Slide 1:Chapter 13 Personality


Historical Personality Assessment :Historical Personality Assessment Phrenology – “As the skull takes its shape from the brain, the surface of the skull can be read as an accurate index of psychological aptitudes and tendencies.” – Gall (1758 -1828)


Personality :Personality Personality refers to a person’s unique and relatively stable pattern of thoughts, feelings, and actions Personality is an interaction between biology and environment


Measuring Personality :Measuring Personality A projective test presents a series of ambiguous stimuli and asks that a subject describe each stimulus Reliability and validity questioned Objective Tests are paper & pencil type tests More reliable and valid


3 Revolutions in Human Thought :Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) the earth is not the centre of the universe 3 Revolutions in Human Thought Charles Darwin (1809-1882) humans are not special, they are just a species like any other animals Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) humans are not motivated only by their conscious thoughts but largely by unconscious (and often unpleasant) motives


Freud’s Conception of the Personality’s Organization :Freud’s Conception of the Personality’s Organization Freud conceived of the human personality as organized through three major systems: 1. The Id 2. The Ego 3. The Superego Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory – personality influenced by unconscious motivations.


The Id :The Id “The sole function of the id is to provide for the immediate discharge of quantities of excitation that are released in the organism by internal or external stimulation” The id focuses on the pleasure principle--relief from tension


The Superego :The Superego The Superego “is the moral or judicial branch of personality” The id focuses upon the pleasure principle, the ego on the reality principle, and the superego on what is ideal – the morality principle


The Ego… :The Ego… The ego focuses upon the transactions between the person and the world at large The ego balances the id with the superego …your personality’s manager


Defense Mechanisms :Defense Mechanisms Sublimation: channel negative energy into more positive avenues of expression Denial: person refuses to recognize reality Projection: person attributes their own unacceptable impulses to others Repression: anxiety-evoking thoughts are pushed into the unconscious


Defense Mechanisms 1 :Defense Mechanisms 1 denial unacceptable thoughts are ignored e.g., alcoholics ignore their problems repression unacceptable thoughts are kept away from consciousness e.g., forgetting an upsetting childhood event such as a death reaction formation behaving in the opposite way to how you really feel because the true feelings produce anxiety e.g., pretending you like somebody that you can’t stand projection denying your faults but finding them in others e.g., an unemployed father yells at his son for being lazy


Defense Mechanisms 2 :Defense Mechanisms 2 displacement redirection of an impulse away from the person who caused it and towards another e.g., a boy who is angry with his father beats on his little brother sublimation channeling psychic energy from an unacceptable drive to an acceptable outlet e.g., directing one’s sex drive into creative efforts rationalization creating an acceptable justification for an unacceptable behavior e.g., a gambler says he lost a lot of money because he was trying to win some for his family conversion manifestation of a psychic conflict as a physical symptom e.g., hysteria, Anna O.


Specific Projective Tests :Specific Projective Tests Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) TAT also consists of a series of ambiguous figures Was devised to measure achievement motivation by Henry Murray in 1938


Psychosexual Stages of Devp. :Psychosexual Stages of Devp.


Slide 16:Analytical psychology emphasized the unconsciousness mind and its influence on dream processes Personal unconscious: unique for each person Collective unconscious: consists of primitive images and ideas that are universal for humans Neo – Freudian Theorist – Carl Jung Archetypes…>


Personality Traits :Personality Traits Traits are relatively stable and consistent personality characteristics Allport identified some 4,500 traits Factor analysis techniques identified 30-35 basic traits Eysenck argued there are 3 distinct traits in personality


Overview of the Big “5” :Overview of the Big “5” 5 basic personality traits (OCEAN)


Locus of Control :Locus of Control internal locus of control attribute outcomes to their own behavior external locus of control attribute outcomes to external factors Self – Efficacy – (Bandura) – one’s belief that they can or cannot master new skills and achieve personal goals Social Cognitive Theory…


Slide 20:Humanistic personality theories reject psychoanalytic notions each person is basically good people are striving for self-fulfillment argues that people carry a perception of themselves and of the world goal for a humanist is to develop/promote a positive self-concept


Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs :Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Self – Actualization - Once basic needs have been satisfied, people seek psychological needs and growth Abraham Maslow 1908 - 1970 “I’m quite fulfilled. I always wanted to be a chicken.”


Carl Rogers :Carl Rogers applied humanistic principles to psychotherapy personality depends on self-concept – an individual’s beliefs and information about their own nature, qualities and behavior unconditional positive regard – being loved and accepted regardless of what you say or do Carl Rogers 1902 - 1987


Twin Studies :Twin Studies Identical twins are much more alike on “Big Five” than are fraternal twins


Effects of Age :Effects of Age “For most of us, by age 30, the character has set in plaster and will never soften again.” -- William James, 1890 After age 30, people are more consistent


Interactionism :Interactionism