Chapter 1 PERSONALITY AND THE SCIENTIFIC OUTLOOK.

Chapter 1

PERSONALITY AND THE SCIENTIFIC OUTLOOK

Why study personality?

• The study of human personality helps us understand ourselves and other people better, and gives us a greater appreciation for the complexity of human experience.

• The greater self-awareness.

• Increasing personal freedom.

• Objectification of self and other.

• Increasing tolerance and understanding of others.

• Self-affirmation: r affirming self-values allows for more latitude in dealing with problems and situations.

Definition of Personality

• Personality is the dynamic and organized set of characteristics possessed by an individual that uniquely influences his or her cognitions, motivations and behaviors in various situations.

Personality and Science: Operational Definition

• Personality is a scientific enterprise concerned with the description, explanation, prediction, and control of events.

Components of Science: Theories and Research Methods

• What are theories? A number of interrelated conceptual statements that are investigated by researchers to account for a phenomenon or a set of phenomena. Theories are NOT guesses….

– 2 Kinds of theories

• inductive - sets of general summary statements about phenomena derived from facts.

• deductive - theories in which specific hypotheses are derived from abstract propositions and then tested by the collection of data. Deductive theories consist of postulates, propositions, conceptual definitions, operational definitions, hypotheses, and empirical observations.

• Psychological Constructs: a complex abstraction that encompasses a variety of dimensions.

Components of Science: Theories and Research Methods (cont.)

• postulates - fundamental or core assumptions of a theory. They are taken as self - evidently true in order to provide a clear and focused direction for theorizing and research.

• propositions - general relational statements that may be true or false. They are not tested directly; instead, hypotheses are derived from

• hypotheses - specific propositions containing constructs that are conceptually defined and operationalized so they can be tested and confirmed or disconfirmed through empirical testing. Hypotheses are tentative theoretical statements about how events are related to one another, often stated as predictions.

– a priori predictions - predictions made before the collection of data.

Components of Science: Theories and Research Methods (cont.)

• conceptual definitions - concepts in the hypotheses are defined precisely so that accurate measures of the concepts can be devised.

• operational definitions - procedures (or operations) used to define particular constructs.

• empirical observations - observations of phenomena made by investigators.

Research Methods Used to Test Theories

• Experimental Method - technique for studying cause-and-effect relationships between variables. It involves the manipulation of independent variables and observation of the effects of the manipulation(s) on dependent variables.

– independent variables - variables actively manipulated by the experimenter so that their effects on individual behavior can be observed.

– dependent variables - changes in behavior that occur as a result of the manipulation of conditions by an experimenter.

– control group - group that does not receive the experimental treatment. It is designed to provide baseline data against which the effects of the experimental manipulation(s) on the dependent variable(s) can be accurately judged.

Research Methods Used to Test Theories (Cont.)

• Correlational Method - general procedure for establishing an association or relationship between events.

– positive correlation - increases in the scores on one variable are associated with increases in the scores on the other variable.

– negative correlation - increases in the scores on one variable are associated with decreases in the scores on the other.

– no relation - the distributions of scores on the two variables are random.

Research Methods Used to Test Theories (Cont.)

• Case Study Method - technique involving the intensive study of a single person in order to understand his or her unique personality and behavior.

– post-hoc explanation - explanation of a phenomenon given after its occurrence.

Ethics for Conducting Research

• Informed consent - practice of telling study participants about the nature of their participation in a proposed experiment and then obtaining their written agreement to participate.

• Debriefing - informing study participants of the true nature and purpose of a study after it is completed.

Criteria for Evaluating Theories

• Comprehensiveness - encompass and account for a wide range and variety of phenomena.

• Precision and testability - constructs and relational statements that are clearly and explicitly stated and measured.

• Parsimony economical while still adequately accounting for the phenomena in their domain.

• Empirical validity - the hypotheses are to determine whether or not they are accurate.

• Heuristic value - should stimulate new ideas and new research.• Applied value providing creative solutions to problems that are of

interest and concern to people in society.

Criteria for Evaluating Theories

• Comprehensiveness - encompass and account for a wide range and variety of phenomena.

• Precision and testability - constructs and relational statements that are clearly and explicitly stated and measured.

• Parsimony economical while still adequately accounting for the phenomena in their domain.

• Empirical validity - the hypotheses are to determine whether or not they are accurate.

• Heuristic value - should stimulate new ideas and new research.• Applied value providing creative solutions to problems that are of

interest and concern to people in society.

FREUD'S PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY

Psychoanalysis

• Theory of personality development, functioning, and change, which places heavy emphasis on the role of biological factors in the determination of behavior.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wca89ecoQnk

The Role of Conscious, Preconscious, and Unconscious Forces in Personality

• Conscious forces - ideas and sensations of which we are aware. It operates on the surface of personality and plays a relatively small role in human personality.

• Preconscious forces - contains those experiences that are unconscious but that could become conscious with little effort.

• Unconscious forces - operates on the deepest level of personality. Experiences and memories of which we are not aware.

• mental states remain out of awareness because making them conscious would create tremendous pain and anxiety for us.

Instincts as Driving Forces in Mental Life

• Instincts have four basic characteristics:

– a source in some bodily deficit

– an aim gratification of the need

– an impetus that propels the person to act

– an object through which the instinct achieves its aim

Instincts as Driving Forces in Mental Life (cont.)

• Kinds of Instincts

– life instincts - each person has instinctive urges that seek to preserve life. Hunger, thirst, and sexual needs. Without food and water, we could not survive.

• Libido (eros) - psychic and pleasurable feelings associated with gratification of the life instincts.

• death instincts (thanatos) - motivation by human beings to return to an inorganic state of balance that preceded life, in which there is no painful struggle to satisfy biological needs.

Structural Theory of Personality

• Three constructs were postulated (id, ego, superego) that described the ways in which these parts of personality originated and interacted with one another dynamically to influence behavior.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCXynjpFaKU

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mkin1FhojCo

Structural Theory of Personality (cont.)

• Id - original aspect of personality rooted in the biology of the individual; consists of unconscious sexual and aggressive instincts. The id is amoral and unconcerned with the niceties and conventions of society.

– pleasure principle - indiscriminate seeking of pleasure and the avoidance of pain.

• Superego - agency which describes the individual’s internalization of societal values.

– conscience - punitive aspect of the superego; violation of the conscience makes the person feel guilty or ashamed.

– ego-ideal - positive aspect of the superego, comprising the standards of perfection taught to the child by the parents.

Structural Theory of Personality (cont.)

• Ego - organized aspect of id, formed to provide realistic direction for the person’s impulses.

– Ego defense mechanisms are procedures to reduce or remove painful anxiety.

– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot2EMB7HjZw

– Defense Mechanisms:

• compromise formation - use of contradictory behaviors to attain some satisfaction of an undesirable impulse.

• denial - a person’s refusal to perceive an unpleasant event in external reality.

• displacement - unconscious attempt to obtain gratification for id impulses by shifting them to substitute objects.

Structural Theory of Personality (cont.)

• fixation - defensive attachment to an earlier stage of development; stymies development toward maturity.

• i.e. Rat-Man - patient developed a series of obsessive-compulsive fantasies in which "rats had acquired a series of symbolic meanings, to which...fresh ones were continually being added"

• identification - taking on the characteristics of another person as a means of relieving anxieties. (cross-dressers)

• intellectualization - isolating thoughts about painful events from their feelings about them.

• projection - attribution of undesirable, personal characteristics to others to ward off anxiety. (i.e. you accuse your partner of cheating

because you want to cheat yourself)

Structural Theory of Personality (cont.)

• rationalization - use of plausible, but inaccurate excuses to relieve anxiety.

• reaction formation - conversion of an unacceptable impulse into its opposite.

• i.e. Censors actually carve that which they censor.

• regression - person reverts to infantile behavior to reduce distress.

• repression - unpleasant memories are situated in the unconscious to keep them from reaching consciousness and causing pain.

Structural Theory of Personality (cont.)

• sublimation - form of displacement in which a socially acceptable goal replaces one that is unacceptable.

• i.e. painting nudes….

• suppression - the individual’s active and conscious attempt to stop anxiety - provoking thoughts by simply not thinking about them.

• undoing - way of making amends for a socially unacceptable act by performing a socially acceptable act that nullifies the misdeed.

• i.e. a person who is well organized in the workplace, yet always forgets to pay bills on

time at home.

Theory of Psychosexual Development

• Oral stage - first pregenital stage of psychosexual development, in which primary gratifications center around the mouth.

– oral aggressive - an individual who becomes fixated because of underindulgence during feeding.

• oral aggressive character - as an adult, this person is characterized by envy, manipulation of others, and suspiciousness.

– oral receptive - an individual who becomes fixated because of overindulgence during feeding.

• oral receptive character - as an adult, this person is characterized by gullibility, admiration for others, and excessive dependence.

Theory of Psychosexual Development (cont.)

• Anal stage - second pregenital stage of psychosexual development, in which primary gratification centers around the anal cavity.

– anal character - child is locked in a power struggle for control with parents; if parents are too harsh and demanding, child may develop traits of defiance, obstinacy, and stinginess.

Theory of Psychosexual Development (cont.)

• Phallic stage - third pregenital stage of psychosexual development, in which main gratifications are derived from manipulation of the genitals.

– phallic character - an individual fixated at the phallic stage who, later in life, needs to prove continually his or her sexual adequacy.

Theory of Psychosexual Development (cont.)

• Latency stage - period during which libidinal energy lies dormant and the primary focus is on the development of interests and skills through contact with childhood peers and teachers.

• Genital stage - final stage of psychosexual development, in which an attempt is made to conduct a mature love relationship with a member of the opposite sex.

– genital character - a mature, healthy individual who is sexually developed and capable of relating to members of the other sex.

Psychoanalytic Congress, September 1911

Post-classical Psychoanalysis

• Psychodynamic Approach – Perspective on human development based on Freudian ideas and characterized by a social analysis of parent-child interactions rather than a biological analysis of conflicts between parents and children during early childhood (e.g., conflicts during feeding, toilet-training).

• Dependent Personality Type – A psychodynamic approach to personality development in which individuals are predisposed to seek the guidance, support, and help of others, even when they are capable of functioning independently and meeting challenges on their own..

Post-classical Psychoanalysis

• Negative Characteristics

- inept socially under many circumstances

- prone to depression and suicide

- prone to obesity and eating disorders

- more likely to become alcoholics, cigarette smokers

• Positive Characteristics

- view others as friendly and approachable

- likely to ask teachers for guidance

- try to perform well to win approval of teachers and parents

- positive attitudes toward physicians and increased compliance with

doctor’s treatment prescriptions

Post-classical Psychoanalysis (cont.)

Goal in therapy is not to eliminate all forms of dependency. Rather it is to eliminate unhealthy dependence (behavior which is maladaptive and situationally-inappropriate) and to encourage healthy dependence (ability to ask for help and support from other people when it is situationally-appropriate).

Therapeutic Assessment Techniques

Free association - technique in which the therapist encourages patients to report, without restriction, any thoughts that occur to them.

• Dream analysis - procedure used to probe the unconscious through interpretation of the patient’s dreams.

• Transference - feelings presumed to have originally directed toward the parent(s) are now directed toward the therapist.

Evaluative Comments

• Comprehensiveness - highly comprehensive theory; extremely broad scope.

• Precision and Testability - not very precise and very difficult to test adequately.

• Parsimony - too simplistic and reductionistic

• Empirical Validity - support for the theory is mixed; empirical support for the theory of psychosexual development is satisfactory; for the theory of therapy, the support is not very good.

• Heuristic Value - very high; has generated and, in some quarters, continues to generate new theorizing and research.

• Applied Value - has very high applied value; used by investigators in many disciplines to understand personal development in the family.

CHAPTER 3

JUNG'S ANALYTICAL PSYCHOLOGY

Analytical Psychology

• A depth psychology that emphasizes the complex interplay between oppositional forces within the psyche and the ways in which these internal conflicts affect personality development.

Psyche

• Construct to represent all of the interacting systems within human personality that are needed to account for the mental life and behavior of the person.

Psyche (cont.)

• Libido - general life process energy (encompasses not only the sexual, but the creative and spiritual).

– Operation of the psyche

• principle of opposites - idea that the energy that propels personality and behavior is derived from the interplay between opposite forces within the psyche.

• principle of equivalence - idea that energy expended in one part of the psyche will be compensated for by an equal amount of energy in the same or different form in another part of the psyche.

• principle of entropy - idea that energy is automatically redistributed in the psyche in order to achieve equilibrium.

Psyche (cont.)

• Components of the Psyche:

– ego - force in the personality responsible for feelings of identity and continuity.

– personal unconscious - region that contains all of the personal experiences that have been blocked from awareness.

– collective unconscious - depository of instincts and archetypes that go beyond personal experience. These transpersonal experiences are the residue of human evolutionary development.

Psyche (cont.)

• archetypes - universal themes or symbols that can be activated by forces operating in the psyche.

– persona - role human beings play in order to meet the demands of others.

– shadow - inferior, evil, and repulsive side of human nature.

– anima - feminine archetype in men, including both positive and negative characteristics of the transpersonal female.

Psyche (archetypes cont.)

– animus - masculine archetype in women, including both positive and negative characteristics of the transpersonal male.

– self - an archetype that leads people to search for ways of maximizing the development of their multifaceted potentials.

• mandala - symbolic representation of the self; multifaceted, balanced, harmonious.

Theory of Psychological Types

• Fundamental attitudes

– extraversion - characterized by an outgoing and relatively confident approach to life.

– introversion - characterized by a retiring and reflective approach to life.

Theory of Psychological Types (Cont.)

• Functions

– rational - modes of making judgments or evaluations of events in the world. (thinking and feeling)

– irrational - Modes of apprehending the world without evaluating it. (sensation and intuition)

Theory of Psychological Types (Cont.)

• Typology: combines 2 attitudes and 4 functions:

– extraverted thinking type - characterized in a positive way by an ability to organize masses of facts into a coherent theory and in a negative way by a selfish and exploitative attitude toward others.

– introverted thinking type - characterized positively by imagination and an ability to think originally and boldly and negatively by social ineptness.

– extraverted feeling type - characterized positively by an acceptance of the standards of society and negatively by a change in emotions from situation to situation.

Theory of Psychological Types (Typology Cont.)

– introverted feeling type - characterized positively by intense feelings of sympathy for others who have experienced misfortune and negatively by shyness and inaccessibility.

– extraverted sensing type - characterized positively by an appreciation for the arts and negatively by crude pleasure seeking.

– introverted sensing type - characterized positively by the intensity of subjective sensations and negatively by oversensitivity and obtuseness.

– extraverted intuitive type - characterized positively by a quick grasp of the creative possibilities in various ventures and negatively by impatience and flightiness.

– introverted intuitive type - characterized positively by the ability to envision the future and negatively by an inability to communicate effectively with others.

Personality Development

• Self - realization - goal of development is the realization of one's potentials.

Therapeutic Assessment Techniques

• Dream Analysis - means of resolving current problems and pointing to directions for healthy development.

• Method of Amplification - technique in which the patient and analyst continue to reassess and reinterpret the same symbols in an attempt to broaden their understanding of them.

• Word Association Test - patients are presented with stimulus words and asked to give responses to them. Greater time latencies in responding are assumed to reflect the existence of underlying complexes.

• Painting Therapy - technique used to help patients clarify the various symbols seen in their dreams and increase their understanding of themselves.

Evaluative Comments

• Comprehensiveness - broad scope.

• Precision and testability - not very precise and very difficult to test adequately.

• Parsimony - too many concepts to explain phenomena in its domain economically.

• Empirical validity - some support for the theory of psychological types.

• Heuristic value - continues to generate interest in a variety of professional disciplines.

• Applied value - has high applied value; used by investigators in many disciplines to understand the complex functioning of humans.

CHAPTER 4

ADLER'S INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY

Individual Psychology

• Theory that seeks to understand the behavior of each person as a complex, organized entity operating within a society.

– Social Interest - innate tendency in human beings to help and cooperate with one another as a means of establishing a harmonious and productive society.

• feelings of inferiority and striving for superiority in accordance with social interest.

• feelings of inferiority and striving for superiority in a selfish, uncooperative way.

Personality Development

• Style of Life - individual’s distinctive personality pattern, which is basically shaped by the end of early childhood.

– destructive life styles

• ruling type - person who strives for personal superiority by trying to exploit and control others.

• getting type - person who attains personal goals by relying indiscriminately on others for help.

• avoiding type - person who lacks the confidence to confront problems and avoids or ignores them.

Personality Development (style of life cont.)

– constructive life styles

• socially useful type - person who actively and courageously confronts and solves his or her problems in accordance with social interest.

Personality Development (cont.)

• Creative Birth Order - how each child is treated by parents depends to a large extent on the child’s order of birth within the family.

– first borns - understand the importance of power, dominance, and intellectual achievement.

• confluence model (Zajonc) - support for Adler's views of first borns

Personality Development (birth order cont.)

– second borns (and later borns) - likely to be rebellious and highly competitive.

– youngest borns - family members tend to spoil them.

– only borns - likely to lack social competence.

• Falbo research suggests Adler was wrong about only borns.

– Inadequacies of Confluence Model (Steelman and Rodgers).

Therapeutic Assessment Techniques

• Early Recollections - earliest memories provide insights into life style.

• Birth Order Analysis - provides information about the unconscious lifestyle goals of the person.

• Dream Analysis - technique used to uncover unconscious goals in accordance

• with his or her life style

Evaluative Comments

• Comprehensiveness - broad scope.

• Precision and Testability - not very precise and very difficult to test adequately.

• Parsimony - too simplistic and reductionistic.

• Empirical Validity - weak support for most aspects of the theory.

• Heuristic Value - major contributions to existential psychology and psychiatry and on the Humanistic psychology movement.

• Applied Value - has high-applied value.

CHAPTER 5 HORNEY'S SOCIAL AND

CULTURAL PSYCHOANALYSIS

The Etiology of Neurosis in the Family

• Hypercompetitiveness - indiscriminate need to win at all costs in order to feel superior. Hypercompetitive parents tend to treat their children poorly, giving rise to neurosis.

– Personality correlates of hypercompetitiveness

• distrust of others

• low self-esteem

• exhibitionism

• narcissism

• constant need for attention, recognition, and approval

– hypercompetitiveness and Academic Success (at what price?)

The Etiology of Neurosis in the Family

• Poor treatment by parents creates basic anxiety - painful psychological state in which a person feels isolated and helpless in a potentially hostile world, leading to neurosis.– Neurotic Strategies to Cope with Basic Anxiety

• neurotic need for affection and approval• neurotic need for partner to control one's life• neurotic need to restrict one's activities• neurotic need for power• neurotic need to exploit others• neurotic need for social recognition and prestige• neurotic need for personal admiration• neurotic ambition for personal achievement• neurotic need for self-sufficiency and independence• neurotic need for perfection and unassailability

The Etiology of Neurosis in the Family

• Simplification of 10 neurotic strategies by recategorizing into 3 basic neurotic trends– compliant type - individuals who cope with feelings of basic

anxiety by indiscriminately seeking the approval and affection of others through excessive conformity. Such individuals move toward people, a trend that protects them against basic anxiety by self-effacement and obliteration.

– aggressive type - individuals who protect themselves against feelings of insecurity by exploiting others in order to feel superior. Such individuals adjust by moving against people, a trend that seeks to control basic anxiety through domination and exploitation of others.

– detached type - individuals who protect themselves by continual avoidance of others. Such individuals move away from people, a trend that protects the person against basic anxiety by utter detachment and extreme self-sufficiency.

The Etiology of Neurosis in the Family (cont.)

• Basic Conflict in Neurosis - turmoil created within neurotics because the three major trends are incompatible with one another.

Personality Development

• Horney's disagreement with Freud

– penis envy or status envy?

– feminists' criticisms of Horney

Personality Development (cont.)

• Horney's Humanistic View of Development - optimistic view of development that sees each person as having intrinsic and unique potential for constructive growth.

– actual self - the self as it is at the moment, including all of the person’s actual strengths and weaknesses.

– real self - unique set of potentials for constructive growth within each person.

Personality Development (cont.)

• Horney's Humanistic View of Development

– idealized self - defensive identification of neurotics with their idealized images.

• tyranny of the shoulds - moral imperatives that drive neurotics to accept nothing less than perfection from themselves.

• defenses to keep the idealized self intact

– blind spots - painful experiences are denied or ignored because they are at variance with the idealized self.

– compartmentalization - alleviation of tensions by separating beliefs and actions.

– rationalization - person wards off anxiety by offering plausible, but inaccurate, excuses for his or her conduct.

Personality Development (cont.)

• Horney's Humanistic View of Development (cont.)

– excessive control - person exercises willpower to keep emotional impulses under control.

– arbitrary rightness - conviction that one is always right.

– elusiveness - person refuses to take a position on anything so that he or she can never be proven wrong and criticized or ridiculed by others.

– cynicism - person claims to believe in nothing so that he or she cannot be hurt or disappointed by others.

– externalization - person experiences inner emotions externally and blames others for his or her own weaknesses.

Therapeutic Assessment Techniques

• Free Association

– interpretation different from Freud's

• Dream Analysis

– interpretation different from Freud's

• Growth of Real Self

Evaluative Comments

• Comprehensiveness - limited scope.

• Precision and Testability - not very precise and very difficult to test adequately.

• Parsimony - appropriately parsimonious.

• Empirical Validity - weak support for most aspects of the theory (probably not tested enough).

• Heuristic Value - major contributions to the development of humanistic psychology movement.

• Applied value - has high applied value, at least in therapy.