“ Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Personality: Vive la Difference!

“ Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 How would you define personality Describe your best friend’s personality

“ Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Some questions that are addressed in the study of personality Are you born with a certain personality or is your personality learned? Is your behavior governed by conscious thoughts or by motives that you may not be conscious of? Does your personality stay constant or does it change in different situations? Are people basically good or basically bad? Is your early history more important to the formation of your personality or is your recent history more important? What is a “healthy” personality?

“ Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 The book’s definition of Personality A set of behavioral, emotional, and cognitive tendencies that people display over time and across situations

“ Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 What is a theory of personality An explanation of how we got the personalities that we have. A theory that addresses many of the questions that I raised in the first slide.

“ Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Freud’s theory: Assumptions Determinism –Major forces: Sex drive and aggressive drive –People basically bad and must strive to overcome bad instincts.

“ Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Freud: Consciousness Conscious level –Normal awareness Preconscious level –Easily brought to consciousness Unconscious level –Hidden thoughts and desires

“ Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Freud: Structural Model The id –Unconscious level –Present at birth –Home to sexual and aggressive drive –Governed by the pleasure principle –Think Homer Simpson

“ Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Freud: Structural Model The superego –Preconscious and unconscious levels –Develops in childhood –Home to morality and conscience –Governed by the ego ideal –Think Ned Flanders

“ Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Freud: Structural Model The ego –Conscious, preconscious, and unconscious levels –Develops in childhood (before superego) –Acts as a referee between id and superego –Governed by the reality principle –Think Lisa Simpson or maybe Marge

“ Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Freud: Personality Development We must pass through psychosexual stages successfully –Each stage focuses on how we receive pleasure Failure to pass through a stage leads to fixation –In times of stress, we regress to that stage

“ Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Freud: Psychosexual Stages Oral stage (birth to 1 year) Anal stage (1 to 3 years) Phallic stage (3 to 6 years) –Oedipus and Electra complexes Latency period (6 to puberty) Genital stage (puberty onward)

“ Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Freud: Defense Mechanisms Unconscious attempts prevent unacceptable thoughts from reaching conscious awareness –Denial –Intellectualization –Projection –Rationalization –Reaction formation –Repression –Sublimation –Undoing

“ Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 DEFENSEDESCRIPTIONEXAMPLE denialarguing against an anxiety provoking stimuli by stating it doesn't exist denying that your physician's diagnosis of cancer is correct and seeking a second opinion displacementtaking out impulses on a less threatening target slamming a door instead of hitting as person, yelling at your spouse after an argument with your boss intellectualizationavoiding unacceptable emotions by focusing on the intellectual aspects focusing on the details of a funeral as opposed to the sadness and grief projectionplacing unacceptable impulses in yourself onto someone else when losing an argument, you state "You're just Stupid;" homophobia

“ Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 rationalizationsupplying a logical or rational reason as opposed to the real reason stating that you were fired because you didn't kiss up the the boss, when the real reason was your poor performance reaction formationtaking the opposite belief because the true belief causes anxiety having a bias against a particular race or culture and then embracing that race or culture to the extreme regressionreturning to a previous stage of development sitting in a corner and crying after hearing bad news; throwing a temper tantrum when you don't get your way

“ Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 repressionpulling into the unconscious forgetting sexual abuse from your childhood due to the trauma and anxiety sublimationacting out unacceptable impulses in a socially acceptable way sublimating your aggressive impulses toward a career as a boxer; becoming a surgeon because of your desire to cut; lifting weights to release 'pent up' energy suppressionpushing into the unconscious trying to forget something that causes you anxiety

“ Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Freud’s Followers Carl Jung –Collective unconscious –Archetypes Alfred Adler –Strive for superiority –Inferiority complex Karen Horney –Basic anxiety –Privilege envy (not penis envy)

“ Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Critiques of Freud Not scientific –Hard to test Too broad –Claims are hard to falsify Based on limited sample –Female patients –Upper class –19 th -century Vienna

“ Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Humanistic Theories Humanists focus on people’s positive aspects: their innate goodness, creativity, and free will Reaction to Freud’s emphasis on… –Hedonic tendencies –Unconscious basis of behavior

“ Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Humanistic Theories Abraham Maslow –Hierarchy of needs –Self-actualization Carl Rogers –Unconditional positive regard Criticisms –Difficult to test –Idealistic view

“ Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Is there really such a thing as a personality? Shyness? With your friends? Classmates? Teachers? Honesty? Would you return change found in the phone machine? Would you steal from a store?

“ Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Personality: Traits or Situations? Trait view –We think and behave consistently across situations Situationist view –Our thoughts and behaviors change with the situation Interactionist view –Both traits and situations affect thoughts and behavior

“ Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Trait Theories: The Big Five Extraversion Withdrawn Outgoing Neuroticism Stable Unstable Agreeableness Low High Conscientiousness Undependable Dependable Openness to experience Closed Open

“ Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Trait Theories: Eysenck’s Three-Factor Model Extraversion Withdrawn Outgoing Neuroticism Stable Unstable Psychoticism/Nonconformity Low High

“ Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Measuring Personality: Interviews and Observation Interviews –Structured set of questions (can be modified) –Focuses on specific thoughts and behaviors –Hard to generalize beyond interview Observation –Focuses on behaviors, not thoughts –Works best if judge knows participant

“ Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Measuring Personality: Inventories Questionnaires (paper or computer) Produce a personality profile Easy to score and statistically analyze Social desirability

“ Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Measuring Personality: Projective Tests Include Rorschach and TAT Concerns about validity and reliability What do you see?

“ Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Myers-Briggs htm