A.
THEORIES OF PERSONALITY
personality
the unique and relatively stable ways
in which people think, feel,
and behave.
character
value judgments of a persons
moral and ethical behavior.
temperament
the enduring characteristics
with which each person is born.
The Man and the Couch:
Sigmund Freud and the
Psychodynamic Perspective
unconscious mind
level of the mind in which thoughts, feelings,
memories, and other information are kept that are
not easily or voluntarily brought into consciousness.
part of the iceberg visible above the surface is the
conscious mind. Just below the surface is the
preconscious mind, everything that is not yet part of
the conscious mind. Hidden deep below the surface is
the unconscious mind, feelings, memories,
thoughts, and urges that cannot be easily brought into
consciousness. While two of the three parts of the
personality (ego and superego) exist at all three levels of
awareness, the id is completely in the unconscious mind.
FREUDS DIVISION OF PERSONALITY
ID- completely unconscious, pleasure-seeking,
amoral part of the personality that exists at
birth, containing all of the basic biological drives:
hunger, thirst, self-preservation, and sex
pleasure principle:
the desire for immediate gratification of
needs with no regard for the consequences
EGO-part of the personality that develops out of a
need to deal with reality, mostly conscious,
rational, and logical.
reality principle by which the
ego functions; the satisfaction of the
demands of the id only when negative
consequences will not result.
superego part of the personality that acts as a
moral center.
conscience
part of the superego that
produces guilt, depending on how
acceptable behavior is psychological
defense mechanisms unconscious
distortions of a persons perception of reality
that reduce stress and anxiety.
psychological defense mechanisms
unconscious distortions of a persons
perception of reality that reduce stress and
anxiety.
B. STAGES OF PERSONALITY
DEVELOPMENT
fixation disorder in which the person
does not fully resolve the conflict in a
particular psychosexual stage, resulting in
personality traits and behavior associated
with that earlier stage.
psychosexual stages five stages of personality
development proposed by Freud and
tied to the sexual development of the child.
1. oral stage first stage occurring in the
first year to year and a half of life in which
the mouth is the erogenous zone and
weaning is the primary conflict.
 2. anal stage second stage occurring from
about 1 or 1 years of age, in which the anus
is the erogenous zone and toilet training is
the source of conflict.
3. phallic stage third stage occurring from
about 3 to 6 years of age, in which the
child discovers sexual feelings.
Oedipus complex(MALE)/
Electra complex(FEMALE)
child develops a sexual attraction
to the opposite-sex parent and jealousy of
the same-sex parent
4. latency fourth stage occurring during the
school years, in which the sexual feelings
of the child are repressed while the child
develops in other ways.
5. Genital stage puberty does begin, the
sexual feelings that were once repressed
can no longer be ignored
C. Neo Freudans
neo-Freudians followers of Freud who
developed their own competing
psychodynamic theories.
psychoanalysis Freuds term for both the
theory of personality and the therapy
based on it.
personal unconscious Jungs name for
the unconscious mind as described by
Freud.
collective unconscious Jungs name for
the memories shared by all members of
the human species.
Jung: believed in both a personal unconscious
and a collective unconscious that holds
universal human memories called
archetypes
Adler: focused on feelings of inferiority and seeking
feelings of superiority as opposed to
importance of sexuality;
birth order also important
Horney: disagreed with concept of penis envy,
developed womb envy; rather than
sexuality, focused on basic anxiety
Erikson: emphasized social relationships at every
stage of life
D. BEHAVORISTS AND SOCIAL COGNITIVE
VIEW OF PESONALITY
for behaviorists, personality is a set of learned
responses and habits, gained through
classical and operant conditioning
social cognitive view, both learning (individual
and through imitation of models) and
cognitive processes (such as anticipation,
judgment, and memory) are important
Bandura: concept of self-efficacy; believed three
factors were important: the environment,
the behavior itself, and personal or
cognitive experiences from earlier
experiences; each
affect the other two in a reciprocal
wayreciprocal determinism
Rotter: theory based on principles of motivation
derived from Thorndikes law of effect;
personality is set of potential responses to
various situations, including ones locus of
control (internal vs. external) and sense of
expectancy
ideal self ones perception of whom one
should be or would like to be.
real self ones perception of actual characteristics,
traits, and abilities.
self an individuals awareness of his or
her own personal characteristics and level
of functioning.
self-concept the image of oneself that
develops from interactions with important,
significant people in ones life.
self-actualizing tendency the striving to
fulfill ones innate capacities and
capabilities.
conditional positive regard positive
regard that is given only when the person
is doing what the providers of positive
regard wish.
unconditional positive regard positive
regard that is given without conditions or
strings attached.
positive regard warmth, affection, love,
and respect that come from significant
others
in ones life.
 E. TRAIT THEORIES
a trait is a consistent, enduring way of
thinking, feeling, or behaving;
trait theories attempt to describe personality
in terms of a persons traits
several groups work resulted in the five-
factor model (Big Five, OCEAN)
openness, conscientiousness, extraversion,
agreeableness, neuroticism (see Table
13.3) Mischel and others have suggested
that there is a traitsituation interaction;
there is evidence of the Big Five trait
dimensions across various cultures
openness one of the five factors; willingness
to try new things and be open to new
experiences.
conscientiousness the care a person
gives to organization and thoughtfulness
of others; dependability.
extraversion dimension of personality
referring to ones need to be with other
people.
extraverts people who are outgoing and sociable.
introverts people who prefer solitude
and dislike being the center of attention.
traitsituation interaction the assumption
that the particular circumstances of
any given situation will influence the way in
which a trait is expressed.
neuroticism degree of emotional instability
or stability.
agreeableness the emotional style of a
person that may range from easygoing,
friendly, and likeable to grumpy, crabby,
and unpleasant.
Allport: believed there were 200 traits that were
wired into the nervous system to guide a
persons behavior
Cattell: developed concept of surface traits and
source traits; identified 16 source traits
through factor analysis (later suggested 23);
developed assessment questionnaire to
identify original 16 trait dimensions (16PF)
F. BEHAVIORAL GENETICS
field of study devoted to discovering the
genetic bases for personality
characteristics.
G. PERSONALITY TESTS
projection defense mechanism involving
placing, or projecting, ones own
unacceptable thoughts onto others, as if the
thoughts actually belonged to those others
and not to oneself.
halo effect tendency of an interviewer to
allow positive characteristics of a client to
influence the assessments of the clients
behavior and statements.
interview method of personality assessment
in which the professional asks questions
of the client and allows the client to
answer, either in a structured or
unstructured fashion.
projective tests personality assessments
that present ambiguous visual stimuli to
the client and ask the client to respond
with whatever comes to mind.
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
projective test that uses 20 pictures of
people in ambiguous situations as the
visual stimuli.
subjective referring to concepts and
impressions that are only valid within a
particular persons perception and may be
influenced by biases, prejudice, and
personal experiences.
H. BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENTS
direct observation assessment in which
the professional observes the client
engaged in ordinary, day-to-day behavior
in either a clinical or natural setting.
personality inventory paper and pencil
or computerized test that consists of
statements that require a specific,
standardized response from the person
taking the test.
frequency count assessment in which
the frequency of a particular behavior is
counted.
rating scale assessment in which a
numerical value is assigned to specific
behavior that is listed in the scale.