chapter 2

Theories of Personality
Psychodynamic Theories Biological Theories Environmental Psychology Theories Cultural Psychology Theories Humanistic Theories

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Psychodynamic theories
Sigmund Freud psychoanalysis Explains behavior and personality in terms of unconscious dynamics within the individual
Emphasizes internal conflicts, attachments, and motivations

Adult personalities are formed by experiences in early childhood Three variations:

Freud and traditional psychoanalysis Jungian Theory Object-Relations School

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Freuds Psychoanalysis: The structure of personality

1. Id
- Unconscious

2. Ego
- unconscious, preconscious, conscious

3. Superego
- unconscious, preconscious, conscious

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Freuds Psychoanalysis: The ID

Operates according to the pleasure principle Present from birth Primitive
basic needs and wants

2 competing instincts:
Life (sexual) - libido Death (aggressive)

Unconscious

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Freuds Psychoanalysis: The Ego

Operates according to the reality principle Arises in first 3 years of life Mediates between ID and Superego Rational part of mind
you cant always get what you want

Floats between all 3 levels of consciousness

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Freuds Psychoanalysis: The Superego

Moral Conscience Develops around age 5
At end of Phallic Stage

Stores and enforces rules

Inner voice that tells you not to do something or that what you did was wrong

2 subsystems:
Ego Ideal = parents approve/value Conscience = parents disapproval

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Freuds Psychoanalysis: Defense mechanisms

1. 2. 3. Repression
When a threatening idea, memory, or emotion is blocked (either consciously or unconsciously) from consciousness When repressed feelings are attributed to someone else When a persons emotions are directed towards people or animals that are not the real object of the emotion Sublimation: acting out socially unacceptable impulses in a socially acceptable way
When a feeling or belief that causes anxiety is transformed into the opposite feeling or belief in our consciousness Returning to a previous stage of development Refusal to admit something unpleasant or that something that provokes anxiety is happening

Projection

Displacement

4. 5. 6.

Reaction formation

Regression

Denial

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Your turn
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: Freuds Psychosexual Stages

Fixation occurs when the conflicts at a given stage arent resolved successfully Freuds Psychosexual Stages
1. 2. Oral (birth 18 months)
Babies learn about the world with their mouths, oral pleasures Oral fixation preoccupation with oral activities as an adult Control of eliminating and retaining feces, toilet training issues Anal retentive obsession with cleanliness, perfection, control Anal expulsive messy, disorganized Pleasure zone is the genitals Oedipus complex development of feelings for opposite sex parent and rivalry feelings towards same sex parent Boys fear of castration; Girls penis envy Sexual urges repressed, play with same sex peers Leads to adult sexuality

Anal (18 months 3 years)

3.

Phallic (Oedipal; 3 5 or 6 years)

4. 5.

Latency (6 puberty)

Genital (puberty on)

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Other psychodynamic approaches

1. Jungian theory 2. The Object-Relations School

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Jungian Theory (aka analytical psychology)

Carl Jung (1875-1961) Divides unconscious into 2 parts:
Personal unconscious: reservoir of personal information and memories that was once conscious, but has been forgotten or suppressed and is unique to the individual Collective unconscious: deepest level of the human psyche that contains universal memories, symbols, and experiences of all humans
a reservoir of inherited experiences Archetype: a generic, idealized model of a person, personality or behavior
Innate, universal prototypes Appear in myths, stories, art, and dreams

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Jungian Theory (aka analytical psychology)

Archetype: a generic, idealized model of a person, personality or behavior
Stereotype, epitome 4 main archetypes:
The The The The Self Shadow Anima Animus

Commonly seen archetypes

The Child The Hero The Great Mother

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Object-Relations School
Melanie Klein & D.W. Winnicott Emphasizes interpersonal relationships and believes the ego-self exists only in relation to other objects
most important = mother-child relationship Central problem = balance between need for independence and need for others Emphasizes the importance of the infants first two years of life and the babys formative relationships, especially with mother

Object: Something to which the subject relates, usually a person, a part of a person or symbols for these.
External object: an actual person, place, or thing Internal object: a memory, idea, or fantasy about a person place or thing

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Evaluating psychodynamic theories

Three scientific failings:
1. 2. Violating the principle of falsifiability Drawing universal principles from the experiences of a few atypical patients

3. Basing theories of personality development on retrospective accounts and the fallible memories of patients

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Humanistic Approaches to Personality

Humanistic psychology
An approach that emphasizes personal growth, resilience, and the achievement of human potential

Humanist psychologists:
1. 2. 3. Abraham Maslow Carl Rogers Rollo May

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Humanistic Psychology: Abraham Maslow

Personality development is a gradual progression to self-actualization

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Your turn
You are on your way to a restaurant to meet some friends, and you are hungry. As you are walking from your car to the restaurant, you are looking forward to talking with your friends. Just then, you hear a gunshot. According to Maslow, your primary motivation would be determined by 1. Your hunger 2. Your desire to converse with your friends 3. Your desire for safety

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Humanistic Psychology: Carl Rogers

Interested in fully functioning individuals Congruence
this is displayed by fully functioning people and is a harmony between the image they project to others and their true feelings or wishes

To become fully functioning we need:

Unconditional positive regard
A situation in which the acceptance and love one receives from significant others is unqualified, no strings attached

Unfortunately many children and adults are treated with:

Conditional positive regard A situation in which the acceptance and love one receives from significant others is contingent upon ones behavior

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Evaluating humanist approaches

The bad:
1.Assumptions are not testable 2.Hard to operationally define many of the concepts

The good:
1.Added balance to the study of personality 2.Encouraged others to focus on positive psychology 3.Fostered new appreciation for resilience

Last Class in Review

Personality: Distinctive and relatively stable pattern of
behaviors, thoughts, motives, and emotions that characterizes an individual Trait: A characteristic of an individual

Psychodynamic Theories of Personality: Freuds Psychoanalysis

Id, Ego, Superego Defense mechanisms of the Ego:
Repression, projection, displacement, reaction formation, regression, denial

Psychosexual Stages
Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latent, Genital

Jungian Theory Object-Relations School

Learning Objectives
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. What are the Big Five personality dimensions currently favored by personality researchers? What are temperaments and how are they related to personality traits? What does heritability refer to? What is reciprocal determinism? How does the environment influence personality? What is the non-shared environment? What are 3 lines of evidence that suggest parents have a minor influence on the development of their childrens personality? How does culture influence personality? What the the main differences between an individualistic and collectivist culture?

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Measuring Personality:

Objective tests (inventories)

Standardized questionnaires asking a series of questions where people rate themselves

Typically include scales Assumes that you can accurately report No right or wrong answers

The responses help develop picture of you called a personality profile

2 common tests:
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ)

Allports Trait Theory

Gordon Allport (1897-1967)
1. Cardinal Trait
Dominates and shapes personality, rare Basic building blocks of personality that everyone has to some degree Only seen in certain circumstances

2. Central Trait

3. Secondary Trait

Raymond Cattell 1905-1998

16 Personality Factors
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. Warmth Reasoning Emotional Stability Dominance Liveliness Rule-consciousness Social Boldness Sensitivity Vigilance Abstractedness Privateness Apprehension Openness to change Self-reliance Perfectionism Tension

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Personality Traits: The Big Five

1.
Openness to experience
Open = Curiosity, imaginative, creative Resistant = Conforming, predictable

2.

Conscientiousness
Conscientious = Responsible, persevering, self-disciplined Impulsive = Quick to give up, fickle, careless

3.

Extroversion
Extroversion = Outgoing talkative, sociable, adventurous Introversion = Shy silent, reclusive, cautious

4.

Agreeableness
Agreeable = Good-natured, cooperative, secure
Antagonistic = Irritable, abrasive, suspicious, jealous

5.

Neuroticism
Neurotic = anxious, impulsive, worrier, emotionally negative Emotionally stable = only has those feelings when the circumstances dictate

Genetic Influences on Personality

Nature vs. Nurture debate
Nature: Biology/genetics determines personality Nurture: Experiences determines personality Not mutually exclusive
Biology and experience interact and shape our personalities together

How can biology influence our personality?

Genes: functional units of heredity, composed of DNA and specify the structure of proteins
Specify how the brain and nervous systems should develop and function
Influence the behaviors that make up our personality

How do psychologists measure genetic contributions to personality?

1. Studying personality traits in other species 2. Studying temperaments of infants and children 3. Heritability studies in twins and adopted individuals

Personality Traits in Other Species

Examine the physiology, genetics, ecology and ethology of animals Evidence of 4 of the Big Five traits in 64 different species
monkeys dogs octopi Conscientiousness has only been found in humans

Puppy Personality Experiment (Gosling, 2003)

Owners provided personality assessments of dogs and themselves A person who knew them both filled out a personality inventory Independent observers rated the dogs in a park All 3 ratings were very similar

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Temperaments

Personality Traits in Infants and Children

Present in infancy, assumed to be innate Relatively stable over time

Physiological dispositions to respond to the environment in certain ways

Temperaments:
1. Easy/Flexible: positive disposition, curious about new situations, adaptable, low-moderate emotional intensity
40% of babies

2. 3.

Difficult/Feisty: negative moods, slow to adapt to new situations

10 % of babies

Slow-to-Warm: inactive, calm reactions to environment, negative moods and withdraw from new situations, adapt slowly
15 % of babies

35 % have babies have combination of characteristics and cant be categorized

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Dimension of Temperament
1. Activity level 2. Approach-Withdrawal

Definition
Proportion of active to inactive time The response to a new person or object, based on whether the child accepts or withdraws from the situation How easily the child is able to adapt to changes in his or her environment
The contrast of the amount of friendly, joyful, and pleasant behavior with unpleasant, unfriendly behavior The amount of the time a child devotes to an activity and the effect of distraction on that activity

3. Adaptability
4. Quality of Mood 5. Attention span and persistence 6. Distractibility 7. Rhythmicity (regularity) 8. Intensity of reaction 9. Threshold of responsiveness

The degree to which stimuli in the environment alters behavior The regularity of basic functions, such as hunger, excretion, sleep and wakefulness The energy level or reaction of the childs response The intensity of stimulation needed to elicit a response

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The Heritability of Personality Traits

Heritability a statistical estimate of how much variation in a trait can be attributed to genetics within a given population
0 1.0
0.5 = 50 % of the variation in a personality trait can be attributed to genetics 1.0 = 100 % of the variation in a personality trait can be attributed to genetics

Heritability of personality traits is about 0.5

Within a group of people, about 50% 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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The Heritability of Personality Traits

How is heritability studied?
Adoption studies
Compare correlations between traits of children and their biological and adoptive parents

Twin Studies
Identical twins = share 100 % of genes Fraternal twins = share about genes, just like regular siblings Compare same-sex groups of identical and fraternal twins Look at personality traits in adopted identical and fraternal twins

Environmental Influences on Personality Traits

1. Situational Influences (social learning) 2. Parental Influences 3. Social circles (peer pressure)

Situational Influences: Social Learning

Behaviorist view:
Behaviors are rewarded and punished differently in different situations

Social-cognitive view:
Personality traits result from a persons learning history and their expectations, beliefs, perceptions of events and other cognitions Reciprocal (mutual) determinism

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Situational Influences: 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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Situational Influences: Non-shared environment

Unique aspects of a persons environment and aspects of the individual in the shaping of personality traits

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Parental Influences
Parental child-rearing practices have a strong influence on who we become, but research has shown that it is not the primary determinant: 1. The shared environment of the home has little influence on personality.
The non-shared environment is a more important influence.

2. Few parents have a single child-rearing style that is consistent over time and that they use with all children. 3. Even when parents try to be consistent, there may be little relation between what they do and how their children turn out.

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Parental Influences
Nevertheless, parents still do influence their children in a number of ways:
Religious beliefs and values Intellectual and occupational interests, skills Feelings of self-esteem or inadequacy Degree of helpfulness

Influence on traits that are highly heritable:

Aggressiveness Shyness

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Social Influence: Peer Pressure

How many of you have behaved differently around your parents that you do your friends?
Adolescent culture:
different peer groups, organized by different interests, ethnicity and status

Peer acceptance is so important to children and adolescents that being bullied, victimized, or rejected by peers is far more traumatic than punitive treatment by parents.

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Cultural Influences on Personality

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

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 ones group is prized above individual goals and wishes

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Cultural Influence on Personality

Individualistic Cultures Collectivist Cultures
Define self as autonomous, independent of groups Give priority to individual, personal goals Value independence, leadership, achievement Define self as an interdependent part of a group Give priority to needs and goals of group Value group harmony, duty, obligation, security

Give more weight to individuals attitudes and preferences, than to group norms to explain behavior
Attend to the benefits and costs of relationships; if costs exceed advantages, a person is likely to drop a relationship

Give more weight to group norms than individual attitudes to explain behavior
Attend to needs of group members; if relationship is beneficial to group, but costly to individual, the individual is likely to stay in the relationship

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Cultural Influences in Personality

When culture is not appropriately considered, people attribute unusual behavior to personality.
Timeliness
Personal Space