Personality

1. Personality What is it??

2. We use the term personality often but what does it actually mean? » “She has a wonderful personality” » “He has no personality” » “We seem to have a personality conflict”

3. Personality • The collection of emotional, thought, and behavioral patterns unique to a person that is consistent over time • its who we are • how we act and react, how we interact and respond to the world

4. We get a good idea of what personality is by listening to what we say when we use “I” – “I like…, I dislike…, I love…, I am good at…, I fear…, etc.”

5. Personality Theories Many people throughout the years have tried to determine what makes a person unique and how the personality develops. Most theories can be grouped into one of the following classes.

6. Psychodynamic Theories • Says personality is a product of tension and anxiety within us that drive our thoughts and behavior • unconscious thoughts and unresolved inner conflicts (usually centering on sex and aggression) • i.e. think Freud • Example • There is something going on inside of us, on some level, that produces the behavior and actions people see in us

7. Trait Theories • Our personality resides inside our genes • Each person has certain characteristics (or traits) that we are born with which determine our behavior and personality • Example • a friendly person is likely to act friendly in a situation because of the traits in their DNA • Trait theorists usually believe these traits usually remain the same throughout our lives in spite of the environment we may be in • We cant change our DNA

8. Social-Cognitive Theories • Says personality is learned either through conditioning or through social learning • think bobo doll (Bandura) and Skinner’s box • Environment and cognition are important factors in personality development • Reciprocal Determinism

9. Humanistic Theories • States that personality is a product of free will and that people play an active role in determining how they behave • Individuals have a capacity for personal growth and have a goal of reaching ones full potential • Think self-actualization and Maslow

10. Issues in Personality Theory The Following basic questions define the personality theorists’ image of human nature and personality

11. Free will or Determinism? • Do we have control of ourselves? • Are we free to choose to be masters of our fate Or… • Are we victims of biological factors, unconscious forces, or external stimuli?

12. Nature or Nurture? • Is our personality determined by the things we inherit Or… • shaped by the environment in which we live?

13. Past, Present, or Future? • Is personality development complete in early childhood Or… • Is it independent of the past capable of being influenced by present or even future events, aspirations, and goals?

14. Uniqueness or Universality? • Is the personality of each individual unique Or… • Are there broad personality patters that fit large number of people?

15. Psychodynamic Perspective Of Personality

16. Psychodynamic TheoryIt all started with Freud • Freud proposed psychology’s first and most famous theory of personality • Freud believed an individual’s personality emerged from an unresolved conflict between… • unconscious sexual impulses (most often starting in childhood) and societies rules and expectations • Freud believed that to resolve these conflicts he had to understand a persons mind ( or, psyche) • But what is the mind according to Freud??

17. The Conscious Mind The Mind According to Freud The thoughts and feelings we are aware of at any given time The Preconscious Mind Information that is stored and available at any time Memories like phone numbers The Unconscious Mind Mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories If Freud could get people to open the door to this region they could start the healing process and understand their personality

18. Freud's Early Exploration into the Unconscious • To get to a persons unconscious Freud used a process he called psychoanalysis(psyche (mind)=mind analysis) • A technique that tries to expose and interpret underlying unconscious motives and conflicts • Two specific psychoanalysis techniques that he used were • hypnosis and • free association (relax and say it all) Once Freud understood the mind and could reach the unconscious, he could begin to look at personality

19. Freud's Personality Structure • He believed we all were born with pleasure-seeking biological impulses • However, we live in a society with rules that we internalize as we get older • Freud believed that the way we resolve this conflict (social rules vs. personal desires) would shape our personality. Id Freud thought there were 3 forces interacting to form and shape personality Superego Ego

20. Id • Unconscious energy that drives us to satisfy basic survival, sexual and aggressive drives. • Present at birth • Is primitive and not affected by values, ethics, or morals • Id operates on the pleasure principle • the drive to achieve pleasure and avoid pain. • Demands immediate gratification Sometimes is illogical, irrational and can get us into trouble

21. Superego • Part of personality that represents our internalized moral standards • Comparable to our conscience • learned from society • Focuses on what we should do, not what we’d like to do • Causes people to feel guilty when they go against society’s rules

22. Ego • The boss of the conscious. • It is the great compromiser • Makes decisions after listening to both sides • Tries to satisfy the Id without offending the moral standards of the Superego • Called the “reality principle” Delays the demands and needs of the id until a more appropriate time

23. Conflict and Anxiety • Freud believed that the id, the ego, and the superego are in constant conflict(always unconscious). • He focused mainly on the conflicts concerning sexual and aggressive urges (as opposed to other urges such as hunger and thirst) because these urges are most likely to violate societal rules. • These conflicts can make a person feel anxious and to manage this feeling people use what Freud called… • defense mechanisms

24. Defense Mechanisms The ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by distorting reality and preventing awareness of unacceptable sexual or aggressive impulses or wishes Ten major types

25. Repression • The Mac Daddy defense mechanism. • Means to push or banish anxiety driven thoughts deep into unconscious. • Being sexually assaulted when you are five and not remembering this as an adult

26. Regression • When faced with anxiety the person retreats to a more comfortable infantile stage. • Thumb sucking when you get scared at a movie.

27. Reaction Formation • When a person behaves in a way that contradicts their actual thoughts • Being mean to someone you have a crush on.

28. Projection • Disguise your own threatening impulses by attributing them to others. • Thinking that your spouse wants to cheat on you when it is you that really wants to cheat.

29. Rationalization • Providing excuses or explanations to justify thoughts or behaviors • You don’t get into a college and say, “I really did not want to go there it was too far away!!”

30. Displacement • Shifts the unacceptable impulses towards a safer outlet. • Instead of yelling at a teacher, you will take your anger out on him by spitting on his car

31. Sublimation • Re-channel unacceptable impulses towards more acceptable or socially approved activities or areas • Channeling unacceptable aggressive feelings into aggressive sports play

32. Freud's Stages of Psychosexual Development • Freud believed that your personality developed in your childhood – before 5 • Mostly from unresolved problems in the early childhood. • Believed that children pass through a series of psychosexual stages. • Each stage children gain sexual gratification or pleasure from a particular part of their bodies • Each stage has special conflicts and children’s ways of managing these conflicts influence their personalities

34. Fixation • If a child’s needs in a particular stage are gratified too much or frustrated too much, they can become fixated at that stage • Fixation • the inability to progress normally from one stage into another • As an adult these fixations show up as a tendency to focus on the needs that were over-gratified or over-frustrated

35. Oral Stage • 0-18 months • Pleasure center is on the mouth. • Sucking, biting and chewing. Result of fixation – excessive smoking, overeating, or dependence on others

36. Anal Stage • 18-36 months • Pleasure focuses on bladder and bowel control. • Controlling ones life and independence. Result of Fixation – overly controlling – anal retentive personality or easily angered – anal expulsive

37. Phallic Stage • 3-6 years • Pleasure zone is the genitals. Result of Fixation – guilt or anxiety about sex – Oedipus Complex

38. Latency Stage • 6- puberty • Dormant sexual feeling. • Cooties stage. • No Fixation

39. Genital Stage • Puberty to death. • Maturation of sexual interests.

40. Freudian Terminology • Eros Thanotos • EXPLAIN

41. How do we assess the unconscious? We can use hypnosis or free association to get to the unconscious. But more often we use projective tests.

42. Projective Tests • provides an vague stimuli designed to trigger insight (projection) of one’s inner thoughts and feelings

43. TAT Thematic Apperception Test • People express their inner feelings through stories they make about vague scenes

44. TAT

47. Rorschach Inkblot Test • The most widely used projective test • A set of ten inkblots designed to identify people’s inner thoughts when they are asked to interpret what they see in the inkblots.