1. Personality

2. Theories of Personality
What is Personality?
The relatively stable patterns of thinking, feeling and acting possessed by an individual
Theories of Personality
Psychoanalytic approach
Focuses on role of the unconscious in the development of personality
Trait Approach
Focuses on characteristic behaviors and conscious motives
Behavioral Approach
Focuses on behaviorism and social learning
Humanistic approach
Focuses on self-awareness and the development of the “self”
Sociocultural approach
Focuses on the role of gender, ethnicity and culture on the development of personality

3. Psychoanalytic Approach
Suggests that inner conflicts and struggles of which people are unaware affect their personality
Freud claimed that everyone is born with biological drives such as sex and aggression
These drives conflict with society’s rules and laws
One’s behavior at any given time is determined by these conflicts
Freud proposed that the mind is like an iceberg-conscious at the surface, unconscious below
The mass of unacceptable passions and drives in the unconscious are repressed but the unconscious exerts an important influence over our everyday behaviors

5. Id, Ego, and Superego
Freud proposed 3 systems that take part in the conflict between our inner drives and external restraints
The Id-the largest portion of the iceberg- hidden from view and from the conscious mind
Contains the basic drives to survive, reproduce, and engage in mastery over others
Without restraints, it would satisfy all needs (pleasure principle)
Example: when an infant crying when hungry

6. Id, Ego, and Superego
The Ego- contains our conscious perceptions that develop with maturity
Operates on the reality principle- tempering the needs of the id with the reactions of the real world
Understands what would happen if the id’s drive for certain satisfactions were reflected in one’s behavior without restraint
The Superego- develops as the child absorbs the values of parents and society
Rather than focusing on internal wants and needs, the superego is driven by what is perceived as ideal or right
Operates from the morality principle- a combination of conscience and a chosen self-image of ourselves as moral
Guilt over doing something wrong

7. Defense Mechanisms
According the Freud, one of the ways that the ego avoids pain or reduces anxiety is by using defense mechanisms to distort reality
Repression- pushes anxiety-producing ideas into the unconscious
When a person “explodes”, repressed thoughts may have broken into consciousness
Rationalization- involves making up a reason for your behavior or explaining away that of others
Denied a raise, you may say “I really didn’t need the money”
Projection- involves placing the cause of your problems on someone else or seeing your own faults in other people
You assume there’s tension at home due to your siblings behavior, but really it’s your behavior causing the problem

8. Defense Mechanisms
Displacement- the emotional version of “passing the buck”
You’re angry with your teacher, so you yell at your best friend
Denial- refusing to accept something that is upsetting
A smoker may deny the risks of lung cancer
Reaction formation- acting contrary to your true feelings
You are “extra nice” to someone you can’t stand
Sublimation- finding acceptable outlets for your feelings or desires
An aggressive person might transfer that aggression into sports
Regression- reverting to earlier, immature behaviors that once got you what you wanted
Throw a temper tantrum to get your way

9. Neo-Freudians
Alfred Adler- believed we are all born with feelings of inferiority and striving for superiority is the main motivational force in the development of personality
We do this by actively developing talents, working toward improvement, and learning to cope with any weaknesses
Overcompensation- people who are fanatical in their drive for perfection
Inferiority complex- a person’s conscious thoughts are dominated by an inability to succeed
Karen Horney- believed childhood experiences play a large role in the development of personality
Anxiety could be overcome by learning to adjust to and cope with the social world

10. Ne0-Freudians
Carl Jung- rather than the unconscious, he focused on the collective unconscious
Within this are various archetypes-universal forms that we encounter in our lives- mother, father, god, hero, leader
Being in touch with these archetype within us are important to a healthy personality
Persona- the image we present to others
Can be different than your real self and can create anxiety
Erik Erikson- believed people were quite capable of making the right choices and focused on developmental tasks

11. The Trait Approach
A trait is a characteristic of personality that remains fairly stable over time. May describe physical, social, or moral characteristics
Trait theorists believe that social and moral characteristics are relatively unchanging and that they determine our behavior during various situations
Gordon Allport- used a dictionary to identify words used to describe a person and classify traits (narrowed it down to 4,500)
Common traits- one that is shared by most people (honesty)
Cardinal trait- one an individual exhibits in all situations (this is rare)
Central trait- exhibited in most situations
Secondary trait- a trait whose presence in an individual depends on a situation

12. Trait Approach Raymond Cattell- narrowed Allport’s traits to 200
Identified traits that seemed obvious (truthfulness, tidiness, friendliness) and called them “surface traits”
Noticed these traits fell into clusters- individuals who exhibited one, exhibited others
Each cluster was the result of a single, more fundamental trait (a “source trait”) which seems to be at the core of personality

14. Trait Approach Hans Eysenck- categorized traits in 2 dimensions
Introversion-extroversion- introverts tend to draw their ideas and energy from themselves and are often imaginative. Extroverts get their energy and ideas from others and tend to be active and self-expressive
Emotional stability-instability- stable people tend to be calm, rational, and predictable, unstable people can become easily agitated and be unpredictable

17. Behavioral Approach
Claim that there is no need to consider personality or traits because they are created by reinforcements (positive/negative) in the environment
John B. Watson- theorized that we behave as we do because early behaviors have been reinforced
Controlling a person’s environment from birth can make a person into anything you wanted
People make fearful associated to objects or events that can affect them later in life

18. Behavior Theorists
B.F. Skinner- believed that behaviors of later life were learned as children go through the process of socialization
In an ideal society, everyone is happy because they have learned to contribute to society and therefore receives its benefits
Albert Bandura- “social learning” theory- stresses the role of observation in development of personality
People have free will, which allows them to act on and influence their environments
Behavior is based both on what we observe other people doing and on internal factors

19. Behavior and Internal Factors
Skills
We have certain innate social and physical abilities
Values
We determine the relative worth of any behavior
Goals
We decide what we will work toward and how we will do it
Expectations
We predict what will happen as a result of behavior
Self-efficacy
We have certain beliefs about our own abilities to accomplish a task or reach a goal

20. Humanistic Approach
Emphasize internal positive factors in motivation and personality that they see not only as uniquely human, but as unique to each individual
Abraham Maslow- focused on an individual’s desire to reach his/her full potential and awareness of that desire
Studying successful people, he determined that they shared certain characteristics
Self-aware, open and friendly, and not unduly affected by the opinions of others
Carl Rogers- noted that many people have conflicts between what they perceive as the ideal person and their real selves
The unrealistic standards might have been imposed on these individuals as children and as adults thy never feel like they can live up to those standards
Parents should give a child unconditional positive regard

21. Humanistic
Rogers emphasized self-concept- our thoughts and feelings about the type of person we are
Our self-concept and our experiences in the world must be in agreement for us to be happy and healthy
Also emphasized self-esteem, or one’s respect for one’s self
Parents help children establish self-esteem by giving them unconditional positive regard
Conditional positive regard leads a child to believe that he/she is worthwhile only as a result of certain behavior

22. Sociocultural Approach
Focuses on the effects of ethnicity, gender, and culture on the formation of personality
The US and other western culture value individualism
People in Africa, Asia and South America tend to define themselves as collective
Power distance is the extent to which less powerful members of a culture expect and accept unequally divided power
Having an assertive personality wouldn’t be valued if you were a member of a “lower caste”
This can also affect self-concept and self-esteem

23. Sociocultural
Uncertainly avoidance- the extent to which members of a culture feel threatened by uncertain or unknown situations
One would be unlikely to develop an innovative personality in a culture that mistrusts and avoids uncertainty
Masculinity/Femininity- the extent to which a culture has distinct roles for men and women
If the roles are strongly maintained, a person’s gender will highly influence the personality characteristics that are developed
Long-short-term orientation- the extent to which a culture values future rewards and determines personality traits such as perseverance and thrift

24. Other Theories
Social Cognitive Approach- focuses on context or situation in which behavior occurs
One important aspect of personality is one’s sense of personal control- whether one’s life is controlled by the individual or from outside
Evolutionary- focuses on the role of adaptation in the development of personality
Biological- focuses on the role of genetics in the development of personality

25. Personality Types
A set of traits that an individual typically demonstrates
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator- places individuals in one of 16 categories or types
It is important to remember that not all “type” tests have much, if any, research data to back them up
Even some scientific tests fail to take context or situation into account and imply that a person behaves in the same way in all situations