Personality

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CHAPTER 2

• Personality

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What is personality?

• Definition a pattern of enduring, distinctive
  thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that
  characterize the way an individual adapts to the
  world
• Factors that influence personality
• (biological and genetic factors, life
• experiences, the way we think about
• ourselves, the way we behave toward each
• other)

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Four Theoretical Perspectives on Personality

• Psychodynamic
• Behavioral and Social Cognitive
• Humanistic
• Trait

4
Psychodynamic Perspectives

• Sigmund Freuds Psychoanalytic Theory
• Views personality as being primarily unconscious
  (beyond awareness) and as developing in stages
• Freudian slip
  
• (e.g., While hugging Tom, Barbara says, I love
  you Jeff.)

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Three Structures of Personality

• Id
• Ego
• Superego (our conscience)

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Defense Mechanisms

• Repression-(memory loss)most important
• Rationalization-(explain away)
• Displacement-(transfer feelings)
• Sublimation-(replace urges/impulses)
• Projection-(blame others)
• Reaction formation-(become opposite)
• Denial-(fail to acknowledge)
• Regression-(become childlike)

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Five Stages of Freuds Psycho-analytic Theory

• Oral (first 18 months)
• Anal (18-36)
• Phallic (3-6)
• Latency (6-puberty/adolescence)
• Genital (adolescence and adulthood)

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Revised Psychodynamic Perspectives

• Karen Horneys Sociocultural Theory
• Argued that sociocultural influences on
  personality development should be considered.
• Strongly rejected the notion of penis envy.
• Carl Jungs Analytic Theory
• Believed that because of their common past, all
  human beings share a collective unconscious,
  which is expressed through archetypes.
• Alfred Adlers Individual Psychology
• Believed that people are motivated by purposes
  and goals they are creators of their own lives.
• Identified concepts related to ones strive for
  superiority (e.g., compensation
  overcompensation inferiority complex
  superiority complex).

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Behavioral and Social Cognitive Perspectives

• Focus on the environment, experience, and
  observable behavior. Theorists analyze how people
  learn to behave in particular ways.

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Behavioral and Social Cognitive Perspectives
(cont.)

• Three Types of Learning
• Classical Conditioning
• Operant Conditioning
• Observational Learning (modeling)

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Classical Conditioning

• Ivan Pavlov
• Emphasized a learning process in which a neutral
  stimulus becomes associated with a meaningful
  stimulus and acquires the capacity to elicit a
  response similar to the response to the
  meaningful stimulus.
• Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
• e.g., meat powder
• Unconditioned Response (UCR)
• e.g., salivation
• Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
• e.g., metronome/bell
• Conditioned Response (CR)
• e.g., salivation

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Operant Conditioning

• B. F. Skinner
• Emphasized a form of learning in which the
  consequences of a behavior change the probability
  of the behaviors occurrence
• (Also called instrumental conditioning)
• Reinforcement (positive vs. negative)
• Extinction
• Punishment (positive vs. negative)

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Social Cognitive Theory Observational Learning

• Albert Bandura Walter Mischel
• Social cognitive theory states that behavior,
  environment, and cognitive factors are important
  in understanding personality
• Observational learning learning that occurs when
  a person observes and imitates someone elses
  behavior (a.k.a. imitation or modeling)

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Humanistic Perspectives

• Stress a persons capacity for personal growth,
  freedom to choose ones own destiny, and positive
  human qualities.
• Carl Rogers Person-Centered Theory
• Stressed the importance of becoming a fully
  functioning person
• Related concepts self-concept unconditional
  positive regard empathy genuiness

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Humanistic Perspectives (cont.)

• Abraham Maslows Hierarchy of Needs
• Emphasized idea that people must satisfy their
  basic needs before they try to satisfy higher
  needs.
• Hierarchy of needs sequence physiological
  safety love and belongingness esteem and
  self-actualization

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Trait Perspectives

• Trait an enduring characteristic that tends to
  lead to certain behaviors
• Theories state that personality consists of
  broad, enduring dispositions that tend to lead to
  characteristic responses
• Gordon Allport is referred to as the father of
  trait theory.
• Believed that each individual has a unique set of
  personality traits.
• Argued that if we can determine a persons
  traits, we can predict how that person might
  behave in various circumstances.

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Trait Perspectives (cont.)

• Hans Eysencks Dimensions of Personality
• Believed that three main dimensions are needed to
  explain personality (introversion-extraversion
  stable-unstable psychoticism)
• Costa and McCraes Big Five Personality Factors
• Believed that there are dimensions of
  personality, the supertraits that describe a
  persons fundamental traits (openness
  conscientiousness extraversion agreeableness
  neuroticism)
• Walter Mischels Situationism
• Believed that personality often varies from one
  context to another.
• Trait-Situation Interaction
• Views personality as depending on both traits and
  situations.

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Traits, Situations, Culture

• Individualism vs.
• Collectivism

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Measuring Personality

• Projective Tests (geared toward unconscious
  thought uses ambiguous stimuli e.g., Rorschach
  Inkblot test Thematic Apperception Test (TAT))
• Self-Report Tests (self-report objective tests
  e.g., Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
  (MMPI) Neuroticism Extraversion Openness
  Personality Inventory-Revised Hogan Personality
  Inventory)
• Behavioral Assessment (direct observation)
• Cognitive Assessment (interviews/questionnaires)