Exploring Personality Theories and Traits

1. Personality

2. Personality • What is personality? • How does it develop? • Are we born with it? • Does experience shape the qualities that make us who we are?

3. Personality • Various psychologists have approached the previous questions from a variety of perspectives  MANY personality theories! • Type, Trait, Psychodynamic, Neo-Freudian, Humanistic, Social-Learning, Cognitive, & Biological

4. Personality • Used to explain the stability in a person’s behavior over time & across situations, & behavioral differences among people reacting to the same situation (ex.- how 3 people stuck in an elevator act in different ways)

5. Personality • Personality- an individual’s unique constellation of consistent behavioral traits

6. Personality Trait • Jane is conscientious, Bill is timid  A personality trait is a durable disposition to behave a particular way in a variety of situations • Most theories believe that some traits are more basic than others

7. Personality Trait • A small number of traits determine other, more superficial traits (ex- impulsive, restless, irritable, boisterous, impatient = all derive from excitability) • Many psychologists have tried to identify basic traits forming the core personality

8. Psychologists • Gordon Allport (1937)- 171 personality traits • Raymond Cattell (1950)- used factor analysis (correlations among many variables are analyzed to identify personality traits) - narrowed down to 16 traits

9. Psychologists C. McCrue & Costa (1980s)- arrived at the 5-factor model  most accepted trait theory: (bipolar trait dimensions) 1. Openness to Experience- creative, intellectual, open- minded, curiosity, flexibility *(this trait is key to people’s political attitudes/ideology)

10. Psychologists 2. Conscientiousness- diligent, disciplined, well-organized, associated with living longer 3. Extraversion- outgoing, sociable, friendly, upbeat, assertive

11. Psychologists 4. Agreeableness- sympathetic, trusting, cooperative, modest *(may have roots in childhood temperament, biological?) 5. Neuroticism- stable, calm, content *OCEAN*

12. Psychologists • Critics of this model say that it just describes personality, but does not explain development of personality • Others believe you need more than 5 traits to explain variability in human behavior

13. Personality • Are traits genetic? Some seem to be  discussed in a biological approach • esp. friendliness, risk-taking, worrying

14. Personality • Personality Types- distinct patterns of personality characteristics used to assign people to categories • William Sheldon (1942)- a type theory based on body shape  reflects temperament *little value in predicting personality, more based on stereotypes

15. Personality • ACTIVITY! • Fill in each blank with the terms you feel, best fit the sentence • When finished, we’ll go over your personality according to SHELDON!

16. Personality

17. Personality • Frank Sulloway & Alfred Adler (1990s)- birth order - 1st born: ready-made niche, immediately have parents’ attention & love  identify with parents

18. Personality - later born: need to find a different niche; born to rebel; seek to excel in those domains where older sibling did not already est. superiority; more open to experiences

19. Personality • ACTIVITY! • You will be creating a Birth Order Profile, based on your generalizations • When finished, we’ll go over your birth order personality according to SULLOWAY & ADLER!

20. Psychodynamic Theories • These theories share the assumption that personality is shaped & motivated by powerful inner forces; some conscious, preconscious, unconscious

21. Psychodynamic Theories • Freud: • Motivation for human action is psychic energy  inborn instincts or drives • Self-preservation (meeting needs of hunger and thirst) & Eros (meeting needs of preservation of the species, starts at birth*)

22. Psychodynamic Theories - Libido- the nrg that drives individual toward sensual pleasures of all types, esp. sexual; satisfied through direct or indirect action (dreams & fantasies)

23. Psychodynamic Theories - too much gratification or frustration can lead to fixation (& inability to progress normally to next stage of development)

24. Psychodynamic Theories - This is why Freud emphasizes early experiences & early stages of psychosexual development impact personality formation - Psychic determinism- assumption that all mental & behavioral reactions are determined by earlier experiences

25. Psychodynamic Theories - Freud puts the unconscious at center stage; behavior can be motivated by drives that you are unaware of Freud’s Structure of Personality: - Personality differences arise b/c of the different ways people deal with drives

26. Psychodynamic Theories • Freud came up with idea that there are 3 parts (mental processes) to the structure 1. Id- storehouse of fundamental drives; pleasure principle; immediate gratification

27. Psychodynamic Theories 2. Superego- storehouse of individual values, society’s morals, inner voice of “should and should not’s” (ie conscience) 3. Ego- reality based aspect of self that arbitrates conflicts between the other two; governed by reality principle  puts reasonable choices before pleasurable demands

28. Psychodynamic Theories Iceberg Model

29. Psychodynamic Theories - sometimes the Ego has to “put a lid on” the Id & extreme desires are pushed into the unconscious  repression- psychological process protecting an individual from experiencing extreme anxiety/guilt about impulses or memories that are unacceptable or dangerous to express

30. Psychodynamic Theories - Ego is unaware of content & process of repression, this is the basic way the Ego defends itself from being overwhelmed by Id - Ego defense mechanisms- mental strategies the ego uses to defend itself from Id & Superego (protecting from guilt or anxiety)

31. Psychodynamic Theories - anxiety is an intense emotional response triggered when a repressed conflict is about to emerge into consciousness

32. Psychodynamic Theories • Criticisms of Freudian Theory: • Difficult to evaluate scientifically • Good history; bad science- doesn’t predict what will occur • Overemphasizes historical origins & directs attention away from current stimuli that is maintaining the behavior

33. Psychodynamic Theories 4. Developmental theory but never studied children 5. Minimizes traumatic experiences by reinterpreting them as fantasies 6. Androcentric- male-centered

34. Psychodynamic Theories • Positive Aspects of Freudian Theory: • Attention to the unconscious • Evidence of Defense Mechanisms

36. Post-Freudian Theories • State the unconscious urges conflict with social values • Adler- lives are dominated by search to overcome feelings of inferiority; people develop lifestyles based on ways of overcoming feelings of inferiority - personality conflicts come from environ. pressures & internal feeling of adequacy  strive for superiority

37. Post-Freudian Theories 2. Karen Horney- focus on cultural factors - Humanistic Theory: “real self” requires warmth, parental love, goodwill of others - absence of these nurturing conditions  child develops anxiety that stifles expression of real feelings  effects social relationships

38. Post-Freudian Theories 3. Carl Jung- unconscious is filled w/ psychological truths shared by whole human race  collective unconscious- storehouse of memory traces inherited from ancestral past  explains intuitive understanding of archetype - rejects libido theory

39. Post-Freudian Theories - personal unconscious- material that has been repressed or forgotten - added 2 unconscious instincts: need to create & need to become a whole, coherent individual

40. Humanistic Theories • Created as backlash to Freud & Skinner • Emphasize unique qualities of humans, esp. free will and potential for growth  people can rise above animal urges & are conscious, rational beings • Motivation for behavior comes from person’s unique ability to change & develop the goal of self-actualization

41. Humanistic Theories 1. Carl Rogers- developed construct of self-concept  your own mental picture of who you are (may not be in line w/ your experiences) - stressed unconditional positive regard in children (they should feel they will always be loved & approved of)

42. Humanistic Theories - also important in adults, as well as the need to feel self-regard & acceptance - the subjective reality is more important than objective reality 2. See Karen Horney’s theory as well*

43. Social/Cognitive Theories • Humans are conscious, thinking, feeling beings • Unlike other theories  looks to predict behavior • Personality is the sum of responses that are elicited by individual’s reinforcement history or environment

44. Social/Cognitive Theories Bandura (1990s): - Believes personality is largely shaped by learning BUT he believes the environment, our goal setting, self-reflection, planning (COGNITION) also plays a role

45. Social/Cognitive Theories 1. Advocates reciprocal determinism- environment determines behavior, behavior determines environment, & cognitive factors (ie. beliefs & expectancies) play into the equation & determine both the environment and behavior

46. Social/Cognitive Theories Behavior Environment Personal Factors (Thoughts & Feelings) COGNITION

47. Social/Cognitive Theories 2. Observational Learning – discussed in Chapter 7 3. Self-Efficacy- one aspect of personality that affects behavior; - one’s belief about one’s ability to perform behaviors that should lead to expected outcomes

48. Social/Cognitive Theories • High  self-confidence • Low  worry one can’t do it • Perceptions about this are subjective

49. Social/Cognitive Theories Walter Mischel- 1970s-1980s • Agrees with Bandura, but his main idea is that situation factors govern behavior • People change their behavior to certain specific situation circumstances

50. Social/Cognitive Theories • People aren’t as consistent across situations as we think (ex- you may be honest in one situation, but dishonest in another; shy in one, but outgoing in another) • Controversial; many disagree- debate  is it the person or the situation that determine behavior?