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Personality & Its AssessmentLearning Unit 2

Psychodynamic Approaches to Personality How do psychologists define and use the concept of personality?What do the theories of Freud and his successors tell us about the structure and development of personality?

IntroductionPsychodynamic approaches to personality: Assume that personality is motivated by inner forces and conflicts about which people have little awareness and over which they have no control

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Freuds Psychoanalytic Theory: Mapping the Unconscious MindPsychoanalytic theory: Freuds theory that unconscious forces act as determinants of personalityUnconsciousPreconscious: Holds material easily brought to mind

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Freuds Psychoanalytic Theory: Mapping the Unconscious MindStructuring personality: Id, ego, & superegoIdRaw, unorganized, inborn part of personality Sole purpose is to reduce tension created by primitive drives (hunger, sex, aggression, irrational impulses)Pleasure principle

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Freuds Psychoanalytic Theory: Mapping the Unconscious MindStructuring personality: Id, ego, & superegoEgoProvides a buffer between the id and the outside worldReality principleExecutive of personality

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Freuds Psychoanalytic Theory: Mapping the Unconscious MindStructuring personality: Id, ego, & superegoSuperego Represents the rights and the wrongs of society as handed down by important figuresIncludes the conscience

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Iceberg Analogy

Freuds Psychoanalytic Theory: Mapping the Unconscious MindDeveloping personality: Psychosexual stagesIndividuals encounter conflicts between the demands of society and their own sexual urgesFixations: Concerns that persist beyond the developmental period in which they first occurOedipal conflict: A childs sexual interest in his or her opposite-sex parent, typically resolved through identification with the same-sex parent

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Psychosexual Stages

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Freuds Psychoanalytic Theory: Mapping the Unconscious MindDefense mechanisms: Unconscious strategies that people use to reduce anxiety by distorting reality and concealing the source of the anxiety from themselvesRepression: Unpleasant id impulses are pushed back into the unconscious

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Defense Mechanisms

The Neo-Freudian Psychoanalysts: Building on FreudPsychoanalysts who were trained in traditional Freudian theory but who later rejected some of its major points

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The Neo-Freudian Psychoanalysts: Building on FreudJungs collective unconscious: Common set of ideas, feelings, images, and symbols that we inherit from our relatives, the whole human race, and even animal ancestors from the pastArchetypes: Universal symbolic representations of a particular person, object, or experience

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The Neo-Freudian Psychoanalysts: Building on FreudHorneys neo-freudian perspectiveFirst feminist psychologistSuggested that personality develops in the context of social relationships and depends particularly on the relationship between parents and childStressed the importance of cultural factors in the determination of personality

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The Neo-Freudian Psychoanalysts: Building on FreudAdler and the other neo-freudiansAlfred Adler - Proposed that the primary human motivation is striving for superiority in a quest for self-improvement and perfection Inferiority complex: Adults who have not been able to overcome the feelings of inferiority they developed as childrenErik EriksonAnna Freud

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The Neo-Freudian PsychoanalystsJungHorneyAdler

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Trait, Learning, Biological, Evolutionary, and Humanistic Approaches to Personality What are the major aspects of trait, learning, biological, evolutionary, and humanistic approaches to personality?

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Trait Approaches: Placing Labels on PersonalityTrait theory: Seeks to identify the basic traits necessary to describe personalityTraits: Consistent personality characteristics and behaviors displayed in different situations

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Allports trait theory: Identifying basic characteristicsSingle characteristic that directs most of a persons activitiesCardinal traitMajor characteristics of an individualCentral trait Affect behavior in fewer situationsSecondary trait

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Cattell: Factoring Out PersonalityFactor analysis: Statistical method of identifying associations among a large number of variables to reveal more general patternsFactors: Combinations of traitsCattellSixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF)

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Eysenck: Factoring Out PersonalityThree major dimensionsRelates to the degree of sociabilityExtraversionEncompasses emotional stabilityNeuroticismDegree to which reality is distortedPsychoticism

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Big Five Personality Traits

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Evaluating Trait Approaches to PersonalityBenefitsProvide straightforward explanation of peoples behavioral consistenciesComparisonImportant influence on the development of several useful personality measuresDrawbacksValidity of trait conceptions of personalityDo not provide explanations for behavior

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Learning Approaches: We are What Weve LearnedB. F. Skinners behaviorist approachPersonality is a collection of learned behavior patternsHumans are infinitely changeable through the process of learning new behavior patterns

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Learning Approaches: We are What Weve LearnedSocial cognitive approaches to personality: Theories that emphasize the influence of a persons cognitions and observation of others behavior, in determining personalitySelf-efficacy: Belief that we have the personal capabilities to master a situation and produce positive outcomes

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Learning Approaches: We are What Weve LearnedHow much consistency exists in personality?Walter MischelPersonality is variable from one situation to anotherSituationismCognitive-affective processing system theory (CAPS): Peoples thoughts and emotions about themselves and the world determine how they view, and then react, in situations

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Learning Approaches: We are What Weve LearnedSelf-esteem: The component of personality that encompasses our positive and negative self-evaluationsRelationship harmony: Sense of success in forming close bonds with other people

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Evaluating Learning Approaches to PersonalityLearning theories have:Helped make personality psychology a scientific venture By focusing on observable behavior and the effects of their environmentsProduced important, successful means of treating a variety of psychological disorders

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Biological and Evolutionary Approaches: are We Born with Personality? Suggest that important components of personality are inheritedTemperament: Inborn behavioral style and characteristic way of responding that emerges early in lifeEven if genes are found to be linked to specific personality characteristics, they cannot be viewed as the sole cause of personality

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Humanistic Approaches: The Uniqueness of YouEmphasize peoples innate goodness and desire to achieve higher levels of functioning

- unconscious, unseen forces (psychodynamic approaches) a set of stable traits (trait approaches) situational reinforcements & punishments (learning theory) inherited factors (biological & evolutionary approaches)

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Humanistic Approaches: The Uniqueness of YouEmphasize peoples innate goodness and desire to achieve higher levels of functioningCarl RogersSelf-actualization: State of self-fulfillment in which people realize their highest potential, each in a unique waySelf-conceptsUnconditional positive regard: Attitude of acceptance and respect on the part of an observerConditional positive regard

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Evaluating Humanistic ApproachesBenefitsHighlights the uniqueness of human beingsGuides the development of a form of therapy designed to alleviate psychological difficultiesCriticismsDifficulty of verifying the basic assumptions of the approachMaking the assumption that people are basically good

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Comparing Approaches to Personality

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