What is personality?

Specifically how people differ in behavior,

feelings, reactions to the environment and to
other people
Basic questions about personality
 How does one measure and describe
personality differences
 For example– what kind of person do you want to
date?
 Can personality be measured objectively?
Trait Perspective
 Take a piece of paper and write down a list of
adjectives that describes the personality of
someone you know well
Contemporary Research-- The
Trait Perspective
 Trait
 a characteristic pattern of behavior
 a disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self-
report inventories and peer reports
 Personality Inventory
 a questionnaire (often with true-false or agree-
disagree items) on which people respond to items
designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and
behaviors
 used to assess selected personality traits
The Trait Perspective
The “Big Five” Personality Factors
Trait Dimension Description
Emotional Stability Calm versus anxious
Secure versus insecure
Self-satisfied versus self-pitying
Extraversion Sociable versus retiring
Fun-loving versus sober
Affectionate versus reserved
Openness Imaginative versus practical
Preference for variety versus
preference for routine
Independent versus conforming
Warmth Soft-hearted versus ruthless
Trusting versus suspicious
Helpful versus uncooperative
Conscientiousness Organized versus disorganized
Careful versus careless
Disciplined versus impulsive
The Trait Perspective: Clinical
Perspective
 Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
(MMPI)
 the most widely researched and clinically used of
all personality tests
 originally developed to identify emotional
disorders (still considered its most appropriate
use)
 now used for many other screening purposes
Example MMPI Questions
 I like mechanics magazines.
 I have a good appetite.
 I wake up fresh & rested most mornings.
 I think I would like the work of a librarian.
 I am easily awakened by noise.
 I like to read newspaper articles on crime.
 My hands & feet are usually warm enough.
 My daily life is full of things that keep me interested.
 I am about as able to work as I ever was.
 There seems to be a lump in my throat most of the time.
The Trait Perspective
Clinically
Hypochondriasis 1
(concern with body symptoms)
significant
range
 Minnesota
Depression
(pessimism, hopelessness)2 After Multiphasic
treatment
Personality
Hysteria
(uses symptoms to solve problems) 3 (no scores Before
in the clinically treatment
Psychopathic deviancy 4
Inventory
(disregard for social standards) significant range) (anxious,
Masculinity/femininity 5 depressed,
(interests like those of other sex) and

Paranoia
(delusions, suspiciousness) 6
displaying
deviant
(MMPI)
test profile
behaviors)
Psychasthenia
(anxious, guilt feelings) 7
Schizophrenia
(withdrawn, bizarre thoughts) 8
Hypomania
(overactive, excited, impulsive) 9
Social introversion 10
(shy, inhibited)
0 30 40 50 60 70 80

T-score
Core Theories
 Trait Perspective Is a practical approach but
it doesn’t explain Personality
 There are classic theories about personality
 Tend to be older
 Not discussed much in current Psychology
 But, can be used for both understanding
individual and as a basis for therapy
Your Theory of Personality
 1. Human behavior results primarily from
heredity, what has been genetically
transmitted by parents, or from environment,
the external circumstances and experiences
that shape a person after conception has
occurred.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
heredity environment
Your Theory of Personality
 2. Personality is relatively unchanging,
with each person showing the same behavior
throughout a lifetime, or personality is
relatively changing, with each person
showing different behavior throughout a
lifetime.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
unchanging changing
Your Theory of Personality
 3. The most important influences on
behavior are past events, what has previously
occurred to a person, or in contrast, future
events, what a person seeks to bring about by
striving to meet certain goals.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
past future
Your Theory of Personality
 4. People are motivated to cooperate
with others mainly because they are self-
centered, expecting to receive some personal
gain, or mainly because they are altruistic,
seeking to work with others only for the
benefit of doing things with and for others.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
self-centered altruistic
What is Personality?
Basic perspectives
 Psychoanalytic—Sigmund Freud
 Humanistic– Carl Rogers
Sigmund Freud
 Lived 1856 – 1939
 Was a Physician
 Theory based on
clinical population
 Theory influenced
by “Victorian
Times”
 Sigmund and Anna
Freud (on right) with
friends
The Psychoanalytic
Perspective
 Freud’s theory
proposed that
childhood sexuality
and unconscious
motivations influence
personality
The Psychoanalytic
Perspective
 Psychoanalysis
 Freud’s theory of personality that attributes
our thoughts and actions to unconscious
motives and conflicts
 techniques used in treating psychological
disorders by seeking to expose and
interpret unconscious tensions
The Psychoanalytic
Perspective
 First Came up use of hypnosis –
influenced by work of Dr. Mesmer
 Free Association
 in psychoanalysis, a method of
exploring the unconscious
 person relaxes and says whatever
comes to mind, no matter how trivial or
embarrassing
The Psychoanalytic
Perspective
 Unconscious
 according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly
unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings
and memories
 contemporary viewpoint- information
processing of which we are unaware
Personality Structure
Ego Conscious mind  Freud’s idea
Unconscious
mind
of the mind’s
Superego
structure
Id
Personality Structure
 Id
 contains a reservoir of unconscious
psychic energy
 strives to satisfy basic sexual and
aggressive drives
 operates on the pleasure principle,
demanding immediate gratification
Personality Structure
 Superego
 the part of personality that presents
internalized ideals
 Represents “rules” of society
 provides standards for judgment (the
conscience) and for future aspirations
Id and Superego
 Id and Superego are in constant conflict
 This cause guilt and anxiety
 People need to learn how to cope with this
conflict– some do it successfully and others
don’t
 Conflicts most be resolved by ego
Personality Structure
 Ego
 the largely conscious, “executive” part of
personality
 mediates among the demands of the id,
superego, and reality
 operates on the reality principle, satisfying
the id’s desires in ways that will
realistically bring pleasure rather than pain
Personality Structure
Ego Conscious mind  Freud’s idea
Unconscious
mind
of the mind’s
Superego
structure
Id
Defense Mechanisms
 Defense Mechanisms
 the ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety
by unconsciously distorting reality (can be a
normal process, but can also lead to disordered
behavior)
 Repression
 the basic defense mechanism that banishes
anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and
memories from consciousness (e.g., memories of
childhood or past marriage)
Defense Mechanisms
 Regression
 defense mechanism in which an
individual faced with anxiety retreats
to a more infantile psychosexual
stage, where some psychic energy
remains fixated
 Example– party behavior?
Defense Mechanisms
 Reaction Formation
 defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously
switches unacceptable impulses into their opposites
 people may express feelings that are the opposite of their
anxiety-arousing unconscious feelings (e.g., express a
disdain for pornography but really enjoy it)
 For example, someone who can’t cope with anxiety
becomes very religious, become celibate, etc.
 Or opposite, person from strict background becomes
promiscuous
Defense Mechanisms
 Projection
 defense mechanism by which people disguise
their own threatening impulses by attributing
them to others
 Prejudice against other ethnic groups or ages
groups such as teens
 Rationalization
 defense mechanism that offers self-justifying
explanations in place of the real, more
threatening, unconscious reasons for one’s
actions
 I “hit” because she “deserved” it
Defense Mechanisms
 Displacement
 defense mechanism that shifts sexual or
aggressive impulses toward a more
acceptable or less threatening object or
person
 as when redirecting anger toward a safer
outlet., e.g., football for aggression; art
for sexual desire
Assessing the Unconscious
 Projective Test
 a personality test, such as the Rorschach or TAT,
that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to
trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics
 Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
 a projective test in which people express their
inner feelings and interests through the stories
they make up about ambiguous scenes
Assessing the Unconscious--
TAT
Assessing the Unconscious
 Rorschach Inkblot Test
 the most widely used projective test
 a set of 10 inkblots designed by Hermann
Rorschach
 seeks to identify people’s inner feelings by
analyzing their interpretations of the blots
Assessing the Unconscious--
Rorschach
Personality Development
 Psychosexual Stages
 the childhood stages of development
during which the id’s pleasure-seeking
energies focus on distinct erogenous zones
Personality Development
Freud’s Psychosexual Stages
Stage Focus
Oral Pleasure centers on the mouth--
(0-18 months) sucking, biting, chewing
Anal Pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder
(18-36 months) elimination; coping with demands for
control
Phallic Pleasure zone is the genitals; coping with
(3-6 years) incestuous sexual feelings
Latency Dormant sexual feelings
(6 to puberty)
Genital Maturation of sexual interests
(puberty on)
Personality Development
 Identification
 the process by which children incorporate their
parents’ values into their developing superegos
 The reason our culture placed so much emphasis
on traditional families
 Fixation
 a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at
an earlier psychosexual stage, where conflicts
were unresolved
Humanistic Perspective
 Self-Actualization
 the ultimate psychological need that arises
after basic physical and psychological
needs are met and self-esteem is achieved
 the motivation to fulfill one’s potential
Humanistic Perspective– Self
Actualization Theories
 Abraham
Maslow (1908-
1970)
 studied self-
actualization
processes of
productive
and healthy
people (e.g.,
Lincoln)
Carl Rogers
 Everyone has a self concept and an ideal
self
 Goal is to actualize or become ideal self
 Requires realistic idea of self
 Requires realistic ideal self
 Requires Positive Self Regard
Heredity
Nature Nurture
1---------------------------------------------------7
Freud Rogers, Skinner
Personality Change
Constant Changing

1----------------------------------------------------7
Freud Skinner Rogers
Influence of Past
Past is Critical Focus on Future
1---------------------------------------------------7
Freud Skinner Rogers
Selfishness
Selfish Altruistic
1----------------------------------------------------7
Freud Skinner Rogers
Personality Development
 Major factors affect the
development of
personality.
What is personality?
 Common answer
 Characteristics of a
person
 Nice
 Good looking

 Social skills
 Polite
 funny
What is personality?
 Sociologists say
 Sum total of behaviors, attitude, beliefs, and
values that are characteristic of an individual.

 Personality traits
 Determine how we adjust
 To our environment
 How we react in specific situations
Personalities over time
 Personalities constantly change during the first
half of a person’s life.
 Find new interests
 Like new things

 Personalities change for all sorts of reasons

 2 largest reasons
 Nature
 Nurture
Nature vs. Nurture
 Heredity
 The transmission of
genetic characteristics
from parents to children.

 Social environment
 Contact with other people
Nature’s Argument
 Most human behavior is instinct in origin.
 Instinct
 an unchanging, biologically inherited behavior pattern.

 Birds = building nests

 Birds = migrate in winter

 This leads to humans having 10,000 instincts:

 Laugh
 Smile
 breath
Nurture’s Argument
 A person’s behavior and
personality are the result
of his or her social
environment and
learning

 Pavlov’s Dog experiment

 Developed an
unconditional response
1970’s Sociobiology
 Systematic study of the biological basis of all
social behavior.

 Sociobiologists argument
 Varied cultural characteristics are rooted in genetic
makeup of humans.
 Competition
 Envy
 Hate
 Faith……religion?
4 major factors that shape individual
personality development
heredity

Cultural
parents Personality
environment

Birth order
Heredity
 Characteristics present at
birth.
 Body build
 Hair type
 Eye color
 Skin pigmentation
 Aptitudes
 A capacity to learn a
particular skill or acquire a
particular body of
knowledge.
 Natural talents
 Sports
 Music
Birth Order
 Personalities are influenced
by whether we have siblings:

 1st born
 Achievement oriented

 Middle child
 More affectionate but
confused

 Last child
 Risk takers
 Intellectual rebels
Parental Characteristics
 A parents personality
directly impacts a child’s
personality
 Hate
 Anger
 Happiness
 politeness
Cultural Environment
 Cultural environment
determines
 Basic types of
personalities found in
society.

 USA  China
 Competitiveness  Competitiveness
 Assertiveness  Family oriented
 individualism  Group oriented
Isolations of children
 Feral children
 Wild or untamed children

 Can children develop on

their own with no help?
1938 “Anna”
 Born to unmarried woman

 Grandfather locked her in the

attic
 Only fed her once a day
 No interaction
 Found in 1938 by social
worker
 Could not
 Walk
 Talk
 Feed herself
 No facial expressions
Isabelle
 Born to unmarried woman

 Grandfather locked her and

Mother in the attic
 Only fed her once a day
 Interaction with mom only

 Found in 1960 by social

worker
 Could not
 Talk
 Walk
 Ate with her hands