Personality Development

Dr Ros Weston
Psychology
Definition:

Child (1968)

“More or less stable, internal factors that make one person’s behaviour consistent
from one time to another, and different from the behaviour other people would
manifest in comparable situations”

• Stable
• Internal
• Consistent
• Different

Personality is ‘INTERNAL’

Freud’s theories on Personality Development

Change and development are the key words : internal process + past experiences
The dynamics of behaviour which is what distinguishes this theory from the cognitive
(Glassman, 1995)
 Innate drives + early experiences

id ego super ego pleasure principle defence mechanisms

Anna Freud
“defence against instinct”
The child learns
defensive behaviours to
control id
Defence Mechanisms Psycho - sexual Development
1 Repression
2 Displacement Energy - libido
3 Projection &
Eros & Thanatos
4 Denial •Oral
5 Intellectualisation •Anal
•Phallic (Oedipus & Electra complexes)
•Latency
•Genital
Other Defence Mechanisms
• Fixation
Affective strategies in personality development
• Regression

Case studies: Anna O

Little Hans
Myers & Brewin (1994) Childhood Memories
Williams (1994) Sexual Abuse
McGunnies (1949) Perception defence
“things are likely to be ignored if they are unpleasant or
emotionally threatening”
Levinger & Clarke (1961) supported this using emotionally
provoking words. (they recalled the words that had neutral
associations)

(Evaluatory comment on each of these and on Freud’s theory of personality

development)
 Neo - Freudians
Erikson (1959)

Conflict

WAR
Parents
friends
natural processes expectations of teachers
of maturation society employers
norms &
values
 Chart of Eight Stages
Evaluatory Comments
• Used clinical evidence (therapist case studies using Freud’s clinical method)
• theory imprecise & anecdotal
• experimental research provides indirect support for Erikson
(Ainsworth & Bell: 1970) (Bowlby, 1952)
• Stage 4 has been supported by work of Damon & Hart (1988)
(older children used more internal psychological terms. Younger children
focused on concrete & tangible )
• Strengths : - focuses on social process & ego development
- the facing of developmental tension / conflicts
- most of the conflicts lie with the family (Freud also said : When
you are looking at a ‘sick’ (mentally) or disturbed person you often
don’t have to look far for a cause. (that does not mean the parents
are to blame. It is the conflict that is problematic)
• Does not give detail of how you move from one stage to another
• Dwaretzky (1996) feels there is little convincing evidence for E theory
• Hard to test this theory
• The evidence is correlational
It gives a very tidy account of development
 Social Learning Theory
Key term : Significant others
Social Modelling
• Attention
• Retention
• Reproduction
• Motivation Classical
• Conditioning
Operant

Vicarious
Observation &
reinforcement internalisation

This is exact • Bandura’s work Reciprocal determination

opposite of learned
Self efficacy (self -
helplessness
image & belief in self

• What would help a child learn self - efficacy?

-? -? -? -?
Continue…………
• Evidence - Bobo doll
- Harter & Monsour (1992)
- Bandura & Cervone (1983)

• Evaluatory Comment

- More than one self? (Baars, 1997)

- Not a development theory
 Situationalism

• Bandura suggested that personality is not a stable trait of an individual

• Mischel & Peake’s theory (1982) suggest a consistency paradox. Research
failed to show consistency
• Behavioural specificity (M & P, 1982)
• We think it is a stable trait because we see people in similar situations
• Individual differences (M & P, 1993)
Person variables
• Cognitive & behavioural
• Encoding & personal constructs
• Expectancy
• Subjective stimulus value
• self - regulatory systems & plans

Evidence
• Context - dependent learning research (Abernety, 1940)
• Generalising learning
• Lack of fragmentation
 What is gender?
(as part of personality)

Sex Gender Sexual identity

Behaviour Gender identity

Situation (upbrining &

social context) Gender role
Gender stereo types

See : - Debates and all the work we did on real and perceived differences
- Psychoanalytical theory
- Social learning
- Cognitive (Kohlberg)
- Behaviourist
- Humanistic (Carl Rogers : Erikson)
 Kohlbergs (1966) Cognitive - developmental theory (1966)
“The child actively constructs his own experiences and they are not products of
social
training”
• Basic - gender identity (2-3½)
• Gender stability (3½ - 4½)
• Gender consistency (4½ - 7yrs)
(fits with Piaget’s notion of conservation)
Evidence
• Munroe, Shimmin & Munroe (1984)
These stages are cross - cultural.
Slaby & Frey (1975) - attending to some sex models.
Ruble, Balabon & Cooper (1981) Adverts & gender consistency.
Evaluatory Comments
• Cross cultural
• interactivity
• gender identity - increases gender role
• How they interact in the world requires gender identity
• Criticism : gender role behaviour - depends on gender consistency
• Contradictions
• Individualistic (not social context)
 Gender Schema Theory
An organised set of beliefs about the sexes (Martin et al, 1987)
• in group, out group schema
• our gender schema
• children are not passive
• gender - schema’s help them pay attention to ………… & interpret the world &
what they remember
• gender schemas structure experience
Evidence : (Martin et al, 1987)
(Bradbard et al, 1986)
(Masters et al, (1979)
Evaluatory Comment
• seems to explain & fit with other theories of child development specially
cognitive
• individualistic
• schemas are overaggerated
• should be able to change schemas. As Durkin (1995) found: it is easier to
change concepts
Continued……...
Now :

Compare social learning theory yourself using biological; social

biological theory by explaining

• Theory (giving)
• evidence (including)
• evaluatory comment
 Theories of Adolescent Development

The Isle of Wight Study Relationship with parents What evidence

(1976) Rutter’s large scale Relationship with peers Cultural is there that
study. differences these are
important

Marcia’s theory (1966-1980)

What factors cause
disturbance in young people? -Alternatives to choose from
Delinquency -Have fun commitment been made
What is the problem of Four possible identity statuses
retrospective data? -Identity diffusion
-Foreclosure
-Moratorium
Erikson’s theory (1902, 1994) -Identity achievement
Intimacy Evidence to support : Meilman
-Identity diffusion Diffusion
Diffusion
Gender & (1979)
individual
-Identity crisis of differences Evidence against : (Munroe &
industry alpha & beta
bias Adams (1977)
Negative
identity
-Counter evidence Coleman’s focal theory
-Support evidence (1974)
‘Storm & Stress’