What is personality ?

1. What is personality? • An individual’s unique and relatively consistent patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving.

2. What is Personality Theory in psychology? • An attempt to describe and explain how people are similar, how they are different, and why every individual is unique • Tries to explain the whole person • Different theories reflect different psychologists’ beliefs • Attempts to develop methods of testing and evaluating personality

3. Psychoanalytic Theory • Based on Freud’s theories • Believed that most behaviors and mental processes are the result of the unconscious • You are not aware of these wishes, desires, thoughts, etc. but they directly impact you • Conscious thoughts were only the “tip of the iceberg” Make a prediction: Which part of consciousness will Freud argue most significantly impacts your personality?

4. What is Freud’s personality theory? • Most of our personality is derived from… • Preconscious– information that can be easily made conscious • Unconscious – thoughts, feelings, urges that are difficult to bring to conscious awareness • Freud separates personality into 3 parts • Id, ego, superego

5. The “Id” • Present at birth and throughout life • Immune to logic, reasoning, values, morality • Has two conflicting forces • Life instinct – biological urges to continue human race • Hunger, thirst, sexuality • Death instinct– destructive energy • Aggressive, reckless, Critical Thinking: Is the id bad? Should we work to eliminate it within ourselves?

6. The “Id” continued • Ruled by the pleasure principle • Drive towards immediate satisfaction of instinctual urges, especially sexual urges • Increase pleasure, avoid pain, reduce tension • All unconscious • Most significant aspect of human behavior and personality • Make a prediction: If the “Id” is entirely pleasure seeking, what will another aspect of personality do according to Freud? Sex is often used in advertising, activating the id and increasing an individuals desire for a certain product.

7. The Ego • Partly conscious • Organized, rational, planning aspects of personality and behavior • Mediator between the id’s demands and restrictions of outer world • Reality principle – ability to postpone gratification until the appropriate time or circumstance • Learned as a young child (beginning as a toddler) after pressures from parents/society Analyze: How is this woman’s pleasure principle and reality principle functioning in this picture?

8. The Superego • Developed at 5-6 years • Partly conscious • Evaluates acceptability of behavior, thoughts, etc. • Judges behavior as right or wrong, good or bad • If do not live up to its standards, can be very critical • Imposes feelings of inferiority, guilt, shame, self-doubt, anxiety

9. How do the three relate? • Impulse or urge for pleasure = id • Judgment based on morals instilled in you = superego • Rational decision making between the two opposing urges of the id and superego = ego

10. Application of the Id, Ego, Superego Scenario: Imagine that you are 8 years old again and with friends at convenience store. You see your favorite candy bar sitting on a shelf. There is no clerk at the counter and you are craving that candy bar! Question: What is the dialogue that goes on inside your head? What does each piece of your personality say? Id: Ego: Superego: