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Chapter 13
Personality
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Personality: an individual’s characteristic patterns of behaving, thinking, and feeling.
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Sigmund Freud
Psychoanalysis: Freud’s theory of personality and his therapy for treating psychological disorders.
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4. Freud saw 3 levels of awareness.
Conscious: what a person is aware of at any moment.
Preconscious: thoughts, feelings, memories easily brought to consciousness.
Unconscious: the primary motivating force of behavior, Contains repressed memories, instincts, wishes that have never been conscious.
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5. Personality has 3 systems.
Id, Ego, & Superego
Id: the unconscious system. Contains the life and death instincts. Operates on the….
Pleasure principle: the id seeks pleasure, avoid pain, & gain immediate gratification of its wishes.
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Ego: the logical, rational, realistic part of the personality; evolves out of the id.
One Ego function is to satisfy the id’s urges. But… ego – which is mostly conscious, acts on the ……Reality principle: the ego considers the real world in determining appropriate times, places, and objects for gratification of the id’s wishes.
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Superego: the moral system of the personality. Consists of 2 parts…
Conscience: comes from the behaviors that the child has been punished and/or feels guilty.
Ego ideal: comes from behaviors & views the child has been rewarded & feels pride.
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Defense mechanisms: used to defend against anxiety & maintain self-esteem.
Repression: the most frequently used; removing painful or threatening memories, or thoughts, from consciousness and keeping them in the unconscious.
Projection: one projects their own undesirable issues, personality traits, or behaviors to others. Or minimize the undesirable in themselves and exaggerate it in others.
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Denial: refusing to acknowledge consciously the existence of danger or a threatening condition.
Rationalization: to unconsciously supply a rational or socially ok reason rather than the real reason for an action…make excuses for, or justify, failures and mistakes.
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Regression: Reverting to a behavior that reduced anxiety at an earlier stage of development.
Reaction formation: expressing exaggerated ideas and emotions that are the opposite of their disturbing, unconscious impulses and desires.
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11. Freud &Defense Mechanisms (cont)
Displacement: a person substitutes something less threatening for the original object of a sexual or aggressive impulse.
Sublimation: channeling sexual or aggressive energy into pursuits that society considers acceptable or praiseworthy.
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12. Sigmund Freud & Psychoanalysis
The Psychosexual Stages of Development
Stages through which the sexual instinct develops.
Each stage has a part of the body that provides pleasure and around which a conflict arises.
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13. Freud’s Psychosexual Stages (cont.)
Fixation: some of the libido (psychic energy) stays at a certain stage. Leaves less energy to resolve issues at later stages.
Overindulgence at a stage may leave a person unwilling to move on to the next stage.
Too little gratification may leave a person trying to make up for unmet needs.
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14. Sigmund Freud and Psychoanalysis
Oral stage (birth to 1 year): mouth is the primary source of sensual pleasure.
conflict centers on weaning.
Fixations (problems) here result in personality traits such as… dependence, optimism, & gullibility or pessimism, sarcasm, hostility, & aggression.
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15. Freud’s Psychosexual Stages
Anal stage (1 to 3 years): children derive sensual pleasure from expelling and withholding feces.
conflict arises when toilet training begins. Attempts to have children give up or postpone gratification.
May develop an anal expulsive or anal retentive personality (or trait).
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Anal expulsive personality traits:
Messiness, rebelliousness, destructiveness.
Anal retentive personality traits:
Excessive cleanliness, orderliness, stinginess.
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Phallic Stage (3-5)
Children become aware of anatomical differences in males and females.
Oedipus complex: boys concentrate their sexual wishes on their mother. Develop hostile impulses against their father as being a rival.
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18. Sigmund Freud and Psychoanalysis
The boy usually resolves the Oedipus complex by identifying with his father and repressing his sexual feelings for his mother.
Freud had an equally controversial process for girls in the phallic stage.
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Girls feel sexual desires for father. Develop jealousy and rivalry toward mother.
Eventually they repress their sexual feelings toward the father and identify with the mother, leading to the formation of their superego.
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Freud (cont.)
Failure to resolve these conflicts causes psychological problems:
Guilt and anxiety carries over into adulthood causing sexual problems, difficulty relating to the opposite sex, or homosexuality.
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21. Freud’s Psychosexual Stages (cont.)
Latency period (5 or 6yrs to puberty): Sex instinct is repressed and sublimated in school, play, hobbies, and sports.
Genital stage (from puberty on): the focus of sexual energy gradually shifts to the opposite sex for the vast majority of people.
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22. Evaluating Freud’s contribution
Some of Freud’s ideas may seem bizarre, but we are indebted to him for showing that unconscious forces may motivate behavior, and for emphasizing the influence of early childhood on adult development.
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23. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
our need for self-actualization depends on how well our needs for physical well-being, safety, belonging, and esteem have been met.
We are motivated by the lowest unmet need.
These motivational processes are central to the human personality.
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24. Humanistic Personality Theories
Self-actualization: developing to one’s fullest potential.
Self-actualizers are accurate in perceiving reality, able to judge honestly and to spot quickly the fake and the dishonest.
Self-actualizers have peak experiences – experiences of deep meaning, insight, and harmony within themselves and the universe.
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25. Humanistic Personality Theories (Two Main Leaders-Maslow & Rogers)
Conditions of worth: conditions on which the positive regard of others rests.
A major goal of therapy is to enable people to live according to their own values not those of others. This results high Self-esteem.
Rogers’ therapy is called “person-centered therapy.”
Unconditional positive regard is unqualified caring and nonjudgmental acceptance, no matter what a person says, does, has done, or is thinking of doing.
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26. Humanistic Personality Theories
Self-Esteem
To develop high self-esteem, children need to experience success in domains they view as important and to be encouraged to value themselves by parents, teachers, and peers.
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27. Personality Assessment
Projective test: Tests that have inkblots, drawings of unclear human situations, or incomplete sentences for which there are no obvious or incorrect responses.
Rorschach Inkblot Method: Composed of 10 inkblots, which the test taker is asked to describe.
Rorschach is used to describe personality, diagnoses, plan treatment, and predict behavior.
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