PSYCHOLOGY

Unit 7 Chapter 11
Personality
Chris Dunn
Spalding High School
What is Personality?

 Personality
 an individual’s characteristic pattern
of thinking, feeling, and acting
 basic perspectives
 Psychoanalytic
 Humanistic
The Psychoanalytic
Perspective

 From Freud’s theory

which proposes 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

 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
 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
 provides standards for judgement (the
conscience) and for future aspirations
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
Superego
mind’s
structure
Id
Freud’s parts of the mind
Personality
Development
 Psychosexual Stages
 the childhood stages of development
during which the id’s pleasure-seeking
energies focus on distinct erogenous
zones
 Oedipus Complex
 a boy’s sexual desires toward his
mother and feelings of jealousy and
hatred for the rival father
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
 Fixation
 a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking
energies at an earlier psychosexual
stage, where conflicts were unresolved
Defense Mechanisms
 Defense Mechanisms
 the ego’s protective methods of
reducing anxiety by unconsciously
distorting reality
 Repression
 the basic defense mechanism that
banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts,
feelings, and memories from
consciousness
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

 Sublimation:
 Defense mechanism in which one redirects unacceptable urges into a

more socially acceptable pursuit. Ex. angry  punch punching bag

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
Defense Mechanisms
 Projection
 defense mechanism by which people
disguise their own threatening impulses
by attributing them to others
 Rationalization
 defense mechanism that offers self-
justifying explanations in place of the
real, more threatening, unconscious
reasons for one’s actions
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
Tip*

 Students frequently confuse displacement and

projection.
 In displacement, person A has feelings about
person B but redirects these feelings onto a
third person or an object.
 In projection, person A has feelings toward
person B but believes, instead, that person B
has those feelings toward him or her (person
A).
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
Neo-Freudians

 Alfred Adler
 importance of childhood social tension
 Karen Horney
 sought to balance Freud’s masculine biases
 Carl Jung
 emphasized the collective unconscious
 concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of
memory traces from our species’ history
Feminists and Freud
 Finally, feminists find much of Freudian theory to be objectionable.
One example is the concept of penis envy.
 Feminists such as Karen Horney and Nancy Chodorow believe
that this idea grew out of Freud’s assumption that men were
superior to women rather than from any empirical observations.
They suggested that if women were envious of men, it was
probably due to all the advantages men enjoyed in society.
 Horney posited that men may suffer from womb envy, jealousy of
women’s reproductive capabilities. Feminists also take issue
with Freud’s assertion that men have stronger superegos
(conscience) than women.
Humanistic Perspective
Abraham Maslow
(1908-1970)
studied self-actualization
processes of productive
and healthy people (e.g.,
Lincoln)
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

 Carl Rogers (1902-1987)

 focused on growth and fulfillment of
individuals
 genuineness
 acceptance
 empathy
Carl Rogers Cont’d
 Carl Rogers agreed with most assumptions
of Abraham Maslow. However, he added
that for a person to "grow", they need an
environment that provides them with
genuineness (openness and 
self-disclosure), acceptance (being seen
with unconditional positive regard), and
empathy (being listened to and
understood).

 Without these, relationships and healthy

personalities will not develop as they
should, much like a plant will not grow
without sunlight and water.
Humanistic Perspective

 Unconditional Positive Regard

 an attitude of total acceptance toward
another person
 Self-Concept
 all our thoughts and feelings about
ourselves, in an answer to the
question, “Who am I?”
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
UNSTABLE
Moody
Anxious
Touchy
Restless
 Hans and Sybil Eysenck
Rigid Aggressive use two primary
Sober Excitable
Pessimistic Changeable personality factors as
Reserved
Unsociable
Impulsive axes for describing
Optimistic
Quiet
melancholic choleric Active personality variation
INTROVERTED EXTRAVERTED
Passive phlegmatic sanguine
Sociable
Careful Outgoing
 extraversion-introversion
Thoughtful
Peaceful
Talkative and stability-instability
Responsive
Controlled Easygoing
Reliable Lively
Even-tempered Carefree
Calm Leadership
STABLE
The Trait 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
The Trait Perspective

 Empirically Derived Test

 a test developed by testing a pool of
items and then selecting those that
discriminate between groups
 such as the MMPI
The Trait Perspective

 Minnesota
Clinically
Hypochondriasis 1 significant
(concern with body symptoms) range
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,
and
(MMPI) test
(interests like those of other sex)
displaying
Paranoia
(delusions, suspiciousness) 6 deviant

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
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
Extraversion Soft-hearted versus ruthless
Trusting versus suspicious
Helpful versus uncooperative
Conscientiousness Organized versus disorganized
Careful versus careless
Disciplined versus impulsive
The Trait Perspective
Gordon Allport & Trait Theory
Trait theory criticism

 The main criticism of trait theories is that

they underestimate the importance of the
situation.
 Nobody is always conscientious or
unfailingly friendly. Therefore, critics
assert, to describe someone’s personality,
we need to take the context into
consideration.
Social-Cognitive
Perspective

 Social-Cognitive Perspective
 views behavior as influenced by the
interaction between persons and
their social context (Albert Bandura proposed
this perspective)

 Reciprocal Determinism
 the interacting influences between
personality and environmental
factors
Social-Cognitive
Perspective: Reciprocal determinism
Social-Cognitive
Perspective

Julian Rotter’s concept of locus of control:

Personal Control
 our sense of controlling our environments
rather than feeling helpless
External Locus of Control
 the perception that chance or outside forces
beyond one’s personal control determine
one’s fate
Social-Cognitive
Perspective

 Internal Locus of Control

 the perception that one controls one’s
own fate
 Learned Helplessness
 the hopelessness and passive
resignation an animal or human learns
when unable to avoid repeated aversive
events
Social-Cognitive
Perspective
 Learned Helplessness

Uncontrollable
bad events

Perceived
lack of control

Generalized
helpless behavior
Social-Cognitive
Perspective

 Positive Psychology
 the scientific study of optimal human
functioning
 aims to discover and promote conditions
that enable individuals and communities
to thrive
Exploring the Self

 Spotlight Effect
 overestimating others noticing and
evaluating our appearance, performance,
and blunders
 Self Esteem
 one’s feelings of high or low self-worth
 Self-Serving Bias
 readiness to perceive oneself favorably
Self-Serving bias examples

 People accept more responsibility for good

deeds than for bad, and for successes
than for failures.

 Most people see themselves as better

than average
Exploring the Self:
Culture and Identity

 Individualism
 giving priority to one’s own goals over group
goals and defining one’s identity in terms of
personal attributes rather than group
identifications
 Collectivism
 giving priority to the goals of one’s group
(often one’s extended family or work group)
and defining one’s identity accordingly
Exploring the Self
Value Contrasts Between Individualism and Collectivism
Concept Individualism Collectivism
Self Independent Interdependent
(identity from individual traits) identity from belonging)
Life task Discover and express one’s Maintain connections, fit in
uniqueness
What matters Me--personal achievement and We-group goals and solidarity;
fullfillment; rights and liberties social responsibilities and
relationships
Coping method Change reality Accommodate to reality
Morality Defined by individuals Defined by social networks
(self-based) (duty-based)
Relationships Many, often temporary or casual; Few, close and enduring;
confrontation acceptable harmony valued
Attributing Behavior reflects one’s personality Behavior reflects social
behaviors and attitudes and roles
The Modern Unconscious
Mind

 Terror-Management Theory
 Faith in one’s worldview and the
pursuit of self-esteem provide
protection against a deeply rooted fear
of death
Biological theories

 Biological theories of personality view

genes, chemicals, and body types as the
central determinants of who a person is.
 A growing body of evidence supports the
idea that human personality is shaped, in
part, by genetics
Biological theories Cont’d
 Although many people associate traits with genetics,
traits are not necessarily inherited. Thus far, little
evidence exists for the heritability of specific personality
traits.
 Heritability is a measure of the amount of variation in a
trait in a given population that is due to genetics.
 Ex. some traits, like height, are highly heritable; over 90
percent of the variation in Americans’ height is thought
to be due to genetic factors.
 Other traits, like intelligence, seem less strongly linked
to genetic factors; estimates are that the heritability of
intelligence is in the 50–70 percent range.
Biological theories Cont’d
The four humours
 One of the earliest theories of personality was biological.
Hippocrates believed that personality was determined by
the relative levels of four humors (fluids) in the body.

 The four humors were blood, yellow bile, black bile,

and phlegm.
 A cheerful person, for example, was said to have an excess
of blood. While Hippocrates’ theory has obviously turned
out to be untrue, he is thought to be one of the first people
to recognize that biological factors impact personality.
William Sheldon’s
somatotype theory.
 Another relatively early biological theory of personality was
William Sheldon’s somatotype theory.
 Sheldon identified three body types: endomorphs (fat),
mesomorphs (muscular), and ectomorphs (thin).

 Sheldon argued that certain personality traits were

associated with each of the body types. For instance,
ectomorphs were shy and secretive, mesomorphs were confident
and assertive, and endomorphs were friendly and outgoing.
Sheldon’s findings have not been replicated, and his methodology
has been questioned. In addition, his research shows only a
correlation and therefore, even if it were found to be reliable and
valid, it does not show that biology shapes personality.
Concept: Type A and Type B
Personalities
 Type A people tend to feel a sense of time pressure
and are easily angered. They are competitive and
ambitious; they work hard and play hard. Interestingly,
research has shown that Type A people are at a higher
risk for heart disease than the general population.

 Type B individuals, on the other hand, tend to be

relaxed and easygoing.
 But these types do not fall on opposite ends of a
continuum; some people fit into neither type.
Quiz Time
1. According to Freud, which part of the
mind acts as a person’s conscience?

 (A) Eros
 (B) ego
 (C) libido
 (D) superego
 (E) id
2. Cettina fills out a personality inventory several
times over the course of one year. The results of
each administration of the test are extremely
different. Cettina’s situation suggests that this
personality inventory may not be
 (A) reliable.
 (B) standardized.
 (C) normed.
 (D) projective.
 (E) fair.
3. Which approach toward personality is
the least deterministic?

 (A) psychoanalytic
 (B) humanistic
 (C) trait
 (D) behaviorist
 (E) biological
4. One of your classmates remarks that “Mary
is all id.” What does she likely mean?

 (A) Mary uses a lot of defense mechanisms.

 (B) Mary is a highly ethical person.
 (C) Mary is a perfectionist.
 (D) Mary frequently pursues immediate
gratification.
 (E) Mary is in constant conflict over the proper
course of action to take.
5. The belief that personality is created
by the interaction between a person, his
or her behavior, and the environment is
known as

 (A) combination theory.

 (B) interactionist perspective.
 (C) reciprocal determinism.
 (D) mutuality.
 (E) circular creation.
6. Juan has a huge crush on Sally, but he never
admits it. Instead, he tells all who will listen that
Sally is really “into him.” Psychoanalysts would
see Juan’s bragging as an example of

 (A) displacement.
 (B) reaction formation.
 (C) sublimation.
 (D) denial.
 (E) projection.
7. Dr. Li asks her clients to interpret
ambiguous pictures of people in various
settings. The method she is using is called
 (A) the Rorschach test.
 (B) the MMPI.
 (C) the TAT.
 (D) factor analysis.
 (E) the WISC.
8. One personality trait that is thought to be
highly heritable is

(A) generosity.
(B) sense of humor.
(C) neatness.
(D) introversion.
(E) diligence.
9. Humanistic psychologists assert that people
are motivated to selfactualize. Which of the
following statements best describes the
meaning of this term?

(A) accepting themselves the way they are

(B) encouraging others to pursue their dreams
(C) identifying core principles by which to live
(D) trying to achieve their full potential
(E) bringing their actions into line with their desires
10. Which is NOT one of the
big five personality traits?

 (A) extraversion
 (B) openness
 (C) agreeableness
 (D) honesty
 (E) conscientiousness
11. Feminist psychoanalytic critics of
Freud most commonly argue that

 (A) there is no proof that the unconscious exists.

 (B) Freud devoted too much attention to childhood.
 (C) women’s superegos are just as strong as men’s.
 (D) men and women use different defense
mechanisms.
 (E) while women all suffer from penis envy, men all
suffer from womb envy.
12. Jamal sucked his thumb until age eight.
As an adult, he smokes, chews gum, and
thinks constantly of food. Psychoanalysts
would describe Jamal as having a (an)
 (A) obsession.
 (B) orally controlled libido.
 (C) Oedipus complex.
 (D) oral fixation.
 (E) mother complex.
13. Someone who has an external locus of
control is likely to have a

 (A) positive self-concept.

 (B) high sense of self-efficacy.
 (C) strong libido.
 (D) belief in luck.
 (E) high IQ.
14. What kind of psychologist would
be most likely to use a projective
personality assessment?

 (A) social cognitive

 (B) trait
 (C) behaviorist
 (D) humanistic
 (E) psychoanalytic
15. Redirecting one’s unacceptable urges into
more socially acceptable pursuits best defines
which of the following defense mechanisms?

 (A) intellectualization
 (B) denial
 (C) sublimation
 (D) rationalization
 (E) regression
Type A vs Type B