Personality

Personality is a complex hypothetical construct.

Consistency and Distinctiveness

What does it mean to say that my friend has an optimistic personality? Fairly consistent tendency to behave in a cheerful, hopeful, enthusiastic way. Consistency across situations lies at the core of the personality.

 Personality is used to explain Why not every one acts the same in similar situations. Example: Three persons stuck in an elevator and their responses were different.

 Consistency:
The stability in a persons behavior over time and across situations.

Distinctiveness:
The behavioral differences among people reacting to the same situation

 Personality refers to an individuals unique constellation (group, gathering) of consistent behavioral traits.

 A personality trait is a durable disposition to behave in a particular way in a variety of situations.

Honest Dependable Moody Suspicious Anxious Excitable Domineering Friendly

 Most approaches to personality assume that some traits are more basic than others. To identify the basic traits psychologists have been working. Raymond Rattel Factor analysis 16 basic traits of personality

The Big Five Model

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Agreeableness Openness to Change Extraversion Conscientiousness Neuroticism

1. Agreeableness

1. Agreeableness
How do you react to others opinions? When you agree to them easily, you are considered agreeable.

 A Higher Degree in A good natured, sympathetic and forgiving. You are considered as tolerant, agreeable and courteous. You prove an excellent team member. You strive to bring harmony amongst your mates. You are friendlier, approachable. You can ignore your own needs for others.

 However, you are not a good leader. You prefer to work in background. You keep your opinions to yourself to avoid conflict. You are easily influenced. But you are a born social reformer. You can prove an excellent teacher. The psychology is one of the best fields for you.

A Lower Degree in A critical, analytical and tough. You are expressive in your opinions. You dont hide your reactions. You want your efforts and achievements to be acknowledged. You can challenge.

 However, you may not prove a good team leader. Extreme degrees qualify you as a rude, callous and self-centered person. You are viewed as hostile. You are not considered cooperative. Your love for power can lead you to be an autocrat. Suitable Careers:
where you are given freedom to exercise your will. Military leadership, public administration and management are the best career dimensions for you.

2: Openness to Change

2: Openness to Change
open for change when you accept new thoughts, ideas and changes.

 A Higher Degree in O You qualify to be counted as original and creative. You believe that change is more than essential for social evolution. You love revolutions. You enjoy complexities of things and strive to find out their solutions. You can handle new systems, technologies and tools with great ease. You always build a big picture but tend to ignore vital details. Suitable careers: where a lot of creativity, novelty and originality is involved.

A Lower Degree in O Resistant to change. You are traditional. You love peaceful environment, secure jobs and serene family life. You spend a lot of time on details. You can execute plans very well.

 However, you are not a good planner. Your focus on details may cause you to ignore big picture. You accept change only when there is no way out. The careers where rules and regulations are to be followed very strictly are considered suitable for you. You can prove a good judge, accountant and auditor. No one can be better financial manager than you.

3: Extraversion

3: Extraversion
Do you love gatherings? Or you prefer solitude? Five factor model of personality considers your preferred way to handle your environment very important.

 A Higher Degree in E The five factor model considers you social, friendlier and talkative. You are often assertive and energetic. You can do many tasks successfully at a time. You prefer to lead others. You are charismatic.

 However, you rely upon others without knowing them very well. You are considered fit for
politics, sales and public related careers.

A Lower Degree in E You are considered private, serious and skeptic. You dont rely on others easily. You keep your secrets to your self. You are often quiet. You prefer environment where you can work alone. Production management, natural sciences and art related careers are considered suitable for you.

4: Conscientiousness
How do you take your work?

A Higher Degree in C organized, focused and timely achiever of your goals. You plan things and follow that route strictly. You are not easy to be distracted.

 However, you tend to be workaholic. You are self-disciplined. You are considered confident, dutiful and reliable. You often prove a strong executive in any organization.

 A Lower Degree in C careless, relaxed and unorganized. You dont plan things and pursue your goals with a flexible approach. Some day you work a lot and other day you go on vacations. You are spontaneous. However, you are not considered good for projects where deadlines are to be followed.

5: Neuroticism
How do you handle depression?
A Higher Degree in N Nervous, unstable and vulnerable to negative emotionality. You are never satisfied with your life. You are inflamed easily. You are reactive and often fail to recover from depression shock easily. You always feel a need for stability. In extreme cases, you may be advised clinical treatment.

 A Lower Degree in N Emotionally stable, strong nerved and composed person. You are often calm and optimist. You recover from depression periods very easily. You can find out the best out of the worst. You love peace and security. You are often satisfied with your life. You are a valuable candidate for careers in air traffic, controllers and airline pilots, finance management and engineering.

1. 2. 3. 4.

Psychodynamic perspectives Behavioral perspectives Humanistic perspectives Biological perspectives

Psychodynamic perspectives
Psychodynamic theories include all the diverse(different) theories descended (come down) from the work of Sigmund Freud, which focus on unconscious mental forces.

Sigmund Freud
Born 1856 Middle Class Austria Engaged in Regular Self-Analysis for 40 years. Lived in Victorian era which was marked by sexual repression. Physician Neurology Treated people by nervous problems
Irrational fears Obsessions Anxieties

 Devoted himself to treatment of mental disorders using Psychoanalysis.

Theory explains: Motivation Personality Psych: Disorders
By focusing on: The influence of early childhood experiences, on unconscious motives and conflicts and methods people use to cope with sexual and aggressive urges.

Required healthy verbal interactions with patients

Structure of personality
Freud divided personality structure into three components:
The ID The Ego The Superego Freud said: A persons behavior is outcomes amongst these three components.

 The ID:
Is the primitive (prehistoric), instinctive (inborn, natural) component of personality that operates according to the pleasure principle. Pleasure Principle, which demands immediate gratification (satisfaction, fulfillment) of its urges (to eat, to sleep etc). The ID engages in primary-process thinking, which is primitive, illogical, irrational and fantasy oriented.

 The Ego:
Is decision making component of personality that operates according to the reality principle.

The Ego considers social realities-societys norms, etiquette, rules and customs-in deciding how to behave. Reality Principle: which seeks to delay gratification of the ids urges until appropriate outlets and situations can be found.

 In short, to stay out of trouble, the ego often works to tame the unbridled (uncontrolled) desires of the id. In the long run, the ego wants to maximize gratification, just as the id does. The Ego engages in secondary process thinking, which is relatively rational, realistic, and oriented toward problem solving.

 The Superego:
Is moral component of personality that incorporates social standards about what represents right and wrong.

 Levels of Awareness:
The Conscious The Preconscious The Unconscious

 The Conscious

 Conscious: What ever when is aware of at a particular time.

 The Preconscious

Contains material just beneath the surface of awareness that can easily be retrieved.
An argument you had with a friend yesterday.

 The Unconscious: the lack of consciousness or responsiveness to people and other environmental stimuli

 In Freud's view, the human is driven towards tension reduction, in order to reduce feelings of anxiety. Anxiety : an aversive inner state that people seek to avoid or escape. Humans seek to reduce anxiety through defense mechanisms

 Defense Mechanisms Unconscious reactions that protect a person from unpleasant emotions such as anxiety and guilt. When some type of anxiety occurs, the mind responds in two ways : First, problem solving efforts are increases and Secondly, defense mechanisms are triggered. These are tactics which the Ego develops to help deal with the ID and the Super Ego.

 All Defense Mechanisms share two common properties : They can operate unconsciously They can distort, transform, or falsify reality in some way.

The changing of perceived reality allows for a lessening of anxiety, reducing the psychological tension felt by an individual.

Types of Defense Mechanisms:

Repression The most basic defense mechanism. Sometimes referred to as : defensiveness

 Advantages :
Can prevent inappropriate ID impulses from becoming behaviors. Can prevent unpleasant thoughts from becoming conscious.

Can prevent memories of things we have done wrong from resurfacing.

Repression does not have to be total, partial memories where only the single piece of damaging information is "forgotten" is common. What an individual represses depends upon cultural expectations and the particular development of an individuals super-ego.

Denial
When people are overwhelmed by the anxiety present within a situation, they can engage in even more severe form of memory repression : Denial

In Denial, the individual denies that the threatening event even took place ! In war, a mother receives word that her Son has been killed, and yet refuses to believe it, still setting the table for him, keeping his room and clothes current.

At school, a student seeing a grade of "C" next to their name, and automatically assuming the professor made a grading error. Alcoholics and other Substance Abusers who refuse to admit they have a problem, despite it being very apparent to everyone around them.

Denial becomes more difficult with age, as the ego matures and understands more about the "objective reality" it must operate within.
Repression and Denial are the two main defense mechanisms which everybody uses.

Projection
In projection, anxiety is reduced by claiming another person actually has the unpleasant thoughts that you are thinking. You are attributing your own repressed thoughts to someone else. For example, lets say that you do not like someone. Your mother and father always told you to treat other people well, and to be friendly to everyone. These thoughts from your parents become embedded in your super ego.

 You discover that you do not like this person.

If you allow this thought to consciously surface, you will experience moral anxiety in terms of guilt feelings, because this conscious thought goes against the moral prohibitions of your super ego.
So, instead of consciously thinking the anxiety provoking thought " I do not like this person" , this defense mechanism allows for the non-anxiety provoking thought "This person does not like me "

 Rationalization
This is a post-hoc (after the fact) defense mechanism. Rationalization allows to find logical reasons for inexcusable actions. For Example : Cheating on Taxes

 Possible Rationalization : It is better that I hold onto this money or the government will spend it on weapons of mass destruction.
Fail to get into law school Possible Rationalization : I didn't want to pursue that career, anyways. Rationalization helps to protect our sense of self-esteem Rationalization is closely tied to the Self-serving Bias : The tendency to interpret success as inwardly achieved and to ascribe failure to outside factors.

 Intellectualization
Thinking about events in cold, hard, rational terms. Separating oneself from the emotional content of an event, focusing instead on the facts. Intellectualization protects against anxiety by repressing the emotions connected with an event.

 For example, a wife who learns her husband is dying tries to learn all she can about the disease, prognosis, treatment options. By doing this she can help repress the emotional onslaught of feelings of loss and anger which can accompany the death of a loved one. Freud believed that memories could have both conscious and unconscious aspects, and that intellectualization allows for the conscious analysis of non-anxiety provoking information about an event.

 Regression
Regression can occur when an individual is faced with high levels of stress in their life. Regression is the giving up of mature problem solving methods in favor of child like approaches to fixing problems. Someone with an oral fixation may increase their cigarette smoking of lollipop licking behavior when stressed at work.

 This regression represents a way of relating to the world that was formerly effective.
Regression is a way to try to recapture some childhood satisfaction.

 Displacement
Displacement is the shifting of intended targets, especially when the initial target is threatening. An individual is "dressed down" by the supervisor at their job. They feel anger and hostility toward their supervisor.

 Their ID, driven by aggressive impulses, would like to tear the boss's head off.
The Ego, being reality based and very much in favor of continued paychecks, realizes that this is not a good idea and therefore does not remove boss's head. The person goes home, but still has this aggressive impulse.

 The Ego allows for the individual to scream (shout) at the spouse, since it feels this will not threaten future paychecks. The spouse, now angry and upset, displaces their anger on their child, who then becomes angry and kicks their pet dog, a further displacement of anger.

Oral
The oral stage is the first stage of Freud's stages of psychosexual development, lasting from birth to 18 months. According to Freud, the mouth is the primary erogenous zone through which pleasure is derived. The major conflict issue during this stage is the weaning process, during which the child is forced to become less dependent upon caretakers. A fixation at this stage can result in problems with dependency or aggression.

Anal
lasting from age 18 months to three years. The major conflict issue during this stage is toilet training. A fixation at this stage can result in a personality that is too rigid or one that is too disordered.

Phallic
lasting from age three years to six years. The primary conflict at this stage is a desire to possess the opposite-sex parent. Completion of this stage results in identifying with the same-sex parent.

Genetal / Latency
begins during puberty During this stage, the individual develops a strong interest in the opposite sex. If the other psychosexual stages have been successfully completed, the individual will develop into a well-balanced, warm, and caring adult. Contribute to society through working

Jungs Two General Attitude Types

Extrovert:
One who focuses more on social life and the external world instead of his/her own thoughts and feelings.

Introvert:
One who focuses on his/her own thoughts and feelings.

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Differences Between Freud and Jung

Freud
Stressed the primacy (dominance) of sexual instincts (nature). Development is shaped in childhood

Jung
Stressed peoples rational & spiritual qualities Development only comes to fruition (end) during middle adulthood

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Alfred Adlers Contribution

Compensation:
Ones effort to overcome imagined or real personal weaknesses

Inferiority complex:
Fixation on feelings of personal inferiority that results in emotional and social paralysis

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 The goal of the human soul is conquest, perfection, security, superiority.

Alfred Adler.

 Adler
We can control our own fate View of individual: striving for perfection; Develops socially constructive goals

Evaluating Psychodynamic Perspectives

1. Unconscious forces can influence behavior 2. Internal conflict often plays a key role in generating psychological distress. 3. Early childhood experiences can have powerful influences on adult personality 4. People do use defense mechanisms to reduce their experience of unpleasant emotions.

 B.F. Skinner:
Viewed personality as Collection of response tendencies that are tied to various stimulus situations. He believed that most human responses are shaped by operant conditioning.

Environment consequences-reinforcement, punishment, and extinction-determines peoples patterns of responding.

Banduras Social Learning Theory

Also called social cognitive theory. Reciprocal determinism is the idea that internal mental events, external environmental events, and overt behavior all influence one another.

 Self-efficacy:
The expectancy that ones efforts will be successful.

Humans are neither masters of their own destiny nor hapless victims buffeted about by the environment, instead, the truth lies somewhere between these two extremes.

Mischel and the Person-Situation Controversy

An advocate of Social Learning Theory. Consistency of Human behaviors across varying situations. Social Learning Theory: people make responses that they think will lead to reinforcement in the situation in hand. Hard work = promotion, bonus, rewards Hard work = no any change in your job status.

 Social learning theory states that people will often behave differently in different situations. Studies show that a person who is honest in one situation may be dishonest in another. Situational specificity

Evaluating Behavioral Perspectives

How environmental consequences and conditioning mold peoples characteristic behavior.

 Any personality theory that asserts the fundamental goodness of people and their striving toward higher levels of functioning.

Unique qualities of Humans

Freedom Potential for personal growth

Carl Rogers-Person Centered Theory

The Self
A self-concept is a collection of beliefs about ones own nature, unique qualities, and typical behavior.
Your self concept is your own mental picture of yourself. Its a collection of self perceptions.

 Incongruence is the degree of disparity between ones self-concept and ones actual experience. The development of self.
Parents conditional love.

 Anxiety and defense:

The more inaccurate your self-concept is the more likely you are to have experiences that clash with your self-perception. They ignore, deny, and twist reality to protect and perpetuate their self-concept. A young women receiving feedback from her friends that she is self-centered lady. How she will protect her self-concept.

Maslows Theory of Self-Actualization

Hierarchy of needs. Self-Actualization, which is the need to fulfill ones potential. what a man can be, he must be.

 Eysencks Theory:
Personality is determined to a large extent by a persons genes.

Conditionability

Culture and Personality

Culture

And

Personality