Chapter 13: Self and

Personality

Lecture PowerPoint Slides

Psychology in Your Life, 4th edition

© 2022 by W. W. Norton & Company
Chapter 13 Overview: Big Questions
• How Do You Know Yourself?
• How Can You Understand Personality?
• How Does Biology Affect Personality?
• How Can Personality Be Assessed?
Chapter 13 Overview: Study Units
• 13.1 Your Self-Concept Is What You Know and Believe About Yourself
• 13.2 People Differ in How They Value Themselves
• 13.3 You Try to Create a Positive Sense of Self
• 13.4 Your Sense of Self Is Influenced by Cultural Factors
• 13.5 Psychodynamic Theory Emphasizes Unconscious Conflicts
• 13.6 Humanistic Approaches Emphasize Goodness in People
• 13.7 Social Cognitive Approaches Focus on How Thoughts Shape Personality
• 13.8 Trait Approaches Describe Characteristics
• 13.9 Using Psychology in Your Life: Do Personalities Matter in Roommate
Relationships?
• 13.10 Personality Has a Biological Basis
• 13.11 Personality Is Influenced by Genes
• 13.12 Temperament Is Innate
• 13.13 Personality Stability Is Influenced by Biology and Situation
• 13.14 Several Methods Are Used to Assess Personality
• 13.15 Behavior Is Influenced by Personality and Situation
How Do You Know Yourself?
13.1 Your Self-Concept Is What You Know and Believe About Yourself
13.2 People Differ in How They Value Themselves
13.3 You Try to Create a Positive Sense of Self
13.4 Your Sense of Self Is Influenced by Cultural Factors
13.1 Your Self-Concept Is What You Know and Believe About
Yourself (1)
Personality
• A person’s typical thoughts, emotional responses, and
behaviors that are relatively stable over time and
across circumstances
13.1 Your Self-Concept Is What You Know and Believe About
Yourself (2)
Self-concept
• Everything an individual thinks, believes, and feels about
him/herself
• It includes an individual’s physical body and conscious
awareness of being unique and separate from others
• For college students, the sense of self typically includes
o Age
o Student status
o Interpersonal style (e.g., shy, friendly)
o Personal characteristics (e.g., moody, optimistic)
o Body image (e.g., positive, negative)
13.1 Your Self-Concept Is What You Know and Believe About
Yourself (3)
Your sense of self includes your
self-schema
• Self-schema: an integrated
set of memories, beliefs,
and generalizations about the
self
o Researchers typically
observe activity in the
middle of the frontal lobes of
the brain when
people process information
about themselves
13.1 Your Self-Concept Is What You Know and Believe About
Yourself (4)
Working self-concept shows that
your sense of self can vary
• Working self-concept: the
immediate experience of the
self in the here and now
o Research respondents are
especially likely to mention
features such as ethnicity,
gender, or age if they differ in
these respects from other
people around them at that
moment
13.2 People Differ in How They Value Themselves (1)
Self-esteem: How you feel about your sense of self
• Many theories propose that self-esteem is based on
how we believe others perceive us
o This view is known as reflected appraisal
13.2 People Differ in How They Value Themselves (2)
Self-esteem: How you feel about your sense of self
• Many theories propose that self-esteem is based on
how we believe others perceive us, this view is
known as reflected appraisal

• Self-compassion refers to treating oneself with care,

acceptance, and kindness during difficult times; it
was found was a good predictor of better mental
health during the first year of college (Kroshus et al.,
2021)
13.2 People Differ in How They Value Themselves (3)
Self-esteem and life outcomes
• Evidence from psychology indicates that self-esteem
may be less important than is commonly believed
o A review of several hundred studies found
that although people with high self-esteem
report being much happier than others, self-
esteem is weakly related to objective life
outcomes (Baumeister, Campbell, Krueger, &
Vohs, 2033, 2005)
13.2 People Differ in How They Value Themselves (4)
Self-esteem and life outcomes
• Even though we might
encourage children to have
high self-esteem, there is a
tendency for self-esteem to fall
during adolescence and be at
its lowest for people,
especially young women, aged
18 to 22 years
13.2 People Differ in How They Value Themselves (5)
Narcissists have inflated self-esteem
• An analysis of many studies found
increasing narcissism among American college
students between 1979 and 2006
• People tend to become less narcissistic as they
approach middle age
13.2 People Differ in How They Value Themselves (6)
Dark triad
• Describe three negative
personality traits including
narcissism, psychopathy, and
Machiavellianism
o Psychopathy revolves around a
general lack of caring for the
welfare of others
o Machiavellianism describes
traits of those who manipulate
others for their own gain and
who lack conventional morality
13.3 You Try to Create a Positive Sense of Self (1)
Better-than-average effect
• Statistically, it is impossible
for everyone to be above
average
• People with high self-esteem
are especially likely to exhibit
this effect
13.3 You Try to Create a Positive Sense of Self (2)
Most people have positive illusions about the sense of
self
• According to research, most people have positive
illusions—that is, overly favorable and unrealistic
beliefs—in at least three areas:
1. They continually experience the better-than-
average effect
2. They have unrealistic beliefs about how much
they can control events
3. They are unrealistically optimistic about
their personal future
13.3 You Try to Create a Positive Sense of Self (3)
Social comparisons affect the sense of self
• Downward comparisons: comparing oneself with
another person who is seen as less competent or in a
worse situation, which tends to protect a person’s
high self-esteem; makes a person feels good with
increased self-esteem
o Temporal comparison: in which people view their
current selves as better than their former selves
• Upward comparisons: comparing oneself
with another person who is seen as more competent
or in a better situation, which tends to confirm a
person’s low self-esteem and thus feel bad about self
13.3 You Try to Create a Positive Sense of Self (4)
13.3 You Try to Create a Positive Sense of Self (5)
The self-serving bias supports a positive sense
• Self-serving bias: The tendency for people to take
personal credit for success but blame failure on
external factors
o For instance, students who do extremely well
on exams often explain their performance by
referring to their skills or hard work
o Those who do poorly might describe the test as
an arbitrary examination of trivial details
13.4 Your Sense of Self Is Influenced by Cultural Factors (1)
Collectivist and individualist cultures emphasize
different senses of self
• Collectivist cultures emphasize connections to
family, social groups, and ethnic groups, and
conformity to societal norms
o Include Japan, Greece, Pakistan, China, and
some regions of Africa
• Individualist cultures emphasize rights
and freedoms, self-expression, and diversity
o Include northern and western Europe, Australia,
Canada, New Zealand, and the United States
13.4 Your Sense of Self Is Influenced by Cultural Factors (2)
How Can You Understand Personality?
13.5 Psychodynamic Theory Emphasizes Unconscious Conflicts
13.6 Humanistic Approaches Emphasize Goodness in People
13.7 Social Cognitive Approaches Focus on How Thoughts Shape Personality
13.8 Trait Approaches Describe Characteristics
13.9 Using Psychology in Your Life: Do Personalities Matter in Roommate
Relationships?
13.5 Psychodynamic Theory Emphasizes Unconscious
Conflicts (1)
Approach Description Example

Psychodynamic theory Personality is based on unconscious wishes that create Freud's psychodynamic theory: Unconscious forces—such
conflict between the id, ego, and superego. as wishes, desires, and hidden memories—determine
behavior and influence personality. According to Freud,
unique interactions among the id, superego, and ego
produce individual differences in personality.

Humanistic approaches Personality is based on the tendency to fulfill potential Roger's person-centered approach: You always tell your
through personal growth. children that you love them even if you disapprove of
some of their actions. According to Rogers, by expressing
unconditional positive regard for your children, you are
helping them reach their full potential for growth.

Social cognitive approaches Personality is based on how a person thinks. Rotter's expectancy theory: You know that if you work
hard in college, you will get high grades, which will
ultimately help you get a good job. According to Rotter,
you have an internal locus of control.
Bandura's reciprocal determinism: According to Bandura,
personality factors always interact with the situation, and
this interaction produces behavior. Three factors influence
how you act: your current environment, multiple person
factors (such as self-confidence), and how your behavior
affects your current environment.

Trait approaches Personality can be described by the individual's Eysenck's trait theory: You are very introverted and
characteristics. somewhat emotionally unstable. According to Eysenck,
you could be described as moody. However, you also show
moderate constraint, so you are able to control your
moodiness.
Five-factor theory: Your friends describe you as very
dependable and very shy. According to the five-factor
theory, you are highly conscientious and very introverted.
13.5 Psychodynamic Theory Emphasizes Unconscious
Conflicts (2)
Freud believed hidden motives
influenced personality
• The conscious level of our
mental activity consists of the
thoughts that we are aware of
• The preconscious level consists
of content that is not currently
in our awareness but
that could be brought to
awareness
• The unconscious level contains
material that the mind cannot
13.5 Psychodynamic Theory Emphasizes Unconscious
Conflicts (3)
1. Id: in psychodynamic theory, the component of personality that is
completely submerged in the unconscious and operates according
to the pleasure principle
• Freud called the force that drives the pleasure principle the
libido. Today, the term has a specifically sexual connotation
2. Superego: in psychodynamic theory, the component of
personality that reflects the internalization of societal and
parental standards of conduct
• It is a rigid structure of morality, or conscience
3. Ego: in psychodynamic theory, the component of personality that
tries to satisfy the wishes of the id while being responsive to the
superego
• The ego operates according to the reality principle, which
involves rational thought and problem solving
13.5 Psychodynamic Theory Emphasizes Unconscious
Conflicts (4)
13.5 Psychodynamic Theory Emphasizes Unconscious
Conflicts (5)
Conflicts between the id and the superego lead to
anxiety. The ego then copes with the anxiety through
various defense mechanisms.
• Defense mechanisms: in psychodynamic theory,
unconscious mental strategies that the mind uses to
protect itself from distress; for instance, rationalize
your behavior by blaming the situation
13.5 Psychodynamic Theory Emphasizes Unconscious
Conflicts (6)

Mechanism Definition Example

Denial Refusing to acknowledge source of anxiety Tanya has been diagnosed with cancer but
refuses to get treatment, saying her
symptoms are caused by something other
than cancer.
Repression Excluding source of anxiety from awareness Louis cannot remember the night that he
was mugged at gunpoint.
Projection Attributing unacceptable qualities of the self Emily is very competitive but accuses others
to someone else of being super-competitive.
Reaction formation Warding off an uncomfortable thought by Simon is attracted to a person of the same
overemphasizing its opposite sex but bullies that person for being gay.
Rationalization Creating a seemingly logical reason or Pamela drives after drinking alcohol because
excuse for behavior that might otherwise be "everyone does it."
shameful
Displacement Shifting the attention of emotion from one Franklin has a terrible day at work with his
object to another, easier target boss and then goes home and yells at his
children.
Sublimation Channeling socially unacceptable impulses Lakisha has an eating disorder and becomes
into constructive, even admirable, behavior a nutritionist who works with people who
are trying to lose weight.
13.5 Psychodynamic Theory Emphasizes Unconscious
Conflicts (7)
Psychodynamic theory today
• Contemporary neo-Freudians focus on
social interactions
o According to object relations theory, our mind
and sense of self develop in relation to others
(“objects”) in our environment, and how we
relate to these others shapes our personality
• Because Freud’s central premises cannot
be examined through accepted scientific
methods, psychologists have largely
abandoned psychodynamic theories
13.6 Humanistic Approaches Emphasize Goodness in People (1)
Humanistic approaches
• Ways of studying personality that emphasize self-
actualization, where people seek to fulfill their potential
through greater self-understanding
o Carl Rogers introduced a person-centered approach to
understanding personality and human relationships
o Rogers’s theory the importance of people’s treatment
by others in influencing personality and sense of self
o Research has provided support for Rogers’s theory
13.6 Humanistic Approaches Emphasize Goodness in People (2)
Personality is shaped by the
evaluations of others
• Conditions of worth
• Unconditional positive regard
13.7 Social Cognitive Approaches Focus on How Thoughts
Shape Personality (1)
Social cognitive approaches
• Ways of studying personality that recognize the
influence of how people think

Expectancy theory explains how personality is learned.

• According to Rotter’s expectancy theory, our behaviors
are part of our personality
• They result from how we think about two things:
o Our expectancies for reinforcement
o The values we ascribe to particular reinforcers
13.7 Social Cognitive Approaches Focus on How Thoughts
Shape Personality (2)
• Rotter proposed that
personalities are based on
locus of control
o Locus of control refers to
people’s perception of
whether they control the
rewards and punishments
they experience (internal
locus of control) or not
(external locus of control)
13.7 Social Cognitive Approaches Focus on How Thoughts
Shape Personality (3)
13.7 Social Cognitive Approaches Focus on How Thoughts
Shape Personality (4)
Reciprocal determinism explains personality based on three
factors
• Albert Bandura argued that three factors influence how a
person acts:
1. Person’s environment
2. Person factors, which include the
person’s characteristics, self-confidence, and
expectations
3. Behavior itself
o Because personality is explained by the interaction of all
three factors, the model is called reciprocal determinism
13.7 Social Cognitive Approaches Focus on How Thoughts
Shape Personality (5)
13.8 Trait Approaches Describe Characteristics (1)
Trait approaches
• Ways of studying personality
that are based on people’s
characteristics—their
tendencies to act in a certain
way over time and
across most situations
• Traits exist on a continuum
o Most people fall somewhere
in the middle, and relatively
few are at the extremes
13.8 Trait Approaches Describe Characteristics (2)
Eysenck’s trait theory
• Eysenck developed the biological trait theory
• Eysenck initially proposed that personality traits had two major
dimensions:
1. How outgoing people were
2. Whether their emotions tended to be stable or unstable
• Introversion refers to how shy, reserved, and quiet a person is
• Extraversion refers to how sociable, outgoing, and bold a person is
• Eysenck also proposed a third dimension of personality traits.
Psychoticism reflects a mix of aggression, poor impulse control, self-
centeredness, and/or a lack of empathy, and is now called constraint
13.8 Trait Approaches Describe Characteristics (3)
The five-factor trait theory
• This theory identifies five basic personality traits
• Considerable evidence supports the five-factor theory
o The Big Five personality traits emerge across cultures and
among adults and children, even when vastly different
questionnaires are used to assess the factors
13.8 Trait Approaches Describe Characteristics (4)
13.8 Trait Approaches Describe Characteristics (5)
13.9 Using Psychology in Your Life: Do Personalities Matter in
Roommate Relationships? (1)
• Carli and colleagues (1991) found that
personality similarity between
roommates was positively correlated
with both relationship satisfaction and
intent to live together the following year
• Ogletree and colleagues (2005) found
that a third of the college-age people in
their study reported experiencing
roommate conflict related to the
cleanliness of their living space
13.9 Using Psychology in Your Life: Do Personalities Matter in
Roommate Relationships? (2)

Answer each item on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 represents "very strongly disagree" and 5 represents " very
strongly agree." If your answers are quite similar to those of your potential roommate, you have at least
one good indication of a satisfying arrangement.
1. I do not mind having a messy apartment.

2. It is important to me that my house or apartment is nice and neat.

3. If my house is cluttered when guests drop by, I apologize for the mess.

4. Leaving a stack of dirty dishes in the sink overnight is disgusting.

5. An overflowing trash can does not bother me.

6. It is important that anyone I live with share my cleanliness standards.

7. Leaving clothes that have been worn on a chair is an acceptable way of dealing with dirty clothes until doing
laundry.
How Does Biology Affect Personality?
13.10 Personality Has a Biological Basis
13.11 Personality Is Influenced by Genes
13.12 Temperament Is Innate
13.13 Personality Stability Is Influenced by Biology and Situation
13.10 Personality Has a Biological Basis
Research on the
neurobiological underpinnings
of personality has explored the
dimension of extraversion and
introversion
• Reticular activating system
(RAS)
13.11 Personality Is Influenced by Genes
Research has shown that certain
genes can be linked with some
personality traits
• Numerous studies have shown
that identical twins are more
similar than non-identical
twins in personality traits
described by the five-factor
theory
• Further evidence for the genetic
basis of personality comes from
adoption studies
13.12 Temperament Is Innate (1)
Temperament
• Biologically based tendency to feel or
act in certain ways
o Life experiences may alter personality
traits, but temperaments represent
the innate biological structures of
personality
Three aspects of temperament
• Three personality characteristics can
be considered temperaments:
1. Activity level
2. Emotionality
13.12 Temperament Is Innate (2)
Long-term effects of temperament
• Early childhood temperament appears to influence
behavior and personality significantly throughout a
person’s development
13.13 Personality Stability Is Influenced by Biology and
Situation (1)
Genetic makeup may predispose people to have certain
personality traits or characteristics
• Whether personality is fixed or changeable depends
largely on how we define the essential features of
personality
13.13 Personality Stability Is Influenced by Biology and
Situation (2)
Personality traits are generally
stable over time
• Cross-cultural findings
suggest that age-related
changes in personality
occur independently of
environmental influences and
therefore that personality
change itself may be based in
human biology
13.13 Personality Stability Is Influenced by Biology and
Situation (3)
Certain aspects of personality can change over
the life course
• Other evidence suggests that some aspects
of personality change in response to life
events
o Basic tendencies: Personality traits
that are largely determined by biology
and are stable over time
o Characteristic adaptations: Changes
in behavioral expression of basic
tendencies based on the demands of
specific situations
13.13 Personality Stability Is Influenced by Biology and
Situation (4)
13.13 Personality Stability Is Influenced by Biology and
Situation (5)
Situational causes of personality change
• Life’s circumstances generally produce changes in
personality, especially during emerging adulthood
o For example, greater job satisfaction can decrease
neuroticism over time
• Personality changes occur as a result of the
expectations and experiences associated with age-
related roles
o For example, becoming involved in a committed
relationship is associated with decreased
neuroticism
13.13 Personality Stability Is Influenced by Biology and
Situation (6)
How Can Personality Be Assessed?
13.14 Several Methods Are Used to Assess Personality
13.15 Behavior Is Influenced by Personality and Situation
13.14 Several Methods Are Used to Assess Personality (1)
Projective measures
• Personality tests that
examine
unconscious processes by
having people
interpret ambiguous stimuli
o Rorschach inkblot test
o Thematic Apperception
Test (TAT)
13.14 Several Methods Are Used to Assess Personality (2)
Self-report measures
• Personality tests that use
questionnaires to let people
respond to items that reveal
traits and behaviors
o NEO Personality
Inventory
13.14 Several Methods Are Used to Assess Personality (3)
Electronically recording information about personality
• Electronically activated record (EAR)
o People wear a device that unobtrusively tracks their real-world moment-to-
moment interactions, picking up snippets of conversation and
other auditory information
o The EAR has shown that the five-factor theory traits predict actual behavior
 Individuals high on extraversion talk more and spend less time alone
 Individuals high on agreeableness swear less often
 Students high on conscientiousness attend class more often
 Individuals high on openness spend more time in restaurants, bars, and
coffee shops
 Smartphone use was effective in measuring dimensions of extraversion,
openness to experience, and conscientiousness, but not effective in
neuroticism or agreeableness
13.14 Several Methods Are Used to Assess Personality (4)
Observational methods
• How well do
observers’ personality
judgments predict others’
behavior?
o Our close acquaintances may
predict our behavior more
accurately than we do
ourselves
o Research suggests that we
have blind spots
about various aspects of our
personality because we want
13.15 Behavior Is Influenced by Personality and Situation (1)
Person/situation debate
• Mischel proposed that behaviors
are determined more by situations than
by personality traits
o Situationism: The theory that
behavior is determined more by
situations than by personality traits
13.15 Behavior Is Influenced by Personality and Situation (2)
Interaction of personality and
situation
• Personality psychologists
differentiate between
strong situations and weak
situations
o Strong situations (e.g., elevators,
religious services, job interviews)
tend to mask differences in
personality, thanks to the power of
the social environment
o Weak situations (e.g., parks, bars,
one’s house) tend to reveal
differences in personality
o Interactionism: The idea that
behavior is determined jointly by
situations and underlying traits