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2
Understanding Personality
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Defining Personality 2
and Traits
Personality
Distinctive and relatively stable pattern/tendencies of
behaviors, thoughts, motives, and emotions that
characterizes a person throughout life
Trait
A characteristic of an individual, describing a habitual way of
behaving, thinking, and feeling
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Psychodynamic Theories 2
Theories that explain
behavior and personality
in terms of unconscious
energy dynamics within
the individual
Libido
Psychoanalysis
A theory of personality and a method
of psychotherapy originally formulated
by Sigmund Freud; emphasizes
Sigmund Freud
unconscious motives and conflicts (1856–1939).
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2
Freud’s theory is psycho-dynamic.
• 1. Emphasizes the movement of psychological energy/libido within the person
• 2. Adult behavior and problems determined primarily by early childhood
experiences
• 3. Psychological development occurs in fixed stages
• 4. Unconscious fantasies and symbols are main influences on personality and
behavior
• 5. Reliance on subjective methods of getting at the truth of a person’s life
ENERGY STRUCTURE PROCESS
FLOW/ STAGES
FIXATION
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The Structure of 2
Personality
Id
A reservoir of unconscious energy divided
into two drives:
1. the sexual instinct (fueled by the libido)
2. the death instinct
Ego
Referees between instinctive needs and
social demands
Helps to rein in the impulses of the id
Superego
Moral ideals, conscience, and social
standards
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Defense Mechanisms 2
Methods used by the ego to prevent
unconscious anxiety or threatening
thoughts from entering consciousness
Repression Regression
Projection Denial
Displacement
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Your Turn 2
Your math instructor caught you with the
textbook open during a test. Despite the
fact that you know he knows you were
cheating, you protest your innocence. This
defense mechanism is __________.
1. denial
2. reaction formation
3. regression
4. displacement
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Your Turn 2
Your math instructor caught you with the
textbook open during a test. Despite the
fact that you know he knows you were
cheating, you protest your innocence. This
defense mechanism is __________.
1. denial
2. reaction formation
3. regression
4. displacement
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Personality Development 2
Freud’s psychosexual stages, in which
sexual energy takes different forms or
changes foci as a child matures
[Link]-mouth-gratification
[Link]-toilet training-control
[Link]-Oedipus complex-morality and personality
[Link]- sleep
[Link]-sexuality
Fixation occurs when stages aren’t
resolved successfully.
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Jungian Theory 2
Collective unconscious
The universal memories, symbols, and experiences of the
human kind, represented in the symbols, stories, and images
(archetypes) that occur across all cultures
Some examples of archetypes:
• mandala
• the hero
• the nurturing Earth mother
• the powerful father
• the shadow
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The Object-Relations 2
School
Emphasizes the importance of the infant’s
first two years of life and the baby’s formative
relationships, especially with the mother
Points out the need for a child to learn the
difference between him/herself and others
Individuation-seperation
Departed from Freud’s ideas of the nature of
male and female development
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Evaluating 2
Psychodynamic Theories
Three scientific failings
Violating the principle of
falsifiability
Drawing universal principles
from the experiences of a few
atypical patients
Basing theories of personality
development on the
retrospective accounts of
adults
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THE MODERN STUDY OF
PERSONALITY
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Popular Personality Tests 2
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Popular in business, at motivational seminars, and with
matchmaking services
Assigns people to one of 16 different types, depending on how the
individual scores on the dimensions of introverted or extroverted,
logical or intuitive
Low reliability
Objective tests (inventories)
Standardized questionnaires requiring written responses: they
typically include scales on which people are asked to rate
themselves.
Produce a personality “profile”
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2
Personality TYPES vs Personality TRAITS
Trait
A characteristic of an individual, describing a
habitual way of behaving, thinking, and
feeling
sensation-seeking (the enjoyment of risk)
mood awareness (attention directed toward one's emotional states)
perfectionism (a striving for flawlessness).
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2
• Are some more important/central than
others?
• Do they cluster?
Gordon Allport
• 5-10 central traits that reflect a characteristic way of
behaving, dealing with others, and reacting to new
situations vs secondary traits that can change over time.
Raymond B. Cattell
Factor analysis
5 central «robust factors»
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The Big Five 2
1. Extroversion vs. introversion
2. Neuroticism vs. emotional stability
3. Agreeableness vs. antagonism
4. Conscientiousness vs. impulsiveness
5. Openness to experience vs. resistance
to new experience
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Which Is Correct?
2
John has a very messy dorm room,
is always late for class, and can
never find the notes he took in
lecture. Which of the following best
describes John’s personality?
A. Conscientious
B. Impulsive
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Which Is Correct?
2
John has a very messy dorm room,
is always late for class, and can
never find the notes he took in
lecture. Which of the following best
describes John’s personality?
A. Conscientious
B. Impulsive
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2
What Do You Think?
There are drastic changes in an
individual’s personality as he or
she progresses through the life
span.
[Link]
[Link]
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2
What Do You Think?
There are drastic changes in an
individual’s personality as he or
she progresses through the life
span.
[Link]
[Link]
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Consistency and Change
2
in Personality
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What Do You Think? 2
Dinah, a Russian Blue cat, is very shy
around strangers. Although she is
exceptionally snuggly with her owner,
she runs and hides any time she meets
a new person. It appears that Dinah
could best be described as an
introverted cat.
A. True
B. False
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What Do You Think? 2
Dinah, a Russian Blue cat, is very shy
around strangers. Although she is
exceptionally snuggly with her owner,
she runs and hides any time she meets
a new person. It appears that Dinah
could best be described as an
introverted cat.
A. True
B. False
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Influence of genetcis on Personality 2
• studying personality traits in other species,
• studying the temperaments of human
infants and children, and
• conducting heritability studies of twins and
adopted individuals.
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Biology and Animal Traits
2
It is evolutionarily adaptive for animals to vary in
their ways of responding to the world and those
around them.
Like humans, bears, dogs, pigs, hyenas, goats,
cats, and of course primates have distinctive,
characteristic ways of behaving that make them
different from others in their species.
Evidence has been found for most of the Big Five
factors in 64 different species, including the
squishy squid.
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Heredity and 2
Temperament
Temperaments
Physiological dispositions to respond to the environment in
certain ways
Present in infancy, assumed to be innate
Relatively stable over time
Includes
Reactivity
Soothability
Positive and negative emotionality
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What Do You Think? 2
Your father is highly anxious and
reactive. It is likely that your
personality will be exactly the
same as his.
A. True
B. False
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What Do You Think? 2
Your father is highly anxious and
reactive. It is likely that your
personality will be exactly the
same as his.
A. True
B. False
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Heredity and Traits 2
Twin Studies
Heritability
A statistical estimate of the proportion of the total variance in
some trait that is attributable to genetic differences among
individuals within a group
Heritability of personality traits is
about 50 percent.
Within a group of people, about 50 percent of the variation
associated with a given trait is attributable to genetic differences
among individuals in the group.
Genetic predisposition is not genetic
inevitability.
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Situations and Social 2
Learning
Reciprocal determinism: Two-way interaction
between aspects of the environment and aspects
of the individual in the shaping of personality traits
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Non-Shared 2
Environment
Unique aspects of a person’s environment
and experience that are not shared with
family members
Partially explains why siblings raised in the same home
would not have identical personalities: not every encounter
each sibling has is shared by the other(s).
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What Do You Think? 2
The primary influence on the
development of our personality is
our parents.
A. True
B. False
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What Do You Think? 2
The primary influence on the
development of our personality is
our parents.
A. True
B. False
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The Power of Parents 2
The shared environment of the home has little if
any influence on personality.
The non-shared environment is a more important influence.
Few parents have a single child-rearing style that
is consistent over time and that they use with all
their children.
Even when parents try to be consistent in how
they treat their children, there may be little
relation between what they do and how their
children turn out.
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The Power of Peers 2
JUMP START © 1999 Robb Armstrong. Reprinted by Permission of Universal Uclick for UFS. All rights reserved.
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Culture, Values, and 2
Traits
Culture
A program of shared rules that govern the behavior of
members of a community or society
A set of values, beliefs, and attitudes shared by most
members of that community
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Culture, Values, and
2
Traits
Individualist cultures
Cultures in which the self is regarded as autonomous,
and individual goals and wishes are prized above duty
and relations with others
Collectivist cultures
Cultures in which the self is regarded as embedded in
relationships, and harmony with one’s group is prized
above individual goals and wishes
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Culture and Traits
2
When culture is not appropriately considered,
people attribute unusual behavior to personality.
Timeliness and tardiness
In some cultures, time is seen as a linear construct; being
“on time” is seen as conscientious and thoughtful.
In other cultures, time is organized in a parallel fashion; the
idea of being “on time” as being more important than a
person is contradictory to the cultural norm.
How might this create a problem for a person from one culture
operating in a foreign cultural setting?
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Aggressiveness 2
An emphasis on aggressiveness and
vigilance in herding cultures creates a culture
of honor.
Used to explain increased likelihood of
fighting in the South and the West, versus the
North and Midwest
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Aggression and Cultures 2
of Honor
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Evaluating Cultural 2
Approaches
Cultural psychologists face the problem of how
to describe cultural influences on personality
without oversimplifying or stereotyping.
People vary according to their temperaments,
beliefs, and learning histories, and this variation
occurs within every culture.
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2
• Humanists….argued that it was time to
replace psychoanalysis and behaviorism
with a “third force” in psychology, one that
would draw a fuller picture of human
potential and personality.
• Psychologists who take a humanist
approach to personality emphasize our
uniquely human capacity to determine our
own actions and futures.
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Abraham Maslow 2
Humanistic psychology
An approach that emphasizes personal
growth, resilience, and the achievement of
human potential
Peak experiences
Rare moments of rapture caused by the
attainment of excellence or the experience of
beauty
Self-actualization
Striving for a life that is meaningful,
challenging, and satisfying
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Carl Rogers 2
Unconditional positive regard
Love and support given to another person with no
conditions attached
Conditional positive regard
When the love and support we get from others come
with strings attached: that is, to get these positive
messages, we must satisfy certain conditions or
“costs.”
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Rollo May 2
Shared with humanists the belief in free
will and freedom of choice but also
emphasized loneliness, anxiety, and
alienation
Existentialism
• The search for the meaning of life
• The need to confront death
• The necessity of taking responsibility for our own actions
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Evaluating Humanist 2
Approaches
Added balance to the study of personality
Hard to operationally define many of the
concepts
Encouraged others to focus on “positive
psychology”
Fostered new appreciation for resilience
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