Personality

1. Personality Chapter 15

2. Psychoanalytic Personality

3. Theory of the Mind Levels of Consciousness Bodies of the Mind Id Present at birth Found in the unconscious mind Founded in basic sexual and aggression drives Operates on the pleasure principle Ego Mediator Operates on the reality principle: good and reason Superego Ideals and standards we learn from growing up in society (age 4 or 5) What we should do Too strong=guilt, Too weak=impulsive • Conscious • Thoughts and feelings we are aware of • Preconscious • Thoughts and memories we are not currently thinking about • But are easily retrieved • Unconscious • Unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings and memories • Things we can’t access • Become exposed in dreams, hypnosis, free association, and Freudian slips

4. Theory of the Mind Id is totally unconscious, superego and ego can operate both consciously and unconsiously

5. Personality Development • Personality is set by age seven! • Problems in adults come from poorly resolved conflicts during childhood • In each stage the id focuses on a different part of the body: erogenous zones • Individuals with strong conflict could become stuck in a phase: fixate

6. Oral Stage • Age: 1-18 months • Focus • Pleasure Center: mouth • Behaviors: Sucking, biting, chewing • Conflict • Weaning • Failure: Oral Fixation • Gum chewing, fingernail biting, smoking • Emotional Dependence

7. Anal Stage • Age: 18-36 months • Focus • Pleasure Center: bowel and bladder function • Behaviors: Controlling bowel and bladder function • Conflict: Potty Training • Failure: anal fixation • Dominating • Requires things neat and perfect; too much control (inverse is not enough control, messy)

8. Phallic Stage • Age: 3-6 years • Focus • Pleasure Center: Genitals • Behaviors: coping with incestuous feelings • Conflict: Oedipus Conflict • Love for their mothers and hatred, fear, or jealousy of the father • Fear punishment from the father • Views father as competition • Other psychoanalytic psychologists propose an Electra Complex • Fixation: obsession with phallic objects and emotional power

9. Latency Stage • Age: 6-Puberty • Focus • Dormant sexual feelings • Conflict: Repress feelings towards rival parent; identification process • Children now view the same sex parent as a role modelgender identity • What defense mechanism does this remind you of?

10. Genital Stage • Age: Puberty on • Focus: maturation of sexual interests • Mature sexual relationships

12. Defense Mechanisms • Conflict between the id and superego causes anxiety • Ego utilizes unconscious defense mechanisms to relieve tension • Seven Defense Mechanisms • Repression • Regression • Denial • Reaction • Projection • Rationalization • Displacement

13. Repression • What is it: Unconscious burying of unpleasant information into the unconscious to protect the ego • Goal of psychoanalysis is to bring repressed info to the surface • Characteristics of repressors: • Fewer personal memories • High level of arousal to emotional situations • Simple and non-specific memories • Engage in impulsive/immature behavior

14. Regression • What is it: Retreating to a more comfortable stage • Characteristics: • Immature • Childish • Examples?

15. Denial • What is it: • Refusing to admit that something unpleasant is happening • Refusing to recognize the unpleasant emotions associated with the event • Examples??

16. Reaction-Formation • What is it: Expressing the opposite (and usually exaggerated) feeling of the anxiety producing emotion • Characteristics • Gullible • Strong desire to be loved or liked • High moral standards • Examples??

17. Rationalization • What is it: Justifying anxiety producing behavior • Similar to Intellectualization • What is it: removing the emotion from the situation. • KISS: thinking about something in a cold and critical way • Characteristics • Rational • Obsessive • Examples??

18. Displacement • What is it: Attacking an item that comes to symbolize the cause of anxiety • KISS: acting out on something or moving the feelings to a safer target • Characteristics • Aggressive • Examples

19. Projection • What is it: Putting your feelings on others • KISS: Thinking someone has your feelings • Examples??

20. Some other mechanisms • Humor • Sublimation: channeling impulses into socially acceptable behavior • Suppression: consciously trying to stop thinking about something • Altruism: civil service that brings personal satisfaction

21. Some useful sources http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/ss/defensemech.htm

22. Neo-Freudians • Alfred Adler • Childhood • Social not sexual tensions • Inferiority complex: strive to overcome such feelings • Karen Horney • Childhood • Social not sexual tensions • Anxiety caused by helplessnessseek love • Countered the notion of penis envy • Carl Jung • Collective unconscious based on universal experiences

23. Measuring Unconscious Processes • Projective Tests: your inner feelings/conflicts come out as you project onto neutral stimuli • Thematic Apperception Test: tell a story about a generic photo • Rorschach Inkblot Test: ten set inkblots • Lack scoring systems (working to improve this with computer systems • Limited reliability or validity

24. Evaluating Psychoanalysis • Outdated • Lack of biological knowledge: Model T versus Tesla • Neglect role of peers • Gender identity occurs early and without same-sex parent • Myth • Many say he lead female patients to “remember” experiences of abuse • Relies heavily on concept of repression • 100% of children who witnessed a parent’s murder remembered it • Holocaust • PTSD

25. Evaluation of Psychoanalysis • Modern Acceptance • Nonconsious, implicit learning • Not repression, but just a different way to process information • Unconsious mind is valid, but extremely different than the way Freud suggested (check out pg 606) • Brings attention to legitimate things: defense mechanisms, social versus biological tension, sexuality • Scientific Proof • Not objective or empirical • Relied on few observations; case studies • Fails to predict things, but Freud never claimed it was!

26. Humanistic Personality

27. Abraham Maslow • Beliefs center on the idea that all people are inherently good • All people seek self-actualization • Ideas based off studying “healthy” people • Developed hierarchy of needs

29. Carl Rogers • People are naturally good • Environmental situations cause problems • People require environments that provide genuineness, acceptance, and empathy • Personality founded in one’s self-concept • Answer to the question “Who am I?”

30. Assessment Tools • Self-Concept Questionnaires • Ideal versus Actual Self • When the values are similar, there is a high self-concept • Problems with questionnaires: depersonalization • Solution: interviews and conversation

31. Criticism and Praise • Legacy • Self-concept is key to happiness/success • People are basically good • Believed by 80% of Americans • Criticism • Vague and subjective; expression of personal values • Not scientific • Overly individualized; self-centeredness/self-indulgence • Humanists say complete self acceptance is just the first step • Fails to appreciate human potential for evil

32. Trait Perspective Personality

33. What is the Trait Perspective • Define personality based on enduring patterns of behavior • Describes traits, does not explain • Classify people by types • Four initial types: Greeks • Melancholic (depressed) • Sanguine (cheerful) • Phlegmatic (unemotional) • Choleric (irritable)

34. Myers-Briggs • Sorts people based on Carl Jung’s personality types • People define their own preferences • Is it what you are or what you want to be? • Everyone is flattered • Highly popular test but lacks scientific support • Ranks you as either: extravert/introvert; sensing/intuition; thinking/feeling; judging/perceiving

36. Factor Analysis • Statistical analysis that identifies clusters of behaviors • Determines correlations • Ex: outgoing, social, excitement orientedextraversion • Groups behaviors together • Eysenck says that all traits can be reduced to two or three dimensions • Extraversion/introversion; stability/instability

37. The Big Five Factors • Five dimensions: conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, and extraversion • Each trait is organized based on three dimensions • Recent questions in the five factor model • Trait stability: most are stable, but extraversion, openness, and instability decrease post-college; conscientiousness increases post-college agreeableness increases in 30s and beyond • Heredity: Varies, but about 50% heritable • Cultural differences: universal • Predictability: YES! Conscientious people tend to be morning people, extraverted people are night owls, etc.

39. Biology of Traits • Traits are based on biological characteristics • Arousal theory • Extraverts need stimulation because normal brain arousal is relatively low • Genes influence temperament, which define personality

40. Assessing Traits • Personality Inventories • Long questionnaires • Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory • Assesses abnormal personality tendencies • Empirically derived • Problems • You can shape the answers • MMPI has a lie scale

41. Evaluating This Theory • Person-Situation Controversy • Behavior is influenced by interaction of our disposition with our environment • Look for traits that exist across time and situation • There is some change, but stabilizes in adulthood • Traits do not correlate strongly with behavior • Average behaviors do correlate: music preferences, personal space, web-sites/social media pages • Consistency of expression style • Do we always expose our traits? • We actually tend to be consistent • What about people who aren’t as expressive

42. Social-Cognitive Personality

43. Basic Principles of the Social-Cognitive View • Proposed by Albert Bandura (remember social learning) • Our behavior comes from observational learning • But we can evaluate our situation to affect our behavior • Interaction between individuals and environment

44. Reciprocal Influence • Interaction between personality and environment • There are internal cognitive factors, environmental factors, and behavioral factors • Example: archery • Nature and nurture • Different people choose different environments • Personalities shape how we react to events • Personalities create situations

45. Self Control • Emphasizes personal control • Individuals can control (or be controlled by) the environment • Locus of control • External: outside forces determine fate • Internal: I control my destiny • Effects of locus of control on individuals • Internal LoC tend to be more successful, cope with stress better, and have a stronger sense of delayed gratification • Related to self control • Muscle concept of self control: it weakens after exertion and strengthens with exercise

46. Learned Helplessness • People who feel helpless often have an external LoC • Uncontrollable bad eventsPerceived lack of controlgeneralized helpless behavior • Dogs repeatedly subjected to an environment which gives them little choice become helpless and would not escape when later given the chance • Implication for prisons, nursing homes, or abusive relationships? • People thrive in environments where they have personal freedom and empowerment! • But excess freedom can create a decrease in life satisfaction—overwhelmed!

47. Optimism versus Pessimism • Optimism/pessimism and ELoC and ILoC • Attribution Style: how you attribute the events in your life • It’s good to be an optimist • Optimistic people tend to have a greater ILoC and less helplessness • Optimists are more successful and healthier! • But can lead to unrealistic positive illusions • Overconfidence • When are you unaware versus in denial? • Realism isn’t bad • Some anxiety over future failures can fuel you • Asian-Americans have greater pessimism

48. Assessing Behavior • Observe behavior in real life situations • Utilizes simulations • Ex. Hiring, internships, army training • Tries to determine behavior patterns

49. Perspective Evaluation • Criticism • Focuses too much on the situation • Fails to appreciate the inner trait • But locus of control/optimism v. pessimism is a bit of an inner trait • Neglect biological influences • Pros • Encourages us to appreciate interconnectedness • Encourages research on the relationship between learning and cognition

50. Exploring the self Personality