1. Personality Modules 28-29 Notes

2. Psychodynamic Perspective on Personality Sigmund Freud proposed psychology’s first and most famous theory on personality: Personality- a person’s characteristic thoughts and behaviors Personality emerges from tensions generated by unconscious motives and unresolved childhood conflicts

3. Psychodynamic Perspective on Personality Psychoanalysis- Therapeutic technique that attempts to provide insight into thoughts and actions by exposing and interpreting the underlying unconscious motives and conflicts This was accomplished by having the patient lay on a couch facing away from Freud and just freely talking about whatever came to mind

4. Psychodynamic Perspective on Personality Psychodynamic Perspective: View of personality that retains some aspects of Freudian theory, but is less likely to see unresolved childhood conflicts as a source of personality development Maintains the emphasis on the unconscious mind

5. Freud’s View of the Mind Theory developed from Freud’s observation that some of his patients had problems that didn’t have a physical cause Freud was a physician- if their problems weren’t physical, how could he treat them? By having his patients relax and speak freely (free association), he would get a view into their unconscious and begin to help them deal with their problems

6. Freud’s View of the Mind Freud used an iceberg to illustrate the mind The conscious mind is like the tip of the iceberg Just below the water’s surface is the preconscious mind- info that is not conscious but is retrievable Deepest level is the unconscious- mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories

7. Freud’s View of the Mind Personality grows out of basic human contact between the various levels of the mind: Id Superego Ego

8. Freud’s View of the Mind Id Present at birth Strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive needs Pleasure principle- demands instant gratification

9. Freud’s View of the Mind Superego Internal ideal and judgment (your conscience) Develops as children interact with parents, peers, and society Basically focuses on what we should do Wants perfection- weak superegos give in to temptation, strong superegos feel guilty

10. Freud’s View of the Mind Ego- Largely conscious part of the personality that negotiates the demands of the id, superego, and reality Reality principle- satisfy the id in ways that realistically being pleasure rather than pain

11. Defense Mechanisms Anxiety occurs when the id’s wishes and desires come into conflict with the superego’s rules Defense mechanisms are the ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

12. Defense Mechanisms Repression Banishing provoking thoughts from consciousness Aim of psychoanalysis was to draw repressed conflicts back into the consciousness to allow healing

13. Defense Mechanisms Regression A person retreats to a more comfortable stage of life Older sibling will want to be held in the presence of a newborn baby

14. Defense Mechanisms Denial Refusing to admit that something unpleasant is happening Thoughts of invincibility- “I can text and drive, nothing bad will happen to me”

15. Defense Mechanisms Reaction Formation Making an unacceptable impulse into its opposite

16. Defense Mechanisms Projection Attributing threatening impulses to others “I don’t trust you” means that I really don’t trust myself

17. Defense Mechanisms Rationalization Explaining things in a way that hides the actual reason for a behavior “I only smoke when I’m out with friends” Cheating on a test because nobody gets hurt

18. Defense Mechanisms Displacement Shifting an unacceptable impulse towards a less threating object or person Punching a wall when you’re mad at a friend, for example

19. Defense Mechanisms Sublimation Transforming negative emotions or actions into more positive behaviors Being a really aggressive person might make you good at playing football or rugby

20. Psychosexual Stages During each of these childhood stages, the Id is focused on different parts of the body Unresolved conflicts in any of these stages could cause problems later in life

21. Psychosexual Stages Oral Stage- 1 st 18 months of life Chewing, sucking, biting Weaning can be difficult Fixation results in drinking, overeating, smoking, or nail biting

22. Psychosexual Stages Anal stage- Lasts 18 months to 3 years Bowel and bladder function Potty training can be difficult Fixation results in either wastefulness/messiness OR obsessiveness

23. Psychosexual Stages Phallic Stage- Ages 3-6 Pleasure shifts to genitals Freud believed that boys felt love for their mothers and fear/jealously towards fathers

24. Psychosexual Stages Latency Stage- 6 years old to puberty Grow closer to same-sex parent How we gain our gender identity Ego and superego develop Fixation results in lack of social and communication skills

25. Psychosexual Stages Genital Stage- Puberty to Death Start experiencing sexual feelings If other stages have been completed successfully, one is well-balanced, warm, and caring

26. Assessing/Evaluating Psychodynamic Perspective Projective Tests- Provide ambiguous stimuli to trigger projections of inner thoughts and feelings Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)- Patients make up a story based on a random scene

27. Assessing/Evaluating Psychodynamic Perspective Rorschach Test- 10 inkblots are shown to patients Responses are compared to “average” responses Not a reliable test

28. Assessing/Evaluating Psychodynamic Perspective Weaknesses of Freud’s work: Based on cases studies of troubled, upper-class, Austrian women 100 years ago Development does not end in childhood Gender identity is not dependent on traditional family model (mother and father present) Underestimates peer influence on personality Children under 3 are not capable of emotional trauma Freud’s methods involved leading questions Research is biased towards males Theory is not scientific

29. Humanistic Perspective Focuses on conscious experiences Focuses on free will and creative abilities Studies all factors relevant to human condition (not just observable behaviors) While Freud only studied “sick” patients, Humanists believe “healthy” should be studied as well

30. Humanistic Perspective Maslow and self-actualization Must satisfy basic needs before moving on to higher levels Used people such as Abraham Lincoln and Eleanor Roosevelt as benchmarks for living a “productive and rich” life

31. Humanistic Perspective

32. Carl Rodgers and Person-Centered Approach People will flourish when given acceptance, genuineness, and empathy Unconditional positive regard- total acceptance toward another person We mature by being genuine about our feelings and aren’t afraid to disclose details to others We also need to be empathetic about other’s feelings

33. Humanistic Perspective To assess personality, humanists have patients evaluate their self-concept (our thoughts and feelings about ourselves)

34. Humanistic Perspective Problems with Humanistic Perspective Unconditional positive regard for children can be interpreted as never disciplining, criticizing, or denying a child (saying no)

35. Trait Perspective Traits- aspects of personality that relatively consistent In the early days, personality was associated with body types Overweight people were jolly Thin people were high strung

36. Trait Perspective Most accepted model of Trait perspective is known as the “Big 5” Conscientiousness Agreeableness Neuroticism Openness Extraversion

37. Trait Perspective

38. Testing is done through personality inventories, which gauge a range of feelings and behaviors Testing can be faulty as we may behave one way in certain situations, and different in others Testing also does not tell us why we behave the way we do- just how we behave

39. Social-Cognitive Perspective Understanding personality involves considering how people are affected by a particular situation, by what they have learned, by how they think, and by how they interact socially

40. Social-Cognitive Perspective Personal Control Our perception on how much we control our environment External locus of control- forces outside ourselves determine our fate Internal locus of control- you are in control of your fate

41. Social-Cognitive Perspective Learned helplessness Feeling that you can’t avoid bad events Can lead to depression Positive psychology Study of optimal human functioning and the factors that allow people to thrive Optimism is a key factor- but can be overdone

42. Social-Cognitive Perspective Issues with the perspective: Makes humans into stimulus-response creatures Unseen motives (greed, revenge) are discounted Bottom line: personality cannot be clearly defined by one perspective of study