Understanding Personality: Freudian & Neo-Freudian Theories

1. Personality

2. What is Personality? • The relatively stable patterns of thinking, feeling and acting possessed by an individual

3. Psychoanalytic Approach • Suggests that inner conflicts and struggles of which people are unaware affect their personality • Freud claimed that everyone is born with biological drives such as sex and aggression • These drives conflict with society’s rules and laws • One’s behavior at any given time is determined by these conflicts • Freud proposed that the mind is like an iceberg-conscious at the surface, unconscious below • The mass of unacceptable passions and drives in the unconscious are repressed but the unconscious exerts an important influence over our everyday behaviors

5. Id, Ego, and Superego • Freud proposed 3 systems that take part in the conflict between our inner drives and external restraints • The Id-the largest portion of the iceberg- hidden from view and from the conscious mind • Contains the basic drives to survive, reproduce, and engage in mastery over others • Without restraints, it would satisfy all needs (pleasure principle) • Example: when an infant crying when hungry

6. Id, Ego, and Superego • The Ego- contains our conscious perceptions that develop with maturity • Operates on the reality principle- tempering the needs of the id with the reactions of the real world • Understands what would happen if the id’s drive for certain satisfactions were reflected in one’s behavior without restraint • The Superego- develops as the child absorbs the values of parents and society • Rather than focusing on internal wants and needs, the superego is driven by what is perceived as ideal or right • Operates from the morality principle- a combination of conscience and a chosen self-image of ourselves as moral • Guilt over doing something wrong

7. Defense Mechanisms • According the Freud, one of the ways that the ego avoids pain or reduces anxiety is by using defense mechanisms to distort reality • Repression- pushes anxiety-producing ideas into the unconscious • When a person “explodes”, repressed thoughts may have broken into consciousness • Rationalization- involves making up a reason for your behavior or explaining away that of others • Denied a raise, you may say “I really didn’t need the money” • Projection- involves placing the cause of your problems on someone else or seeing your own faults in other people • You assume there’s tension at home due to your siblings behavior, but really it’s your behavior causing the problem

8. Defense Mechanisms • Displacement- the emotional version of “passing the buck” • You’re angry with your teacher, so you yell at your best friend • Denial- refusing to accept something that is upsetting • A smoker may deny the risks of lung cancer • Reaction formation- acting contrary to your true feelings • You are “extra nice” to someone you can’t stand • Sublimation- finding acceptable outlets for your feelings or desires • An aggressive person might transfer that aggression into sports • Regression- reverting to earlier, immature behaviors that once got you what you wanted • Throw a temper tantrum to get your way

9. Neo-Freudians • Alfred Adler- believed we are all born with feelings of inferiority and striving for superiority is the main motivational force in the development of personality • We do this by actively developing talents, working toward improvement, and learning to cope with any weaknesses • Overcompensation- people who are fanatical in their drive for perfection • Inferiority complex- a person’s conscious thoughts are dominated by an inability to succeed • Karen Horney- believed childhood experiences play a large role in the development of personality • Anxiety could be overcome by learning to adjust to and cope with the social world

10. Ne0-Freudians • Carl Jung- rather than the unconscious, he focused on the collective unconscious • Within this are various archetypes-universal forms that we encounter in our lives- mother, father, god, hero, leader • Being in touch with these archetype within us are important to a healthy personality • Persona- the image we present to others • Can be different than your real self and can create anxiety • Erik Erikson- believed people were quite capable of making the right choices and focused on developmental tasks

11. The Trait Approach • A trait is a characteristic of personality that remains fairly stable over time. May describe physical, social, or moral characteristics • Trait theorists believe that social and moral characteristics are relatively unchanging and that they determine our behavior during various situations • Gordon Allport- used a dictionary to identify words used to describe a person and classify traits (narrowed it down to 4,500) • Common traits- one that is shared by most people (honesty) • Cardinal trait- one an individual exhibits in all situations (this is rare) • Central trait- exhibited in most situations • Secondary trait- a trait whose presence in an individual depends on a situation

12. Trait Approach • Raymond Cattell- narrowed Allport’s traits to 200 • Identified traits that seemed obvious (truthfulness, tidiness, friendliness) and called them “surface traits” • Noticed these traits fell into clusters- individuals who exhibited one, exhibited others • Each cluster was the result of a single, more fundamental trait (a “source trait”) which seems to be at the core of personality

14. Trait Approach • Hans Eysenck- categorized traits in 2 dimensions • Introversion-extroversion- introverts tend to draw their ideas and energy from themselves and are often imaginative. Extroverts get their energy and ideas from others and tend to be active and self-expressive • Emotional stability-instability- stable people tend to be calm, rational, and predictable, unstable people can become easily agitated and be unpredictable

17. Behavioral Approach • Claim that there is no need to consider personality or traits because they are created by reinforcements (positive/negative) in the environment • John B. Watson- theorized that we behave as we do because early behaviors have been reinforced • Controlling a person’s environment from birth can make a person into anything you wanted • People make fearful associated to objects or events that can affect them later in life

18. Behavior Theorists • B.F. Skinner- believed that behaviors of later life were learned as children go through the process of socialization • In an ideal society, everyone is happy because they have learned to contribute to society and therefore receives its benefits • Albert Bandura- “social learning” theory- stresses the role of observation in development of personality • People have free will, which allows them to act on and influence their environments • Behavior is based both on what we observe other people doing and on internal factors

20. Humanistic Approach • Emphasize internal positive factors in motivation and personality that they see not only as uniquely human, but as unique to each individual • Abraham Maslow- focused on an individual’s desire to reach his/her full potential and awareness of that desire • Studying successful people, he determined that they shared certain characteristics • Self-aware, open and friendly, and not unduly affected by the opinions of others • Carl Rogers- noted that many people have conflicts between what they perceive as the ideal person and their real selves • The unrealistic standards might have been imposed on these individuals as children and as adults thy never feel like they can live up to those standards • Parents should give a child unconditional positive regard

21. Humanistic • Rogers emphasized self-concept- our thoughts and feelings about the type of person we are • Our self-concept and our experiences in the world must be in agreement for us to be happy and healthy • Also emphasized self-esteem, or one’s respect for one’s self • Parents help children establish self-esteem by giving them unconditional positive regard • Conditional positive regard leads a child to believe that he/she is worthwhile only as a result of certain behavior

22. Sociocultural Approach • Focuses on the effects of ethnicity, gender, and culture on the formation of personality • The US and other western culture value individualism • People in Africa, Asia and South America tend to define themselves as collective • Power distance is the extent to which less powerful members of a culture expect and accept unequally divided power • Having an assertive personality wouldn’t be valued if you were a member of a “lower caste” • This can also affect self-concept and self-esteem

23. Sociocultural • Uncertainly avoidance- the extent to which members of a culture feel threatened by uncertain or unknown situations • One would be unlikely to develop an innovative personality in a culture that mistrusts and avoids uncertainty • Masculinity/Femininity- the extent to which a culture has distinct roles for men and women • If the roles are strongly maintained, a person’s gender will highly influence the personality characteristics that are developed • Long-short-term orientation- the extent to which a culture values future rewards and determines personality traits such as perseverance and thrift

24. Other Theories • Social Cognitive Approach- focuses on context or situation in which behavior occurs • One important aspect of personality is one’s sense of personal control- whether one’s life is controlled by the individual or from outside • Evolutionary- focuses on the role of adaptation in the development of personality • Biological- focuses on the role of genetics in the development of personality

25. Personality Types • A set of traits that an individual typically demonstrates • Myers-Briggs Type Indicator- places individuals in one of 16 categories or types • It is important to remember that not all “type” tests have much, if any, research data to back them up • Even some scientific tests fail to take context or situation into account and imply that a person behaves in the same way in all situations