PERSONALITY

UNIT 10
1

WHO AM I?
10-15 words
2-3 personality flaws
Is your personality a result of Nature or
Nurture?
What is the meaning of an unconscious
mindits okay to guess! What do you
know about Sigmund Freud?
2

WHO AM I?
1. Introduce yourself to your group members
by reading your answers to Who Am I?
2. What were some common/uncommon
answers? Are you more alike or different?
3. Was it difficult to answer Who Am I?? If
yes, how might this relate to Eriksons
Social Development Theory?
4. Discuss the meaning of an unconscious
mindits okay to guess! What do you
know about Sigmund Freud?
5. Is your personality a result of Nature or
Nurture?

PERSONALITY
An individuals characteristic pattern of
thinking, feeling, and acting.

People differ from

each other in
meaningful ways

Each dwarf has

a distinct

People seem to show

some consistency in
behavior

SIGMUND FREUD (1856-1939)

Founder of psychoanalysis
Proposed the first complete
theory of personality
A persons thoughts and
behaviors emerge from
tension generated by
unconscious motives
unresolved childhood
conflicts.

PSYCHOANALYTIC PERSPECTIVE
In his clinical practice,
Freud encountered
patients suffering from
nervous disorders.
Their complaints could
not be explained in terms
of purely
physical/neurological
causes.
Sigmund Freud
(1856-1939)
6

PSYCHODYNAMIC PERSPECTIVE
With no apparent
physical causes, Freud
proposed a Theory of
Personality to explain the
troubles his patients
faced.
Freuds Personality
Theory included:
the unconscious mind
psychosexual stages
aggression/conflict7
defense mechanisms

PSYCHOANALYSIS
A therapeutic technique that attempts to
provide insight into ones thoughts and
actions
Does so by exposing and interpreting the
underlying unconscious motives and
conflicts
Free
Association

Dream
Analysis

FREE ASSOCIATION DEMO

Say the FIRST thing that comes to
your mind..

FREE ASSOCIATION
Method of exploring the unconscious
in which the person relaxes and says
whatever comes to mind, no matter
how trivial, painful, or embarrassing.
Once these memories
are retrieved and
released (treatment:
psychoanalysis) the
patient feels better.

ANALYSIS
DREAM
Another method
to analyze the
unconscious mind is through
interpreting dreams
Manifest content (remembered story
line)

Latent content (unconscious desires)

Freud believed dreams were the royal
road to the unconscious

11

FREUDS MODEL OF THE MIND

Mind is like an
iceberg
Mostly hidden
Below the surface
lies the

Unconscious Mind

Conscious Mind
The thoughts and
feelings one is
currently aware of

Region of the mind that

is a reservoir of mostly
unacceptable thoughts,
wishes, feelings, and
memories

Preconscious Mind
Region of the mind holding
information that is not
conscious but is retrievable
into conscious awareness
Holds thoughts and memories
not in ones current awareness
but can easily be retrieved

Once these
memories are
retrieved and
released the patient
feels better.

Figure 12.2 Freuds model of personality structure

PERSONALITY STRUCTURE
Personality develops as a
result of our efforts to
resolve conflicts
between
biological impulses (id)
social restraints
(superego)
15

PERSONALITY STRUCTURE:
ID, EGO AND SUPEREGO
The Id unconsciously strives to satisfy
basic sexual and aggressive drives,
operating on the pleasure principle,
demanding immediate gratification.
The superego provides standards for
judgment (the conscience) and for future
aspirations. Operates on the moral
principle.
The ego functions as the executive and
mediates the demands of the id and
superego. Operates on reality principle.
16

17

TO EAT THE COOKIE OR NOT TO EAT THE

COOKIE...THAT IS THE QUESTION
IDEat meeat the whole jarcookie
good
Superego Cookies are the devil. You are
going on a cruise in 5 days, Fatty Lard
Bucket!!
Ego Ok, you can eat just this ONE
cookie and savor every bite

18

AT THE MALL, YOU SEE A WALLET FULL

OF CASH ON THE GROUND

DISCUSS WITH YOUR GROUP.HOW

WOULD THE PARTS OF YOUR MIND ACT?
ID?
SUPEREGO?
EGO?

FREUDIAN SLIPS
A verbal or memory mistake that is believed to
be linked to the unconscious mind.
According to Freud, these errors reveal an
unconscious thought, belief, or wish
The term is popularly used today in a
humorous way when a person makes a speech
error.
Observers often suggest that the mistake
reveals some type of hidden emotion on the

FREUDIAN SLIP EXAMPLES

Calling a spouse by an exs name
Saying the wrong word
Misinterpreting a written or spoken word
A man who is on vacation sends his wife a
postcard that reads, Wish you were her!
He meant to say, here, but Freud would interpret
it as an admission to an affair

I accidentally said to my wife, I hate you. You

have ruined my life and I want a divorce! Of
course what I meant was, Pass the salt, dear

PLEASE ANSWER.
1. Explain a situation when your Id, Superego
& Ego were in action.
What did your Id drive you to do?
What did the Superego drive you to do?
How did the Ego respond?

2. How do you believe Freuds ideas were

viewed in his day?
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PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
Freud believed that
personality formed during the
first few years of life divided
into psychosexual stages.
During these stages the ids
pleasure-seeking energies
focus on pleasure sensitive
body areas called erogenous
zones.
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PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES
Freud divided the development of
personality into five psychosexual
stages.

24

PHALLIC STAGE
Erogenous Zone genitals
Unaware of connection between
desires and sexual organs

CONFLICT
Oedipus Complex: little boys
have a sexual desire for their
mom and hatred toward dad
oWHY??
oMad at dad because he gets
to
have sex with mom

PHALLIC STAGE (CONTINUED)

o Son begins to worry that dad will learn
of these sexual desires and develops
castration anxiety
o Therefore, little boys ultimately
identify with DAD if you cannot have
mom, try to be as similar to the person
who can

PHALLIC STAGE (CONTINUED)

Electra Complex: little girls have a sexual
desire for their dad and hatred toward mom
**Carl Jung proposed this ideaNOT Freud!
o WHY??
o Mad at mom for making them a female
the weaker sex
o Girls develop penis envy
oScience had not yet discovered that the
MALE chromosome actually determined
the sex of the baby
o Ultimately identify with MOM if you can not
have dad, try to be as similar to the person
who can

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.

28

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN EGO CANNOT

RECONCILE THE ID AND SUPEREGO??

Ego experiences unfocused anxiety

Ego protects itself by using DEFENSE
MECHANISMS: tactics that will reduce or
redirect anxiety by distorting reality.
29

REPRESSION
most IMPORTANT
defense
banishes anxiety
arousing thoughts,
feelings, and
memories from
consciousness

threatening material is
unavailable for recall

allows ego to only be

aware of safe feelings
likely to appear when
inhibitions are lowered
(sleeping, intoxicated)
Examples: victim of
sexual abuse; events
right after a death

EVALUATING/CRITICIZING
REPRESSION
Freud's psychoanalytic theory rests on the
repression of painful experiences into
the unconscious mind.
The majority of children, death camp
survivors, and battle-scarred veterans are
unable to repress painful experiences into their
unconscious mindtoo painful to repress.
High stress and associated stress
hormones
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ENHANCE memory

DENIAL
ego distorts reality
refuse to believe
a provable fact

Example:
Death, terminal
illness

REGRESSION
person returns to earlier, happier
time, but with less mature
behaviors
chosen by ego when you are faced with
a problem that is too overwhelming for
your adult coping mechanisms
Example:
Brittany Spears 2007 Meltdown
Woman sucks her thumb because she
is stressed out at work

SUBLIMATION
involves a person
engaging in some
behavior that will
compensate for
doing something
unacceptable- turn
something social
unacceptable into
something
acceptable

Example:
Football,
boxing, military,
spy, morgue
attendant

REACTION FORMATION
unconsciously switches unacceptable
impulses into their opposites
Opposite feelings are usually
overemphasized
Examples:
Saying you LOVE a meal, even though it
makes you gag!
Regina, I love your skirt, where did you get
it?that is the ugliest ***** skirt Ive ever
seen!
Experiencing extreme sexual desires,

but preaching purity

PROJECTION
a persons own unacceptable impulses
are inhibited and then you attribute
those feelings to another
point out your own faults in someone
else
Examples:
Accusing others of spreading rumors
when you are the gossip girl/boy
The individual who likes to have others
do things for him/her criticizes others
for being dependent
The pot calling the kettle black

DISPLACEMENT
ego shifts aggression from an
actual source to one not
associated with initial aggression
redirecting anger to something
or someone that is easy

Examples:
Boss yelling at dad leads to dad
yelling at son
Mom punishing her son causes him
to kick the family dog

RATIONALIZATION
self-justifying explanations of real, more
threatening, unconscious reasons for ones
actions
an attempt to make your behavior seem
logical
everyone does this OFTEN
Example:
Its not like I actually liked him anyways
(getting dumped)
Im drinking to be sociable (alcohol
consumption)
It was their time to go (death)

Table 12.1 Defense Mechanisms, with Examples

WHAT IS YOUR PERSONALITY?

Find an area on your packet

Draw a pig in 2 minutes
What will your pig say about
you?
The pig serves as a useful test of
the personality traits of the
drawer.

IF THE PIG IS DRAWN:

Toward the top of the paper, you are positive and optimistic.
Toward the middle, you are a realist.
Toward the bottom, you are pessimistic, and have a tendency to
behave negatively.
Facing left, you believe in tradition, are friendly, remember dates (bdays, etc.)
Facing right, you are innovative and active, but don't have a strong
sense of family, nor do you remember dates.
Facing front (looking at you), you are direct, enjoy playing devil's
advocate and neither fear nor avoid discussions.
With many details, you are analytical, cautious, and distrustful.
With few details, you are emotional and naive, you care little for
details and are a risk-taker.
With less than 4 legs showing, you are insecure or are living through a
period of major change.
With 4 legs showing, you are secure, stubborn, and stick to your
ideals.
The size of the ears indicates how good a listener you are.

WHO WERE THE NEO-FREUDIANS?

Pioneering psychoanalysts who accepted

Freuds basic ideas
Personality Structures (id, ego, superego)
Importance of unconscious mind
Shaping of personality in childhood

Dynamics of anxiety and defense mechanisms

Disagreed with Freud because they
placed more emphasis on CONCIOUS minds
role in interpreting experience and coping with
environment
Doubted that sex and aggression were allconsuming motivations
Emphasized loftier motives and social

42

NEO-FREUDIANS: ALFRED ADLER

Like Freud, Adler
believed in childhood
tensions.
These tensions were
social in nature and
NOT sexual.
A child struggles with an
inferiority complex
during growth and
strives for superiority
and power.

Alfred Adler (1870-1937)

43

ALFRED ADLER CONTINUED

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

NEO-FREUDIANS:
KAREN
HORNEY

Like Adler, Horney

(pronounced Horneye ) believed in
the social aspects of
childhood growth and
development.

She countered Freuds

assumption that
women have weak
superegos and suffer
from penis envy.

Karen Horney (1885-1952)

45

NEO-FREUDIANS:
CARL JUNG
Jung believed in the
collective unconscious,
which contained a
common reservoir of
images derived from our
species past.
This is why many
cultures share certain
myths and images such
as the mother being a
symbol of nurturance.

Carl Jung (1875-1961)

46

ASSESSING THE UNCONSCIOUS

Evaluating personality from an
unconscious minds perspective would
require a psychological instrument
(projective tests) that would reveal the
hidden unconscious mind.
You PROJECT yourself/your thoughts into
the drawing/ink blot
LETS TRY IT!!
47

THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST

(TAT)

Developed by Henry Murray, the

TAT is a projective test in which
people express their inner feelings
and interests through the stories
they make up about ambiguous
scenes.

48

RORSCHACH INKBLOT TEST

The most widely used projective test
uses a set of 10 inkblots and was
designed by Hermann Rorschach.
It seeks to identify peoples inner
feelings by analyzing their
interpretations of the blots.

52

PROJECTIVE TEST:
CRITICISMS
Critics argue that projective tests lack both
reliability (consistency of results) and
validity (predicting what it is supposed to)

1. Reliability Issue: When evaluating

the same patient, even trained raters
come up with different interpretations.
2. Validity Issue: Projective tests may
misdiagnose a normal individual as
pathological.

63

EVALUATING THE PSYCHOANALYTIC

PERSPECTIVE
The scientific merits of Freuds
theory have been criticized.
Psychoanalysis is barely testable.
Lacks experimental/scientific proof!

Most of its concepts arise out of

clinical practice, which are the
after-the-fact explanations (does
not PREDICT).
64

EVALUATING THE PSYCHOANALYTIC

PERSPECTIVE

Modern Research has found

1. Personality develops throughout life
and is NOT fixed in childhood.
2. Freud underemphasized peer influence
on the individual, which may be as
powerful as parental influence.
3. Gender identity may develop before 56 years of age.
65

EVALUATING THE PSYCHOANALYTIC

PERSPECTIVE
Modern Research has found
4. There may be other reasons for
dreams besides wish fulfillment.
5. Verbal slips can be explained on the
basis of cognitive processing of verbal
choices.
6. Suppressed sexuality leads to
psychological disorders. Sexual
inhibition has decreased, but
psychological disorders have not.

66

PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT!
Describe yourself as you actually are (real).
What are you like?
Responsibilities
Interests
ANYTHING ABOUT YOU!
Describe yourself as you would like to be (ideal).
Who would you like to be?
What would you like to do?
FANTASY FOR LIFE?
67

HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE
By the 1960s, psychologists became
discontent with Freuds negativity and the
mechanistic psychology of the
behaviorists.

Abraham Maslow
(1908-1970)

Carl Rogers
(1902-1987)

68

HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE
Humanistic psychologists focus on healthy
people
Focused on the whole self rather than
individual traits
Focused on seeing the world through the
persons (not researchers) eyes
Abraham Maslows Self Actualizing Person
Personality is based on INTERNAL motivation
Hierarchy of Needs

69

SELF-ACTUALIZING PERSON
Maslow proposed that we as individuals are
motivated by a hierarchy of needs.
Beginning with physiological needs, we try to reach
the state of self-actualizationfulfilling our
potential.

70

Where do
you believe
you fall on
Maslows
Hierarchy
of needs?

Figure 12.12 Maslows view of the healthy personality

ROGERS PERSON-CENTERED
PERSPECTIVE
Carl Rogers:
Agreed with Maslows ideas people are basically
good and driven to self actualize UNLESS inhibited
by environment
People nurture our growth in three ways:
1. Genuineness
2. Acceptance
3. Empathy
Unconditional Positive Regard: attitude of total
acceptance toward another person, regardless of
faults (2014 AP essay topic)
Provide an example of someone showing you

unconditional positive regard in your life.

72

ASSESSING THE SELF

In an effort to assess personality,
Rogers asked people to describe
themselves as they would like to be
(ideal) and as they actually are
(real).
If the two descriptions were close
All of our
and
feelings
the individual
hadthoughts
a positive
selfabout ourselves, in an answer to
concept.
the question, Who am I? refers
to Self-Concept.

73

Figure 12.9 Rogerss view of personality structure

HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVES
Carl 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.

EVALUATING THE HUMANISTIC

PERSPECTIVE
Humanistic psychology has a pervasive
impact on counseling, education, childrearing, and management with its
emphasis on
Positive self-concept
Empathy
The thought that people are basically
good and can improve.

76

CRITICISM OF HUMANISTIC
1. Concepts in humanistic psychology are
vague and subjective and lack
scientific basis.
2. The individualism encouraged can lead
to self-indulgence, selfishness, and
an erosion of moral restraints.
3. Humanistic psychology fails to
appreciate the reality of our human
capacity for evil. It lacks adequate
balance between realistic optimism
and despair.

77

DEAD POETS SOCIETY

Was Neils self-concept more positive or
negative?
More congruent or incongruent?
Identify one example as evidence.

2:50-4:30
78

WHO AM I? (10-15 WORDS AT

LEAST)

Look back at your list.

How many words are actually
personality traits?
79

THE TRAIT PERSPECTIVE

An individuals unique constellation of
durable dispositions and consistent ways
of behaving (traits) constitutes his or her
personality.
Examples of Traits
Honest
Dependable
Moody
Impulsive

80

PERSONALITY TRAITS
Traits--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 2 distinct traits in
personality
Extraversion/introversion
Emotional stability/emotional instability

FACTOR ANALYSIS
Hans and Sybil Eysenck suggested that personality
could be reduced down to two polar dimensions:

extraversion-introversion
emotional stability-instability.

82

THE
BIG FIVE FACTORS
Todays trait researchers believe that earlier
trait dimensions, such as Eysencks
personality dimensions, fail to tell the whole
story.
An expanded range (five factors) of traits
does a better job of assessment.
Costa and McRae created the BIG FIVE

Openness

Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism

8
3

ENDPOINTS

84

THE BIG FIVE AND CLINICAL

DISORDERS
Anxiety or Depression:
Low score on extraversion
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
High score on conscientiousness
Bulimia
High score on neuroticism
Drug Abusers
High score on openness
Willing to try new things!
Sex Offenders
High score on agreeableness
Helps them to lure victims through manipulation

85

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE BIG 5

1. How stable are these
traits?

Quite stable in adulthood.

However, they change over
development.

2. How heritable are

they?

Fifty percent or so for each

trait.

3. Are they found in

other cultures?

These traits are common

across cultures.
86

BIOLOGY AND PERSONALITY

Personality dimensions are influenced by
genes.
1. Brain-imaging procedures show that
extraverts seek stimulation because
their normal brain arousal is relatively
low.
2. Genes also influence our temperament
and behavioral style. Differences in
childrens shyness and inhibition may be
attributed to autonomic nervous system

87

ASSESSING TRAITS
Personality inventories are
questionnaires (often with truefalse or agree-disagree items)
Designed to gauge a wide range
of feelings and behaviors
assessing several traits at once.

88

MMPI

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality

Inventory (MMPI) is the most widely researched
and clinically used of all personality tests.
It was originally developed to identify emotional
disorders.

The MMPI was developed by empirically

testing a pool of items and then selecting
those that discriminated between
diagnostic groups.

89

MMPI TEST PROFILE

90

EVALUATING THE TRAIT

PERSPECTIVE
The Person-Situation Controversy
Walter Mischel (1968, 1984, 2004):
points out that traits may be enduring, but
the resulting behavior in various situations is
different.
Think of trait expressed on Saturday night with
friends vs. same trait expressed at work
Conscientiousness: turn in work on time vs. be on
time.could be very different
Therefore, traits are not good predictors of behavior .

91

THE PERSON SITUATION

CONTROVERSY

Trait theorists argue that behaviors from

a situation may be different, but
average behavior remains the same.
Therefore, traits matter.

92

THE PERSON SITUATION

CONTROVERSY

Traits are socially significant and

influence our health, thinking, and
performance
(Gosling et al.,
2000).

93

Samuel Gosling

John Langford Photography

What can you tell about

his personality from his
room? From his stance?

CONSISTENCY OF EXPRESSIVE
STYLE

Expressive styles in speaking and

gestures demonstrate trait
consistency.

Observers are able to

judge peoples
behavior and feelings
in as little as 30
seconds and in one
particular case as little
as 2 seconds.

94

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

SOCIAL COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE

Bandura (1986,
2001, 2005)
believes that
personality is the
result of an
interaction that
takes place
between a person
and their social
context.

Albert Bandura

96

SELF EFFICACY (BANDURA,

Your belief in1993)
your ability to perform behaviors that
should lead to expected outcomes

High Self Efficacy CONFIDENT you can

achieve goals
I know that if I work hard and study every
night, I will earn straight As!
Low Self Efficacy UNCONFIDENT and you
may not try to obtain goals
No matter what I do, I cant lose those last
10lbs to look great!

Self Efficacy EMPOWERS you!!!

97

RECIPROCAL DETERMINISM
Specific ways in which individuals and
environments interact
Different people choose
different environments.
Our personalities shape
how we react to events.
Our personalities shape
situations.

The school you attend and

the music you listen to are
partly based on your
dispositions.
Anxious people react to
situations differently than
relaxed people.
How we view and treat
people influences how they
98
treat us.

ASSESSING BEHAVIORS IN
SITUATIONS
Social-cognitive psychologists observe people
in realistic and simulated situations because
they find that it is the best way to predict
the behavior of others in similar situations.

99

IMAGINE YOUR HARDEST

CLASS.
You just failed a test in that class!!!
Write 2-3 reasons why this happened.

10
0

PERSONAL CONTROL JULIAN

ROTTER
Social-cognitive psychologists emphasize
our sense of personal control, whether
we control the environment or the
environment controls us.
External locus of control refers to the
perception that chance or outside forces
beyond our personal control determine our fate.

Internal locus of control refers to the

perception that we can control our own
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1

LEARNED HELPLESSNESS
When unable to avoid repeated adverse
events an animal or human learns
helplessness.

10
2

EVALUATING THE SOCIAL COGNITIVE

PERSPECTIVE
The social-cognitive perspective on
personality focus: the effect of
situations on individuals
builds on learning and cognition
research.

Critics say that social-cognitive psychologists pay...

a lot of attention to the situation
less attention to the individual, his
unconscious mind, his emotions, and his
genetics.

10
3

OPTIMISM VS. PESSIMISM

An optimistic or pessimistic
attributional style is your way of
explaining positive or negative
events.
Positive psychology
aims to discover
and promote
conditions that
enable individuals
and communities to
thrive.

10
4

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
Positive psychology, such as humanistic
psychology, attempts to foster human
fulfillment.
Positive psychology, in addition, seeks
positive subjective well-being
positive character
positive social groups
Martin Seligman
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5

EXPLORING THE SELF

Research on the self has a long history because
the self is a critical part of our personality; it
organizes
Thinking
Feelings
Actions
1.

2.

Research focuses on the different selves we

possess. Some we dream and others we
dread.
Research studies how we overestimate our
concern that others evaluate our
appearance, performance, and blunders
(spotlight effect).
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6

CULTURE AND SELF ESTEEM

People maintain their self-esteem, even with a low

status by
valuing things they achieve

10
7

comparing themselves to people with similar

THESE COUNTRIES ARE THE

MOST
INDIVIDUALIST

COLLECTIVIST

1.United States

1.Hong Kong

2.Australia

2.Chile

3.Great Britain

3.Singapore

4.Canada

4.Thailand

5.Netherlands

5.El Salvador

6.New Zealand

6.South Korea
10
8

SELF
SERVING
BIAS for good deeds
We accept
responsibility
and successes more than for bad deeds
and failures.

Defensive self-esteem is fragile

and egotistic
Secure self-esteem is less fragile
and less dependent on external

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9

BEHAVIOR
Behavior emerges from an interplay of
external and internal influences.

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