Unit X: Personality

Psychodynamic Perspective

• In his clinical practice as a neurologist, Freud encountered patients suffering from nervous disorders. Their complaints could not be explained in terms of purely physical causes.
  
  

• Freud’s clinical experience led him to develop the first comprehensive theory of personality including the unconscious…
  
  

Exploring the Unconscious

• A reservoir (unconscious mind) of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings and memories. Freud asked patients to say whatever came to their minds (a process he called free association) to tap the unconscious.
  
  

• Dream Analysis – Another method to analyze the unconscious mind is by interpreting the manifest and latent content of dreams.
  
  

• Psychoanalysis – Freud’s approach of psychoanalysis consisted of talk therapy focused on uncovering the hidden content of the unconscious mind. He used the techniques of dream analysis and free association to reveal these memories and release anxiety.
  
  

Model of Mind

• The mind is like an iceberg. It is mostly hidden, and below the surface lies the unconscious mind. The preconscious stores temporary information.
  
  

• Personality develops as a result of our efforts to resolve conflicts between our biological impulses (id) and social restraints (superego).
  
  

Id, Ego and Superego

• The id unconsciously strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives, operating on the pleasure principle, and demanding immediate gratification.
  
  

• The ego functions as the “executive” and mediates the demands of the id and superego.
  
  

• The superego provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations.
  
  

Personality Development

• Freud believed that personality formed during the first few years of life divided into Psychosexual stages.
  
  

• During these stages, the id’s pleasure-sensitive body areas are called erogenous zones.
  
  

Psychosexual Stages

• Freud divided the development of personality into five psychosexual stages:
  
  

Stage

Focus

Oral (0-18 months)

Pleasure centers on the mouth – sucking, biting, chewing

Anal (18-36 months)

Pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder elimination; coping with demands for control

Phallic (3-6 years)

Pleasure zone is genitals; coping with sexual feelings

Latency (6 to puberty)

Dominant sexual feelings

Genital (puberty on)

Maturation of sexual interests

Oedipus Complex

• A boy’s sexual desire for his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father.
  
  

• A girl’s desire for her father is called the Electra complex.
  
  

Identification

• Children cope with threatening feelings by repressing them and by identifying with the rival parent.
  
  

• Through this process of identification, their superego gains strength that incorporates their parents’ values.
  
  

Defense Mechanisms

• The ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality.
  
  

Psychodynamic Theories and Modern Views of the Unconscious

• Carl Jung believed in the collective unconscious, which contained a common reservoir of images or archetypes derived from our species’ universal experiences. This is why many cultures share certain myths and images such as the mother being a symbol of nurturance.
  
  

• The Neo-Freudians:
  
  

  • Alfred Adler: Childhood tensions were social, not sexual. A child struggles with an inferiority complex during growth and strives for superiority and power.
    
    

  • Karen Horney: Like Adler, believed in the social aspects of childhood growth and development. She countered Freud’s assumption that women have weak superegos and suffer from “penis envy”.
    
    

Assessing Unconscious Processes

• Evaluating personality from an unconscious mind:
  
  

  • Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) – Developed by Henry Murray, the TAT is a projective test in which people express their inner feelings through stories they make up about ambiguous scenes.
    
    

  • Rorschach Inkblot Test – The most widely used projective test, uses 10 inkblots (Hermann Rorschach) to identify inner feelings by analyzing interpretations.
    
    

Projective Tests: Criticisms

• Lack reliability and validity.
  
  

  • Different raters give different interpretations.
    
    

  • Tests may not consistently measure what they claim.
    
    

Criticisms of Freud

• Personality develops throughout life and is not fixed in childhood.
  
  

• Peer influence may be as powerful as parental influence.
  
  

• Gender identity may develop before ages 5-6.
  
  

• Dreams have other purposes besides wish fulfillment.
  
  

• Verbal slips explained by cognitive processing.
  
  

• Sexual repression doesn’t fully explain psychological disorders.
  
  

Modern View of the Unconscious Mind

• The unconscious is seen as information processing that occurs without awareness.
  
  

Examples:

• False Consensus Effect – Overestimating the extent to which others share our beliefs (Freud: projection).
  
  

• Terror-Management Theory – Anxiety about death managed through relationships and faith.
  
  

Module 57: The Humanistic Theories

• By the 1960s, psychologists were discontent with Freud’s negativity and behaviorism’s mechanistic view.
  
  

Self-Actualizing Person

• Maslow: Individuals motivated by a hierarchy of needs, striving for self-actualization.
  
  

Carl Rogers

• Believed in self-actualization tendencies.
  
  

• Unconditional Positive Regard – Accepting others despite their failings.
  
  

• Assessed personality by comparing ideal self and real self; close alignment = positive self-concept.
  
  

• Self-Concept – Answer to “Who am I?”
  
  

Evaluation of Humanistic Perspective

• Impact on counseling, education, management.
  
  

• Criticized for vagueness and lack of scientific basis.
  
  

The Trait Perspective

• Personality is made up of traits – enduring behaviors and feelings.
  
  

Personality Types

• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator – Popular, but validity is debated.
  
  

Exploring Traits

• Factor Analysis – Statistical method to find clusters of traits.
  
  

• Cattell – Developed 16 Personality Factor Inventory (16PF).
  
  

• Eysenck – Personality dimensions: Extraversion-Introversion and Stability-Instability.
  
  

Biology and Personality

• Extraverts: Low brain arousal, higher dopamine.
  
  

• Shyness linked to autonomic nervous system.
  
  

• Animal breeding supports human trait findings (e.g., Russian foxes).
  
  

Personality Inventories

• MMPI – Most widely used personality test. Originally for emotional disorders.
  
  

The Big Five Factors (OCEAN/CANOE)

1. Openness
   
   

2. Conscientiousness
   
   

3. Extraversion
   
   

4. Agreeableness
   
   

5. Neuroticism
   
   

Big Five Questions

• Stable? – Yes, especially in adulthood.
  
  

• Heritable? – About 50% for each trait.
  
  

• Cultural Consistency? – Yes.
  
  

Evaluating Trait Perspective

• Walter Mischel – Traits don’t always predict behavior across situations.
  
  

• Traits seen in:
  
  

  • Music choice, decor, expression, communication.
    
    

Social-Cognitive Theory – Albert Bandura

• Personality = interaction between individual and environment (Reciprocal Determinism).
  
  

Reciprocal Determinism

• Behavior, cognition, environment interact.
  
  

Individuals & Environments

• People choose environments.
  
  

• Personalities shape reactions.
  
  

• Personalities influence situations.
  
  

Optimism vs. Pessimism

• Attributional style explains reactions to events.
  
  

• Positive psychology – Promotes well-being and character.
  
  

Assessing Behavior

• Realistic situations better predict behavior.
  
  

Exploring the Self

• The self organizes thinking, feelings, actions.
  
  

• Spotlight Effect – Overestimating how much others notice us.
  
  

Benefits of Self-Esteem

• Low self-esteem = critical of self and others.
  
  

• High self-esteem = more confidence, peer resistance.
  
  

• Self-Efficacy – Confidence in task competence.
  
  

Self-Serving Bias

• Take credit for success, deflect failure.
  
  

• Defensive Self-Esteem – Fragile, ego-driven.
  
  

• Secure Self-Esteem – Stable, not dependent on others.
  
  

Narcissism

• Excessive self-love.
  
  

• Jean Twenge – Narcissism rates rising.
  
  

• Linked to materialism, fame-seeking, hookups, cheating, gambling.
  
  

Culture and Self-Esteem

• People maintain esteem by valuing achievements and comparing within their group.