Chapter 14 - Personality

Personality STAGE )ral 12-34 months5 Anal 134-67 months5 Phallic 16-7 years5 An individuals characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting Four basic perspectives Psychoanalytic Trait Humanistic Social-cognitive From Freuds theory hich proposes that childhood se!uality and unconscious motivations influence personality Psychoanalysis Techni"ue of treating psychological disorders by seeking to e!pose and interpret unconscious tensions Freuds psychoanalytic theory of personality sought to e!plain hat he observed during psychoanalysis Free Association #ethod of e!ploring the unconscious Person rela!es and says hatever comes to mind, no matter ho trivial or embarrassing $nconscious Freud-a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, ishes% Feelings and memories &ontemporary-information processing of hich e are una are Preconscious- information that is not conscious, but is retrievable into conscious a areness '( A reservoir of unconscious psychic energy Strives to satisfy basic se!ual and aggressive drives )perates on the pleasure principle% (emanding immediate gratification S$P*+*,) The part of personality that presents internali-ed ideals Provides standards for .udgement and for future aspirations *,) The largely conscious, /e!ecutive0 part of personality #ediates among the demands of the id, superego and ego )perates on the reality principle, satisfying the ids desires in ays that ill realistically bring pleasure rather than pain Psychose!ual Stages- the childhood stages of development during hich the pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous -ones )edipus &omple!- a boys se!ual desires to ards his mother and feelings of .ealousy and hatred for the rival father Freuds Psychose!ual Stages FOCUS Pleasure centers on the mouth---sucking, biting, che ing Pleasure focuses on bo el and bladder elimination8 coping ith demands for control Pleasure -one in genitals8 coping ith incestuous se!ual feeling

The Psychoanalytic Perspective

Personality Structure

Personality Development

9atency 1 7 to puberty5 ,enital 1puberty on5 Personality Development

(ormant se!ual feelings #aturation of se!ual interests

'dentification- the process by hich children incorporate their parents values into their developing superegos ,ender 'dentity- ones sense of being male or female Fi!ation- a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychose!ual stage, here conflicts ere unresolved (efense #echanisms- the egos protective methods of reducing an!iety by unconsciously distorting reality +epression- the basic defense mechanism that banishes an!iety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness +egression- defense mechanism in hich an individual retreats, hen faced ith an!iety, to a more infantile psychose!ual stage here some psychic energy remains fi!ated +eaction Formation- defense mechanism by hich the ego unconsciously s itches unacceptable impulses into their opposites% People may e!press feelings that are the opposite of their an!iety-arousing unconscious feelings% Pro.ection- defense mechanism by hich people disguise their o n threatening impulses by attributing them to others +ationali-ation- defense mechanism that offers self-.ustifying e!planations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for ones actions (isplacement- defense mechanism that shifts se!ual or aggressive impulses to ard a more acceptable or less threatening ob.ect or person:as hen redirecting anger to ards a safer outlet Alfred Adler- importance of childhood social tension ;aren Horney- sought to balance Freuds masculine biases &arl <ung- emphasi-es collective unconscious:concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species history Pro.ective Test- a personality rest, such as the +orschach or TAT, that provided ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger pro.ection of ones inner dynamics Thematic Apperception Test 1TAT5- a pro.ective test in hich people e!press their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes +orschach 'nkblot Test- the most idely used pro.ective test, uses a set of 32 inkblots designed by Hermann +orschach to identify peoples inner feelings by analy-ing their interpretations of the blots%

De ense !echanisms

"eo-Freu#ians

Assessin$ The Unconscious

The Trait Perspective Trait- a characteristic pattern of behavior8 a disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports Personality 'nventory- a "uestionnaire 1often ith true-false or agree-disagree items5 on hich people respond to items designed to gauge a ide range of feelings and behaviors8 used to assess selected personality traits The /=ig Five0 personality Factors Description &alm versus an!ious

Trait Dimension *motional Stability Secure versus insecure

Self-satisfied versus self-pitying *!traversion Fun-loving versus sober Sociable versus retiring

Affectionate versus reserved )penness 'maginative versus practical Preference for variety versus preference for routine 'ndependent versus conforming *!traversion &onscientiousness Soft-hearted versus ruthless Trusting versus suspicious Helpful versus uncooperative )rgani-ed versus disorgani-ed &areful versus careless (isciplined versus impulsive

#innesota #ultiphasic Personality 'nventory 1##P'5 The most idely researched and clinically used of all personality tests )riginally developed to identify emotional disorders 1still considered its most appropriate use5 >o used for many other screening purposes *mpirically (erived Test- a test developed by testing a pool of items and then selecting those that discriminate bet een groups:similar to ##P' Situational influences on behavior are important to consider People can fake desirable responses on self-report measures of personality Averaging behavior across situations seems to indicate that people do have distinct personality traits Abraham #aslo 13?24-3?@25- studied self-actuali-ation processes of productive and healthy people Self-Actuali-ation- the ultimate psychological need that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved8 the motivation to fulfill ones potential &arl +ogers 13?2A-3?4@5- focused on gro th and fulfillment of individuals +e"uires three conditions 3% ,enuineness A% Acceptance- unconditional positive regard 6% *mpathy

Evaulatin$ The Trait Perspective

%umanistic Perspective

$nconditional Positive +egard- an attitude of total acceptance to ard another person Self-&oncept- all of our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in an ans er to the "uestion /Bho am '0C0 Self-*steem- ones feelings of high or lo self- orth Self-Serving =ias- a readiness to perceive oneself favorably 'ndividualism- giving priority to ones o n goals over group goals and defining ones identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications &ollectivism- giving priority to the goals of ones group 1often ones e!tended family or ork group5 and defining ones identity accordingly &oncepts like self-actuali-ation are vague *mphasis on self may promote self-indulgence and lack of concern for others Theory does not address reality of human capacity for evil Theory has impacted popular ideas on child rearing, education, management, etc% +eciprocal (eterminism- the interacting influences bet een personality and environmental factors Personal &ontrol- our sense of controlling our environments rather than feeling helpless *!ternal 9ocus of &ontrol- the perception that chance or outside forces beyond ones personal control determine ones fate

Evaluatin$ The %umanistic Perspective

Social-Co$nitive Perspecitve

'nternal 9ocus of &ontrol- the perception that one controls ones o n fate 9earned Helplessness- the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns hen unable to avoid repeated aversive events =uilt from research on learning and cognition Fails to consider unconscious motives and individual disposition Today, cognitive-behavioral theory is perhaps predominant psychological approach to e!plaining human behavior