FILIPINO PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL WORK

PERSONALITY – an individual’s patterns of behaviors or the characteristic expression of himself. It refers to the
total individual and includes needs, motives, methods of adjusting temperament qualities, self-
concept, attitudes, values, and abilities. (Leonora de Guzman)

- The relatively enduring pattern of recurrent interpersonal situations which characterize a human
life. (Sullivan, 1953)
- A dynamic organization of the psychological system that determine the individual’s unique
adjustment to his or her environment. (Allport, 1937)
- It is the stability in people’s behavior that leads them to act uniformly both in different situations
and over extended periods of time. (Felman, 1994)

Determinants of Personality Formation/Origin of Consistent Behavior Patterns

1. Genetic/biological. Biological properties such as physical and mental diseases can be transmitted by
genes.

2. Sociocultural. Many psychologists agree that culture strongly influences people’s behavior (e.g. socio
economic status, birth order, race)

3. Learning. Certain behaviors are rewarded while others are ignored. Those that are rewarded tend to
persist. The implication is that one can control personality development by controlling the circumstances
under which rewards are dispensed or withheld.

4. Unconscious Mechanism. The ultimate cause of behavior is unconscious and originates in childhood. To
understand personality, one must get to the unconscious mind utilizing complex tools such as dream
symbol analysis, free association, hypnosis, etc.

5. Geographical. Place of origin. (Ilonggo-Tikalon, Bicolano-Uragon, Ilocano- kuripot)


Personality Assessment Methods
The set of processes used for developing impressions and images, making decisions and checking
hypothesis about a person’s pattern of behavior in relation to the environment.

1. Objective Test – structured written self-rating test that measures an individual’s characteristics in a
way that is independent of rater’s bias or the examiner’s own beliefs. It is usually done by the
administration of a bank of questions that are marked and compared to exacting scoring mechanisms
that are standardized. This is normally in the form of Multiple Choice, Yes or No, and true or False.

Example:
Instruction: Encirclethe statement that best applies to you)
When I go to a party …………..
a. “I am a wallflower”
b. “I am the life of the party”
c. “I just blend in with others”
d. “I tend to throw a wet blanket on other people’s fun”


2. Projective Test – Based on Freudian psychology which seeks to expose the unconscious perceptions
of people. It allows a person to respond to ambiguous stimuli to reveal hidden emotions and internal
conflicts. This is unstructured to uncover unconscious desires that hidden from conscious awareness.

Examples:

a. Rorschach Inkblot Test – the first projective test and one of the best known. Developed by Swiss
psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach in 1921. This test consists of 10 different cards with ambiguous
inkblots and participant is asked to describe what he sees in the image. Responses are recorded
as well as the gestures, tone of voice, and other reactions.

If someone consistently sees the images as threatening and frightening, the tester might infer
that the subject maybe suffering from paranoia.

b. Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) – An individual views ambiguous scenes of people and is asked
to describe various aspects of the scene or make up a story about it.

Example: What led up to this scene? What emotions do you see? What might happen afterwards?

c. Sack Sentence Completion Test – consists of 60 incomplete sentences. The subject completes the
sentence with the first thing that comes to mind.

d. Word Association – A technique whereby words presented to subjects elicit other word
responses that reflect related concepts in the patient’s psyche; thus providing clues to their
unique psychological make – up



e. Expressive Techniques – assesses personality through self-expression

Example:
i. Drawing or Draw-a-Person Test – the subject is instructed to draw a person, then
a house, a tree, and another person followed by an oral inquiry and quantitative
analysis.

ii. Toy Test – dolls and puppets are used in play therapy to assess the child’s attitude
towards his/her family, fears, aggression, and aspirations.


f. Picture Arrangement Test–created by Silvan Tomkins. Consists of 25 sets of 3 pictures which the
subject must arrange into a sequence that they feel “makes the best sense”.


ERRONEOUS METHODS OF ASSESSING PERSONALITY

1. First Impression – based on physical appearance, facial features or expressions, mannerisms, style of
dressing, what a person says and how it is said. They then brand that person as coming from a certain
“personality type”.

Research shows that in many situations, our first impression of other people can be quite accurate. It takes
just 1/10th of a second for us to judge and make our first impression.

2. Pseudo-scientific Methods – Pseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific but
does not adhere to valid scientific method. Pseudo is a Greek word which means “false” while Scientia is a
Latin word which means knowledge.


 Examples:
a. Physiognomy – the method of judging personality through the measurement of a person’s physical
features, particularly facial features such as distance between the eyes, the size and shape of the chin,
color of hair, etc. . The presumption is that physical features are closely related with personality traits.
Accordingly, a person who is tall and well-built, with prominent cheekbone and self-confident is
viewed as a likely leader.

b. Phrenology – personality is judged by the size and shape of the skull. These measurements are then
translated into corresponding personality characteristics.

c. Graphology – this method uses a person’s handwriting to determine his or her personality. It is
believed that general penmanship and the way the letter is formed have corresponding personality
characteristics.



THEORIES OF PERSONALITY

I. PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY by Sigmund Freud

(6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was a neurologist who became known as the founding father of
Psychoanalysis. Freud's parents were poor, but they ensured his education. Freud chose medicine as
a career and qualified as a doctor at the University of Vienna, subsequently undertaking research into
cerebral palsy, aphasia and microscopic neuroanatomy at the Vienna General Hospital. This led in turn
to the award of a University lectureship in neuropathology, a post he resigned once he had decided to
go into private practice. On the basis of his clinical practice Freud went on to develop theories about
the and the mechanism of and created psychoanalysis, a clinical method for treating through dialogue
between a patient (or "analysisand") and a psychoanalyst. Though psychoanalysis has declined as a
therapeutic practice, it has helped inspire the development of many other forms of psychotherapy,
some diverging from Freud's original ideas and approach.

Freud postulated the existence of (an energy with which mental process and structures are invested),
developed therapeutic techniques such as the use of (in which patients report their thoughts without
reservation and in whichever order they spontaneously occur), discovered (the process by which
patients displace on to their analysts feelings based on their experience of earlier figures in their lives)
and established its central role in the analytic process, and proposed that help to preserve sleep by
representing sensory stimuli as fulfilled wishes that would otherwise awake the dreamer. He was also a
prolific essayist, drawing on psychoanalysis to contribute to the interpretation and critique of culture.

Psychoanalysis remains influential within psychiatry and across the humanities. As such it continues to
generate extensive debate, notably over its scientific status and as to whether it advances or is
detrimental to the feminist cause. Regardless of the scientific content of his theories, Freud's work has
suffused intellectual thought and popular culture to the extent that in 1939 W. H. Auden wrote, in a
poem dedicated to him: "to us he is no more a person / now but a whole climate of opinion / under
whom we conduct our different lives".

Freud’s view of the Person

Human organism is selfish, sexual, and aggressive even during childhood. Everything about
personality is “determined” or has psychological cause. Unconscious motives and conflicts are major
drive in human behavior.

Human beings are biological organisms motivated by the satisfaction of bodily needs. All behaviors
have a reason. Nothing happens simply by chance – not even an accident. Minor mistakes as well as
slips of the tongue, are likewise manifestations of unconscious motives.
 Structure of Personality

The mind is made up of the id, ego, and superego. The goal of the psyche is to maintain or regain
an acceptable level of dynamic equilibrium that maximizes pleasure and minimizes tension.

1. Id – origin of the personality and is composed of whatever is present at birth (sex, hunger, comfort,
and protection.

- Demands the satisfaction of needs without consideration of what is good and bad for the
person.

- It follows pleasure principle, the achievement of pleasurable feeling as quickly as

immediate as possible through reduction of tension, discomfort and pain.

- Reservoir of instincts and inborn forces that are both physical (bodily needs) and
psychological (wishes).

Libido-an energy described as physical desire or erotic tendencies.

2 Basic Categories of Instinct

a. Eros – represent energy towards preserving one’s self primarily sexual or anything
pleasurable in nature.

b. Thanatos – an instinct towards destructiveness and death.

“I want what I want when I want it.”

2. Ego – a coherent organization of mental processes that develops out of “Id” energy. It has
access to consciousness and devoted to contacting reality for the purpose of satisfying Id needs.
- Tasked to satisfy Id needs in a manner that promotes self-preservation; follows reality
principle.
- Referee between the demands of the Id and the demands of the society.
- Vulnerable to stresses of dangers both internal and external.
- External- insufficient food and water, loss of parental love, physical comfort to sustain
life.
- Internal – uncontrollable increases of energies like sex an aggression.
- When Ego cannot satisfy both the demands of id and the society, a person becomes
anxious; thus resorts to defense mechanisms.

Example: Horse and the Rider. The superior strength of the horse (id) must be held in
check by its rider (ego).

Anxiety – a state of extremely unpleasant emotional discomfort

Defense Mechanisms – internal, unconscious, automatic strategies for coping with or gaining
control over threatening Id instincts. It keeps unacceptable urges or
ideas from reaching unconscious awareness.


Common Types of Defense Mechanisms

a) Repression – threatening material is unavailable for recall because it has been
repressed down to the unconscious. It allows the ego to be conscious only of the
thoughts that seem “safe”.

b) Projection – unconscious attribution to another of one’s own feelings or motives
to protect themselves.

 c) Rationalization– allows people to excuse their unacceptable behavior and
thoughts.

Types of rationalization
i. Sour-Graping – pretending to dislike something because it cannot be
achieved by oneself.

ii. Sweet-lemon – finds desirable qualities in something which was not truly
wanted.

d) Undoing – a behavior designed to reverse the effects of the undesirable acts.

Examples:
(1) two close friends have a violent argument; when they next meet, each act as if the
disagreement had never occurred. (
2) when asked to recommend a friend for a job, a man makes derogatory comments which
prevent the friend's getting the position; a few days later, the man drops in to see his friend
and brings him a small gift.

e) Displacement – the expression of some feeling against an object that has not
provoked it. People use this when the real object is too threatening to confront
directly.

f) Sublimation – the only one identified as a positive defense mechanism as the
psychic energies are diverted so that it will result to valuable contribution to
society.

g) Denial – refusal that something unpleasant is happening by not recognizing the
source of anxiety.

h) Identification – copying another person’s self in order to avoid the direct
expression of powerful emotions such as love and hate.

i) Reaction Formation – the means where the feeling that produces anxiety is
transformed into its opposite in the consciousness.



3. Superego – operates according to morality principleas it is the moral arm of personality
- A dominating force that makes the personality excessively conforming to social
norms.
- Seeks to suppress Id needs rather than satisfy them.
- It functions as the conscience, for self-observation, and for the formation of ideals.

2 Subdivisions of the Superego
a. Conscience/Guilt –miserable feelings when you disobey rules.
b. Ego-ideal/ Pride – good feelings and satisfaction when you do something good.

 PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

Freud believed that every child goes through a sequence of developmental stages;
experiences during these stages will later determine his or her adult personality characteristics. In
order to make a smooth transition from one psychosexual stage to the next, the child must not over-
gratified or under-gratified because this can lead to either fixation or aggression.

1. ORAL STAGE (0-1 yr. old) – psychic activity focuses on satisfying the needs of the mouth and
digestive tract, including tongue and lips. Physical expressions are sucking biting, and licking or
smacking one’s lips. Ero’s aim is self-preservation by nourishment received through the mouth.

Two Personality Type Related to Fixation at Oral Stage
a. Oral-Receptive – personality type is derived from childhood pleasures of receiving food in
the mouth and ingesting it. This type of personality is dependent on others, more
suggestible and gullible.

b. Oral-Aggressive – pleasures associated with mouth, food, and eating but with greater
chewing, biting, and use of teeth. Favors rock candy over gummy bears and
marshmallows; hard-stemmed pipes than cigarettes. Manner of talking is sarcastic and
argumentative.

2. ANAL STAGE (2-3yrs. old) – the erogenous zone is the anus or the buttocks region. Sexual
gratification occurs when defecation relieves the tension of a full bowel and simultaneously
stimulates the anus.

Two Types of Fixation at the Anal Stage
a. Anal Retentive – delay of final satisfactions to the last possible moment. A person of this
type “saves the best for last”. Symbolic acts are stinginess, orderliness, and perfectionism.

b. Anal- Expulsive – involves an inclination to disregard widely accepted rules of cleanliness,
orderliness, and appropriate behavior. A person of this type is sloppy, messy, rebellious
children, temper tantrums.

3. PHALLIC STAGE (3-5 yrs. old) – The erogenous zone is the genital area. Satisfaction is gained
primarily by stimulation of the penis or clitoris through masturbation. This is considered as the
most controversial stage as boys develop a possessive love for their mothers and see their
fathers as their rivals. On the other hand, the female child discovers she does not possess a
penis, for which she holds the mother responsible and comes to hate her for it. Her positive
feelings for her father are mixed with envy since he has something she does not have.

a. Oedipus Complex – the constellation of feelings and desires for boy’s mother and
hateful/fearful orientation to his father.

b. Electra Complex – love for father and hatred for mother.

c. Castration Anxiety – fear that penis will be cut off if boys are found fantasizing their
mother.

d.Penis Envy – feeling of inferiority over not having penis and wishes to obtain one someday

Two Fixations at the Phallic Stage
a. If Oedipus complex is unresolved, a boy may devote his life to sexual promiscuity.
Alternatively, he may fail to take on masculine characteristics due to weak identification
with father, thus develops feminine orientation or attraction to men.

b. For girls, mothers are not so attractive object of identification; hence, closeness to
father is further developed.


4. LATENCY STAGE (6-12 yrs. old)–children lay aside their attraction to parents and become
sexually disinterested as they engage in other activities such as going to school, gaining friends,
and playing. Libidinous energy are reduced and/or deeply buried to the unconscious. For Freud,
one’s personality is generally completed at this stage.

5. GENITAL STAGE (13 yrs onwards) – the final stage following puberty. Hopefully, the individual is
transformed from a selfish, pleasure-seeking child to realistic social adult with heterosexual
interests leading to marriage and child rearing.

It is also the phase for mature sexual love; directing both feelings and lust towards another
person. The concept of Love and Work is also realized at this stage.

































2. CARL GUSTAV JUNG (ANALYTIC PSYCHOLOGY)
Carl Jung was born on July 26, 1875 to a fairly educated family. He had a weak father and a
dominant mother. Jung described his mother as an insecure woman who treated the family
inconsistently, sometimes loving and kind, other times harsh and aloof. His parents were constantly
quarrelling, and the separation from his mother had a profound impact on him.

During his early school days, he spent much time in solitary pursuits. The long walk to school
made him fully aware of his existence. As a boy, he was sensitive and intelligent but misunderstood by
his parents, teachers, and peers.

Jung specialized in psychiatry because he believed that it provided him an opportunity to

reconcile two important opposing tendencies within himself: an interest in natural science and a
preoccupation with religious and philosophical values.

In 1904, he met Freud in Vienna. That meeting marked the beginning of a collaboration that
lasted until 1913. Their split was caused by his disagreement with Freud over importance of sex instinct.
Jung could not accept that Freud’s theory that such an urge was the only determinant of behaviour. He
wanted to develop a psychology that dealt with human aspirations and spiritual needs, arguing that the
way to self-realization was through the rediscovery of the spiritual self.

Jung eventually adopted a “religious” attitude toward life, in the sense that he had a greater
appreciation of life and its mysteries.

LIBIDO

The issue of Libido caused the split between Freud and Jung. For Jung, libido is a creative life force
that could be applied to the continuous psychological growth of the person. As the person becomes
more proficient in satisfying these needs or as they become less important, libidinal energy is applied to
the solution of more philosophical and spiritual needs. Libido is the driving force behind the psyche
(personality for Jung) which is focused on needs, whether psychological or spiritual.

VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE

The human psyche is imbedded in the past, present and future. It consists of conscious and
unconscious elements, masculine and feminine traits, rational and irrational impulses, spiritualistic and
animalistic tendencies, and the tendency to bring all these contradicting behaviors into harmony with
each other.

Self-actualization is achieved when such harmony exist. But self-actualization must be sought. It does not
happen automatically. Harmonizing them requires recognition of the components of the psyche (ego,
personal unconscious, collective, anima, animus, shadow, self).

Jung was optimistic about reaching self-actualization, but this optimism required people to come to
terms with their unconscious mind. If this is not accomplished, the projections of the unconscious mind
will cause irrationality to rule the person’s life. Jung used the term Teleology to explain human behavior.
It means that human behavior has a purpose; it is drawn by the future just as much as it is pushed by the
past. To fully understand a person, one must understand his or her goals and aspirations.

MANDALA – the symbol for the self. It is a Sanskrit word which means circle. It represents the synthesis or
union of opposites within the psyche that occurs when individuals attain self-realization.

COMPONENTS OF THE PSYCHE

1. Ego – everything of which we are conscious. It is concerned with thinking, feeling, remembering, and
perceiving. It is also responsible for carrying out the functions of everyday life and for our sense of
identity and continuity in time.

2. Personal Unconscious – consists of materials that we were once conscious but later repressed or
forgotten.

Complex – is a personally disturbing constellation of ideas connected by a common feeling-tone. It

has a disproportionate influence on one’s behavior.

3. Collective Unconscious – the collective experiences of humans in their revolutionary past or the
accumulation of ancestral experiences. This is Jung’s most mystical, controversial, and boldest
theory. Since the unconscious results from common experiences of all humans, the content of the
collective unconscious is essentially the same for all humans.

4. Persona – Greek word for “mask” or “one’s public self”. The persona archetype develops because of
one’s need to play a role in society. Thus it is the part of psyche by which we are known to other
people. In a way, a person deceives others since the persona represents only a small part of one’s
psyche.

5. Archetypes – the archetype does two things: a) It causes males to have feminine traits; b) It provides
a framework within which males interact with females.

Anima- the female component of the male psyche. It results from experiences men have had with
women throughout the ages.

Animus – the masculine component of the female psyche. It gives the female some masculine traits
and a framework that guides her relationships with men.

It is unfortunate for the female to deny her male tendencies, just as it is bad for the male to
overemphasize his feminine traits. Both sexes should recognize that they possess traits of the
opposite sex.

6. SHADOW –the darkest and deepest part of the psyche. It is the part of the collective unconscious
that we inherited from our pre-human ancestors and contains all the animal instincts. Because of the
shadow, we have the tendency to be immoral, aggressive, and passionate.

7. The SELF – the component of the psyche that attempts to harmonize all the other components. It is a
person striving for unity, wholeness, and integration of the total personality. When this integration is
achieved, the individual is said to be self-actualized.

Individuation – awareness of the anima or the animus, the shadow, the persona, the functions of
thought, and all other components of the psyche.

Transcended Function – a constant striving for unity, wholeness, and integration of the self.

SYNCHRONICITY

Synchronicity or meaningful coincidence is when one fantasizes an event that occurs. For
synchronicity to take place, two events must occur independently of each other.

Ex: Two girls are talking about Jenny. Few seconds later, Jenny appeared. One of the girls said
“Speaking of the devil, the devil is coming”.

TWO ORIENTATION THE PSYCHE HAS IN RLEATING TO THE WORLD

1. Introversion – inward, towards the subjective world of the individual. An introvert is someone
who tends to be quiet and more interested in ideas rather than people.

2. Extroversion – outward, towards the external environment. An extrovert is sociable,

outgoing, and interested in people and things.

FUNCTIONS OF THOUGHT

1. Sensing – detects the presence of things, indicates that something is there but does not indicate what
it is.

2. Thinking – tells what a thing is; gives names to things that are sensed.

3. Feeling – tells whether a thing is acceptable or unacceptable; determines what a thing is worth to the
individual; pertains to liking and disliking.

4. Intuiting – hunches about past or future events when factual information is not available.

STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

For Jung, libidinal energy is directed towards what is important to a person at a given time, and
what is important changes as a person matures.

1. Childhood (birth to adolescence) – libidinal energy is expected in learning to walk, talk, and other
necessary skills for survival. After the fifth year, libidinal energy is directed towards sexual activities,
reaching its peak during adolescence.

It is a relatively problem-free period that is dominated by instincts, dependency, and a psychological

atmosphere provided by parents.

2. Young Adulthood (adolescence to 40) – libidinal energy is directed towards learning a vocation,
getting married, raising children, and activities relating to community life. The individual is outgoing,
energetic, impulsive, and passionate.

3. Middle Age (from 40 to later years of life) – the most important stage because the person is
transformed from an energetic, extroverted, and biologically oriented individual to one with a more
sophisticated cultural, philosophical, and spiritual sense of value.

4. Old Age – the period of old age parallels childhood because of a return to submersion inthe
unconscious.
3. ERIK HOMBURGER ERIKSON (EGO PSYCHOLOGY OR
CONTEMPORARY PSYCHOANALYTIC)
Erik H. Erikson was born on June 15, 1902 near Frankfurt, Germany. He studied psychoanalysis with
the help of Anna Freud. Erikson also studied the Montessori system, which influenced his interest in lay
therapy and child analysis. He became the first child psychoanalyst in Massachusetts and held positions in
Harvard Psychological Clinic.

A look at Erikson’s childhood makes it easy to see where his interest in “identity crises” originated.
He was a child with identity dilemma as he had never met his biological father but lived with his loving and
caring stepfather. His connection with Anna Freud led him to the hands of psychoanalysis Master himself,
Sigmund Freud. Erikson moved to California in 1939 where he took a side trip to Sioux Indian Reservation.
His observation of the Sioux and the Yurok, a Northern California tribe who preserved many of their
ancient traditions, his orientation has changed profoundly. These experiences convinced him that Freud’s
sexual ideas were not universal.

VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE

Erikson extended the study of the developing child puberty, emphasizing that the ego continues
to acquire new characteristics as it meets new situations in life. He selected the ego as the tool by which a
person organizes outside information, test perceptions, selects memories, governs action adaptively, and
integrates the capabilities of orientation and planning. This positive ego produces a sense of self in a state
of heightened well-being, when what one thinks and does is close to what one wishes and feels ought to
be.

He de-emphasizes sexual motivation in favour of the quest for identity. He was more concerned
with people’s mission in life as it evolves through the life span than their struggles with unresolved
traumas of childhood.

On the Task and Polarities of Life

The “tasks if life” theme is at the heart of Erikson’s theory. At each succeeding stage of human
development the person has new task to master. Thus, to Erikson, life and its challenges are constantly
evolving. How well people conquer the tasks of a given stage determines toward which of two poles they
migrate, one representing positive development and the other negative development. The poles
symbolize the horn of a dilemma. Parents, the society in which the individual is immersed, interactions
with peers and the individual’s own skills and talents determine how well the dilemma is resolved. In turn,
resolution promotes the development of a new strength, a virtue arising from dominant movement
toward the positive pole. With resolution comes the ability to face the challenges of the next stage.

Epigenetic Model of Human Development

Each organ system of the body has its own period of special growth and development. It follows a
pre-determined sequence. The strengths and capacities developed at each stage are related to the entire
personality and can be affected by development at any point of one’s life. These psychological capacities
are affected most strongly during the stage in which they are developing. Erikson stresses that each stage
is systematically related to all others and must develop in a given sequence.

Each stage has a crisis in which strengths and skills that form the essential elements of that stage are
developed and tested. By crisis, Erikson means a turning point. Crises are special times in an individual’s
life – moments of decision between progress and regression, integration and retardation. Each stage is a
crisis in learning and developing new skills and attitudes.
 PSYCHOSOCIAL STAGES of DEVELOPMENT

1. Infancy (birth to 1 year old), Trust vs. Mistrust

Infants develop a relative sense of trust and mistrust of the world around them. Crucial to their
development is their experience with their mother or primary caregiver for care and protection. If
the mother is sensitive and responsive to her child, the infant’s sense of security increases, thus,
trust is developed. On the other hand, when mother is inconsistent and unreliable, the infant
develops mistrust and frustration due to hunger and discomfort.

If the crisis is successfully resolved, hope emerges out of a child. This means that the infant can
hope that whenever a situation arises, someone will be there to offer help or support. Otherwise,
fear emerges and would result to feeling of insecurities and mistrust in the world – that no one is
available to offer help if needed.

Example: An infant is wet and cries for comfort but the mother/caregiver took so long to attend to
his/her needs. Theory says it is likely that the infant will develop mistrust.

2. Toddler (2-3 yrs. Old) Autonomy vs. shame and doubt

This stage is concerned with muscular maturation and the accompanying ability to hold on or to
let go. The child begins to exert control over oneself and parts of the outside world. Holding on
and letting go have both positive and negative aspects. Letting go can either be a release of
destructive forces or a relaxed allowing a “letting be”.

A sense of autonomy develops with the sense of free choice, a feeling of being able to choose
what to keep and what to reject. Shame stems from a sense of self-exposure, a feeling that one’s
deficiencies are exposed to others, overly controlled by parents or simply not given the chance to
be free and assert themselves.

Imagine a toddler picking the clothes she wants to wear but mother wanted another pair of
clothes. Apparently, the mother is not allowing the toddler to exercise freedom and explore and
instead became controlling of the child’s choices/actions, she may become overly dependent
because she’ll doubt her abilities to make it in this world. However, if the mother does otherwise,
the toddler will learn to become more independent and will have a sense of self-control because
she’s allowed to do things on her own.

Parents’ role is still crucial in this stage because they should achieve the right amount of balance:
allowing the child to explore and helping them when they fail. If the crisis is successfully resolved,
self-control and will power emerges. If not, self-doubt emerges.

3. Pre-schooler (4-5 yrs. Old) Initiative vs. Guilt

At this stage, the child experiences mobility and inquisitiveness, an expanding sense of mastery
and responsibility. The child is eager to perform well and might assert such through social
interaction. Children in this stage begins to initiate play and plan other activities and exposure to
these will help develop their feeling of security over their ability to lead others an do things the
right way. The sense of mastery is tempted by feelings of guilt. The new freedom and assertion of
power create anxiety because there is a tendency to overstep or overdo something and ay get
punished later on because of it. It is also at this stage where they ask too many questions with
their unending “why’s” but these questions have to be addressed properly and not be treated as
nuisance or nonsense by surrounding adults as the child may feel guilty over asking nonsense
questions. The child develops a conscience, a parental model that supports self-observation, self-
guidance, and also self-punishment.
 If the crisis is successfully resolved, direction and purpose emerges. If not, a feeling of
unworthiness emerges.

4. School Age (6-11 yrs. Old) Industry vs. Inferiority

This stage is the beginning of life outside family. In our culture, school life begins here. This is a
stage of systematic instruction, a movement from play to a sense of work. The child needs to do
well and develops a sense of work completion and satisfaction in a job well done. The child begins
to learn some competencies that are valued by those they want to impress or get approval of.
When these competencies are indeed achieved, the child develops a sense of pride for his/her
achievements. Furthermore, if their efforts are recognized, they become more industrious or
competent.

However, not all children are encouraged to do things and are rather restricted by authority
figures in their lives; thus making them feel inferior and doubting their self-efficacy. For example,
children at this stage usually imitates their role models and become extra helpful in the household
chores like sweeping the floor or washing laundry. If the child is praised for such industry, then it
is likely that he/she will perform better the following days and would try to do more chore that
pleases their parents or older siblings.

If the crisis is successfully resolved, competence emerges. If not, inferiority emerges. The right
amount of failure is necessary for a child to become modest and not braggy over her/his
achievement. It makes them grounded.

5. Adolescent (12-20 yrs. Old) Identity vs. Role Confusion

As childhood ends, adolescence begins. They question role models and identifications of the past
and try out new roles. A new sense of identity develops, including the ability to integrate past
identifications with present impulses and aptitudes.

This difficult transition between childhood and adulthood can be strongly affected by social
limitations and possibilities. The adolescent is likely to suffer from confused roles because they
want to be like others. Doubts about one’s sexual attractiveness and sexual identity are common
at this stage. The desire to fit in is so strong that they sometimes lose themselves in doing so. The
inability to develop a sense of identification with an individual or cultural role model who gives
direction to one’s life can lead to a period of floundering and insecurity. Another reaction is over
identification with youth-culture heroes or clique leaders leading to a loss of identity.

According to Erikson, adolescents experience changes in their bodies and may feel uncomfortable
about it, i.e. growing boobs, having Adam’s apple or deeper voice for men, etc. When theyre able
to adapt to these changes, they start developing a sense of fidelity towards self and others
despite their differences.

If the crisis is successfully resolved, fidelity emerges. If not, uncertainty emerges; thus he/she may
begin to experiment on different lifestyles (simplypyshology.org).

6. Young Adult (20-24 yrs. Old) Intimacy vs. Isolation

Only after a relatively firm sense of identity is developed are we capable of committing ourselves
to a partnership, an affiliation, an an intimate relationship with others. A critical commitment that
generally occurs at this stage is mutuality with a love partner. And when love is found, stability,
safety, and care within the relationship becomes even more meaningful.
 Without a sense of intimacy and commitment, one may become isolated and unable to sustain an
intimate relationship. If the crisis is successfully resolved, the capacity for love emerges. When
adults don't find love at this stage, they tend to look for it through promiscuous ways.

7. Middle Adulthood (25-65 yrs. Old) Generativity vs. Stagnation

Intimate commitment to others widens to a more general concern for guiding and supporting the
next generation. Adults become involved in matters that affect the society, trying to contribute for
the common good. Generativity includes concern for children and the ideas and products that we
have created. We are teaching as well as learning human beings. Creations are important to ensure
the health and maintenance of our ideals and principles, thus, making us feel part of a bigger picture
and of a brighter future. If we fail to contribute and be of help, we fall into a state of boredom and
stagnation. If the crisis is successfully resolved, care emerges. If not, selfishness emerges.

8. Old Adult (65 yrs.-death) Ego Integrity vs. Despair

The sense of ego integrity includes the acceptance of a unique life cycle with its triumphs and failures.
It brings a sense of order and meaning to the person and the world around him or her, as well as a
new and different love of parents. The sense of ego integrity includes an awareness of the value of
other lifestyles, including those that are very different from one’s own. If the crisis is successfully
resolved, wisdom emerges. If not, feelings of despair and meaninglessness emerge.

Erik Erikson believed if we see our lives as unproductive, feel guilt about our past, or feel that we did
not accomplish our life goals, we become dissatisfied with life and develop despair, often leading to
depression and hopelessness.

Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of wisdom. Wisdom enables a person to look back on their
life with a sense of closure and completeness, and also accept death without fear.

Wise people are not characterized by a continuous state of ego integrity, but they experience both
ego integrity and despair. Thus, late life is characterized by both integrity and despair as alternating
states that need to be balanced (simplypsychology.org)

Critical Evaluation

By extending the notion of personality development across the lifespan, Erikson outlines a more
realistic perspective of personality development (McAdams, 2001).

Based on Erikson’s ideas, psychology has reconceptualized the way the later periods of life are
viewed. Middle and late adulthood are no longer viewed as irrelevant, because of Erikson, they are
now considered active and significant times of personal growth. Erikson’s theory has good face
validity. Many people find that they can relate to his theories about various stages of the life cycle
through their own experiences.

However, Erikson is rather vague about the causes of development. What kinds of experiences must
people have to successfully resolve various psychosocial conflicts and move from one stage to
another? The theory does not have a universal mechanism for crisis resolution.

Indeed, Erikson (1964) acknowledges his theory is more a descriptive overview of human social and
emotional development that does not adequately explain how or why this development occurs. For
example, Erikson does not explicitly explain how the outcome of one psychosocial stage influences
personality at a later stage.
 However, Erikson stressed his work was a ‘tool to think with rather than a factual analysis.’ Its
purpose then is to provide a framework within which development can be considered rather than
testable theory.

One of the strengths of Erikson's theory is its ability to tie together important psychosocial
development across the entire lifespan.

Reference:

McLeod, S. A. (2018, May 03). Erik erikson's stages of psychosocial development. Simply Psychology.
https://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html

4. ALFRED ADLER (INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY)

Alfred Adler was born on February 7, 1870 in Vienna, Austria. He was the second of the six children. He
received a medical degree from Vienna University. As a young child, he suffered from rickets (a vitamin D
deficiency characterized by softening of the bones), which kept him from playing with other children. At the age
of three, he saw his younger brother died in bed. Adler himself almost died from pneumonia at the age of four.

Adler was jealous of his older brother who was vigorous, healthy, and could engage in physical activities
and sports. Alfred felt inferior to his brother and other neighbourhood children who all seemed healthier and
athletic. As a result, he resolved to work hard to overcome his feelings of inferiority and to compensate for his
physical limitations.

Despite his small stature, clumsiness, and unattractiveness – legacies of his illness- Adler forced himself to
join in games. Gradually he won and achieved a sense of self-esteem and social acceptance. He developed a
fondness for the company of other people and retained this sociability all his life. In his personality theory, he
emphasized the importance of the peer group and suggested that childhood relationships with siblings and
children outside the family were much more significant than Freud believed.

Adler’s nine-year association with Freud began in 1902 when Freud invited him and three others to meet
once a week at Freud’s house to discuss psychoanalysis. Their relationship never became close; Freud said that
Adler bored him. Adler was never a student or a disciple of Freud.

Adler used the term individual psychology to stress his belief that each person is an integrated whole,
striving to attain future goals and attempting to find meaning in life whole working harmoniously with others.


VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE

Adler acknowledged the presence of unconscious forces but minimized its significance by describing
unconsciousness as simply temporary unawareness. He believed that people may become aware of their deepest
impulses and fictional finalism and, with conscious intent, create their own personalities and lifestyles to achieve
their highest goals.


MAJOR THEORIES

A. Organ Inferiority

People are more vulnerable to disease in organs that are less developed or “inferior” to other organs.
Example: Someone born with a weak stomach of heart is more likely to have problems with these organs. There
inferior organs develop biological deficiencies because of stress from the environment. These inhibit the person
from functioning normally. Since the body acts as an integrated whole, a person can compensate for a weakness
by concentrating on developing or by emphasizing other functions which make up for the weakness.

B. FEELINGS OF INFERIORITY

All children start life with feelings of inferiority because they are completely dependent on adults for
survival. This feeling of being weak, inferior, and impotent stimulates an intense desire to seek power, thereby
overcoming the feelings of inferiority. Adler did not consider feelings of inferiority bad. According to him, it is
normal among human beings and therefore not a sign of weakness or abnormality. In fact, such feelings are the
primary motivating forces behind all personal accomplishments. For example: Someone who feels inferior is
driven to accomplish something. However, inferiority feelings can also create neurosis.

C. STRIVING FOR SUPERIORITY

It is a fundamental fact of life, an innate need from the time of birth. It is the master motive that leads
people to pursue a superior perfect society. Adler believed that striving for superiority can either be beneficial or
harmful. If a person concentrates exclusively on developing his or her own superiority while ignoring the needs of
others and of society, then they develop a superiority complex.



D. STYLE OF LIFE/ LIFESTYLE

It is the means by which an individual attempts to gain superiority. Lifestyle determines which aspects of
life are focused on and how these give a person individual identity. It specifies a person’s specific goals and how
they are to be attained. It determines what is perceived and ignored.

E. FICTIONAL FINALISM

It is the fictional future goal which a person aspires for. Adler called this a “guiding self-ideal”. The
individual is pushed by feelings of inferiority to strive for perfection using her or his unique lifestyle as a means of
attaining some future goal. Adler emphasized that future goals or ideals were convenient fictions invented to
make life more significant than it actually warrants.

F. SOCIAL INTEREST

It is the innate need of all human beings to live in harmony and friendship with others and to aspire for
the development of the perfect society. Social interest can be developed through three tasks: occupational tasks
or constructive work can be a means for a person to help advance society; societal tasks require cooperation with
fellow humans; and love and marriage tasks to perpetuate society.


PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT

Adler did not propose stages of development; instead he emphasized the importance of family
atmosphere and the family constellation. The latter refers to one’s position within the family in terms of birth
order among siblings and the presence or absence of parents. Relationships between children and parents
frequently consist of a continuing alteration between indulgence and rejection. Many of us harbor deep feelings
of rejection by our parents, when in reality they gave us their best efforts.

Adler stressed that we are fully responsible for the meaning attached to parental behavior and action.
Thus, in the end, the individual is responsible for the lifestyle that he or she adopted.


THREE ENTRANCE GATES TO MENTAL LIFE

Adler referred to birth order, first memories (early recollection), and dream analysis as “three entrance
gates to mental life”.

1. BIRTH ORDER

a. First Born – is the focus of attention until the next child is born, at which time he or she is
“dethroned”. This dislocation caused by the birth of the new baby is deeply felt because the parents’
attention is now divided.

 b. Second Born – is extremely ambitious since he or she is constantly attempting to catch up and surpass
the older sibling. Adler consider the second born more fortunate. He believed, as in a race, that if
someone is a step or two in front, the child has to rush to get ahead.

c. Youngest – is the second worst position after the first born. He or she is usually spoiled, easilyloses
courage to succeed by his or her own effort and can never be independent. The youngest is always
ambitious but lazy.

d. Only Child – is never dethroned by another sibling, but experiences shock upon learning that he or she
cannot remain the center of attention (e.g. in school). An only child is not considered dangerous.
However, in the absence of good educational methods, negative results may occur which would have
been avoided if the child has brothers or sisters.

2. FIRST MEMORIES
It is a technique of asking a person to describe his or her earliest recollection. These recollections are
evidence of the origin of one’s lifestyles.


3. DREAM ANALYSIS
It is a method wherein a person’s dreams are used to provide a way of dealing with the person’s life
problems. By analyzing how problems are confronted and future events planned through their dreams, a great
deal could be learned about the person’s lifestyle.

5. ERICH FROMM (SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY)

Erich Fromm was born on March 23, 1900 to an Orthodox Jewish Family in Frankfurt. Germany. His home
life was not happy; his father was moody and his father frequently depressed. As a youth in World War I, Fromm
witnessed the atrocities of German propaganda. This drew his interest in understanding the cause of irrational
behaviour. He studied psychology and philosophy and his interest in psychoanalysis was influenced by Freud, and
his opinions in economics by Karl Marx. He married his first analyst, Freda Reichman, who was ten years older.

In 1934, Fromm moved to New York where he met many of the great refugee thinkers including Karen
Horney, with whom he had a long love affair. During this period, Horney’s ideas greatly influence Fromm’s work,
though he rarely recognized it.

The major theme of Fromm’s work is the concept of loneliness. To be human is to be isolated and lonely.
Loneliness represents the basic condition of human existence that separates human from animals. Fromm called
this condition dichotomy, a two-horned dilemma or problem that has no solution because none of the alternatives
is extremely satisfactory. For example: we want peace but we create weapons for war; we desire immortality but
we find death inevitable. Fromm was also influenced by existentialism, the pursuit of meaningfulness in human
existence


VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE

Fromm believed that human beings are not genetically aggressive. Destructiveness and cruelty cannot be
explained in terms of heredity. The desire to destroy emerges only when life forces are frustrated.
Destructiveness aggression is a propensity of character rather than an innate learned behaviour. According to
Fromm, people are alike in that they all experience the same dilemmas and contradictions that are heart and soul
of human existence. Thus, all persons find themselves joined with others, yet alone; living yet dying; free yet
responsible; conscious of their potentialities yet powerless over their limitations. The existential dichotomies that
characterize human condition gives rise to seven basic needs. These needs stem from our existence and must be
met so we can develop fully.


EXISTENTIAL NEEDS

1. Frame of Reference or Orientation

People need a cognitive map of their natural and social worlds that enables them to organize and make
sense of puzzling matters and allows them to operate in the arena or rational understanding. It is the stable basis
of perceiving the world.

2. Relatedness

Humans have intense need for relatedness, “the necessity to unite with other living beings, an imperative
need on the fulfillment of which man’s sanity depends”. Among the ways that one can fulfill the relatedness need
is by joining another person in a symbiotic union, a coupling of beings in which each meets the needs of the other
while they “live together”, as “two yet one”.

The following are two forms of symbiotic union, both destructive:

a. Passive union – the person submits to the control of another person, institution, or substance that
“directs him, guides him, and protects him. Submission takes the form of masochism in that the person is
abused and used by the power to which he or she has submitted.

b. Active union – the theme of the union is domination “or to use the psychological term corresponding
to sadism”. The dominating individual seeks to escape from aloneness by making another person a part of
him or her.

In contrast to the tragedy of symbiotic union, mature love “is union under the condition of perceiving
one’s integrity, one’s individuality. The power of love demolishes the barriers that separate people. It overcomes
isolation and separateness, yet maintains personal integrity.

3. Rootedness

It is a deep craving to maintain one’s natural ties and not be “separated”; to have a sense of
belongingness. Without roots we would have to stand alone, in isolation and helplessness, not knowing who we
are or where we are.

4. Identity

It is the need to be aware of oneself as a separate entity, and to sense oneself as the subject of one’s own
actions. The person is able to say “I am I”.

5. Unity
It is a sense of oneness within one’s self and with the “natural and human world outside”. The true and
certain path to unity is developing

6. Effectiveness

The need to compensate for “being in a strange and overpowering world” by developing a sense of being
able to do something that will “make a dent” in life. To be effective is to “get things done”, “to accomplish”, and
to be the person who “has the capability to do so something”.

7. Transcendence

It is the act of transforming one’s accidental and passive role of “creature” into that of an active and
purposeful “creator”. It can be accomplished through various means, in as simple as a process of planting seeds
and producing material goods or in as complicated a manner as creating art and ideas. It is to rise above animal
existence by becoming active creators.


SOCIAL CHARACTER TYPES

Social character – represents the core of a character structure common to most people of a given culture and
shows the degree to which character is formed by social and cultural patterns.

1. Receptive Type- a person of this orientation experiences the source of all good things as being outside them.
He/she believes that the only way to get what he/she wants – be it something material, be it
affection, love, knowledge, pleasure – is to receive it from the outside source.

2. Exploitative Type-a person of this orientation also experiences the source of all good as outside themselves,
but rather than expecting to receive from others, they take things through force or cunning.
Their orientation is to grab, steal, and manipulate, while being suspicious, cynical, and jealous.
“I’lltake what I need”.

3. Hoarding Type – differs from two preceding types. A person of this orientation believes the “goods” come from
the inside and not form the outside, form themselves not from others, so security is based on
attitude of saving, of letting out as little as possible. Their motto is “Mine is mine. Yours is yours”.
Their favorite exclamation is “No!” because to say “Yes!” threatens them with the possibility of
giving up something.

4. Marketing Type – treats oneself as a commodity whose exchange value depends on whether they are in short
supply or not; hence, obeying the laws of supply and demand. They seek topackage and sell
themselves so that they seem unusual or rare and, thus, “in demand”. People battle to
distinguish their selves so that they will look like “one of a kind” and thereby appear to be in short
supply.
5. Productive Type – the only positive social character type. A person of this orientation values himself/herself
and other for what they are and experiences security and inner peace. Typical traits are
open-mindedness, loyalty, and flexibility.




6. CARL RANSOM ROGERS (HUMANISTICPSYCHOLOGY
or PERSON-CENTERED THEORY)

Carl Rogers was born on January 8, 1902 in Oak Park, Illinois. He was the fourth of six children. His father
was a successful civil engineer, while his mother was a housewife and a devout Christian. His parents were the
typical authoritarian type. He was raised in a close, warm, and religious family environment. Whenhewas12, his
family moved to a farm around 30miles west of Chicago where he spent his adolescence. With a strict upbringing
and many chores, Rogers became isolated, independent, and self-disciplined.

He had a degree in Agriculture but after graduation, he switched to study religion and studied for the
ministry without prodding from his family. In his junior year at Wisconsin in 1922, he was selected one of ten
students who spent six months in Beijing, China for the World Student Christian Federation Conference. In 1924,
after graduation, he married Helen Elliot against his parents’ wishes and moved to New York. There, he began
attending the Union Theological Seminary, a famous liberal religious institution, which changed his goals and
philosophy in life.

He received his Ph. D, in 1928 and worked for several years at a child guidance center in Rochester, New
York. During these early professional years, Rogers soaked up the views of Freud. He found these ideas to be in
great conflict with the rigorous, experimental aspects of his academic training. Relying on his clinical experiences
with people, he began formulating a person-centered point of view: The person seeking guidance should choose
the direction of personality change. Unlike Freudian psychoanalysts, he would not adopt the role of authoritarian
doctor because it is the person who knows what hurts, what directions to go, what problems are crucial, and what
experiences have been deeply buried.


VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE

Rogers’ point of view revolves around a sub discipline of psychology he helped to found. Humanistic
Psychology emphasizes the present experience and essential worth of the whole person, promotes creativity,
intentionalism, free choice, spontaneity, and fosters the belief that people can solve their own psychological
problems. Humanistic Psychology emerged from two other philosophical orientations:

1. Existentialism – an approach to understanding each person’s most immediate experience, the
conditions of his or her existence, and the necessity of exercising freedom of choice in
 a chaotic world. It encourages psychologists to get inside each person’s world to
understand how that person lives, moves, and his or her experiences of “being-in-the-
world. Existentialists encourage psychologist to value consciousness and personal
responsibility.

2. Phenomenology – involves an attitude of discovery that encompasses a search for essential issues, an
emphasis on consciousness, the necessity of describing experience, and a desire to
grasp reality as each individual uniquely perceives it.

For Rogers, as well as other theorists, the most important matter in the consideration of personality is the
person as a whole, including the individual’s conscious awareness, freedom to choose, self-determination, and
quality of experiences. His is an organismic approach: The human organism is viewed as a total being whose
physical, psychological, and spiritual aspects cannot be separated except by artificial means.


MAJOR THEORIES/ BASIC CONCEPTS

1. The General Actualizing Tendency – an inherent tendency of an organism to develop all its capacities in ways
which serve to maintain or enhance the organism. This constructive biological tendency is
the one source of energy in the human organism. The actualizing tendency expresses
itself through a wide range of behaviours, in response to a wide variety of needs. It has
four significant characteristics.

a. It is organismic – a natural, biological, inborn predisposition reflected in the total
functioning of every living being.

b. It is an active process – it accounts for the observation that organisms are always up to
something, whether seeking food or sexual satisfaction,
initiating, exploring, producing change in the environment,
playing or even creating.

c. It is directional – it inclines every form of life toward growth, self- regulation
fulfillment, reproduction, and independence, from external control.

d. It is selective – not all organisms’ potentialities are necessarily developed (for example:
the ability to bear pain).


2. Self-Actualization – a person’s lifelong process of realizing his or her potentialities to become a fully functioning
person. The goal of self-actualization is “to be that self which one truly is”.

Rogers associated the process of self-actualization with enhanced functioning in three areas. First, self-
actualization involves openness to experience, which is all the emotions, cognitions, and perceptions occurring to
the organism at any given moment. Second, the self-actualizing person livesexistentially, going with the flow of
each moment in life and participating fully in it. Third, the self-actualizing person places full trust on his or her
organismic intuitions, doing what feels right after weighing all available information.

3. The Importance of the Self – self-actualization implies a central role for the “self”. Self is clearly reflected in our
everyday language: “I am in love”, I am sad”. Self is the organized, consistent,
conceptual whole consist of perceptions of the characteristics of the “I”or “me”,
the values attached to these perceptions, and the relationship of the “I” or “me”
to the various aspects in life.

Ideal self- is the self a person most values and desires to be. It is the self-concept
which the individual would most like to possess, upon which he places
the highest value for himself.


PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT

The interaction between persons and interpersonal environments represent an important aspect of
human development. The actualization tendency points all people in direction of becoming the persons they truly
are, regardless of the social environment. However, certain interpersonal conditions facilitate actualization
strivings, whereas others do not. Rogers identified some necessary and sufficient conditions for growth and
change in the personality.

1. Unconditional Positive Regard- All people have needs that can be fulfilled only in human relationships.
Chief among these is a universally learned need for positive regard, the experiencing of
oneself as making a positive difference in the lives of other people and as receiving
warmth, liking, respect, sympathy, acceptance, caring, and trust from others. This needis
met when other people in a person’s life provide unconditional positive regard: they
communicate with no strings attached, that one is accepted, valued, worthwhile, and
trusted for simply being who one is.

2. Accurate Empathy – the ability to accurately perceive the client’s internal world in a non-evaluative
way. Such empathic understanding goes beneath the surface of another person’s words
and actions, to inner feelings, attitudes, meanings, values, and motives.

3. Developing Positive Self- Regard – a favorable attitude toward themselves. This, in return allows them
to develop their own values in accordance with their real experiences, independently of
“approving” others.

Characteristics of a Fully Functioning Person

1. Openness to experience 4. Sense of Freedom
2. Existential Living 5. Creativity
3. Self-trust

7. HARRY STACK SULLIVAN (INTERPERSONAL THEORY)

Harry was born in a farm near Norwich, New York. He was an only child, worshipped by his mother, Ella
Stack, but considered by his father “no good to work for he has his nose stuck in a book all the time. The Stack
family was well regarded in the community as they are of high status. The same could not be said for the Sullivans
as they belong to the “working class”.

As a person, Sullivan was lonely, somewhat reserved, rather fatalistic about his health and a user of
alcohol to combat anxiety. During childhood and preadolescence, he was a loner at school who conveyed an
ambiguous sense of sexuality that lingered into adulthood.

Sullivan received his medical degree from the Chicago College of Medicine and Surgery in 1917. He served
as a physician for various industrial and insurance companies. Rather than receiving formal psychiatric training,
Sullivan trained himself while a staff physician at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Washington, D.C. In the course of his
practice, he established a reputation for being a good psychiatrist, having successfully treated young patients with
schizophrenia.

Sullivan began to formulate his theory of interpersonal relations in 1929. The organization of personality
consists of interpersonal rather than intraphysic events. Personality manifests itself in the person’s behaviour in
relation to other individual.

Sullivan died in in 1949 at the age of 57 due to a fatal heart attack in a hotel room.


VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE

Sullivan’s theory revolves around the idea that a person’s needs and developmental tasks are a series of
two-person relationships, beginning with a “mothering one” and culminating in the selection of a sexual partner.
People are socially created animals and that society is the actual creator of people’s personalities. His theory
stressed the importance of interpersonal relationships. The human being does not exist as a simple personality; its
personality can only exist in relation to others.



STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY

A. Self-System – Anxiety is a product of interpersonal relations being transmitted originally from the mother to
the infant and, later in life, by threats to one’s security. To avoid or minimize actual or potential
anxiety, people adopt various types of protective measures and supervisory controls over their
behaviors. For example, one learns to avoid punishment by conforming to their parents’ wishes.

The self-system is “that part of personality which is born entirely out of the influences of
significant others upon one’s feeling of well-being”.

B. Personified Self - an image that one has of himself/ herself or of another person. It is a complex of web
feelings, attitudes, and conceptions that grows out of experiences with need-satisfaction and
anxiety.Personification shared by a number of people are called stereotypes

ThreeBasic Ways we see ourselves

1. The Bad-me- represents those parts of the self that are considered negative and are therefore hidden
from others and possibly even from the self.

2. The Good-me-everything we like about ourselves, in interactions that are rewarding and fulfilling.

3. The Not-me- represents all those things that are so anxiety-provoking that we cannot even consider
them a part of us.

Three Modes of Experience

1. Prototaxic– the discreet series of momentary states of the sensitive organism; the raw
sensations, images, and feelings that flow through the mind of a sedate being.

2. Parataxic– seeing casual relationships between events that occur at about the same time
but which are not logically related.

3. Syntaxic– the highest mode of experience, a consensually validated symbol activity,
especially of a verbal nature.


C. The Cognitive – are important factors of foresight. “Man, the person, lives with his past, the present
and the neighboring future all clearly relevant in explaining his thought and action.


STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

1. Infancy – from birth up to the appearance of article speech.
- oral zone is the primary zone of interaction between the baby and its environment.

2. Childhood – starts with the learning of language and the organization of experiences in the syntactic mode.
- need to have playmates.

3. Juvenile - extends through most of the grammar school years
- the period of becoming social, acquiring experiences of subordination to authority figures
outside the family, becoming competent and cooperative.

4. Pre-adolescence – marked by a need for an intimate relationship with a peer of the same sex, a friend to
whom one can confide and collaborate to meet the tasks and solve the problems of life.

5. Early Adolescence – the development of a pattern of heterosexual activity.

6. Late Adolescence – extends from the patterning of preferred genital activity through unnumbered
educative steps to the establishment of a fully human and mature repertory of
interpersonal relations as permitted by available opportunity, personal andcultural.












8. KAREN DANIELSEN HORNEY (FEMININE PSYCHOLOGY)

Karen Danielsen Horney was born in Germany on September 16, 1885. Her father was a ship captain,
pious and authoritarian. His children called him “the Bible Thrower”. Her mother, known as Sonni, was Berndt’s
second wife, 19 years his junior, and very different from her husband. Karen had an older brother also named
Berndt, for whom she cared deeply, as well as four other siblings from her father’s previous marriage.

When she was nine years old, Karen became ambitious and rebellious. She also developed something of a
crush on her own brother, but was embarrassed when he harshly pushed her away. This led to her first
depression that plagued her throughout her life.

Her early childhood was also difficult. Her parents divorced and they were left with their father. In 1906,
she entered medical school against her parents’ wishes ad against the opinion of polite society. IN the course of
her studies, she met a law student named Oscar Horney whom she married in 1909. Her mother died in 1911.
This chain of events proved so stressful that Karen decided to enter psychoanalysis

In 1923, her husband’s business collapsed, and he developed meningitis. Oscar became a broken man,
miserable and argumentative. Meantime, her brother died of pulmonary infection at the age of 40. Karen
became depressed to the point of committing suicide.

She underwent psychoanalysis is an attempt to deal with her depression and sexual problems. She also
developed his theories on neurosis, based on her experiences as a psychotherapist. Her interest in feminine
psychology was simulated by two factors. First, psychoanalysis was created by a ma who spoke almost entirely of
menand boys. Second, certain clinical observations appeared contradictory to Freud’s theory of libido. She
contradicted Freud’s hypothesis on penis envy as the primary determining factor in the psychology of women.

She pointed out that men and women might develop fantasies about castration in their effort to cope
with Oedipal situation. She further observed that many men and boys express jealousy over women’s ability to
bear and nurse children, or what she called “women envy”.


VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE

Horney maintained that neurosis is caused by disturbed human relationships, particularly that between
parent and child.

 Safety and satisfaction are the two basic needs during childhood. The child starts life with feelings of
helplessness and completely dependent on parents. This is normal, though not a sufficient reason for the
development of neurosis. Either of two things can happen:

1. The parents demonstrate genuine affection and warmth toward the child, thereby satisfying its need for
safety. This condition leads to normal development.

2. The parents demonstrate indifference, rejection, or even hatred, thereby frustrating the child’s need for
safety. This condition leads to neurotic development.

Horney described parental behavior that undermines a child’s security as a “basic evil”. Examples of such
behaviors are:

1. Parental domination
2. Belittling attitudes
3. Indifference
4. Unkept promises
5. Overprotection
6. Hostile home atmosphere
7. Encouraging the child to take sides in parental disagreements
8. Isolation from other children
9. Lack of respect for the child’s individual needs


NEUROTIC NEED– the coping techniques that are initiated in childhood and composed of excessive and unrealistic
demands developed in response to the basic anxiety that dominates the person. Their aim is not
instinctual satisfaction, as Freud believed, but social safety or security.

Needs are called neurotic when:

1. When a person adheres to them more rigidly than do other people in the culture, and
2. When there is a discrepancy between the person’s potentialities and actual accomplishments


Neurotic people lack flexibility in reacting to different situations. They usually are unable to make up their
minds, or repeatedly indicate how impossible it is to trust anyone because “everyone” is out to get whatever they
can. They experience discrepancy between their potential and their actual productivity or enjoyment. Even
though they may seem to have everything going for them, their feelings point to an inappropriate sense of
inferiority and an absence of happiness. They sense that they stand in their own way.


Ten Neurotic Needs or Trends

1. Need for affection and approval – the individual lives to be admired and loved by others.

2. Need for a partner who will run one’s life – the individual needs to be affiliated with someone who will protect
him or her from danger and fulfill all or his/her needs.

3. Need to live one’s life within narrow limits – The individual is very conservative and avoids defeat by
attempting very little.

4. Need for power – the individual tends to glorify strength and despise weakness.

5. Need to exploit others – the individual dreads being taken advantage of by others, yet thinks constantly about
how to take advantage of other people.

6. Need for social recognition – the individual lives to be recognized’ his or her highest goal is to gain prestige.
7. Need for personal admiration – the individual likes to be flattered and complimented and wants to be seen as
the idealized image they have of themselves.

8. Need for ambition and personal achievement – The individual has an intense desire to be famous, rich, or
important regardless of the means.

9. Need for self-sufficiency and independence – the individual goes to great extremes to avoid being obligated to
anyone and does not want to be tied to anything or anyone. Enslavement is avoided at all costs.

10. Need for perfection and unavailability – the individual attempts to be flawless because of hypersensitivity to
criticism.

Horney divided these neurotic needs into three general categories according to the neurotic’s adjustment
to other people. This is considered as Horney’s most significant contribution to personality theory.

PRIMARY ADJUSTMENT TECHNIQUES

1. Moving toward people – “If I give in, I will not be hurt.” This category includes the 3 needs (1,2,3) cited above.
Horney calls this the compliant type. The individual wants to be liked, wanted, desired, loved, accepted, and
approved.

2. Moving against people – If I have power, no one will hurt me.” This category includes the neurotic need for
power, exploitation of others, prestige, and personal achievement. The individual is capable of acting polite and
friendly, but this is just a means to an end. The person’s friendliness is superficial and based on repressed
aggressiveness. Horney calls this the hostile type.

3. Moving away from people – “If I withdraw, nothing can hurt me.” This adjustment pattern includes the
neurotic needs for self-sufficiency, independence, perfection, and unavailability. Horney calls this the detached
type.

SECONDARY ADJUSTMENT TECHNIQUES

1. BLIND SPOTS – denying or ignoring certain aspects of experience that are not in accordance with one’s self-
image. This is compatible with Freud’s notion of Repression. This allows a person to maintain a consistent self-
image by ignoring experiences not compatible with it.

2. COMPARTMENTALIZATION – dividing one’s life into various components with different rules. For example: A
person behaves according to one set of rules for family life and another set of rules for business.

3. RATIONALIZATION – giving good reasons to excuse conduct that might otherwise provoke anxiety.

4. EXCESSIVE SELF-CONTROL – guarding against anxiety by controlling one’ emotions. The goal is to maintain rigid
self-control at all costs. Persons who exert such control will not allow themselves to be carried away, whether by
enthusiasm, sexual excitement, self-pity, or rage.

5. EXTERNALIZATION (PROJECTION) – feeling that all major influences in life are external to one’s self. The person
is incapable of accepting criticism and does not feel responsible for his/her actions.

6. ARBITRAY RIGHTNESS – When an issue that has no clear solution arises, the person arbitrarily chooses one
position, thereby ending debate. This position becomes the truth, therefore cannot be challenged. Example: You
are not going out on Friday and that is final. In the event of a conflict, they can feel “in control” only if they can
declare themselves “in the right.”
7. ELUSIVENESS – never making a decision about anything. If one is never committed to anything, then one can
never be wrong. When one is never wrong, one can never be criticized. Example: postponing a decision to go to
college, thus delaying potential failure.”

8. CYNICISM – not believing in anything, and instead taking action in pointing out the absence or meaning in other
people’s belief. To them, wrong can be twisted into right and right can be transformed into wrong. All that
matters is doing what they please and looking good in the process. Those who reason and behave otherwise are
thought to be either hypocrites or stupid.

The Psychology of Women

Women lived for centuries under conditions in which they were kept away from great economic and
political responsibilities and restricted to a private emotional sphere of life.

This does not mean that they did not carry responsibility and did not have to work. But their work was
done within the confines of the family circle and therefore was based only on emotionalism, in contradiction to
more personal, matter-of-fact relations.

Another aspect of the same situation is that love and devotion came to be regarded as specifically
feminine ideals and virtues.

Still another aspect is that to women – since their relations to men and children were their only gateway
to happiness, security, and prestige – love represented a realistic value, which in man’s sphere can be compared
with his activities relating to earning capacities.

The specific social vehicle contributing to female dependency is the development of “love” relationships,
based on the belief “I must have a man” that is foisted on women.Horney saw this belief as motivating women to
unconsciously conform to the wishes and demands of men and then assume, erroneously, that the behavior and
feelings they adopt at the behest of men represent true feminine nature.

From social perspective, Horney saw women’s submission to the control of men as “cultivated” through a
process of systematic selection by men. Male selectivity fosters the development of relationships with certain
types of conforming women. Women are selected whose willingness to please would compensate for specific
male deficiencies such as vulnerable self-esteem. The selection process instills in women the dispositions of
dependency, inconspicuousness, frailty, suffering, emotionality, and jealousy of other women, traits that serve
men well. In sum, systematic selection promotes a self-fulfilling prophecy in which women became what men
want them to be.

Psychologically speaking, Horney felt that society’s “masculine tendency” conveys demeaning attitudes
toward women. Women are then led to compensate for the consequent heightened sense of inferiority by
further increasing their overvaluation of relationships with ”superior” men. The net result is, once again, a
strengthening of male dominance. More generally, Horney’s reconceptualization Freudian theory redirects
attention away from the instinctive position that favors the masculine gender to a trend that is more sociocultural
in nature.

Jealousy – Horney defines jealousy as the fear of losing a relationship that is seen as the best available means of
satisfying an insatiable concern for affection and incessant demands for unconditional love.

In the realm of sexual relations with other people, Horney saw four types of troubled individuals. All of these
types primarily seek sex for reasons other than physical gratification.

! The first variety craves sexual interaction because it allows them to establish human contact.
Unfortunately, malevolent motivation lies behind their desire to have relations with others: “ ... it is not
so much a need for affection as a striving to conquer, or more accurately, to subdue others”

 ! The second type “... are prone to yield to sexual advances from either sex, [and] are driven by an
unending need for affection, especially by a fear of losing another person through refusing a sexual
request, or through daring to defend themselves against any requests made upon them, whether just or
unjust. They become slaves of others because they cannot bear the thought of losing them

! The third type experience increased sexual excitement because “... it is an outlet for anxiety and for pent-
up psychic tensions. When these individuals find themselves in a context that provokes their anxiety, they
become attracted to the most prominent individual present.

! The fourth type, homosexuality of the neurotic variety, is due to fear of competitiveness. This type is
composed of individuals who (1) withdraw from attempts to attract the opposite sex so that they may
avoid competition with their own sex, and (2) deal with the anxiety that competitiveness with the same
sex engenders by seeking the sense of reassurance that only affection from the same sex can provide.
Apparently these individuals stand in contrast to genuine homosexuals who are as normal as
heterosexuals.

9. ABRAHAM MASLOW (HIERARCHY OF NEEDS)

Abraham Maslow was born on April 1, 1908 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was the eldest of seven
children of uneducated Jewish immigrants. His parents, who wanted the best for their children in the new world,
pushed him hard for academic success. Maslow had a very difficult childhood. His father was emotionally cold and
was often absent from home, while his mother was superstitious and often punished him for slight wrongdoings.
She was unaffectionate and played favorites among her children.

During Maslow’s teenage years, he developed inferiority feelings. To compensate for his physical
shortcomings, he tried to excel in sports but was not successful, so instead he turned to books.

Maslow married Bertha Goodman, his first cousin, against his parents’ wishes. They lived happily and
raised seven children. They moved to the Wisconsin because Maslow wanted to study at the University of
Wisconsin. There, he became interested in psychology and his school work began to improve dramatically.

In 1962, Maslow along with other psychologists co-established the American Association Humanistic
Psychology which inculcates the following: 1) the primary study of psychology should be the experiencing person;
b) it must be concerned with choice, creativity, and self-realization rather than mechanistic reductionism; c) it
must promote the dignity and enhancement of people.

VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE

Maslow advocated a holistic analytic approach to studying the total person. This approach should
emphasize their positive qualities. His theory was concerned with growth motivation, which can be gained
through self-actualization.

Human nature consists of a number or instinctoidal (innate but weak) needs that are arranged in
hierarchy according to their potency. Self-actualizing individuals are no longer motivated by deficiencies (D
motivation); they are motivated by being values (B-motivation). Maslow believed that human nature has a basic
goodness and a natural tendency towards self-actualization.

SELF-ACTUALIZING PEOPLE EXHIBIT THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERISTICS:

 1. They perceive reality accurately and fully.
2. They demonstrate a greater acceptance of themselves, others, and nature in general.
3. They exhibit spontaneity, simplicity, and naturalness.
4. They tend to be concerned with problems rather than with themselves.
5. They have a quality of detachment and a need for privacy.
6. They are autonomous, and therefore, tend to be independent of their environment and culture.

HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

Growth toward self-actualization requires the satisfaction of a hierarchy of needs. At the base of the
hierarchy are more basic needs relative to those above them.

1. Physiological needs – food, clothing, shelter, oxygen, sleep, etc.

2. Safety needs – security, protection, stability, freedom from fear and anxiety, and the need for structure and
limits.

3. Love and belonging needs – need for family and friends, relationships, and being part of a group.

4. Esteem Needs – refer to the reaction of others to us as individuals, how we view ourselves, and the need for a
favorable judgment.

5. Need for self-actualization – the tendency to feel restless unless we are doing what we think we are capable of
doing.

Misconceptions about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Maslow was quick to point out that his initial five-level need hierarchy somewhat oversimplified the
relationship between the need and behavior. For example, some people need to satisfy their need for self-esteem
and respect before they can enter a love relationship.

Another common misconception about the need hierarchy is the assumption that our psychological needs
must be satisfied 100% before we can proceed to higher needs. For Maslow, our needs are only partially met at
any given moment.

Although the needs hierarchy was described as universal, Maslow readily admitted that the means of
satisfying particular need varies across culture. In our society, a person can win self-esteem and respect from
others by becoming a doctor or a political leader. But in other societies, this esteem is awarded for good hunting
or farming skills.

Another oversimplification of Maslow’s theory is that any given behavior is motivated by a single need.
Maslow argued that behavior is the result of multiple motivations. For example, in sexual intercourse, someone
might be motivated by the need for sexual release, as well as the need to win or express affection, gain a sense of
conquest or mastery, or a desire to feel masculine or feminine.





















10. BURRHUS FREDERIC SKINNER (OPERANT REINFORCEMENT
LEARNING PARADIGM)

Skinner was born in March 20, 1904 in Pennsylvania, USA. His father was an attorney who believed that
his son would also become a lawyer and consequently named his law firm Wm. A. Skinner & Son. His father’s
encouragement was futile; Skinner never joined the legal profession.

As a boy, Skinner was very creative. He fabricated model airplanes, merry-go-rounds, roller-skate
scooters, blowguns, kites, and sleds. This interest in mechanical objects was evident in his invention and use of
various devices in his experimental work in psychology.

In 1971, he published his controversial book, Beyond Freedom and Dignity, where he suggested that
society retarded in its use of behavioral science because of its dedication to the myth of psychic entities as the
source of behavior.


VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE

Skinner concentrated on the relationship between environmental events and behavior. He described
respondent behavior as that which is elicited or emitted by a known stimulus. All conditioned and unconditioned
responses are examples of respondent behavior. He believed that behavior can be explained and controlled
purely by the manipulation of the environment containing the behaving organism, and that there is no need to
take that organism apart or make any inferences about the events that are going on inside it.


STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY

A key concept in Skinner’s theory is the process of Operant Conditioning, simply stated as, “if the occurrence of
the operant is followed by the presentation of reinforcing stimulus, the strength is increased.”In other words, if a
response is followed by a reward, the response will be strengthened. Therefore, if you want to strengthen a
particular response or behavior pattern, then reward it. A reinforce, positive or negative, always increases the
operant response rate.

Skinner believed that personality is but a collection of behavior patterns, ergo, development of personality is
nothing but the development of these behavior patterns.

" OPERANT CONDITIONING

 According to the operant theory, the best way to teach a complex skill is to divide it into its basic
components and gradually shape it one step at a time. The shaping process has two components: 1)differential
reinforcement, where some responses are reinforced and others are not, and 2) successive approximation, where
some responses are reinforced successively but others are not. The successive approximations reinforced are
those that are increasingly close to the response ultimately desired.


Two Kinds of Consequences in Operant Conditioning

1. REINFORCEMENT - anything within the environment that strengthens the behavior and rewards the person.

a. Positive Reinforcement – the process of adding pleasant stimulus when a desired behavior/response is
performed.
Ex: Getting cash prizes, congratulatory messages, tap on the shoulders, etc.

b. Negative Reinforcement – a process whereby the likelihood of a response increases when it is followed by the
removal, termination, reduction or absence of a stimulus.
Ex: When home curfew is lifted if one gets a good remarks in school.

2. PUNISHMENT - responses that are followed by the presentation of aversive stimuli decreases the likelihood of
being performed in the future.

a. Positive Punishment – refers to presenting an aversive stimulus (such as spanking) after a response.

b. Negative Punishment – refers to removing a reinforcing stimulus (child’s allowance or confiscation of
things) after a response.


SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT

1. Continuous Reinforcement – means that every occurrence of the operant response results in delivery of the
reinforcer.
- in the real world, relatively few of our behaviors are on a continuous
reinforcement.

2. Partial Reinforcement Schedule – only some of the occurrence of the operant response results in delivery of
the reinforcer.

Ratio = amount Interval = time

a. Fixed-ratio schedule–a reinforcer occurs only after a fixed number of responses are made by the
subject. This is often used to pay assembly – line workers because it results in
fast rates of work. Ex: A salesman sold 5 cars regardless of time, he gets a reward

b. Fixed-interval schedule – a reinforcer occurs following the first response that occurs after a fixed
interval of time. A fixed interval schedule has slow responding at first, but as
the time for the reinforcer nears responses increases.
Ex: A salesman is rewarded whenever he sells car/s every two weeks.

c. Variable-ratio Schedule –means that a reinforcer is delivered after an average number of correct
responses has occurred. This schedule produces a high rate of responding
because the person (gambler) doesn’t know which response will finally
produce the pay-off.
Ex: A salesman is rewarded once he sells an average amount of cars

d. Variable- interval schedule

11. ALBERT BANDURA – SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY

Albert Bandura was born in the small town of Mundare, Alberta, Canada on December 4, 1925. His
elementary and high school days were similar to all other residents in town. After high school, he became an
ordinary laborer of Alaska Highway in the Yukon.

He studied at the University of Columbia and received his bachelor degree in Psychology in 1949. In 1952,
he got his Ph.D. at the University of Iowa where he came under the influence of the behaviorist tradition and
learning theory. It was also there that he met Virgina Arms, a nursing school instructor who became his wife; they
raised two daughters.

In1973, Bandura became president of the American Psychology Association and received the Award for
Distinguished Scientific Contribution in 1980.


VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE

Human beings are capable of self-regulation and goal setting. The latter is a powerful source of
motivation. For goals to be effective motivators, they must be specific and set at an appropriate level. When goals
are long term, as they often are, the sub-goals must be set. The theory views people as driven neither exclusively
by forces of cognition nor automatically be events within the environment.

Human functioning is molded by the reciprocal interaction of behavior, personal factors including
cognition, and environmental factors – this triadic model is called reciprocal determinism.
Self-Efficiency

Bandura argued that far is largely a product of perceived inefficiency. We are afraid in situations we feel we are
incapable of handling. As efficiency increases, fear diminishes.


Observational Learning- learning by observing models as they perform useful behavior- people who observe a
model learn the value of behavioral performance in terms of what it will achieve.Learning occurs because people
are aware of the consequences of their responses, they can do think about what these consequences will be.
Observation allows us to liar without performing Vicarious learninga behavior.

Vicarious learning–learning through observing behaviors of others.


Two Concepts associated with Observational Learning

1. Model–a person who performs some behavior for an audience showing how it is done and what benefits
accrue from it.

2. Modeling- refers to the act of performing behavior before one or more observers. Learning through modeling
means adding and subtracting from the observed behavior and generalizing from observing another’s behavior, it
involves cognitive processes.


Perceptual processes governing observational learning:

1. Attention – we observe behaviors which we think are important to us from which we believe we can profit
from.

2. Representation – in order for observation to lead new patterns, those patterns must be symbolically
represented in memory.

3. Behavioral production – after attending to a model ad retaining what we have observed, we then produce the
behavior.

4. Motivation – observational learning is most effective when learners are motivated to perform the modeled
behavior.


" Characteristics of models are important in learning; attractive, successful models, those who have done well
bot generally and on specific tasks are the ones whose behaviors are adopted.

Self-esteem – refers to the cognitive structures that provide reference mechanisms and to set a sub functions for
the perception, evaluation, and regulation of behavior.

Self- regulation- the person’s ability to use reflective thoughts to manipulate the environment to some degree
and produce consequences of his action thus enable him to partially regulate his behavior.


Component processes involved in self-regulatory behavior:

1. Self-observation of performance – ability o monitor our own performance, what we observe depends partly on
our interests and other pre-existing self-perceptions, we may be selective in what we observe.

2. Judgmental processes – we must evaluate our performance- people regulate their behavior through the
process of cognitive mediation – we judge the worth of our actions on the basis of goals we set for ourselves
depending on our personal standards.

3. Self-reaction – we respond positively or negatively to our behavior depending on how it measures up to our
personal standards.