Personality. What is Personality? sPeople differ from each other in meaningful ways sPeople seem to show some consistency in behavior Personality is defined.

Personality

What is Personality?People differ from

each other in

meaningful ways

People seem to show some consistency in behavior

Personality is defined as distinctive and relatively enduring ways of thinking, feeling, and acting

Personality

• Personality refers to a person’s unique and relatively stable pattern of thoughts, feelings, and actions

• Personality is an interaction between biology and environment– Genetic studies suggest heritability of personality

– Other studies suggest learned components of personality

Four Theories of Personality

1. Trait

2. Psychoanalytic

3. Humanistic

4. Socio-Cognitive

The First Trait Theory

• Two Factor Trait Theory of Personality

UNSTABLE

STABLE

cholericmelancholic

phlegmatic sanguineINTROVERTED EXTRAVERTED

MoodyAnxious

RigidSober

PessimisticReservedUnsociable

Quiet

SociableOutgoing

TalkativeResponsiveEasygoingLively

CarefreeLeadership

PassiveCarefulThoughtful

Peaceful

ControlledReliableEven-tempered

Calm

TouchyRestlessAggressive

ExcitableChangeable

ImpulsiveOptimistic

Active

Personality Traits• Traits are relatively stable and consistent personal

characteristics• Trait personality theories suggest that a person can be

described on the basis of some number of personality traits– Allport identified some 4,500 traits

– Cattel used factor analysis to identify 30-35 basic traits

– Eysenck argued there are 3 distinct traits in personality• Extraversion/introversion

• Neuroticism

• Psychotocism

Allport

Overview of the Big “5”

Assessing Traits: An Example

• Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)– the most widely researched and clinically used of

all personality tests– developed to identify emotional disorders

MMPI: examples

• “Nothing in the newspaper interests me except the comics.”

• “I get angry sometimes.”

Evaluating Trait Theory• Trait theory, especially the Big 5 model, is able to

describe personality– Cross-cultural human studies find good agreement for the

Big 5 model in many cultures

– Appear to be highly correlated not only in adulthood, but also in childhood and even late preschoolers

– Three dimensions (extraversion, neuroticism and agreeableness) have cross-species generality

• Problems with trait theory include:– Lack of explanation as to WHY traits develop

– Issue of explaining transient versus long-lasting traits

Psychoanalytic Theory• Psychoanalytic theory, as devised by Freud,

attempts to explain personality on the basis of unconscious mental forces– Levels of consciousness: We are unaware of some

aspects of our mental states– Freud argued that personality is made up of

multiple structures, some of which are unconscious– Freud argued that as we have impulses that cause us

anxiety; our personality develops defense mechanisms to protect against anxiety

Freudian Theory

Levels of consciousness– Conscious

• What we’re aware of

– Preconscious• Memories etc. that can

be recalled

– Unconscious• Wishes, feelings,

impulses that lies beyond awareness

Structures of Personality– Id

• Operates according to the “pleasure principle”

– Ego• Operates according to

the “reality” principle

– Superego• Contains values and

ideals

Freudian Theory

Anxiety occurs when:– Impulses from the id threaten to get out of

control– The ego perceives danger from the environment

The ego deals with the problem through:– coping strategies– defense mechanisms

Defense Mechanisms

• Defense mechanisms refer to unconscious mental processes that protect the conscious person from developing anxiety– Sublimation: person channels energy from unacceptable

impulses to create socially acceptable accomplishments

– Denial: person refuses to recognize reality

– Projection: person attributes their own unacceptable impulses to others

– Repression: anxiety-evoking thoughts are pushed into the unconscious

Defense Mechanisms

• Rationalization: Substituting socially acceptable reasons• Intellectualization: Ignoring the emotional aspects of a

painful experience by focusing on abstract thoughts, words, or ideas

• Reaction formation: Refusing to acknowledge unacceptable urges, thoughts or feelings by exaggerating the opposite state

• Regression: Responding to a threatening situation in a way appropriate to an earlier age or level of development

• Displacement: Substituting a less threatening object for the original object of impulse

Assessing the Unconscious

• Projective Tests – used to assess personality (e.g., Rorschach or

TAT tests)– How? provides ambiguous stimuli and subject

projects his or her motives into the ambiguous stimuli

Assessing the Unconscious -- Rorschach

• Rorschach Inkblot Test – the most widely used

projective test– a set of 10 inkblots designed

by Hermann Rorschach

Rorschach

Assessing the Unconscious--Rorschach

used to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots

Assessing the Unconscious--TAT

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)• people express their inner motives through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes

PsychoanalyticNeo-Freudian

Alfred Adler– Humans are motivated by social interest– Takes social context into account– First Born

• Privileged until Dethroned

– Second Born• In shadow of 1st Born inferiority, restlessness

– Youngest• Pampered, dependent

– Only Child• Higher intellect, timid, passive, & withdrawn

PsychoanalyticNeo-Freudian

Carl Jung– A collective unconscious is represented

by universal archetypes

– Two forms of unconscious mind• Personal unconscious: unique for each person

• Collective unconscious: consists of primitive images and ideas that are universal for humans

Humanistic Theory

• Humanistic personality theories reject psychoanalytic notions– Humanistic theories view each person as

basically good and that people are striving for self-fulfillment

– Humanistic theory argues that people carry a perception of themselves and of the world

– The goal for a humanist is to develop/promote a positive self-concept

Humanistic PerspectivesCarl Rogers

– We have needs for:• Self-consistency (absence of conflict between self-

perceptions

• Congruence (consistency between self-perceptions and experience)

– Inconsistency evokes anxiety and threat

– People with low self-esteem generally have poor congruence between their self-concepts and life experiences.

▲Abraham Maslow emphasized the basic goodness of human nature and a natural tendency toward self-actualization.

Humanistic Perspectives

Social/Cognitive Perspective

• Proposed that each person has a unique personality because of our personal histories and interpretations shape our personalities

▲Albert Bandura’s social-cognitive approach focuses on self-efficacy and reciprocal determinism.

▲Julian Rotter’s locus of control theory emphasizes a person’s internal or external focus as a major determinant of personality.

Locus of Control (Rotter)

Internal locus of control– Life outcomes are under personal control– Positively correlated with self-esteem– Internals use more problem-focused coping

External locus of control– Luck, chance, and powerful others control

behavior