotte (2000). Strengths and Weaknesses of Psychodynamic Approach. [online]

Getrevising.co.uk. Available at:
https://getrevising.co.uk/grids/strengths_and_weaknesses_of_psychodynamic_approach
[Accessed 7 Mar. 2022].

Cherry, K. (29AD). What Does It Mean When Someone Is In Denial? [online] Verywell Mind.
Available at: https://www.verywellmind.com/denial-as-a-defense-mechanism-5114461
[Accessed 3 Mar. 2022].

Roberts, M. (n.d.). Ted Lasso Personality Type, Zodiac Sign & Enneagram | So Syncd. [online]
So Syncd - Personality Dating. Available at: https://www.sosyncd.com/database/ted-lasso-
personality-type-zodiac-sign-enneagram/ [Accessed 5 Mar. 2022].

Rotten Tomatoes. (n.d.). Ted Lasso. [online] Available at:

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/ted_lasso [Accessed 5 Mar. 2022].

Ted Lasso. (2020). [TV Series] Apple TV.

VanDerWerff, E. (2021). Ted Lasso’s deep, dark secret. [online] Vox. Available at:
https://www.vox.com/culture/22663547/ted-lasso-episode-8-recap-review-season-2-man-
city [Accessed 5 Mar. 2022].

Vinney, C. (2019). Psychodynamic Theory: Approaches and Proponents. [online] ThoughtCo.

Available at: https://www.thoughtco.com/psychodynamic-theory-4588302 [Accessed 7
Mar. 2022].