Marlen Brito, Samantha French, Hang Fong Chapter 10: Personality Marlen Brito, Samantha French, Hang Fong

Introduction Personality: the unique psychological qualities of an individual that influence a variety of behavior across different situations different approaches or theories on personality how we assess personality

Psychodynamic Approaches to Personality Approaches that assume that personality is motivated by inner forces and conflicts about which people have little awareness and over which they have no control.

Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory Freud’s theory that unconscious forces act as determinants of personality unconscious: a part of the personality that the person is unaware of, but holds all the memories, knowledge, urges, etc.

ID, EGO, AND SUPEREGO ID: the raw, unorganized, inborn part of personality that is the primitive urges EGO: the part that balances the desires of the ID with reality SUPEREGO: represents the rules of society that the person was taught, the part that controls impulses from the ID ego: makes the decisions, controls actions based on society’s rules superego: unrestrained would create perfectionists who cannot compromise id: unrestrained would create primitive, pleasure seeker, selfish, and fulfill his wants without thinking of consequences

ID, EGO, AND SUPEREGO http://youtu.be/NCXynjpFaKU

Defense Mechanisms Unconscious strategies that people use to reduce anxiety by distorting reality and concealing the source of the anxiety from themselves.

Freud’s Defense Mechanisms Repression: Unacceptable or unpleasant impulses are pushed back into the unconscious.

Freud’s Defense Mechanisms Regression: People behave as if they were at an earlier stage of development.

Freud’s Defense Mechanisms Displacement: The expression of an unwanted feeling or thought is redirected from a more threatening powerful person to a weaker one.

Freud’s Defense Mechanisms Rationalization: People provide self-justifying explanations in place of the actual, but threatening, reason for their behavior.

Freud’s Defense Mechanisms Denial: People refuse to accept or acknowledge an anxiety-producing piece of information.

Freud’s Defense Mechanisms Projection: People attribute unwanted impulses and feelings to someone else.

Freud’s Defense Mechanisms Sublimation: People divert unwanted impulses into socially approved thoughts, feelings, or behaviors.

Freud’s Defense Mechanisms Reaction formation: Unconscious impulses are expressed as their opposite in consciousness.

The Psychosexual Stages Freud’s Theory on personality Developmental stages that people went through as children. During those stages, the children encounter conflicts between the demands of society and their own sexual urges. 5 Stages: Oral Anal Phallic Latency Genital fixations: Conflicts or concerns that persist beyond the developmental period in which they first occur.

The Psychosexual Stages http://youtu.be/cvOoYX45G_0

The Psychosexual Stages http://youtu.be/pIzyiE9ArdQ

Evaluating Freud’s Legacy Although Freudian theory is popular, critics argue there is a lack of scientific evidence. Based observations on limited population

Neo-Freudian Psychoanalysts Carl Jung-rejected Freud’s view of unconscious sexual urges Collective unconscious- a common set of ideas, feelings, images, and symbols that we inherit from our ancestors Ex. love of mother, fear of snakes Archetypes-universal symbolic representations Ex. Good vs Evil, Virgin Mary, the wicked stepmother

Neo-Freudian Psychoanalyst Karen Horney- first feminist psychologist Alfred Adler- proposed that primary human motivation is striving for superiority in self improvement and perfection inferiority complex

Trait Approaches: Placing Labels on Personality Trait theory- A model of personality that seeks to identify the basic traits necessary to describe personality. Trait-Consistent personality characteristics and behaviors displayed in different situations.

Allport's Trait Theory There are three fundamental categories of traits: cardinal, central, and secondary.

Cardinal This is a single characteristic that directs most of a person's activities. This is a dominant trait.

Central A general characteristic found in some degree in every person. There are usually 5-10 in every person.

Secondary Characteristics that affect behavior in fewer situations and are less influential than the other two traits.

The Big Five “OCEAN” -Openness to experience -Conscientiousness -Extraversion -Agreeableness -Neuroticism

Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWpRKJPCI7M

Learning Approaches: We are What We’ve Learned Social Cognitive Approaches to Personality- Theories that emphasize the influence of a person’s cognitions. Self Efficacy-The belief that we have the personal capabilities to master a situation and produce positive outcomes.

Skinner’s Behaviorist Approach Skinner believed that personality is a collection of learned behavior patterns.

Self-Esteem Self-esteem is the component of personality that impacts our positive and negative self-evaluations.

Biological and Evolutionary Approaches: Are we Born with Personality? Biological and evolutionary approaches suggest that important components of personality are inherited. Temperament- An inborn behavioral style and characteristic way of responding that emerges early in life.

Video http://youtu.be/Wd5Y3-F79LY

Are we Born with Personality? We are born with certain temperaments which is a behavioral style. Our genes interact with our environment, though genes can not be viewed as the sole purpose of personality. It is clear that some traits have genetic components but still does not determine personality.

Humanistic Approaches: The Uniqueness of You Humanistic Approaches to Personality- Theories that emphasize people’s innate goodness. Self-Actualization-A state of self fulfilment. (Also seen on the top of the pyramid). Unconditional Positive Regard-An attitude of acceptance and respect no matter what.

Comparing Approaches to Personality Each of these theories are built of different assumptions. Therefore, there is no theory that provides the best explanation; it is all based on perspective.

How do we assess personality? Psychological tests: standard measures devised to assess behavior objectively Must have reliability and validity Based on norms

Self-Report Measures Method of gathering data about people by asking questions about a sample of their behavior Ex. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2)

Projective Methods Projective personality test: a person is shown an ambiguous stimulus asked to describe or tell a story. Ex. Rorschach Test

What do you see?

Behavioral Assessment Direct measures of an individuals behavior used to describe personality characteristics Based on observational research Can be done in natural setting or under lab controlled conditions

Conclusion Many theories regarding personality from psychodynamic to trait theories. Theories based on different perspectives Many ways to analyze personality and behavior

Citations Feldman, Robert S. "Chapter 10 Personality." Essentials of Understanding Psychology. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2008. 385-414. Print. Freud's Id, Ego, and Superego. Perf. Robosalt. Youtube. N.p., 20 Aug. 2009. Web. 4 Apr. 2014. <http://youtu.be/NCXynjpFaKU>. Freud's Psychosexual Stages. Perf. Ckgribben. Youtube, 13 Feb. 2009. Web. 8 Apr. 2014. <http://youtu.be/cvOoYX45G_0>. Simply Psychology: Oedipus Complex. Perf. PsychandSound. Youtube. N.p., 11 Oct. 2013. Web. 4 Apr. 2014. <http://youtu.be/pIzyiE9ArdQ>. Twins: Is It All in the Genes? Perf. Lisa Ling, Oprah Winfrey. OWN TV, 13 Nov. 2011. Web. 8 Apr. 2014. <http://youtu.be/Wd5Y3-F79LY>. Use easybib.com to do the citations Cite whatever videos you use, but probably not the pictures, the textbook is already cited