Week 7 Personality

1. Week 7Personality (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

2. Personality • What is personality? • Personality • the relatively enduring characteristics that differentiate people-those behaviors that makes each individual unique (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

3. Psychoanalytic Approaches • Psychoanalytic theory • Freud’s theory that unconscious forces act as determinants of personality • Unconscious • a part of the personality of which a person is not aware, and which is a potential determinant of behavior (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

4. Structuring Personality • Id • the raw, unorganized, inborn part of personality, whose sole purpose is to reduce tension created by primitive drives related to hunger, sex, aggression, and irrational impulses • Libido • the “psychic energy” that fuels the primary drives • “Pleasure Principle” • immediate reduction of tension, maximization of satisfaction (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

5. Structuring Personality • Ego • the part of the personality that provides a buffer between the id and the outside world • “Reality Principle” • instinctual energy is restrained in order to maintain the safety of the individual and help integrate the person into society (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

6. Structuring Personality • Superego • the final personality structure to develop that represents the rights and wrongs of society as handed down by a persona’s parents, teachers, and other important figures • conscience • prevents us from doing morally bad things • ego-ideal • motivates us to do what is morally proper (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

7. (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

8. (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

9. (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

10. Freud’s stages (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

11. Developing Personality: A Stage Approach • Oral Stage • a stage from birth to 12-18 months, in which an infant’s center of pleasure is the mouth • interested in oral gratification from sucking, eating, mouthing, biting (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

12. Developing Personality: A Stage Approach • Anal Stage • a stage from 12-18 months to 3 years of age, in which a child’s pleasure is centered on the anus • gratification from expelling and withholding feces; coming to terms with society’s controls relating to toilet training (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

13. Developing Personality: A Stage Approach • Phallic Stage • a period beginning around age 3 during which a child’s interest focuses on the genitals • Oedipal conflict • a child’s sexual interest in his or her opposite-sex parent, typically resolved through identification with the same-sex parent (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

14. Developing Personality: A Stage Approach • Latency Period • the period between the phallic stage and puberty during which children’s sexual concerns are temporarily put aside • 5-6 years to adolescence (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

15. Developing Personality: A Stage Approach • Genital Stage • the period from puberty until death, marked by mature sexual behavior • reemergence of sexual interests and establishment of mature sexual relationships (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

16. Developing Personality: A Stage Approach • Fixation • personality traits characteristic of an earlier stage of development due to an unresolved conflict stemming from the earlier period (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

17. Defense Mechanisms • Defense mechanisms • unconscious strategies that people use to reduce anxiety by concealing the source from themselves and others (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

18. (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

19. Defense Mechanisms • Repression • unacceptable or unpleasant impulses are pushed back into the unconscious • Regression • people behave as if they were at an earlier stage of development (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

20. (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

21. Defense Mechanisms • Displacement • the expression of an unwanted feeling or thought is redirected from a more threatening, powerful person to a weaker one • Rationalization • a distortion of reality in which a person justifies what happens (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

22. Defense Mechanisms • Denial • refusal to accept or acknowledge an anxiety-producing piece of information • Projection • attributing unwanted impulses to someone else • Sublimation • diversion of unwanted impulses into socially approved thoughts, feelings, or behaviors (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

23. The Neo-Freudian Psychoanalysts • Jung’s “collective unconscious” • a set of influences we inherit from our own particular ancestors, the whole human race, and even animal ancestors from the distant past • Adler’s “inferiority complex” • a situation in which adults have not been able to overcome the feelings of inferiority that they developed as children (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

24. (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

25. Trait Approaches • Trait theory • a model of personality that seeks to identify the basic traits necessary to describe personality • Traits • enduring dimensions of personality characteristics along which people differ (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

26. Trait Approaches • Allport’s trait theory • cardinal traits • a single characteristic that directs most of a person’s activities • central trait • the major characteristics of the individual • secondary traits • characteristics that affect behavior in fewer situations (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

27. Trait Approaches • Cattell • factor analysis • a method of summarizing the relationships among a large number of variables into fewer, more general patterns • surface traits • clusters of related behaviors • source traits • represent the basic dimensions of personality (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

28. Trait Approaches • Eysenck • extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism • The “Big Five” • extraversion • agreeableness • conscientiousness • neuroticism (emotional stability) • openness to experience (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

29. Big 5 (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

30. (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

31. (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

32. Learning Approaches • Cognitive-Social approaches to personality • emphasizes the influence of a person’s cognitions in determining personality • Reciprocal determinism • the way in which the interaction of environment, behavior, and individual ultimately causes people to behave as they do (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

33. (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

34. Sheldon’s body types (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

35. Biological and Evolutionary Approaches • Biological and evolutionary approaches to personality • the theory that suggests that important components of personality are inherited • Temperament • a basic, innate disposition that emerges early in life (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

36. (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

37. Humanistic Approaches • Humanistic approaches to personality • the theory that emphasizes people’s basic goodness and their tendency to grow to higher levels of functioning • Self-actualization • a state of self-fulfillment in which people realize their highest potential (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

38. Maslow (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

39. Maslow (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

40. Assessing Personality • Psychological Tests • standard measures devised to assess behavior objectively and used by psychologists to help people make decisions about their lives and understand more about themselves (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

41. Self-Report Measures of Personality • Self-Report measures • a method of gathering data about people by asking them questions about a sample of their behavior • MMPI-2 • a test used to identify people with psychological difficulties as well as predicting a variety of other behaviors (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

42. Projective Methods • Projective personality test • a test in which a person is shown an ambiguous stimulus and asked to describe it or tell a story about it • Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) • a test consisting of a series of pictures about which a person is asked to write a story (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

43. (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)

44. Behavioral Assessment • Behavioral assessment • direct measures of an individual’s behavior used to describe characteristics indicative of personality (Feldman, 1999; Kohn & Kohn, 1998; Richardson, 1999)