Psychology 20 Chapter 11

Personality Theory

Personality
Most psychologists agree that the different aspects of personality include being: Characteristicthey must occur in many or all people to be of much interest and use. (For example, many people are shy.)

ConsistentFeatures must occur repeatedly in a variety of situations. (For example, shy people tend to be shy in most situations.)
UniqueNo two personalities are alike; the combination that defines you is identifiable.

Personality theories
Personality theories aim to:

1 Provide a way of organizing different aspects of personality (traits). 2 Explain the differences between individuals. 3 Explore how people conduct their lives. 4 Determine how peoples lives can be improved.

Psychoanalytic Theories--Freud
Freud focused on the unconscious (the part of the mind that contains material we are unaware of, but that still strongly influences our behaviors). For example, a Freudian slip is an apparent mistake that might not be a mistake at allif a man accidentally says mother when he is describing his wife, he may be indicating that he views his wife more as a mother, or at least as a mother-figure.

Psychoanalytic Theories--Freud
Freud believed that the energy in peoples personalities comes from two powerful instincts:

1. The life instinctthe more important instincts, these are primarily erotic or pleasure-seeking, according to Freud. 2. The death instinctFreud believed that all life moves towards death, and this is sometimes reflected in human aggressiveness and destruction.

Psychoanalytic Theories--Freud
Freud describes peoples personalities as being divided into 3 different structural concepts of the mind: 1) The idthe part of the unconscious that contains our needs, drives and instincts. It strives for immediate satisfaction. 2) The egothe part of the personality that is in touch with reality. It tries to meet the demands of the id and the superego in socially acceptable ways. 3) The superego--The part of the personality that inhibits the socially undesirable impulses of the id. The superego can, at times, cause excessive guilt.

Psychoanalytic Theories--Freud
Freud believed the ego cannot always appease both the id and the superego, and this leads to people deceiving themselves that nothing is wrong by distorting reality. These techniques are called defense mechanisms, and they include: o Repressionpeople forget unpleasant and painful memories. o Projectionpeople act as though their negative feelings are actually coming from other people. o Reaction formationpeople replace an apparently unacceptable feeling with its opposite.

Psychoanalytic Theories--Freud
Defense mechanisms, cont:

o Regressiongoing back to an earlier, less mature pattern of behavior.

o Displacementanxiety is shifted from the actual cause to something more accessible. For example, if youre angry with you parents, but they are not available, you may direct your anger towards a sibling who is present. Overall, Freuds unified personality theory is generally wellregarded, and is the most complete and complex such theory. Still, it is controversial, and perhaps too complicated to ever be proven or disproved.

Other Psychoanalytic Theories

Carl Jung differed from Freud in a couple of ways: He believed that people actually tried to reach their potential, not just respond to their urges.

Also, he differentiated between Freuds idea of the unconscious and the collective unconsciousa storehouse of instincts, urges and memories of all humans throughout history.
Jung called the ideas generated by the collective unconscious archetypes, and said they were present in every person.

Other Psychoanalytic Theories

Alfred Adler also had a different viewpoint than Freud. He believed that peoples driving force was to overcome their feelings of inferiority (an inferiority complex). For example, children feel inferior because they are so dependent on others, and this encourages them to learn to do things that older people can.

Behavioral Theories--Skinner
B.F. Skinners radical behaviorism theory focused not on Freuds, Jungs, or Adlers unconscious feelings, but instead on what people actually do. Behaviorists believe that because individuals differ in their learning experiences, they acquire different behaviors, and this leads to different personalities. Skinners approach is popular with psychologists, because it is very action-oriented and practical; it doesnt lead to a lot of self-reflection that never results in any positive changes.

Social Learning Theories-Bandura

Albert Bandura argued that personality is not acquired just because of reinforcement (as described by Skinner), but also through observational learning (imitation). Young children, then, acquire their personalities through observing their parents, while older children will also be influenced by their peers.

Humanistic Psychology-Maslow
Abraham Maslow wanted to create a third force in psychology, an alternative to psychoanalysis and behaviorism. This third force became self-actualizationit happens when people realize their potential as unique human beings.

Humanistic Psychology-Maslow
According to Maslow, self-actualized people 1) Perceive reality accurately 2)Accept themselves, other people and their environments better than average people do 3) Are autonomous, and tend to form close relationships with a small number of peoplethey are not concerned with being popular Some have criticized Maslow, especially his claim that human nature is good, saying this is just a subjective value

Humanist Psychology--Rogers
Carl Rogers also concerned himself with self-actualizationhe referred to it as becoming full functioning. He believes that many people suffer from a conflict between what they value in themselves and what they learn other people value in them. Rogers says each person has two parts (or sides): 1 The organism (the whole of a person, including her or his body) 2 The self (a persons image of who she is and what she values) Rogers encourages people to develop unconditional positive regard for themselves