Chapter 14

Personality

Psychoanalytic Approach(How the unconscious and childhood affect

personality)

• Sigmund Freud

• Thought our feelings are mostly unconscious

• Thought dreams offered a path to the unconscious mind

• Believed the unconscious has 3 basic structures:

• Id, Ego, Superego

ID• Acts as a 2 year old: “I want, I want, I

want!!!”

• Represents basic drives such as hunger

• Pleasure principle: The urge for immediate release of energy or emotion that will bring personal gratification, relief, or pleasure

Ego• “Stands for reason and good sense”

• Reality Principle: the understanding that in the real world we cannot always get what we want.

• Is aware of the id but tries to appease it before we are aware of it

Superego

• Moral Principle: provides us with our moral sense.

• floods the ego with the feelings of shame when we’ve done something wrong.

Defense Mechanisms of the EGO

• Methods used to avoid recognizing ideas or emotions that may cause personal anxiety

• Repression: pushing ideas/emotions/memories to the unconscious mind

• Rationalization: deceiving ourselves with excuses to justify unacceptable behavior

• Displacement: changing target of an emotion to a less threatening person

• Regression: dealing with stress by returning to a childish state.

• Projection: people seeing their own faults in others

• Reaction formation: acting differently from their true feelings

• Denial: ignoring thoughts or feelings• Sublimation: channeling aggression into

something else more appropriate

Freud’s Stages of Development

• No proof that any of this is true

Stage: Oral

• Characteristics:

• 1st year of life

• To understand an object, a child puts it in their mouth

• Mouth is main source of pleasure because of food

Causes & signs of fixation:

• Parents do not give the infant enough attention

• Smoking, overeating, excessive talking, and nail biting.

Stage: Anal• Characteristics:

• Between 1.5-2 years old

• Children now can control their own bodily functions

Causes and signs of fixation:

• Anal Retentive: perfectionists

VS.

Stage: Phallic• Characteristics:

• 3 years old

• Children start to recognize the physical differences between the sexes

Causes and signs of fixation:

• See the same sex parent as a rival

• Can lead to depression, excessive guilt, & anxiety

Stage: Latency

• 5-6 years old

• Repress all aggressive urges

Causes and signs of fixation:

• None

• Nada

• Zip

• Zilch

• Cero

• Nichts

• Can’t be fixated here

Stage: Genital• Characteristics:

• Starts at puberty

• Become more aware of gender identity

Causes & reasons for fixation:

• Conflicts from earlier stages become more apparent during this stage.

Karl Jung• 1. Collective unconscious: a common pool of

images derived from our species’ universal experiences.

• 2. Archetypes: symbolic imagery (superman, fairy godmother, mother earth, father time.)

Alfred Adler

• Inferiority Complex: feelings of inadequacy and insecurity.

• Example: physical problems & the need to compensate for them.

Karen Horney

• Emphasized parent-child relationships

• She thought that genuine & consistent love could temper the effects of even the most painful childhoods.

• Rorschach inkblot test

Trait Perspective

• Personality testing/factor analysis:

• Myers-briggs

• Analyzes different factors making up persoanlity

W.T. Norman’s Big Five Personality Traits

• Openness – (inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious). Appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, curiosity, and variety of experience.

• Conscientiousness – (efficient/organized vs. easy-going/careless). A tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully, and aim for achievement; planned rather than spontaneous behaviour.

• Extraversion – (outgoing/energetic vs. solitary/reserved). Energy, positive emotions, surgency, and the tendency to seek stimulation in the company of others

•Agreeableness – (friendly/compassionate vs. cold/unkind). A tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious and antagonistic towards others.

• Neuroticism – (sensitive/nervous vs. secure/confident). A tendency to experience unpleasant emotions easily, such as anger, anxiety, depression, or vulnerability.

The Humanistic Approach(Personality based on free will)

• Abraham Maslow: self-actualization (reaching your full potential)

• Maslow believed other animals do not do this.

Carl Rogers

• Self-concept: a view of oneself as an individual

• The Self-Concept & Congruence: Consistency between one’s self-concept & one’s experience

• Example: If your self-concept is inconsistent with how others view you, it can cause anxiety.

Carl Rogers continued…

• Conditional Positive Regard: child feels disappointment in themselves= lower self-esteem.

• Unconditional Positive Regard: high self-esteem

Social-Learning Theory

• Albert Bandura

• Environment shapes us/we shape environment

Erik Erikson

• Thought relationships were the most important part of the developing personality.

• These relationships could cause a person to trust or mistrust others.

• Is success better defined by personal achievement or what we contribute to the groups we are part of?

Individualism vs. Collectivism

• Western Culture: Individual based

• When asked to define themselves it’s usually based on personal identity.

• Example: “I am out going” or “I am a nurse”

• Africa, Asia, Central & South America: Collectivistic

• When asked to define themselves it’s usually based on group association.

• Example: “I am a father”, “I am a Buddhist,” or “I am Japanese”

The Learning Approach to Personality(Personality based on observation)

• John B. Watson: external influences-not internal- largely shape people’s behavior.

• B.F. Skinner: Agreed with Watson