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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