Personality Theories
Personality Theories
Personality- your characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting. What makes you YOU!
Psychoanalysis: First comprehensive theory of personality.
Founder- Sigmund Freud- The Interpretation of Dreams.
*Do you remember Manifest Content and Latent Content?
Developed Iceberg Theory- Made up of conscious, preconscious, and
unconscious.
Freudian techniques
Hypnosis
Free Association
Dream Analysis
Three aspects of your personality according to Freud-
ID- works on the Pleasure Principle. Veruca Salt! ***Libido
EGO- works on the Reality Principle. Mediates id and superego.
SUPEREGO- works on the Moral Principle. Your Conscience!!
Emerges at 4-5 years.
Freud’s Psychosexual Stages
Oral- birth to 18 months. Orally fixated
Anal- 18 months to 36 months. Anal retentive vs. Anal expulsive
Phallic- 3 to 6 years. Terms associated with this stage: Oedipus complex, Electra complex (Freud disagrees), penis envy, identification, gender identity.
Latency –6 to puberty. Dormancy. Play with same sex.
Genital- puberty on. Sexual feelings towards others.
Defense Mechanisms-: the ego’s protective methods of reducing
anxiety unconsciously.
Repression-forcing thoughts into the unconscious because they are
too painful to handle.
Regression- return to an earlier stage of emotional
development. *sucking thumb/tantrums
Reaction Formation- reacting the opposite of how one truly feels.
Projection- attributing one’s own faults on others or inanimate
things. *Blame others for your mistakes.
Rationalization-Finding a good reason for a behavior. /
*Cheating on a test.
Displacement-shifting an idea, activity, or emotional attachment
from the proper object to another.
*Kicking the dog instead of hitting your Mom.
Denial- not accepting something that has happened.
Sublimation- socially negative behaviors are turned into socially
constructive behavior.
*Boxing
Neo-Freudians: referred to as Psychodynamic approach
Carl Jung- Two parts of personality-
1. Personal unconscious
2. Collective unconscious- Consists of archetypes
Jung’s 5 Archetypes-
1. Persona
2. Anima/Animus
3. Shadow
4. Self
5. Extroversion/Introversion
Karen Horney- emphasized childhood social, not sexual; tensions
are crucial for personality development.
• love can overcome anything!
• Coined term “womb envy”
Coping Mechanisms to deal with anxiety:
1. Compliance- moving toward people
2. Aggression- moving against people
3. Detachment- moving away from people
Alfred Adler- coined the term “inferiority complex”
Eric Erikson- Remember the 8 Psychosocial Stages!
Assessment of the Psychoanalytic Theory
Projective Tests- presenting an ambiguous stimulus and then asking test takers to describe it or tell a story about it. Aimed at revealing unconscious motivations.
Examples of projective tests:
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)- view ambiguous pictures and then make up stories about them.
Rorschach inkblot test- View 10 inkblots to see
our inner feelings and conflicts.
Evaluation of Psychoanalytic Theory: Is it valid? A speculative, hard-to-test theory with enormous cultural impact.
Humanistic Perspective:
** striving of people to be self determined and self realized.
***upset with Freud’s negative outlook!!!
Abraham Maslow: Remember the Hierarchy of Needs
Goal: To reach self-actualization (your potential)
***Maslow studied healthy, creative people.
Carl Rogers: Believed people are basically GOOD!
***Developed Person centered Therapy
Three conditions necessary to promote growth of the individual
1. Genuineness: also known as congruence
***open with feelings & drop your façade.
2. Acceptance: Unconditional Positive Regard (UPR)
3. Empathy
Importance of Self concept: thoughts and feeling about ourselves
Exploring the Self
Possible selves: the self you dream or fear of becoming.
***May motivate us!!!
Spotlight effect- overestimate others are watching us!!!
Self focus can help us!!! Remember the Self reference effect
Self-esteem (feelings of self worth) is very important in daily life.
**Those with low self esteem tend to be thin-skinned, judgmental, racist and more critical.
What about cultural effects on self esteem? *Women, ethnic minorities, and those with disablities DO NOT show lower self esteem.
Self-serving bias- our readiness to perceive ourselves favorably.
Defensive self-esteem vs. Secure self-esteem
Assessment technique of the Humanistic Theory: Questionnaire assessments of self-concept & Empathic interviews
Evaluation of the Humanistic Theory: Theory invigorated contemporary interest in the self; criticized as subjective and naively self-centered and optimistic.
Social Cognitive Perspective
Albert Bandura- remember the BOBO doll *observation
***believes we can regulate & control our own behavior despite changes in the environment. Different than Behavior Perspective.
*Reciprocal determinism-interacting influences between personality, behavior and the environment.
*Self-efficacy- sense of your own ability or expectation of success
*influences how we behave: High vs. Low self-efficacy
*Learned helplessness: Ex. Battered wives/prisoners
Julian Rotter: External locus of control vs. Internal locus of control
Walter Mischel: Situational specificity
Attributional style: Optimism vs. Pessimism
Assessment of SC : Questionnaire assessments of people’s feelings of control; Observations of people’s behavior in certain situations.
Evaluation of the SC Theory: Interactive theory but criticized as underestimating the importance of emotions & enduring traits.
Trait Approach
Traits- people’s characteristic behavior and conscious motives.
Gordon Allport ** 18,000 traits inherited and fixed in NS
Cardinal trait: a characteristic or feature that is so pervasive the person is almost identified with it. *Scrooge
Raymond Cattell: Source (core) vs. Surface Traits (observable)
Hans Eysenck: 2 dimensions: Intro vs. Extrovert/Stability vs. Instability
***genetically influenced *Jerome Kagan
William Sheldon- Somatotype Theory: Body type determines personality traits.
Ectomorph- skinny, frail…….becomes shy, timid, scared
Endomorph-overweight……becomes compliant, funny, pleaser
Mesomorph-muscular….. becomes confident, assertive, intimidating
The BIG FIVE: See page 545 in text! Think CANOE!!!
Assessing the Trait Theory:
1. Personality Inventories that assess the strengths of different traits:
Examples:
MMPI- Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory *most used as a diagnostic tool for depression/anxiety
Myers Briggs Type Indicator
2. Peer ratings of behavior patterns.
Evaluation of Trait Theory: A descriptive approach criticized as sometimes underestimating the variability of behavior from situation to situation.
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