1. Module 19 & 20 Personality (or lack of) Focusing on:
Freudian, Humanistic, Social Cognitive and Trait Theories

2. Personality
Personality: refers to a combination of long-lasting and distinctive behaviors, thoughts, motives, and emotions that typify how we react and adapt to other people and situations.
Theories of Personality: is an organized attempt to describe and explain how personalities develop and why personalities differ.

3. Freud’s psychodynamic theory of personality
Definition
~Freud’s Psychodynamic Theory of Personality ~
emphasizes the importance of early childhood experiences, unconscious or repressed thoughts that we cannot voluntarily access, and the conflicts between conscious and unconscious forces that influence our feelings, thoughts, and behaviors

5. Freud’s psychodynamic theory of personality
~Conscious Versus Unconscious forces~
Conscious thoughts
wishes, desires, or thoughts that we are aware of, or can recall, at any given moment
Unconscious forces
wishes, desires, or thoughts that, because of their disturbing or threatening content, we automatically repress and cannot voluntarily access
Unconscious motivation
Freudian concept that refers to the influence of repressed thoughts, desires, or impulses on our conscious thoughts and behaviors

6. Freudian techniques to Discover the Unconscious
Free association
technique in which clients are encouraged to talk about any thoughts or images that enter their head; the assumption is that this kind of free-flowing, uncensored talking will provide clues to unconscious material

7. Freudian techniques to Discover the Unconscious
2. Dream interpretation
technique of analyzing dreams, is based on the assumption that dreams contain underlying, hidden meanings and symbols that provide clues to unconscious thoughts and desires
3. Freudian slips
mistakes or slips of the tongue that we make in everyday speech; such mistakes, which are often embarrassing, are thought to reflect unconscious thoughts or wishes

8. Freud: Division of the Mind
Id, Ego, and Superego
Freud divided the mind into three separate processes
1. Id
2. Ego
3. Superego
each has a different function
interactions among the id, ego, and superego result in conflicts

9. Freud: Division of the Mind
Id: pleasure seeker
first division of the mind to develop, contains two biological drives~ sex and aggression~ are the source of all psychic and mental energy; the id’s goal is to pursue pleasure and satisfy the biological drives
Operated by the Id is the …
Pleasure principle
id operates according to the pleasure principle which is to satisfy drives and avoid pain, without concern for moral restrictions or society’s regulations

10. Freud: Division of the Mind
2. Ego: executive negotiator between id and superego
Freud’s second division of the mind, develops from the id during infancy; the ego’s goal is to find safe and socially acceptable ways of satisfying the id’s desires and to negotiate between the id’s wants and the superego’s prohibitions
largest part of ego is conscious
smaller part is unconscious
Followed by the Ego is the Reality principle
this is a policy of satisfying a wish or desire only if there is a socially acceptable outlet available

11. Freud: Division of the Mind
3. Superego: regulator
Freud’s third division of the mind, develops from the ego during early childhood; the superego’s goal is to apply the moral values and standards of one’s parents or caregivers and society in satisfying one’s wishes
these moral standards of which we are conscious or aware and moral standards that are unconscious or outside our awareness

12. Freud: Division of the Mind
Anxiety
In Freudian theory; is an uncomfortable feeling that results from inner conflicts between the primitive desires of the id and the moral goals of the superego
basic concepts…
Id and superego are in conflict,
but the ego caught in the middle
the ego’s continuous negotiations to resolve conflict causes anxious feelings…
this anxiety causes the ego to use defense mechanisms to reduce the anxious feelings

13. Freud: Defense mechanisms
Freudian processes that operate at unconscious levels and that use self-deception or untrue explanations to protect the ego from being overwhelmed by anxiety
a person’s ego has two ways to reduce anxiety:
can take realistic steps for reducing anxiety
use defense mechanisms to reduce anxiety

14. Freud: Defense mechanisms
~Defense mechanisms~ …here is a sampling
Rationalization
involves covering up the true reasons for actions, thoughts, or feelings by making up excuses and incorrect explanations
2. Denial
refusing to recognize some anxiety-provoking event or piece of information that is clear to others
3. Repression
involves blocking and pushing unacceptable or threatening feelings, wishes, or experiences into the unconscious
4. Projection
falsely and unconsciously attributes your own unacceptable feelings, traits, or thoughts to individuals or objects

15. Freud: Defense mechanisms
5. Reaction Formation
involves substituting behaviors, thoughts, or feelings that are the direct opposite of unacceptable ones
Displacement
involves transferring feelings about, or response to, an object that causes anxiety to another person or object that is less threatening
7. Sublimation
a type of displacement, involves redirecting a threatening or forbidden desire, usually sexual, into a socially acceptable one

16. Freudian: Developmental Stages
~Psychosexual stages
five developmental periods-oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages- each marked by a potential conflict between parent and child. The conflicts arise as a child seeks pleasure from different body areas that are associated with sexual feelings (different erogenous zones). Freud emphasized that the child’s first five years were most important in personality development.

17. Freudian: Developmental Stages
Fixation:
~the source for potential personality problems~
can occur during any of the first three stages – oral, anal, phallic - refers to a Freudian process through which an individual may be locked into a particular psychosexual stage because his or her wishes were either overgratified or under gratified

18. Freudian: Developmental Stages
Five psychosexual stages; that Freud said every child goes through~
Oral stage: early infancy: first 18 months of life
is a time when the infant’s pleasure seeking is centered on the mouth with activities include: sucking, chewing, and biting
Fixation (manifestation as an adult)
adults who continue to engage in oral activities, such as overeating, gum chewing, or smoking; oral activities can be symbolic as well, such as being overly demanding or “mouthing off”

19. Freudian: Developmental Stages
2. Anal stage: late infancy: 11/2 to 3 years
a time when the infant’s pleasure seeking is centered on the anus and its functions of elimination
Fixation results in adults who continue to engage in activities of retention or elimination
retention: very neat, stingy, or behaviorally rigid
elimination: generous, messy, or behaving very loose or carefree

20. Freudian: Developmental Stages
3. Phallic stage: early childhood: 3 to 6 years
a time when infant’s pleasure seeking is centered on the genitals
manifestation…
Oedipus complex: process in which a child competes with the parent of the same sex for the affections and pleasures of the parent of the opposite sex
Boys: develops attraction to his mother and begins to hate his father;fears castration;will go through life trying to be tough
Girls: (Electra Complex): realizes she has no penis and develops penis envy; she turns against her mother and develops feelings for her father; will feel inferior to men

21. Freudian: Developmental Stages
4. Latency stage: middle to late childhood: 6 to puberty
time when the child represses sexual thoughts and engages in nonsexual activities, such as developing social and intellectual skills
at puberty, sexuality reappears and the next stage begins

22. Freudian: Developmental Stages
5. Genital stage: puberty through adulthood
time when the individual has renewed sexual desires that he or she seeks to fulfill through relationships with other people
conflict resolution depends on how conflicts in the first three stages were resolved:
if the individual resolved issues in earlier stages they will adapt well in this stage; on the other hand if they did not they will not be able to develop healthy relationships

23. FREUD’S FOLLOWERS & CRITICS
Carl Jung
Jung was a devoted follower of Freud until about 1914
split with Freud was that Jung disagreed with Freud’s emphasis on the sex drive
believed the collective unconscious and not sex to be the basic force in the development of personality
Collective unconscious
consists of ancient memory traces and symbols that are passed on by birth and are shared by all peoples in all cultures
Analytical Psychology
Jung’s elaborate theory of personality

24. FREUD’S FOLLOWERS & CRITICS (CONT.)
Alfred Adler
contemporary of Freud
voiced disagreement with Freud at one of the society’s meetings
Adler disagreed with Freud’s theory that humans are governed by biological and sexual urges
Adler proposed that humans are motivated by social urges
each person is a social being with a unique personality
Adler formed his own group
philosophy became known as “individual psychology”
we are aware of our motives and goals
have the capacity to guide and plan our futures

25. FREUD’S FOLLOWERS & CRITICS (CONT.)
Karen Horney
trained as a psychoanalyst
her career peaked after Freud’s death
dean of the American Institute of Psychoanalysis in New York
objected to Freud’s view of women being dependent, vain, and submissive because of biological forces and childhood sexual experiences
took issue with Freud’s idea of penis envy

26. FREUD’S FOLLOWERS & CRITICS (CONT.)
Karen Horney
personality development, (women or men) can be found in child-parent social “interactions”
Horney theorized that:
child-parent conflicts are avoidable if the child is raised in a loving, trusting, and secure environment
founded the psychology of women

27. HUMANISTIC THEORIES Three characteristics of Humanistic theories:
Phenomenological perspective
your perception or view of the world, whether or not it is accurate, becomes your reality
Holistic view
personality is more than the sum of its individual parts; instead, the individual parts form a unique and total entity that functions as a unit
Self-actualization
refers to our inherent tendency to develop and reach our true potentials

28. HUMANISTIC THEORIES Maslow: need hierarchy and self-actualization
Hierarchy of Needs
arranges needs in ascending order
biological needs at the bottom and social and personal needs at the top
Maslow’s hierarchy:
must satisfy biological safety needs before using energy to fulfill your personal and social needs
devote time and energy to reach true potential, called self-actualization

29. HUMANISTIC THEORIES Carl Rogers: self theory
also called self-actualization theory is based on two major assumptions: personality development is guided by each person’s unique self-actualization tendency, and that each of us has a personal need for positive regard
Roger’s self-actualization tendency
refers to an inborn tendency for us to develop all of our capacities in ways that best maintain and benefit our lives
relates to biological functions
meeting basic need for food, water, and oxygen

30. HUMANISTIC THEORIES Real Self Versus Ideal Self: Self or self-concept:
real self: is based on our actual experiences and represents how we see ourselves.
Ideal self: is based on our hopes and wishes and reflects how we would like to see ourselves

31. HUMANISTIC THEORIES Rogers: self theory
Positive regard: includes love, sympathy, warmth, acceptance, and respect, which we crave from family, friends, and people important to us
Conditional and unconditional positive regard: conditional positive regard: refers to the positive regard we receive if we behave in certain acceptable ways, such as living up to or meeting the standards of others
Unconditional positive regard: the warmth, acceptance, and love that others show you because you are valued as a human being, even though you may disappoint people by behaving in ways that are different from their standards or values or the way they think

32. Personality Assessment – Projective tests
Psychological assessment: refers to the use of various tools, psychological tests/interviews, to measure various characteristics, traits, or abilities in order to understand behaviors and predict future performances or behaviors.
Personality Tests: used to measure observable or overt traits and behaviors as well as unobservable or covert characteristic. Per. tests are used to identify personality problems and psychological disorders as well as to predict how a person might behave in the future.
Ability Tests: measure what we have learned;aptitude tests, which measure our potential for learning or acquiring a specific skill;

33. Projective tests
Projective tests: require individuals to look at some meaningless object or ambiguous photo and describe what they see. In describing or making up a story about the ambiguous object, individuals are assumed to project both their conscious and unconscious feelings, needs, and motives.
Rorschach inkblot tests: used to assess personality by showing a person a series of ten inkblots and then asking the person to describe what he or she thinks an image is.
Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach
Used to assess personality traits and identify problems of adolescents and adults

34. Personality Assessment – Projective tests
Thematic Apperception Tests (tat): involves showing a person a series of 20 pictures of people in ambiguous situations and asking the person to make up a story about what the people are doing or thinking in each situation.

35. Personality Assessment – Projective tests
Draw-a-person tests: many Civil Servants exams or any occupation where an individual interacts with the public, use these types of tests
“ Test taking subjects are often motivated to provide a favorable impression of themselves, and this response bias will distort their answers.”
Draw a picture of yourself
Draw a picture of a house (any house does not have to resemble where you live).
Draw a picture of a tree

36. Personality (or lack of)
Module 20
Personality (or lack of)
Focusing on:
Social Cognitive & Trait Theories

37. Social cognitive Theory
Social Cognitive Theory: states that personality development is shaped primarily by three forces: environmental conditions (learning), cognitive-personal factors and behavior, which all interact to influence how we evaluate, interpret, organize, and apply information

38. Social cognitive Theory
Interaction of three factors
Cognitive-personal factors: include our beliefs,expectations, values, intentions, and social roles.Personal factors include our emotional makeup an our biological and genetic influences
Behaviors:include a variety of personal actions, such as the things we do and say
Environmental factors: include our social, political, and cultural influences, as well as our particular learning experiences

39. Social cognitive Theory
Bandura’s social cognitive theory: assumes that personality development, growth, and change are influenced by four distinctively human cognitive processes:
highly developed language ability
observational learning
purposeful behavior
self analysis

40. Social cognitive Theory
Delay of gratification: refers to not taking an immediate but less desirable reward and instead waiting and using an object or completing a task that promises a better reward in the future
Self-efficacy: refers to the confidence in your ability to organize and execute a given course of action to solve a problem or accomplish a task
use previous experiences
compare
listen
use feedback
Locus of control: refers to our beliefs about how much control we have over situations or rewards
Internal locus of control: believe that we have control over situations and rewards
External locus of control: believe that we do not have control over situations and rewards and that events outside ourselves (fate) determine what happens

41. Trait theory
Trait Theory: is an approach for analyzing the structure of personality by measuring, identifying, and classifying similarities and differences in personality characteristics or traits
Trait: is a relatively stable and enduring tendency to behave in a particular way
In the 1930’s Gordon Allport found 18,000 terms; out of these 4,500 were considered to fit definition of personality traits
In the 1940’s Raymond Cattell narrowed these traits down to 35 then 16.

42. Trait theory
Big five: Five factor model organizes personality traits and describes differences in personality using five categories:
openness
conscientiousness
extraversion
agreeableness
neuroticism

45. 180 degree change?
Quantum personality change: refers to making a very radical or dramatic shift in one’s personality, beliefs, or values in minutes, hours, or a day.

46. Four theories of personality3 1 2 4

47. Trait theory assessment: objective tests
Objective personality tests: also called self-report questionnaires, consist of specific written statements that require individuals to indicate, for example, by checking “true” or “false,” whether the statements do or do not apply to them
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality inventory (MMPI-2): is a true-false self-report questionnaire that consists of 567 statements describing a wide range of normal and abnormal behaviors. The purpose of this test is to measure the personality style and emotional adjustment in individuals with mental illness.