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Trait Theories

Trait Theories. Explain differences between people in terms of stable personality traits Modern day psychologists have found 5 personality dimensions that span cultures. The 5 Factor Theory. Extraversion Neuroticism Conscientiousness Agreeableness Openness to Experience. Extraversion.

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Trait Theories

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  1. Trait Theories • Explain differences between people in terms of stable personality traits • Modern day psychologists have found 5 personality dimensions that span cultures

  2. The 5 Factor Theory • Extraversion • Neuroticism • Conscientiousness • Agreeableness • Openness to Experience

  3. Extraversion Outgoing Withdrawn Neuroticism Stable Unstable The 5 Factor Theory

  4. Agreeableness Low High Conscientiousness Undependable Dependable The 5 Factor Theory

  5. Openness to Experience Closed Open The 5 Factor Theory

  6. The 5 Factor Theory • Helpful in predicting general trends in behavior • Too general to predict behavior in a specific situation

  7. Social Cognitive Theory • Bandura's Reciprocal Determinism and Self-Efficacy • Rotter's Locus of Control

  8. Reciprocal Determinism Environment Personal Cognitive Factors Behavior

  9. Self-Efficacy • One's perception of personal effectiveness • One of Bandura's personal/cognitive factors

  10. Self-Efficacy Beliefyou will dowell Greatereffort &persistence Success

  11. Self-Efficacy Beliefyou will dopoorly Lesseffort &persistence Failure

  12. Optimismabout the future Takingaction Internal Locus Belief you control your fate

  13. Pessimismabout the future Doingnothing External Locus Belief you don’tcontrol your fate

  14. The Person: Beliefs and Behaviors • Humanistic psychology • Abraham Maslow • Self-actualization • Oceanic feelings (flow) • Carl Rogers • Client-centered therapy • Unconditional positive regard

  15. The World: Social Influences on Personality • Birth order • Peer relationships: Personality development by peer pressure • Sex differences in personality: Nature and nurture • Culture and personality: Are there national personalities?

  16. Assessment • Observation • Interviews • Rating Scales • Inventories • Projective Tests

  17. Problems • Observations, interviews, & rating scales suffer from reliability problems & the halo effect • Halo Effect: Assuming that someone with one favorable trait has many others as well

  18. The MMPI-2 • The most widely-used inventory • Consists of 567 true-false questions

  19. The CPI • An MMPI-like test designed for normal individuals • The MMPI is more useful for clinical purposes, the CPI for normal populations

  20. Projective Tests • The Rorschach Inkblot Test • The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

  21. The Rorschach Subject tells what each blot looks like and what aspect of the blot triggered that response

  22. The Rorschach • Responses scored on use of parts vs. wholes, movement, content, use of color • Criticized for lack of reliability, low validity (inability to predict behavior)

  23. The TAT • Consists of 19 vague or ambiguous drawings • Person describes what is happening in each

  24. Sentence Completion • A projective test requiring completion of open-ended sentences • May be more reliable than the TAT

  25. Sigmund Freud Assumptions: • Traits transcend situations • Personality formed in childhood

  26. Freud’s Model

  27. Freudian Theory Personality components • Id: Concerned with drive satisfaction, provides the motive power; follows the pleasure principle (the little devil on your shoulder) • Ego: Rational thought; controls & channels id; follows the reality principle • Superego: Oversees balance between ego & id; internalized parental control; much like a conscience (the little angel on your shoulder)

  28. Freudian Theory • The Libido: The sexual life energy that drives the id; other researchers dispute Freud's sexual emphasis • The Conscious: Consists of things you are currently aware of; constantly changing • The Preconscious: Consists of things in long term memory that influence behavior; could be retrieved if desired • The Subconscious: Consists of things you're unaware of but that influence you; the primary personality component

  29. Freudian Theory The Unconscious: • The primary personality component • Consists of things you're unaware of but that influence you • Can't be tapped directly • Reflected in slips of the tongue, dreams, etc.

  30. Freudian Theory: Stages Psychosexual Stages(source of libido satisfaction) Oral (0-1 year) Anal (1-3 years) Phallic (3-6 years) Latency (6-puberty) Genital (from puberty)

  31. Freudian Theory: Stages Oral Stage: • Libido gratification comes from oral exploration of the world • Infant learns to trust in others, esp. for food Oral Personality: • Problems in the oral stage supposedly lead to pessimism about the world, hostility or passivity

  32. Freudian Theory: Stages Anal Stage: • Kids learn about delay of gratification • Kids gain pleasure and libido satisfaction from being in control Anal Personality: • Problems in the anal stage supposedly lead to either excessive orderliness or excessive messiness

  33. Freudian Theory: Stages Phallic Stage: • Freud believed sex-role identification occurred • Mechanisms included castration anxiety (boys) & penis envy (girls) Phallic Personality: • Problems in the phallic stage supposedly lead to sex-role identification problems, promiscuity, vanity, or excessive chastity

  34. Freudian Theory: Stages Latency Stage: • A time of focus on achievement and mastery of skills • Libido is channeled into mastery activities • Freud thought little of interest happened here • Others have argued the sense of self-esteem is established here

  35. Freudian Theory: Stages Genital Stage: • The time of mature personality, intimacy with others • Libido satisfied by adult- type sexual activity

  36. Freudian Theory: Defense Defense Mechanisms • Methods for dealing with anxiety • Freud thought some more mature than others Denial Repression Projection Reaction Formation Rationalization Regression Displacement Sublimation

  37. Denial • Refusing to accept that the feeling is present or that the event occurred • A very primitive mechanism • Example: preschoolers will convince themselves they didn't do something they wish they hadn't

  38. Repression • Relegating anxiety- causing thoughts to the unconscious, refusing to think about them • Example: Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind -- "I won't think about that now, I'll think about that tomorrow."

  39. Projection • Attributing one's undesirable traits or actions to others, so they become the problem instead of you • Example from a failing student: "I'm not worried about me, but I'd hate to see Ellen flunk--she's so fragile"

  40. Reaction Formation • Taking actions opposite to one's feelings in order to deny the reality of the feelings • Freud thought many people fervently pursuing a cause were using this mechanism to hide their true feelings

  41. Rationalization • Creating intellectually - acceptable arguments for thoughts or behavior to hide the actual anxiety - causing impulses • Examples: • "I only read Playboy for the articles." • "I didn't get an A on my paper because I didn't want to make you feel inferior."

  42. Regression • Reverting to the comfort of behaviors of an earlier stage of development in order to cope • Example: Children who crawl around the floor and produce baby talk when a new baby enters the family

  43. Displacement • Substituting a less-threatening object for the subject of the hostile or sexual impulse • A person mad at his boss might attack an underling instead--a person like the boss in some ways, but not as anxiety provoking

  44. Sublimation • The most mature mechanism • Redirecting anxiety-causing impulses into socially acceptable actions • Example: Dealing with anxiety over a final by engaging in vigorous physical activity

  45. Problems with Freud • Too general: Explains everything after the fact, but predicts nothing beforehand • Key portions are contrary to recent data: There is no evidence for penis envy, castration anxiety, the latency period • Biased against females: Freud's negative attitudes towards women colored his entire theory • Relies on too many constructs: Relies on the existence of hypotheticals such as the id, ego, & superego

  46. Contributions • The discovery of unconscious processes • His emphasis on childhood influences on adult behavior

  47. Neo-Freudians Former students of Freud who broke away from him (often acrimoniously) to create their own theories • Carl Jung • Alfred Adler • Karen Horney

  48. Carl Jung Personality Theory: • Ego • Personal Unconscious: Like a combination of Freud's preconscious and unconscious • Collective Unconscious: Inherited tendencies to respond in a particular way (archetypes) shared by all humans

  49. Alfred Adler • Humans motivated by the need to overcome inferiority and strive for significance • Inferiority Complex: Adler's term for feelings of inferiority that interfere with development

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