Extending Beyond Psychodynamics How Our Personal Identity is Formed

Personality, What is it? Personality It is an individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting IOW it is comprised of characteristics/behaviours that make everyone unique Personality is shaped by our environment & genetics Our past experience shapes our personality & specifically how we respond in specific situations All people demonstrate traits Traits are predispositions to behave in a certain way in a given situation Animals appear to demonstrate personality traits however, they act according to the conditioning they undergo Conditioning is a type of learning in which the subject responds to a stimulus in a way that normally does not bring about that response Conditioning will be discussed more specifically during our next lesson on Behaviourism

Categorizing Personality Categorizing personality types began in ancient Greece Categorized in terms of the humors (aka body fluids) Greeks classified personality according to the idea that ppl had excessive amounts of 1 Modern psychologists have their own theories & use tests to categorize personality Blood = optimistic Yellow = irritable Black = depressed Phlegm = calm/unemotional

Jung on Personality Jung categorized all PPL based on the following; Introverted or Extroverted Function Types (4) Thinking (uses reason) Feeling (uses emotions) Sensation (uses the senses) Intuition (uses perception) The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) was a test developed to determine personality based off of Jung’s ideas In fact, you probably already did one in GR 10 Careers Either the CDN Personality Dimensions or US True Colors Tests

Take Out Your iPad Go to WIN/JTYPES1.HTM Or Google – Human Metrics Personality Test What type of Personality do you have?

Criticisms of the MBTI & other Tests MBTI is believed to be accurate in determining the introversion/extroversion portion of personality Less accurate relating to its other scales, WHY? Think about your responses PPL can fake them PPL can rush through instead of reflecting properly PPL can misread/misunderstand questions Tests need to take this into consideration when they are developed to determine if answers could be faked or exaggerated

A closer look at our VERTEDness Extroversion: directing one’s interests outward, especially towards social contacts Introversion: directing one’s interests inward, away from social contacts Neuroticism: is a personality trait that describes a person’s stability in terms of their ability to deal with stress, anxiety, moodiness, jealousy & envy.

The Big Five Theory Contemporary theorists believe that every individual posses a mix of each of the following traits however, one side is more dominant than others. Which are you? THE BIG FIVE Trait DimensionDescription OpennessImaginative/independent vs. practical/conforming ConscientiousnessOrganized/careful vs. disorganized/careless ExtroversionOutgoing/energetic vs. shy/reserved AgreeablenessFriendly/helpful vs. cold/unkind NeuroticismAnxious/insecure vs. calm/secure

The Big Five Theory Often people are classified as Type A or Type B – the following are the two prototypical personality types. People are a mix of these traits though Personality Type A Personality Type B Unstable Worrying, vulnerable, self-pitying, impatient Extrovert Sociable, fun loving, talkative, spontaneous Open to Experience Imaginative, independent, curious, broad interests Agreeable Courteous, selfless, trusting, co- operative Undirected Careless, undependable, lax, aimless Stable Calm, hardy, self-satisfied, patient Introvert Reserved, sober, quiet, self- controlled Not open to Experience Unimaginative, conforming, incurious, narrow interests Antagonistic Rude, selfish, suspicious, unco- operative Conscientious Careful, reliable, persevering, ambitious

Let’s Assess this Guy

The Big Five Theory What would personality theorists say about Cookie Monster’s personality? Personality Type A Personality Type B Unstable Worrying, vulnerable, self-pitying, impatient Extrovert Sociable, fun loving, talkative, spontaneous Open to Experience Imaginative, independent, curious, broad interests Agreeable Courteous, selfless, trusting, co- operative Undirected Careless, undependable, lax, aimless Stable Calm, hardy, self-satisfied, patient Introvert Reserved, sober, quiet, self- controlled Not open to Experience Unimaginative, conforming, incurious, narrow interests Antagonistic Rude, selfish, suspicious, unco- operative Conscientious Careful, reliable, persevering, ambitious

Determining Personality & Behaviour Psychologists use a technique called factor analysis Factor analysis: a statistical technique that identifies patterns of related test items (factors) Subjects respond to a series of written questions that ask how they would react in a hypothetical situation Psychologists look for patterns when analyzing the data Using these patterns, they make predictions of how personality & behaviour are linked