personality
individual’s characteristic style of behaving, thinking, and feeling
Concept of personality is used to explain:
consistency and distinctiveness
consistency
the stability of a person’s behavior over time and across situations
distinctiveness
the behavioral differences among people reacting to the same situation
psychodynamic theories
posit that behavior is dynamic interaction between conscious and unconscious mind
humanistic approach
focus on inner capacities for growth and self-fulfillment
trait theories
examine characteristic patterns of behavior
social-cognitive theories
explore interaction between traits and social context
self-report
series of answers to a questionnaire that asks people to indicate the extent to which sets of statements or adjectives accurately describe their own behavior or mental state
MMPI-2-RF
well-researched clinical questionnaire used to assess personality and psychological problems
first published in 1940 — most widely used self-report tool for assessing personality. Broad applications across a range of mental health, medical, substance abuse, forensic, and personnel screening settings as a measure of psychological maladjustment
The Barnum Effect/Forer Effect
a cognitive bias that occurs when individuals believe that generic personality descriptions and statements apply to themselves
projective tests
assessments made up of ambiguous stimuli that can be perceived and responded to in many different ways
Popular among psychodynamically oriented psychologists (i.e. Rorschach Inkblot Test and Thematic Apperception Test (TAT))
traits
habitual ways of behaving, thinking, and feeling
Gordon Allport
one of the founders of Personality Psychology — 18,000 words to describe people
Cardinal, Central, Secondary traits
Met Freud in 1922 “psychoanalysis tends to dig too deeply”
Raymond Cattell
used factor analysis to identify clusters of behavior tendencies that occur together [16PF inventory]
Theory of Hans & Sybil Eysenck
Personality is largely governed by biology.
Focused on temperament
Personality is dependent on the balance between excitation and inhibition process of the autonomic nervous system (ANS)
Paul Costa & Robert McCrae
the primary developers of the five-factor model of personality traits
five-factor model
most popular theory in personality psychology today and most accurate approximation of the basic trait dimensions, [OCEAN]
Big Five
OCEAN
Openness
Conscientiousness
Extroversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
psychodynamic approach
regards personality as formed by needs, strivings, and desires largely operating outside of awareness—motives that can also produce emotional disorders; developed by Freud
Freud’s personality structure
a reservoir of feelings, thoughts, urges, and memories that exist outside of conscious awareness
Freud’s theory of the the mind’s three systems/structural entities
Id, ego, and superego
Id
operates on pleasure principle
pleasure principle
unconsciously strives to satisfy basic drives to survive, reproduce, and aggress
ego
operates on reality principle
reality principle
seeks to realistically gratify id’s impulses to bring long-term pleasure; contains perceptions, thoughts, judgments and memories [moderator/referee]
superego
focuses on ideal behavior; strives for perfections; acts as moral conscience [last system of personality to develop]
defense mechanisms
unconscious coping mechanisms that reduce anxiety generated by threats from unacceptable impulses
Freud’s six defense mechanisms
regression, reaction formation, projection, rationalization, displacement, and denial
repression
acts to keep information out of conscious awareness, memories don't disappear they continue to influence our behavior
sublimation
which unacceptable urges are transformed/channeled into more productive and acceptable behaviors
Freud’s psychosexual stages
idea that sexual energy takes different forms as the child matures
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 the genitals; coping with incestuous sexual feelings [ Oedipus / Electra Complex]
Latency (6 to puberty): phase of dormant sexual feelings
Genital (puberty on): maturation of sexual interests
fixation (according to Freud)
a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved
Neo-Freudian disagreements
Freud's emphasis on sexual urges as a primary motivator.
Freud's lack of emphasis on social and cultural influences on behavior and personality.
Freud's negative view of human nature.
Carl Jung’s theory
A person’s interior life merited not just attention, but dedicated exploration.
Psyche is a spiritual and fluid space. An ocean to be fished for enlightenment and healing.
Alfred Adler
believed that birth order had a significant and predictable impact on a child's personality, and their feeling of inferiority. All human behavior is goal oriented and motivated by striving for superiority [Individual Psychology]
Karen Horney
believed that neurosis resulted from basic anxiety caused by interpersonal relationships.Ideal self & despised self —’tyranny of the shoulds’[Neurotic Needs]
Carl Jung
believed that unconscious has two levels — personal and collective unconscious
collective unconscious reservoir of psychological predispositions, structures and memories
archetype
in Jung’s theory, shared motifs, symbols and themes were expressions of the various psychic structures consistent across humanity
humanistic psychology
psychological approach that emphasizes personal growth, resilience, and the achievement of human potential, launched in 1960s
Abraham Maslow
believed that personality development could be viewed as gradual progression toward self-actualization
self-actualization
defined by Maslow as person’s “full use and exploitation of talents, capacities, and potentialities” – he later added “self-transcendence” as top level
conditions of positive growth
genuineness, empathy, and acceptance
genuineness
open with feelings, transparent and self-disclosing
empathy
sharing and mirroring others’ feelings, relaxing and fully expressing one’s true self
acceptance
offering unconditional positive regard — an attitude of total acceptance toward another person
Carl Rogers
American psychologist and among the founders of the humanistic approach in psychology
self concept
a collection of beliefs about one’s own nature, unique qualities, and typical behavior
reciprocal determinism
two-way interaction between aspects of the environment and aspects of the individual in the shaping of personality traits
self-efficacy
refers to one’s belief about one’s ability to perform behaviors that should lead to expected outcomes
aspects of individual
temperament, learned habits, perceptions, and beliefs
aspects of situation
opportunities, rewards, punishments, and chance events
social-cognitive approach
Views personality in terms of how the person thinks about the situations encountered in daily life and behaves in response to them
Emphasizes a person’s perception of the environment
Brings together insights from
Social psychology
Cognitive psychology
Learning theory
person-situation controversy
Question of whether behavior is caused more by personality or by situational factors
The situation and learning history are key determinants of behavior but are open to interpretation; how people perceive their environments
Walter Mischel
psychologist who argued that personality traits do little to predict behavior