1

Personality

AP Psychology:

2

AP students in psychology should be able to do the following:

Compare and contrast the major theories and approaches to explaining personality: psychoanalytic, humanist, cognitive, trait, social learning, and behavioral.

Describe and compare research methods (e.g., case studies and surveys) that psychologists use to investigate personality.

Identify frequently used assessment strategies (e.g., the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory [MMPI], the Thematic Apperception Test [TAT]), and evaluate relative test quality based on reliability and validity of the instruments.

Speculate how cultural context can facilitate or constrain personality development, especially as it relates to self-concept (e.g., collectivistic versus individualistic cultures).

Identify key contributors to personality theory (e.g., Alfred Adler, Albert Bandura, Paul Costa and Robert McCrae, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers).

3

Personality

Personality - A unique pattern of consistent feelings, thoughts, and behaviors that originate within the individual.

4

5

Freudian Classical Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality

Developed by Sigmund Freud in the late nineteenth century and continued until his death in 1939 Believed sex was a primary cause of emotional

problems and was a critical component of his personality theory

Remains an important influence in Western culture – pop culture

6

7

The Id: (The Devil)

Is the original personality, the only part present at birth. Resides in the unconscious mind Includes our biological instinctual drives:

Life instincts for survival, reproduction, and pleasure

Death instincts, destructive and aggressive drives detrimental to survival

Operates on a pleasure principle -demands immediate gratification for these drives without the concern for the consequences of this gratification

8

The Superego: (The Angel)

Represents one’s conscience and idealized standards of behavior in their culture Operates on a morality principle, threatening

to overwhelm us with guilt and shame To prevent being overcome with anxiety

because of trying to satisfy the id and superego demands, the ego uses what Freud called…

Defense mechanisms - processes that distort reality and protect us from anxiety

9

The Ego: (The Result)

Starts developing during the first year or so of life to find realistic and socially-acceptable outlets for the id’s needs Operates on the reality principle,

finding gratification for instinctual drives within the constraints of reality (the norms and laws of society)

10

Defense Mechanisms

Repression Unknowingly placing an unpleasant memory or thought in the unconscious so that we are not anxious about them; the primary defense mechanism

Not remembering a traumatic incident in which you witnessed a crime

Regression Reverting back to immature behavior from an earlier stage of development

Throwing temper tantrums as an adult when you don’t get your way

Displacement Redirecting unacceptable feelings from the original source to a safer substitute target

Taking your anger toward your boss out on your spouse or children by yelling at them and not your boss

11

Defense Mechanisms

Sublimation Replacing socially unacceptable impulses with socially acceptable behavior

Channeling aggressive drives into playing football or inappropriate sexual desires into art

Reaction Formation

Acting in exactly the opposite way to one’s unacceptable impulses

Being overprotective of and lavishing attention on an unwanted child

Projection Attributing one’s own unacceptable feelings and thoughts to others and not yourself

Accusing your boyfriend of cheating on you because you have felt like cheating on him

Rationalization Creating false excuses for one’s unacceptable feelings, thoughts, or behavior

Justifying cheating on an exam by saying that everyone else cheats

12

Freud’s Psychosexual Stage Theory

Was developed chiefly from his own childhood memories and from his interactions with his patients.

An erogenous zone is the area of the body where the id’s pleasure-seeking psychic energy is focused during a particular stage of psychosexual development

Fixation occurs when a portion of the id’s pleasure-seeking energy remains in a stage because of excessive gratification or frustration of our instinctual needs.

13

Freud’s Psychosocial States of Personality Development

Stage (age range) Erogenous Zone Activity Focus

Oral (birth - 1½ years) Mouth, lips, and tongue

Sucking, biting, and chewing

Anal (1½ - 3 years) Anus Bowel retention and elimination

Phallic (3 - 6 years) Genitals Identifying with same-sex parent to learn gender role and sense of morality

Latency (6 years - puberty)

None Cognitive and social development

Genital (puberty - adulthood)

Genitals Mature sexual orientation and experience of intimate relationships

14

Potty Training

Parents try to get the child to have self-control during toilet training If the child reacts to harsh toilet training by trying to get

even with the parents by withholding bowel movements, an anal-retentive personality with the traits of orderliness, neatness, stinginess, and obstinacy develops

The anal-expulsive personality develops when the child rebels against the harsh training and has bowel movements whenever and wherever he desires

15

Phallic Stage Conflicts

In the Oedipus conflict, the little boy becomes sexually attracted to his mother and fears the father (his rival) will find out and castrate him

In the Electra conflict, the little girl is attracted to her father because he has a penis; she wants one and feels inferior without one (penis envy)

16

Criticisms of Freud’s theory: (Neo-Freudian)

1. Rejected idea that adult personality is completely formed by 5- or 6-years old.

2. Argued that Freud’s focused too much on biological instincts (ignored social factors.)

3. The overall negative tone of Freud’s theories was not seen as effective by later clinical psychologists.

17

Neo-Freudian Theories of Personality

Agree with many of Freud’s basic ideas, but differ in one or more important ways

Carl Jung’s Collective

Unconscious

Carl Jung’s Collective

Unconscious

Alfred Adler’s Striving for Superiority

Alfred Adler’s Striving for Superiority

Karen Horneyand the

Need for Security

Karen Horneyand the

Need for Security

18

Neo-Freudian thoughts

Many of Freud’s followers joined the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society. This society, led by Freud, focused on Freud’s view of personality.

Freud disagreed strongly with anyone who challenged his views.

Several members of the group, left to form their own views of personality (schools, associations).

19

Carl Jung (1875-1961) Born in Switzerland, the son of

a Protestant Minister, Jung was a quiet, introspective child who kept to himself.

Pondered the nature of dreams & visions he experienced.

Jung earned his M.D. degree in 1900 & went on to study schizophrenia, consciousness, & hypnosis.

He became interested in Freud after reading The Interpretation of Dreams.

20

More about Jung

Jung & Freud met in 1907 & became close colleagues.

Jung formally left Freud’s group in 1913.

Jung spent the next 7 years in intense introspection—led to his theory of personality.

21

The Collective Unconscious

There are common themes & experiences that all people in all cultures experience.

Examples: (God(s))

1. Christianity– God

2. Islam-Allah

3. Hindu – Multiple Gods

22

The collective unconscious is made up of primordial images.

These images called archetypes, are the universal symbolic images of a particular person, object, or experience.

Example: the archetype of mother is in the child’s collective unconscious.

23

Mythology: Common themes across cultures (ancient, recent)

If you look throughout all human history you can identify these following themes:

Hero & heroine

(Luke or Leia) Villain

(Darth Vader) Naïve youth & wise old-sage

(Luke and Obi-Wan)

24

Shadow – Our dark side

This is the unconscious part of ourselves that is negative.

Jung argued you couldn’t have good without evil.

This concept is found throughout every culture.

25

Other common archetypes

Mother/Father God/Devil Hero/Heroine (Knight,

Warrior) Damsel (Princess) Alchemist (Wizard,

Magician, Scientist, Inventor)

(Fairy Godmother/Godfather)

Teacher (Instructor, Mentor)

26

Individuation:

Jung believed that the goal of personality development was to “realize the self”

Individuation – the process in which a person becomes an individual (unified whole)

Your opposing forces are in harmony

27

Carl Jung’s Other Terms:

Jung proposed two main personality attitudes, extraversion and introversion

Extraversion – Outgoing and excitable. Introversion – Quiet and slower to warm up.

28

Alfred Adler’s Striving for Superiority

An Austrian physician, Adler was one of the first to break from Freud’s group (1911).

Rejected Freud’s notion of “penis envy,” argued that women really envy men’s power & status.

Main difference: Adler emphasized importance of conscious goal-directed behavior & down played unconscious influences.

29

More about Adler:

All humans begin life with a sense of inferiority.

We are helpless as children & need adults to survive.

Adler argued we struggle the rest of our lives to overcome this feeling of inferiority.

30

We struggle to overcome inferiority.

Adler called this natural instinct striving for superiority.

“Striving for superiority” doesn’t mean being superior over others, rather to improve ourselves.

Our primary motivation is to improve ourselves.

31

What happens if we fail?

If we fail to overcome feelings of vulnerability & weakness, we develop an inferiority complex.

Here, an individual believes they are inferior & feel powerless, weak, & helpless.

32

Birth Order shapes personality

First-Born- are often pampered & showered with attention.

Are likely to have problems later

  Middle-Born-not pampered, must share attention

with siblings.

  Last-Born- pampered through out life.

Are likely to have problems later

Big Idea: Pampering leads to problems

33

Karen Horney and The Need for Security Focused on dealing with our need for security, rather than a

sense of inferiorityThree neurotic personality patterns Feelings of security with result in:

Moving toward people A compliant, submissive person

Feelings of helplessness and insecurity will result in: Moving against people

An aggressive, domineering person

Moving away from people A detached, aloof person

34

Humanistic Approach:

Humanistic theories developed in the 1960s as a part of a response to the psychoanalytic and behavioral psychological approaches that then dominated psychology and the study of personality The humanistic approach

emphasizes conscious free will in one’s actions, the uniqueness of the individual person, and personal growth

35

Maslow Quotes:

”If you plan on being anything less than you are capable of being, you will probably be unhappy all the days of your life.”

“The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness.”

“The story of the human race is the story of men and women selling themselves short.”

36

The Humanistic Approach to Personality

Abraham Maslow is considered the father of the humanistic movement

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is an arrangement of the innate needs that motivate our behavior, from the strongest needs at the bottom of the pyramid to the weakest needs at the top of the pyramid

Self Actualization – To develop or achieve one’s true potential.

37

38

Roger’s Self Theory Big Idea: We want acceptance by

others and ourselves Self – Organized, consistent set of

beliefs and perceptions about ourselves

1. Develop in response to our life experiences

2. We modify our “self” in response to the exp’s.

BIG Theory: Unconditional Positive Regard – We are born with the need to be accepted by others and ourselves – when we aren’t accepted, we disapprove of ourselves and have low self-esteem.

39

Rogers – Part Two

If we don’t accept who we are OR are not accepted by others, then we have develop problems.

Real Self – Who we are Ideal Self- Who we want

to be (society can influence this)

Fully Functioning – Roger’s term for self-actualization

40

George Kelly: The Social-Cognitive Approach to

Personality:

Big Idea: We constantly are assessing who we are based on what we know and learn

George Kelly – Personal Construct Theory

We use personal constructs (labels to help us categorize our world) to understand the world around us

We assess similarities and differences and then identify with what we like/don’t like.

41

Bandura’s Self-System Big Idea: We learn who we are by

observational learning Reciprocal determinism – We are

who we are because of: 1. A person’s characteristics – how we

think 2. A person’s behavior – how we act 3. The environment – society Self Efficacy – We want to

accomplish tasks so we feel competent.

Individualism – We want to get better as individuals (American/Western European viewpoint)

Collectivism – We want to get better as a group (Japan, China, India.)

42

Julian Rotter’s Locus of Control

Big Idea: Our sense of control makes us who were are

Locus of control is a person’s perception of the extent to which he/she controls what happens to him/her External locus of control

refers to the perception that chance or external forces beyond your control determine your fate (learned helplessness)

Internal locus of control refers to the perception that you control your own fate (efficacy)

43

Lesson Five: Trait Theory

By the end of this lesson, I will be able to: Compare and contrast the major theories

and approaches to explaining personality: psychoanalytic, humanist, cognitive, trait, social learning, and behavioral.

Describe and compare research methods (e.g., case studies and surveys) that psychologists use to investigate personality.

44

Trait Theory: Gordon Allport Big Idea: Traits make us who

we are Trait – A relatively permanent

characteristic of our personality that can be used to predict our behavior.

Central Trait – A general characteristic about us : (shy, happy, etc.)

Cardinal Trait – A defining characteristic of a person (dominates and shapes our behavior)

45

Hans Eysenck: Personality Dimensions

Big Idea: We express three main dimensions (at varying levels) to make us who we are

Factor Analysis – Statistical procedure that identifies common factors to simplify a long list of traits

Extraversion – How social or withdrawn you are

Neuroticism – How moody or calm we can be

Psychoticism – How ruthless or tender we can be

46

Raymond Cettell: 16 Personality Factors

Big Idea: How are traits organized and how are they linked?

Made list of 16 basic traits that most people exhibit

Surface traits – Visible areas of personality (general traits)

Source traits – Underlying personality characteristics (more specific)

47

Big Five Personality Factors:

Big Idea: Five factors make up who we are O – peness C – onscienctiousness E – xtraversion A – greeableness N - euroticism

48

Five-Factor Model of Personality

Dimension High End Low End

Openness Imaginative, independent, having broad interests, receptive to new ideas

Conforming, practical, narrow interests, closed to new ideas

Conscientiousness Well-organized, dependable, careful, disciplined

Disorganized, undependable, careless, impulsive

Extraversion Sociable, talkative, friendly, adventurous

Reclusive, quiet, aloof, cautious

Agreeableness Sympathetic, polite, good-natured, soft-hearted

Tough-minded, rude, irritable, ruthless

Neuroticism Emotional, insecure, nervous, self-pitying

Calm, secure, relaxed, self-satisfied

49

Lesson Six: Objectives

By the end of this lesson, I will be able to: Identify frequently used assessment

strategies (e.g., the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory [MMPI], the Thematic Apperception Test [TAT]), and evaluate relative test quality based on reliability and validity of the instruments.

50

Personality Inventories

Are designed to measure multiple traits of personality, and in some cases, disorders Are a series of questions or statements for which the

test taker must indicate whether they apply to him or not

The MMPI (the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory) is the most widely used, translated into more than 100 languages

51

Projective Tests

Contain a series of ambiguous stimuli, such as inkblots, to which the test taker must respond about his perceptions of the stimuli

Sample tests Rorschach Inkblots Test Thematic Apperception

Tests (TAT)

52

Rorschach Inkblots Test Contains 10 symmetric

inkblots used in the test, in which the examiner then goes through the cards and asks the test taker to clarify her responses by identifying the various parts of the inkblot that led to the response

Assumes the test taker’s responses are projections of their personal conflicts and personality dynamics

Widely used but not demonstrated to be reliable and valid

53

54

55

56

Thematic Apperception Tests (TAT)

Consists of 19 cards with black and white pictures of ambiguous settings and one blank card

Test taker has to make up a story for each card he sees (what happened before, is happening now, what the people are feeling and thinking, and how things will turn out)

Looks for recurring themes in the responses

Scoring has yet to be demonstrated to be either reliable or valid