General Psychology (PY110)

Chapter 8 Personality Theories and Assessment

Personality A person’s internally based characteristic ways of acting and thinking

An enduring trait or characteristic such as extroversion or introversion

Freudian Classical Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality   Developed by Sigmund Freud in the late nineteenth century ◦ Freud was a neurologist ◦ Had patients whose symptoms could not be explained medically ◦ Discovered that physical problems could have a mental cause (Mind/Body Connection) Believed that people are driven to seek pleasure (sex) and avoid pain (aggression)

Freud’s Three Levels of Awareness

Conscious

• Here and now • Aware of

Preconscious

• Stored memories • Can be retrieved

Unconscious

• Where memory cannot reach • Cannot be retrieved but does effect our behavior

Freud’s Three-Part Personality Structure Id Pleasure principle Sex & Aggression Only part at birth Ego Reality principle Seeks to reconcile needs of Id & Super Ego Super Ego Morality Principle Guilt & shame •The conflict between Id and Superego anxiety •These can be temporarily resolved by Ego defense mechanisms

Id Superego Conflict

Freud’s Defense Mechanisms

Repression Regression Displacement

Unknowingly placing an unpleasant memory or thought in the unconscious Reverting back to immature behavior from an earlier stage of development Redirecting unacceptable feelings from the original source to a safer substitute target Not remembering a traumatic incident in which you witnessed a crime Throwing temper tantrums as an adult when you don’t get your way Taking your anger toward your boss out on your spouse or children by yelling at them and not your boss

Freud’s Defense Mechanisms

Sublimation Reaction Formation Projection Rationalization

Replacing socially unacceptable impulses with socially acceptable behavior Acting in exactly the opposite way to one’s unacceptable impulses Attributing one’s own unacceptable feelings and thoughts to others and not yourself Creating false excuses for one’s unacceptable feelings, thoughts, or behavior Channeling aggressive drives into playing football or inappropriate sexual desires into art Being overprotective of and lavishing attention on an unwanted child Accusing your boyfriend of cheating on you because you have felt like cheating on him Justifying cheating on an exam by saying that everyone else cheats

Unhealthy Personalities

    Freud believed that: Defense mechanisms can provide temporary relief from id < > superego conflict Can also cause ‘unhealthy personalities’ when we become too dependent upon them Usually when the id or superego is unusually strong or the ego unusually weak

Freud’s Psychosexual Stage Theory

    Developed to explain personality development, divided childhood into 5 stages Each stage has an

erogenous zone

id’s pleasure-seeking tendency is focused where the

Fixation

a stage occurs when excessive or insufficient gratification occurs during This can impact their behavior and personality traits in later life

Freud’s Psychosocial States of Personality Development

Stage (age range)

Oral (birth to 1½ years) Anal (1½ to 3 years) Phallic (3 to 6 years) Latency (6 years to puberty) Genital (puberty to adulthood)

Erogenous Zone Activity Focus

Mouth, lips, and tongue Anus Genitals No erogenous zone Sucking, biting, and chewing Bowel retention and elimination Identifying with same-sex parent to learn gender role and sense of morality Cognitive and social development Genitals Development of sexual relationships, moving toward intimate adult relationships

Anal Stage - Potty Training

  Parents try to get the child to have self-control during toilet training Harsh toilet training can result in ◦ Child getting even by withholding bowel movements leading to an

anal-retentive personality

 Orderliness, neatness, stinginess, and obstinacy ◦  Child rebels and has bowel movements whenever and wherever leads to an

anal-expulsive

Conceit, suspicion, excessive ambition personality

Phallic Stage Conflicts

  

Oedipus conflict:

little boy becomes sexually attracted to his mother and fears the father (his rival) In the

Electra conflict

, the little girl is attracted to her father because he has a penis; she wants one and feels inferior without one (penis envy) Both conflicts can result in difficulty in finding an appropriate partner later in life

Neo-Freudian Theories of Personality

 Agree with many of Freud’s basic ideas, but differ in one or more important ways Carl Jung’s

Collective Unconscious

Alfred Adler’s

Striving for Superiority

Karen Horney and the

Need for Security

Carl Jung’s Collective Unconscious

   Jung proposed two main personality attitudes,

extraversion

and

introversion

Jung also proposed four functions/styles of gathering information ◦

Sensing

is the function where the world is carefully perceived ◦

Intuiting

is more subjective perception ◦ ◦

Thinking Feeling

is logical deduction is the subjective emotional function The two personality attitudes and four functions are the basis for the

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

, still in wide use today

Alfred Adler’s Striving for Superiority

   Saw main motivation as “striving for superiority” overcoming a sense of inferiority that we feel as infants A healthy person learns to cope with these feelings, becomes competent, and develops a sense of self-esteem

Inferiority complex

is the strong feeling of inferiority felt by those who never overcome this initial feeling of inferiority

Karen Horney and The Need for Security

  Focused on dealing with our need for security If security is not achieved then three neurotic personality patterns could develop ◦

Moving toward people

A compliant, submissive person ◦

Moving against people

An aggressive, domineering person ◦

Moving away from people

A detached, aloof person

The Humanistic Approach to Personality

 

Abraham Maslow

the father of the humanistic movement ◦ ◦ personality is considered Humanists emphasizes

conscious free will

actions, the

uniqueness personal growth

in one’s of the individual person, and Maslow studied the lives of very

healthy and creative people

to develop his theory of Maslow’s

hierarchy of needs

arranges the needs that motivate our behavior, from the strongest needs at the bottom to the weakness needs at the top

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

 The needs of each level must be reasonably met to progress to next

Self-Actualization

  Maslow saw Self-Actualization as the peak of human achievement Characteristics of self-actualized people ◦ Accepting of themselves, others, and the nature of world ◦ Need privacy and only a few close, emotional relationships ◦ Being autonomous and independent, democratic, and very creative ◦ Having peak experiences – Experiencing whatever you are doing as fully as possible

Roger’s Self Theory

    Carl Rogers dealt with college students with adjustment problems ◦ Believed that people need

positive regard

– to be accepted by and have the affection of others Our parents set up

conditions of worth

- behaviors and attitudes for which gave us positive regard

Unconditional positive regard

– acceptance and approval without conditions ◦ Empathy from others, and having genuine respect for your own feelings is necessary for self-actualization

Note that neither Maslow nor Roger’s theories are research-based

Unconditional Positive Regard?

“Just remember son, it doesn’t matter if you win or lose – Unless you want Daddy’s love.”

Personality Assessment

  Personality tests are used to aid in diagnosing people’s problems, counseling, and making personnel decisions There are two main types:

Personality Inventories Projective Tests

Personality Inventories

  Designed to measure multiple traits of personality, and in some cases, disorders Results are objective and tests can be administered by anyone Personality Inventories Understanding Diagnostic Myers-Briggs MMPI Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

MMPI

     Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Uses “True/False/ Cannot Say” questions ◦ “I like to cook” ◦ “I like to speak in public” Measures abnormal personality, with 10 clinical scales including depression and schizophrenia Also includes questions designed to catch lies and people trying to cover up their problems Used worldwide – translated into over 100 languages

Projective Tests

   Contain a series of ambiguous stimuli, such as inkblots, to which the test taker must respond about his perceptions of the stimuli Sample tests ◦ ◦ Rorschach Inkblots Test Thematic Apperception Tests (TAT) Tests are highly subjective and can only be administered by trained mental health professionals

Rorschach Inkblots Test

   10 symmetric inkblots which the examiner asks “what do you see?” then asks for explanation of interpretation.

Assumes the test taker’s responses are projections of their personal conflicts and personality dynamics Widely used but not demonstrated to be reliable and valid

Thematic Apperception Tests (TAT)

    20 cards with ambiguous black and white pictures Test taker asked to make up a story for each card ◦ What happened before, is happening now, and how things will turn out Looks for recurring themes in the responses Scoring has yet to be demonstrated to be either reliable or valid