1. Introductory Psychology Concepts
CHAPTER 10
PERSONALITY
© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

2. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Personality
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.
The behaviors of personality.
Behaviors
Components of identity
Certain perceived characteristics of behavior are seen as reflecting an individual’s personality.
Perceived internal cause
Attributed to
Personality
Perceived organization and structure

3. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Personality
Psychoanalytic Theory: Freud
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

4. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Personality
Freud’s Model of Personality
Freud’s model of personality.
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.
Immediate awareness
of current environment
Conscious
Available to awareness
(e.g., names of friends,
home address)
Preconscious
Unavailable to awareness
(infantile memories,
repressed wishes and
conflicts)
Unconscious

5. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Personality
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.
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6. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Personality
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.
note

7. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Personality
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).
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8. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Personality
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.
note

9. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Personality
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.

10. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Personality
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.

11. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Personality
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.

12. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Personality
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.
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13. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Personality
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
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14. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Personality
Behavior Genetics
The study of the effects of heredity on behavior.
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 (Reif & Lesch, 2003; Viding et al., 2005).
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15. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Personality Assessment
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.

16. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Personality Assessment
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.
This inkblot is similar to the type used in the Rorschach personality test.
What do you see in it?
(Source: Alloy, Jacobson, & Acocella, 1999.)

17. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Personality Assessment
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).
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18. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Personality Assessment
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.
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19. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Personality Assessment
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.
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20. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Personality Assessment
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.

21. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Personality Assessment
Projective Tests
Even more ambiguous stimuli are used in the Rorschach inkblot test (Rorschach, 1953).
Consists of 10 symmetrical inkblots.
Complex scoring systems are often used with the Rorschach inkblots, but many users interpret the responses subjectively.
Projective tests are used less today than in the past, largely because research on their validity has been discouraging.

22. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Trait theory
Traits
Enduring personality characteristics that tends to lead to certain behaviors.
Trait theories: Theories stating that personality consists of broad, enduring dispositions (traits) that 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.

23. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Trait theory
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.

24. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Trait theory
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.

25. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Trait theory
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:
Openess
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
Imaginative or practical
Interested in variety or routine
Independent or conforming
Organized or disorganized
Careful or careless
Disciplined or impulsive
Sociable or retiring
Fun-loving or somber
Affectionate or reserved
Softhearted or ruthless
Trusting or suspicious
Helpful or uncooperative
Calm or anxious
Secure or insecure
Self-satisfied or self-pitying

26. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Humanistic Theory
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).
note

27. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Humanistic Theory
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 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.
note

28. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Humanistic Theory
Maslow: The Hierarchy of Needs
Abraham Maslow, a humanistic theorist, proposed a broad motivational model (1954).
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

29. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Humanistic Theory
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.

30. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Humanistic Theory
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.
note

31. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Humanistic Theory
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.
note

32. Introductory Psychology Concepts: 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 psycho-dynamic approach.
Freud’s Model of Personality
Immediate awareness
of current environment
Conscious
Available to awareness
(e.g., names of friends,
home address)
Preconscious
Personality pg4
Unavailable to awareness
(infantile memories,
repressed wishes and
conflicts)
Unconscious

33. Introductory Psychology Concepts: 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.
note

34. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Psychoanalytic Theory
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).
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35. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Psychoanalytic Theory
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.
Insert pic from “Psychology, an Introduction” Lahey pg 471

36. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Psychoanalytic Theory
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.
Insert pic from “Psychology, an Introduction” Lahey pg 471

37. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Psychoanalytic Theory
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).