XI. Personality

A. Introduction l 1. Personality: –Individuals’ characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, & behaving. l “unifying threads” - Allport –Personality psychologists focus on differences between people. l 2. Address questions: –a. Where does personality come from? –b. When does personality develop? –c. Is personality stable or changing? –d. Does personality predict behavior?

B. Approach 1: Psychoanalytic Theory l Psychoanalysis: l Most meaningful parts of personality are found in the unconscious part of the mind. l 1. Freud: Background l 2. Freud’s View of Human Nature: Humans are innately bad. Born with two instincts: Eros - life (energize behavior, reproduce) Thanatos - death (hurt others and self) Society controls these urges and impulses.

B. Approach 1: Psychoanalytic Theory l 3. Freud on personality: a. Conflict and the unconscious. –Evil impulses, desires are blocked. –Pushed to unconscious: storage place of mostly unacceptable thoughts, feelings, etc. How did Freud determine this? –Free association These “repressed” thoughts get manifested: –“Freudian Slips” and Dreams –Also in personality.

B. Approach 1: Psychoanalytic Theory l 3. Freud on personality: l b. Structure of personality –id: present at birth, unconscious seeks immediate and total gratification “pleasure principle” –superego: socially developed seeks morality and perfection conscience ego: mediator between id and superego bring long term pleasure and avoid pain “reality principle”

B. Approach 1: Psychoanalytic Theory l c. Personality development: –Id: seeks gratification, focus on different erogenous zones in different stages – causes conflict l Pass through several psychosexual stages. l Personality develops during the first few years of life. l Key: psychosexual conflict. –What occurs in each stage can affect later behavior and personality.

B. Approach 1: Psychoanalytic Theory l c. Personality Development Oral Stage (0-18m): mouth, sucking, chewing Anal Stage (18-36m): bladder, bathroom behavior Phallic Stage (3-6y): genitals, incest –Oedipus Complex - sexual desire for mom, hatred for father. –Fear of castration > identification with father – develop gender identity.

B. Approach 1: Psychoanalytic Theory l c. Personality development. - Latency Stage (6-puberty): “Bad thoughts” get pushed out of consciousness – so sexual impulses are repressed. - Genital Stage (puberty-on): Develop sexual feelings towards others. l Can understand behavior based on issues during these stages. –Unresolved conflict in stage – become “fixated” which informs personality.

B. Approach 1: Psychoanalytic Theory l 4. How is the unconscious studied? l Freud: Free association, Dreams l More recent: Projective Tests Rorschach Inkblot Test Thematic Apperception Test l Freud’s answers to the questions posed about personality:

B. Approach 1: Psychoanalytic Theory l 5. Evaluation of Freud’s Theory: - Criticisms -“after the fact” theorizing -overemphasis on childhood and sex/aggressive drives -repression not common (but basis of Freud’s theory) -gender bias -sample - Praises -first one to explain personality development -unconscious still influential (and mysterious) today -set groundwork for further investigation - JUNG

C. Approach 2: Trait Theory l 1. Introduction: Allport l a. Trait: a relatively stable predisposition to behave in a certain way. –personality in terms of identifiable behavior patterns. –vs. “state” (temporary)

C. Approach 2: Trait Theory l b. Important aspects of approach: Personality is reflected in daily behavior (what is “manifested” or conscious). l Psychoanalysts plunge too deep into underlying motives and the unconscious. l So, devise questionnaires that ask people about their behavior to determine what type of personality they have (measurement). –objective (NOT like projective tests, get a “score”)

C. Approach 2: Trait Theory l 2. Example of trait dimensions & measurement. l a. Eysenck & Eysenck: Extraversion/Introversion Emotional Stability/Instability - determined by brain arousal, nervous system reactivity.

C. Approach 2: Trait Theory l 2. Example of trait dimensions. l b. Big 5 Personality Structure –emotional stability –extraversion –openness –agreeableness –conscientiousness l SEE SCALE

C. Approach 2: Trait Theory l 3. What do trait measure do or provide? l a. Do scores from inventories predict behavior? –May not be good predictors in specific situations for specific behaviors –Better predictor of average behavior, or set of behaviors, across several situations. -Depends on situation.

C. Approach 2: Trait Theory l 3. What can we do with “personality scores” l b. Are scores from inventories consistent over the life-span? –First 2 years of life – not good predictor for traits as adult –But, over time – people become more consistent. –Relatively, differences between people are consistent over time.

C. Approach 2: Trait Theory l 4. Evaluation of Trait Theory: - Problem with using questionnaires. (social desirability bias) - Can people objectively measure their own behavior?

D. Approach 3: Humanist Perspective l 1. Introduction l Freud - too evil. l Trait - too objective, not holistic l Humanist: Sense of “self:. –Conscious understanding/view of world and self. l Personality: who you “think you are” l People’s beliefs and perceptions determine reality. –Focus on human potential.

D. Approach 3: Humanist Perspective l 2. Humanist Theorists l a. Maslow: –People motivated by hierarchy of needs. –Behavior and feelings about self are determined by how close you are to “being everything you can be.”

D. Humanist Perspective l a. Maslow –Most “healthy” personality: Self-Actualization: fulfilling one’s potential. –Today – “flow”

D. Approach 3: Humanist Perspective l b. Rogers: l After interacting with patients in therapy setting: l Found theme: –to find “self”, be “self” –people have desire, want to improve

D. Approach 3: Humanist Perspective l People want to find and express true self (personality). l But, also need positive regard & validation of others. l Can create conflict depending upon: –unconditional positive regard l feel free to self-actualize –conditional positive regard l end up being what people “want you to be”

D. Approach 3: Humanist Perspective l What people need to develop healthy personality: “Growth-promoting” environment. l genuine l accepting l empathic People can then reach their own potential.

D. Approach 3: Humanist Perspective l 4. Evaluation of humanist theory: - positive influence on pop psych (people are basically good, self-help, etc.) - too vague, naively optimistic - reinforce and encourage too much individualism, fulfilling oneself.

E. Social-Cognitive Approach l Social: –learning through conditioning and modeling l Cognitive: –interpretation of self/environment –expectations Key: Control over one’s destiny

Conclusions... l What determines who we are and how we act? Why we are unique? –unconscious conflict –traits determined by biology –fulfilling the needs of self, being nurtured –how we interpret and choose environments, the amount of control we believe we have over our destiny

Conclusions l 4 different approaches to personality. l Different answers to key questions. l What makes us unique. l Next step: When something about us makes us “abnormal”.

E. Approach 4: Socio-Cognitive Perspective l 3. Evaluation of Socio-Cognitive Theory: - addresses the influence of situation and experience. -uses more empirical data - more research - focuses too much on situation, not enough on individual and personality.

B. Approach 1: Psychoanalytic Theory l 3. Very little of our minds were in consciousness - aware of very little.

B. Approach 1: Psychoanalytic Theory l c. What happens if there is a conflict between id and superego? l Defense Mechanisms: - Regression: retreat to an earlier, more infantile stage of development. -Projection: Disguise threatening impulses by attributing them to others. - Displacement: divert sexual or aggressive impulses into an acceptable outlet.

D. Approach 3: Humanist Perspective l 3. Key feature of humanist theory: Personality = SELF l a. Self-Concept - the answer the question, “who am I” –i. clarity ii. discrepancy (possible selves) l b. Self-Esteem - one’s sense of self-worth. –Few people have really low self-esteem –Why? i. Self-serving bias:

E. Approach 4: Socio-Cognitive Perspective l 2. Influence of control on behavior and personality. locus of control: external - chance or outside forces determine fate. internal - people control their own destinies. self-efficacy: How competent and effective we perceive ourselves to be.

E. Approach 4: Socio-Cognitive Perspective learned helpless: the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated, aversive events. Evidence of influence of control: Langer & Rodin (1977)

E. Approach 4: Socio-Cognitive Perspective l 1. Description. - Environment and personality reciprocally influence one another. - Personality influences what situations we place ourselves in, who we interact with- which then in turn influence our personality. - The influence of a situation depends on people's interpretation of that situation –which is influenced by personality. - Key: personal control