Personality

Yesterday… Personality: the quality of being a person; existence as a human being driven by conscious and unconscious forces within the human mind that result in a wide variety of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Today… Personality: the consistent ways in which one person’s behavior differs from that of others, especially in relation to social contexts.

I. Sigmund Freud A. Psychoanalysis: a method of explaining the workings of personality based on the interplay of conscious and unconscious internal forces. B. Catharsis: the therapeutic release of pent-up emotional tension. C. Unconscious Mind: contains memories, emotions and thoughts, some of which are Illogical or socially unacceptable. D. Oedipus Complex: the belief that boys have a sexual interest in their mother and are therefore competitively aggressive towards their father.

E. Libido: psychosexual energy.

F. Three Component Structure of Personality 1) Id: the part that is comprised of all of our biological drives that demand immediate gratification. 2) Ego: the rational, negotiating, and decision-making component of the personality. 3) Superego: the internalized values and rules we receive from our parents and society.

G. Common Ego Defense Mechanisms: 1) Denial: refusal to acknowledge a problem or believe any information that causes anxiety. 2) Repression: “motivated forgetting” of painful or unacceptable thoughts, feelings or memories. 3) Regression: an apparent return to a more juvenile way of thinking or acting. 4) Displacement: the diversion of an unacceptable thought or impulse from its actual target to a less threatening object or person. 5) Reaction Formation: presentation of one’s thoughts or feelings, often through behavior, as the extreme opposite of what they actually are.

6) Projection: attributing one’s own undesirable characteristics or motives to other people. 7) Rationalization: when people “make excuses” and reframe unpleasant events as actually beneficial, or their actions as justifiable or rational (when the actions are arguably not so). 8) Sublimation: the transformation of sexual or aggressive energies into acceptable and pro-social behaviors. II. Carl Jung A. Collective Unconscious: part of an individual’s unconscious that reflects the cumulative experiences of all of our ancestors. B. Archetype: a universally inherited, primitive, and symbolic representation of a particular experience or object.

III. The Learning Approach C. Analytic Psychology: an area of psychology which posits that an individual is driven by several compensatory internal forces including the libido, the need to create, and the need to perceive oneself as a holistically complete individual. III. The Learning Approach A. Gender Role: psychological aspect of being male or female (as opposed to your biological sex.) IV. Humanistic Psychology: deals with values, beliefs, and consciousness, including spirituality & guiding principles by which people live their lives.

A. Peak Experiences: those moments in a person’s life when he or she feels truly fulfilled or content. B. Self-Actualization: to strive for and to achieve one’s fullest potential. C. Self-Concept (Real Self): an image of the person that they really are. D. Ideal Self: an image that represents the person they would like to be. E. Unconditional Positive Regard: the acceptance of the person as he or she is. F. Conditional Positive Regard: the person is only held in esteem when they fulfill certain requirements set for them by the other person or society.

V. Personality Traits and Assessment A. Trait: a consistent, long-lasting behavioral tendency, such as sociability, shyness or assertiveness. B. State: a temporary activation of particular behavior. C. Trait Approach to Personality: the idea that people have consistent personality characteristics that can be measured and studied. D. The Origins of Personality Traits: Heredity Stronger than Environment Age Historical era

E. Costa and McCrae’s “Big Five” Personality Traits 1) Neuroticism: the tendency to experience emotional instability: anxiety, hostility, depression, self-consciousness, impulsiveness, and vulnerability very easily. 2) Extraversion: the tendency to seek stimulation and enjoy the company of other people. 3) Agreeableness: the tendency to be trusting and compassionate rather than distrustful of and antagonistic towards others. 4) Conscientiousness: the tendency to show self-discipline, to be reliable, and to strive for competence and achievement. 5) Openness to Experience: the tendency to enjoy new experiences and new ideas.

F. Standardized Personality Tests: carefully designed personality tests administered according to specified rules.

G. Projective Techniques: personality characteristics that can be detected through the process of asking people to interpret ambiguous stimuli. 1) The Rorschach Inkblots: a series of ten ambiguous inkblots. The subject is asked to describe what they see. 2) The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): a series of many pictures. The subject is asked to make up a story for each picture.

BALL SOFA TABLE TRUCK SHYNESS SADNESS H. Implicit Personality Tests: personality tests that measure aspects of personality that are beyond a person’s awareness. 1) The Emotional Stroop Test: the task will be more difficult and the pauses of the subject will be longer when trying to say the color of the words that relate to areas of concern. BALL SOFA TABLE TRUCK SHYNESS SADNESS

Personality Psychology versus Abnormal Psychology Personality Psychology: the study of individual differences among healthy individuals. Abnormal Psychology: the study of individual differences among unhealthy individuals.