Perspectives in Psychology PERSONALITY

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Psychology Concepts: Personality Perspectives in Psychology Personality Ways of Understanding Behavior Issue NeurosciencePsychodynamicBehavioralCognitiveHumanistic Key issues in psychology and the positions taken by psychologists subscribing to the five major perspectives of psychology Nature (heredity) vs. nurture (environment) Nature (heredity) Nurture (environment) Both

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Psychology Concepts: Personalities PERSONALITIES Ways of Understanding Behavior Issue NeurosciencePsychodynamicBehavioralCognitiveHumanistic Key issues in psychology and the positions taken by psychologists subscribing to the five major perspectives of psychology Conscious vs. unconscious determinants of behavior Unconscious ConsciousBothConscious

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Psychology Concepts: Personalities PERSONALITIES Ways of Understanding Behavior Issue NeurosciencePsychodynamicBehavioralCognitiveHumanistic Key issues in psychology and the positions taken by psychologists subscribing to the five major perspectives of psychology Observable behavior vs. internal mental processes Internal emphasis Observable emphasis Internal emphasis

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Psychology Concepts: Personalities PERSONALITIES Ways of Understanding Behavior Issue NeurosciencePsychodynamicBehavioralCognitiveHumanistic Key issues in psychology and the positions taken by psychologists subscribing to the five major perspectives of psychology Free will vs. determinism Determinism Free will

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Psychology Concepts: Personalities PERSONALITIES Ways of Understanding Behavior Issue NeurosciencePsychodynamicBehavioralCognitiveHumanistic Key issues in psychology and the positions taken by psychologists subscribing to the five major perspectives of psychology Individual differences vs. universal principles Universal emphasis BothIndividual emphasis

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Personality: The Unique Way Individuals Think, Feel, and Act As one group of theorists noted, each of us is in certain respects like all other people, like some other people, and like no other person who has ever lived in the past or will exist in the future. Psychology Concepts: Personalities The behaviors of personality. Certain perceived characteristics of behavior are seen as reflecting an individual’s personality. Personality Attributed to Behaviors Components of identity Perceived internal cause Perceived organization and structure

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Psychoanalytic Theory The first formal theory of personality was advanced by Sigmund Freud in the early years of the 20th century, and it is the prototype of the psychodynamic approach. Freud’s theory divides the personality into three levels of consciousness: 1. Conscious 2. Preconscious 3. Unconscious and three levels of the mind: 1. Id 2. Ego 3. Superego Psychology Concepts: Personalities

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Freud’s Model of Personality Psychology Concepts: Personalities The first formal theory of personality was advanced by Sigmund Freud in the early years of the 20th century, and it is the prototype of the psycho-dynamic approach. Freud’s own representation of his three-part conception of personality shows the relation of the id, ego, and superego to the unconscious, preconscious, and conscious areas of the mind. Conscious Preconscious Unconscious Immediate awareness of current environment Available to awareness (e.g., names of friends, home address) Unavailable to awareness (infantile memories, repressed wishes and conflicts)

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Psychoanalytic Theory Freud was convinced that an unconscious part of the mind exerts great influence on behavior. Conscious mind: Consists of mental events in current awareness. Preconscious mind: Contains memories, thoughts, feelings, and images that we are unaware of at the moment but that can be recalled (a friend’s telephone number). Unconscious mind: A dynamic realm of wishes, feelings, and impulses that lies beyond our awareness. Psychology Concepts: Personalities

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Basic Elements of Psychoanalytic Theory Dream Interpretation Examining dreams to find clues to unconscious conflicts and problems. Free Association Patients are asked to say aloud whatever comes to mind, regardless of its apparent irrelevance or senselessness. Analysts attempt to recognize and label the connections between what a patient says and the patient’s unconscious. Resistance Inability or unwillingness to discuss or reveal particular memories, thoughts, or motivations. Positive and Negative Transference The transfer of feelings to a psychoanalyst of love or anger that had been originally directed to a patient’s parents or other authority figures (Mann, 1997; Gordon, 2000; Van Beekum, 2005). Psychology Concepts: Personalities

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Psychoanalytic Theory: Neo-Freudians Neo-Freudian psychoanalysts disagreed with certain aspects of Freud’s thinking They believed that Freud did not give social and cultural factors a sufficiently important role in the development and dynamics of personality Also believed that Freud laid too much emphasis on the events of childhood as determinants of adult personality Psychology Concepts: Personalities

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Psychoanalytic Theory: Neo-Freudians Freud laid the foundation for important work done by a series of successors who were trained in traditional Freudian theory but later rejected some of its major points These theorists are known as neo-Freudian psychoanalysts, and they include: Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, and Karen Horner Neo Freudians placed greater emphasis than Freud on the functions of the ego, suggesting that it has more control than does the id over day-to-day activities. Also minimized the importance of sex as a driving force in people’s lives. Paid greater attention to social factors and the effects of society and culture on personality development. Psychology Concepts: Personalities

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Psychoanalytic Theory: Neo-Freudians Erik Erikson Believed that personality development continues throughout the life span as individuals confront challenges that are specific to particular phases in their lives. Alfred Adler Insisted that humans are inherently social beings, motivated by social interest, the desire to advance the welfare of others. Carl Jung Believed that humans possess a personal unconscious and also a collective unconscious. Psychology Concepts: Personalities

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Psychoanalytic Theory: Neo-Freudians Karen Horney One of the earliest psychologists to champion women’s issues, sometimes called the first feminist psychologist Suggested that personality develops in the context of social relationships and depends on the relationship between parents and child and how well the child’s needs are met Rejected Freud’s suggestion that women have penis envy, asserting that what women envy most in men is not their anatomy but the independence, success, and freedom that women are often denied (Horney, 1937; Miletic, 2002). Psychology Concepts: Personalities

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Behavioral Theory Using basic principles of learning, behavioral theorists see both normal and abnormal behaviors as responses to various stimuli, responses that have been learned through past experience and that are guided in the present by stimuli in the individual’s environment Behavioral genetics researchers are finding increasing evidence that cognitive abilities, personality traits, sexual orientation, and psychological disorders are determined to some extent by genetic factors (hereditary) (Reif & Lesch, 2003; Viding et al., 2005). Psychology Concepts: Personalities

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Psychology Concepts: Personalities Humanistic Theory: A Reaction to Psychoanalysis and Behaviorism Humanistic perspective emphasizes the responsibility people have for their own behavior, even when their behavior is seen as abnormal Grew out of the work of Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow Concentrates on what is uniquely human, viewing people as basically rational, oriented toward a social world, and motivated to seek self-actualization (Rogers, 1995).

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Psychology Concepts: Personalities The Third Force: Humanism The humanistic theory of psychology is often referred to as the third force Focus on the relationship of the individual to society, considering the ways in which people view themselves in relation to others and see their place in the world Views people as having an awareness of of life and of themselves that leads them to search for meaning and self-worth Though criticized for its reliance on unscientific, unverifiable information and its vague, almost philosophical formulations, it offers a distinctive view of abnormal behavior

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Psychology Concepts: Personalities Carl Rogers: Self Concept The concept of the “self” is central to the personality theory of Carl Rogers and other humanists Our self-concept is our subjective perception of who we are and what we are like The concept of self is learned from our interactions with others Rogers distinguishes between two self-concepts--there is the self--the person I think I am, and the ideal self-- the person I wish I was

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Psychology Concepts: Personalities Unconditional Positive Regard Carl Rogers believed that we are born with an innate need for positive regard—for acceptance, sympathy, and love from others Ideally, positive regard received from the parents is unconditional—that is, independent of how the child behaves Unconditional positive regard communicates that the person is inherently worthy of love, regardless of accomplishments or behavior

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Psychology Concepts: Personalities Self-Actualization A major tenet of humanistic psychology is that humans possess an inner drive to grow, improve, and use their potential to the fullest Abraham Maslow calls the ultimate in completed growth self-actualization According to Maslow, the self-actualizing person is reaching the highest level of personal development and has fully realized her or his potential as a human being.

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Maslow: The Hierarchy of Needs Abraham Maslow, a humanistic theorist, proposed a broad motivational model (1954) Psychology Concepts: Personalities Maslow proposed that needs are arranged in a hierarchy. After meeting our more basic needs, we experience need progression and focus on needs at the next level. If a need at a lower level is no longer satisfied, we experience need regression and focus once again on meeting that lower-level need. Maslow’s Need Hierarchy

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Trait Theory Trait theory seeks to explain, in a straightforward way, the consistencies in individuals’ behavior. Traits are enduring patterns of behavior, such as thinking acting, and feeling, that are relatively consistent across different situations. Traits tend to lead to characteristic responses: People can be described in terms of the basic ways they behave, such as whether they are outgoing and friendly or dominant and assertive People who have a strong tendency to behave in these ways are described as high on the traits; those who have a weak tendency to behave in certain ways are described as low on the traits Psychology Concepts: Personalities

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Five-Factor Model For the last two decades, the most influential trait approach contends that five traits or factors lie at the core of personality Researchers have identified a similar set of five factors that underlie personality 1. Openness to experience 2. Conscientiousness 3. Extraversion 4. Agreeableness 5. Neuroticism Psychology Concepts: Personalities

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. The Five-Factor Model of Personality The big five factors of personality (“supertraits”) are thought to describe the main dimensions of personality—specifically, neuroticism (emotional instability), extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Use the acronym OCEAN to remember the big five personality factors: Psychology Concepts: Personalities O peness Imaginative or practical Interested in variety or routine Independent or conforming C onscientiousness Organized or disorganized Careful or careless Disciplined or impulsive E xtraversion Sociable or retiring Fun-loving or somber Affectionate or reserved A greeableness Softhearted or ruthless Trusting or suspicious Helpful or uncooperative N euroticism Calm or anxious Secure or insecure Self-satisfied or self-pitying

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Gordon Allport ( ) Sometimes referred to as the father of American personality psychology, Allport was particularly bothered by the negative view of humanity that psychoanalysis portrayed: Allport rejected the notion that the unconscious was central to an understanding of personality He believed that to understand healthy people, we must focus on their lives in the present, not on their childhood experiences In defining personality, Allport (1961) stressed the uniqueness of each person and his/her capacity to adapt to the environment Psychology Concepts: Personalities

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Evaluating Trait Perspectives In the late 1930s, Allport and his colleague H.S. Odbert (1936) identified 4500 words (traits) that could be used to describe a person—a method called the lexical approach. In 1946, Raymond Cattell applied the relatively new statistical procedure of factor analysis to the Allport and Odbert traits. Cattell concluded that 16 underlying factors summarized the lexical data. This work led to the development of the 16PF, a personality scale that is still used today. In 1963, W.T. Norman reanalyzed Cattell’s data and concluded that only five factors were needed to summarize these traits. Psychology Concepts: Personalities

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Personality Assessment: Defining Types of Personality Interview: Subjective method that involves questioning Observational Method: Watching a person’s actual behavior in a natural or simulated situation Test Standardization: Used to validate questions in personality tests by studying the responses of people with known diagnoses Psychology Concepts: Personalities

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Personality Assessment: Defining Types of Personality Projective Personality Test: Uses ambiguous stimulus and asked to describe it or tell a story about it Rorschach Test: Show a series of symmetrical visual stimuli and then ask what the figures represent to them Psychology Concepts: Personalities This inkblot is similar to the type used in the Rorschach personality test. What do you see in it? (Source: Alloy, Jacobson, & Acocella, 1999.)

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Projective Tests Based on the belief of psychoanalysts that the unconscious mind is the basis of personality Projective tests ask the individual to interpret ambiguous stimuli so that unconscious feelings will be “projected” in the interpretation, much as a slide projector projects an image on a blank screen The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) (Murray, 1938, 1951) asks the individual to make up a story about ambiguous pictures Psychologists believe that, because the stimuli are ambiguous, the ego is not able to fully censor the unconscious thoughts and motives that are projected into the story made up about the picture Projective tests are used less today than in the past, largely because research on their validity has been discouraging Psychology Concepts: Personalities

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Personality Inventories: Developed By Trait Theorist One way to assess personality is through an extensive interview which is used to determine the most important events in childhood, social relationships, and success and failures These self-report measures are also known as Personality Inventory tests Psychology Concepts: Personalities

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Behavioral Assessments Direct Observation: Observing the person’s actual behavior in a natural or simulated situation Rating scales: An observer responds to specific items in describing the behavior with a scale of answers such as: “strongly agree,” “ agree,” “disagree,” or “strongly disagree” Frequency counts: An interval recording system including: observation, recording antecedent behavior before the event, and recording consequences after the event, known as the Antecedent-Behavior-Consequences chart (A-B-C chart) Psychology Concepts: Personalities

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Personality Inventories: Objective Tests NEO-PI: Based on the Five Factor model, provides a systematized assessment of emotional, interpersonal, experiential, attitudinal, and motivational styles of one’s personality Myers-Briggs: Based on Jung’s Personality Types, designed to look at what people perceive and how they reach conclusions in order to understand their interests, reactions, values, motivations, and skills MMPI-2: Designed to detect abnormal personalities and psychological difficulties; used to predict everyday behavior Psychology Concepts: Personalities

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