Personality Development

1. Personality Development

2. Sigmund Freud • 1856-1939 • Austrian Born • Dealt with “Inner Conflict” approach to personality. • Conscious feelings are only a small part of the brain. • The deepest thoughts, fears, and urges are in the unconscious part. • Known as PSYCHOANALYTICAL APPROACH.

3. Id, Ego, Superego • Id – basic drives • Pleasure principle – the urge for immediate release of energy or emotion that will bring ratification, relief, or pleasure. • Ego – reason and good sense • Reality Principle – in the real world we cannot always get what we want. • Superego – develops throughout life • Moral principle – what we are taught (standards and values) throughout our life and provides us with a moral center.

4. Psychoanalysis Defense Mechanisms • Repression – pushing anxiety into the unconscious. • Rationalization – Self-deception to justify behavior. • Displacement – transferring feelings or ideas from a unsuitable object to a less-threatening one. • Projection – projecting unacceptable impulses onto others. • Reaction Formation – Acting different from genuine beliefs to keep true feelings hidden. • Denial – refusal of reality. • Sublimation – channel impulses into socially acceptable behavior. • These are ok to use in small doses, but can’t be used to continually ignore a bigger problem.

5. Freud’s Heirs • Carl Jung • Analytic Psychology – emphasis on religion and mysticism • Collective consciousness – a store of human concepts shared by all cultures. • Archetypes – ideas and images of human experience for all humanity. • Ex: Nurturing mother, wise old man • Alfred Adler • People are motivated to overcome inferiority. • The feeling of inadequacy and insecurity. AKA Inferiority Complex

6. Freud’s Heirs • Karen Horney • Childhood experiences makes the adult. • Basic anxiety – developing feelings of insecurity based on a harsh or indifferent childhood. • Love and consistency can overcome difficult childhoods. • NOT fairy tale endings technically, but a loving and supporting home could help overcome difficult environments. • Erik Erikson • Social relationships = important • Developed 5 stages of development.

7. Learning Approach • Behaviorism: • John B. Watson – external forces or influences shape our behavior and preferences… NOT internal (sorry Freud). • Later taken up by B.F. Skinner • Skinner believed that our environment influenced us. • Socialization – the process by which people learn the socially desirable behaviors of their particular culture and adopt them as part of their personalities.

8. Learning Approach • Social-Learning: the RETURN OF ALBERT BANDURA!!! • The importance of learning through others. • Important role of the cognitive process that produce independent differences. • People act intentionally to influence their environment. • Internal factors: Skills, Values, Goals, Expectations, Self-Efficacy Expectations.

9. Learning Approach: Humanistic • Abraham Maslow – Hierarchy of Needs – this is what separates us from animals • We strive for self-actualization • Carl Rogers – Sense of Self AKA Self Theory • Importance of Self Concept- viewing yourself as an individual. • Congruence (consistency in self-concept and experiences) – happiness or anxious • Self-Esteem (Self-respect) – worthwhile or disown self

10. Learning Approach: Sociocultural • Importance of ethnicity, gender, and culture – makes your personality. • Individualism v. Collectivism • Individualism (Europe and U.S.) v. Collectivism (Africa, South America, and Asia) • Sociocultural v. Self • Poverty, Prejudice, Discrimination, and Trouble can lead to low self-esteem. World • Women in the US will have low self-esteem because of the need to feel beautiful. Self • Acculturation and Self-Esteem • Acculturation – the process of adapting to new or different cultures. • Taking a countries culture completely or balancing the two cultures. • You are more emotionally stable (usually) when you know the customs.