UNIT 2: SELF AND OTHERS

AREA OF STUDY 2: INTELLIGENCE & PERSONALITY

PERSONALITY

Because we can ’t see it or touch it, this makes it really hard for psychologists to come up with a commonly accepted definition of personality A widely accepted definition of personality is; Personality is an individual ’s unique pattern of thoughts, feelings and behaviour that are

relatively stable over time and across situations.

It incorporates your individual attitudes, values, morals, motivations, wishes, loves and fears

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CLASS ACTIVITY

LEARNING ACTIVITY 12.1 (pg.509)

THEORIES OF PERSONALITY

PSYCHOLOGIST

SIGMUND FREUD

TYPE

PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY CARL JUNG PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY GORDON ALLPORT TRAIT THEORY

TITLE

PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY OF PERSONALITY THEORY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES HIERARCHY OF TRAITS RAYMOND CATTELL HANS EYSENCK TRAIT THEORY TRAIT THEORY 16 PERSONALITY FACTOR MODEL P.E.N. MODEL PAUL COSTA ROBERT McCRAE TRAIT THEORY CARL ROGERS HUMANISTIC THEORY FIVE FACTOR MODEL PERSON-CENTERED THEORY

THEORIES OF PERSONALITY

1. PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORIES

Psychodynamic Theory of Personality (Sigmund Freud)

2. TRAIT THEORIES

Hierarchy of Traits (Gordon Allport) 16 Personality Factor Model (Raymond Cattell) P.E.N. Model (Hans Eysenck) Five Factor Model (Paul Costa & Robert McCrae)

3. HUMANISTIC THEORY

Person-Centered Theory (Carl Rogers)

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HOMEWORK

LEARNING ACTIVITY 12.2 (pg.511)

PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORIES

SIGMUND FREUD

Psychodynamic Theory of Personality Personality is a result of unconscious psychological conflicts and how effectively these are resolved by the individual

PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY OF PERSONALITY STRUCTURE

ID:

EGO:

Innate, biological needs which all of us are born with (those needs which help us to survive). Often described as the demanding, impulsive, illogical, irrational and extremely selfish force. Seeking immediate satisfaction The part of our personality which is realistic, logical and orderly. Plays a mediating role against the ID SUPEREGO: Is our conscience, always looking over us, judging our thoughts, feelings and actions according to the morals and ideals of the society in which we live. The superego is responsible for guilt when we do something wrong

PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY OF PERSONALITY

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HOMEWORK

LEARNING ACTIVITY 12.3 (pg.515) LEARNING ACTIVITY 12.5 (pg.516)

PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY OF PERSONALITY DEFENSE MECHANISMS

Freud used this term to describe the unconscious processes by which the ego defends or protects itself against anxiety arising from internal conflicts.

Defence mechanisms reduce the anxiety that the ego feels when having to defend itself against the id and the superego.

Defence mechanisms occur unconsciously. Some examples of the different types are over on the next slide.

PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY OF PERSONALITY DEFENSE MECHANISMS

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HOMEWORK

LEARNING ACTIVITY 12.6 (pg.517)

PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY OF PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT

Freud said that our personality is fully developed by 5-6 years of age He believed that personality development is sequential and progresses through a series of 5 stages (psychosexual stages)

PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY OF PERSONALITY STRENGTHS LIMITATIONS

•Freud’s psychodynamic theory describes and explains how personality develops throughout the lifespan, whilst this is overlooked by other theories •Few contemporary psychologists believe that personality development proceeds in age-related stages •Many agree that adult personality is significantly influenced by experiences early in life •Most believe that personality continues to develop throughout the lifespan •Freud’s theory lacks scientific research evidence •There is research evidence supporting the use of defence mechanisms, although in order to support self esteem rather than reduce anxiety •Often criticised for his lack of attention to the importance of social interactions or socio-cultural influences •Mental processes can occur below the level of conscious awareness

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HOMEWORK

LEARNING ACTIVITY 12.9 (pg.522)

TRAIT THEORIES

Personality Trait = a personality characteristic that lasts over time and across different situations

TRAIT THEORIES

Focus on measuring, identifying and describing individual differences in personality in terms of traits

 Assumes that personality traits are relatively stable and predictable over time  Assumes that personality traits are relatively stable across different situations  Personality consists of a number of different traits, and that some people have more or less of each trait than others  Some traits are more closely interrelated than other traits and tend to occur together (sets of traits are called dimensions)

TRAIT THEORIES

GORDON ALLPORT

Hierarchy of Traits Found 4500 words considered to be suitable descriptors of personality traits Organised these ‘trait words’ into three groups as a hierarchy

HIERARCHY OF TRAITS

CARDINAL TRAITS: Are very dominant personality traits to the point of controlling someone ’s life. but motivate money) They are usually rare behaviour (eg. greed for CENTRAL TRAITS: A personality trait present in varying shy, anxious) degrees in all people within a culture or society. The building blocks of our personality and influence our behaviour in many situations (eg. intelligent, honest, SECONDARY TRAITS: A personality trait present in varying degrees in all people, influencing the behaviour, but dependent on specific situation

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HOMEWORK

LEARNING ACTIVITY 12.12 (pg.526)

TRAIT THEORIES

RAYMOND CATTELL

16 Personality Factor Model  Cattell thought that Allport ’s model had too many traits  Through factor analysis he reduced Allport ’s number to 16 dimensions (or ‘factors’ as he called them)  Also identified two types of traits;

SURFACE TRAITS:

A trait that can be observed indirectly through behaviour (eg. easygoing)

SOURCE TRAITS:

in traits An underlying trait that can be observed behaviour through a set of source (eg. outgoing)

16 PERSONALITY FACTOR MODEL

  Cattell developed the 16PF test from his theory Creates an overall picture of a person ’s personality and allows comparison between individuals

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HOMEWORK

LEARNING ACTIVITY 12.14 (pg.528)

TRAIT THEORIES

HANS EYSENCK

P.E.N. Model  Thought that Allport ’s model had too many personality factors (16) so he reduced them to three  He calls them ‘dimensions’

ALLPORT EYSENCK

RESERVED – OUTGOING EXTRAVERSION – INTROVERSION AFFECTED BY FEELINGS – EMOTIONALLY STABLE NEUROTICISM – EMOTIONAL STABILITY PSYCHOTICISM – not a dimension but present in all individuals in some capacity

P.E.N. MODEL

He developed the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) to test a person’s personality 160 Self Report Items The questions are designed to measure the 9 traits that underlie each of the 3 dimensions. Look over the page for these

P.E.N. MODEL

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HOMEWORK

LEARNING ACTIVITY 12.16 (pg.531) LEARNING ACTIVITY 12.17 (pg.531)

TRAIT THEORIES

PAUL COSTA & ROBERT McCRAE

Five Factor Model Described 5 factors (or broad dimensions) of personality traits  Openness to experience  Conscientiousness  Extraversion  Agreeableness  Neuroticism PAGE 532 in the text book describes the dimensions for each of these factors (Box 12.6)

FIVE FACTOR MODEL

Widely recognised as the most accurate representation of personality The 5 factor model shows the structure of personality and describes personality. It does not explain personality Costa & McCrae developed two inventories to test personality: • • NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI)

TRAIT THEORIES

STRENGTHS LIMITATIONS

• Have provided useful descriptions of personality and its structure •Can lead people to use oversimplified classifications and descriptions of people • Have provided the foundation for the development of valid and reliable personality assessment devices •Underestimate the ways in which specific situations and socio-cultural factors can influence human behaviour • The theories and associated tests are based on ‘why’ we develop the traits we have •Tend to underestimate the uniqueness of each individual

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HOMEWORK

LEARNING ACTIVITY 12.19 (pg.535)

HUMANISTIC THEORIES

CARL ROGERS

Person-Centered Theory  Developed his theory through his clinical work with clients  Believed each of us contains within ourselves an enormous potential to grow and develop for the rest of our lives  Likened a person to a seed growing into a tree

PERSON CENTERED THEORY

A well adjusted and happy individual is one whose (1) IDEAL SELF (2) SELF-IMAGE and (3) TRUE SELF are congruent (they match) • • • EG: Important to you to be generous You believe you are generous You behave in a generous manner (IDEAL SELF) (SELF IMAGE) (TRUE SELF)

PERSON CENTERED THEORY

Q-SORT TEST

Rogers believed that you cannot ‘score’ or ‘rate’ personality Therefore he developed a ‘Q-Sort Test’ to measure how congruent your ideal self, self-image and true self are ‘I AM AFRAID OF WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK OF ME’ Is this statement most like you or least like you?

Rogers would then ask you to rate the same statement in relation to your ideal self, then again in relation to your self-image, and finally in relation to your true self This is done for a large number of statements He then checks if your responses are congruent across the 3 selves

HUMANISTIC THEORIES

STRENGTHS LIMITATIONS

•They focus on the positive dimensions of personality •They are often criticised as being simplistic, idealistic and vague •They give a complete picture of how a healthy person develops •Can’t often be tested scientifically •Provides a description for the development of an unhealthy personality •Often criticised as being unrealistic in its view of the world as it does not consider pessimism or the capacity for evil •Humanistic theories are often considered subjective and developed under a non-scientific basis

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HOMEWORK

LEARNING ACTIVITY 12.21 (pg.538)