Download Personality Term Explanation Application/Example

Personality
Personality Structure
(Psychodynamic)
Psychodynamic Approach Sigmund Freud
Term
Explanation
The psychodynamic perspective was developed by
Sigmund Freud and emphasized the role and
influence of the unconscious and early childhood
memories as influential towards personality
development.
Levels of
awareness
Conscious awareness- consciously
aware of stimuli presently around you
at a given point
Preconscious awareness- (memories)
easy to retrieve into conscious
awareness
Application/Example/Extension
Freud used projective tests, which
are tests designed to project or
reveal, unconscious thoughts. These
tests, however, proved to be
unreliable as people reported
different opinions- which were often
influenced by their mood or present
emotions
Two examples of projective tests are
the Rorschach test, viewing 10
inkblots, and the TAT test,
comprising of ambiguous scenes,
which patients would then tell a
story. Subjects were asked to report
what they saw in each of these tests,
which led to unconscious conflicts
and motivation.
An example of conscious awareness would be listening and understanding
what your teacher is discussing during a lecture.
An example of preconscious awareness would be remembering what you
had for dinner last night. Even though you were not presently thinking
about what you ate last night- it is easy to bring that memory of last night’s
dinner into conscious awareness.
Unconscious awareness- information An example of the unconscious would be traumatic memories, which could
that you are not aware of, but impacts affect your personality- ex: childhood neglect could cause intimacy issues in
and controls your personality
adolescence.
Freud believed that personality is the result of
Id, ego, and superego are similar to the “Loony Tunes cartoons” The Id
conflicts and battles between the Id and the
represents the bad cat, the superego represents the good cat, and the ego
Superego, leaving the Ego to mediate, or find a
represents Sylvester the Cat, which is often trying to satisfy the bad and the
solution, to the conflict
good.
Id- component of personality that operates
The Id is present at birth and demands immediate gratification, which is why
according to the pleasure principle, which
babies cry hysterically when they want something.
focuses on immediate gratification and
An example of the Id would be how animals behave. The Id is largely
survival.
instinctual, which is why when animals kill they do not experience remorse
or guilt. They are operating solely on the Id.
Libido- psychic energy contained in the Id
Thanatos- contained in the Id; responsible for aggression
Eros- contained in the Id; source of energy that preserves life
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Personality
Psychosexual Stages Development
Psychodynamic Perspective
Ego- component of personality that operates
according to the reality principle, which takes
into account realistic and societal standards as a
method to mediate between the demands of the
Id and the expectations of the Superego
Superego- component of personality that
represents our sense of right and wrong- your
conscience
Psychosexual stages are characterized by the Id
searching different erogenous zones, (parts of the
body) for pleasure and gratification.
Oral stage- occurs from birth to 18 months,
when the Id focuses on the mouth region for
pleasure. This includes the activities of breast
feeding, pacifiers, putting toys and objects in
mouth
Anal stage- occurs from 18 months until 3
years, where the Id focuses on the anal area.
This includes applying control and
independence in the toilet training process
Everyone’s Ego, or personality, is different and unique because the Ego
ultimately chooses, or compromises between the Id and Superego. A
person who is aggressive may have a dominating Id, while people who are
often worried may have an overactive Superego.
The Superego is influenced by how people are raised, which could explain
why some people hear their mother’s voice in their head while making a
decision.
When the Id is not given adequate time to An example of fixation
explore a certain erogenous zone during
would be if you were not
the correct developmental stage, fixation
allowed to have ice cream as
can occur later in life. Fixation is
a child. As an adult you may
characterized by an obsession or an over- overindulge in ice cream.
indulgence of activities associated with
Partly why this occurs is
achieving pleasure in that particular
because you always
erogenous zone during adulthood.
wondered why you could
never have ice cream.
Examples of adult oral fixation would be adults who obsessively or
unconsciously smoke, eat, chew gum, bite fingernails, etc. This is
classified as fixation and not boredom because people who are orally
fixated are unaware (remember it is occurring within the unconscious) that
they are chewing on something thus gratifying the Id. A person is
surprised when told to stop biting their fingernail because he or she was
unaware that they were biting their fingernail.
An example of anal fixation would be anal retention in adulthood, which
is characterized by people who are excessively neat and become bothered
when other people move a personal possession. The Id is making up for a
lack of control during the anal stage, particularly toilet training. If a child
is not left alone during the toilet training process then fixation could occur.
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Personality
Phallic stage- occurs 3-6 years and the genital
area is the Id’s concern
(also occurring during this stage is the
emergence and resolution of the Oedipus
complex and development of the superego)
*Freud did not study women so it is
undetermined whether girls go through
something similar to the Oedipus complex*
Defense Mechanisms
Some theorists in turn suggest that girls go
through the electra complex, but most
researcher’s question this event.
The superego develops during the phallic For example, a mom who
cannot discipline her son may
stage through resolution of the Oedipus
state, “Go talk to your fathercomplex. The Oedipus complex occurs
you don’t listen (identify) to
when a boy is sexually attracted to his
mother and resentful of his father. Once a me.” Some theorists believe
boy realizes that societal restraints do not if a father is not present at
home during the phallic
allow such a relationship towards the
stage, the superego may not
mother, the boy’s attitude switches
accurately develop because
favorably towards his father allowing the
the identification process
defense mechanism of identification to
does not take place resulting
emerge resulting in the development of
in discipline problems. The
the superego. Because the boy identifies
boy could compensate for
with his father, the boy willingly then
this by identifying to a male
listens to his father. This relationship
coach or a teacher to develop
allows the superego to develop as the
the superego.
father can now teach the son right and
wrong.
During the latent stage, usually upper elementary school time, boys hang
out with other boys, and girls interact with just girls. Girls and boys do
not have any interest in one another at this point in their life.
Successful completion of the psychosexual stages results in healthy,
productive relationships in adulthood, without any type of fixation.
Latency stage occurs from age 6 to puberty
and the Id’s sexual energy lays dormant, or
does not exist.
Genital stage- occurs from puberty
throughout life and sexual energy reemerges
directed towards the opposite sex.
The Ego uses defense mechanisms to reduce anxiety and guilt caused by constant conflict between the Id and the Superego
Repression- automatic, no conscious thought,
A person may not be able to recall childhood traumatic events, such as
ejection or rejections of traumatic or negative
abuse due to that memory being automatically or unconsciously
desires and thoughts
repressed from conscious thought.
Regression- consciously retreating back to an
A woman starts to cry when she gets pulled over by a police officer
infantile reaction, or time period
because when she was a little girl she would cry and get out of trouble
Denial- refusing to accept the truth
Alcoholism may continue as a person lives in denial about their problem
Reaction formation- saying or doing the
A boy who likes a girl may make fun of her to hide, or cover up his true
opposite of what you are actually thinking
feelings of how he actually feels because he is embarrassed.
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Neo-Freudians (Post-psychodynamic thought)
Personality
Projection- projecting, or directing weaknesses
A person who is overweight may constantly make fun of other people for
and thoughts onto other people
being overweight to feel better about himself or herself.
Rationalization- providing justifications, or
A student who fails an exam may provide excuses (it was too hard, or the
excuses, to make behavior or thoughts acceptable teacher did not cover the material) to make themselves feel better.
Displacement- taking out anger or feelings on a
A person slams their locker because their teacher made them mad. Any
less threatening target- someone or something that hostility towards teacher would have resulted in suspension- but the locker
cannot fight back
can’t fight back.
Undoing- occurs when one action is meant to
A boy may buy his girlfriend flowers to make up for lying to her about the
make up for a previous bad action.
previous night’s activities.
Neo-Freudians were followers of Freud who modified Freud’s theories
Jung thought that each person has a
Jung believed that within the collective unconscious are archetypes, symbols
Carl
collective unconscious, which
that represent various ideas and thoughts. For example, snakes represent
Jung
contained information passed from
evil, or a mother represents nurturing. Jung argued that children are
generation to generation that aided
inherently afraid of snakes, because this knowledge is contained in the
growth and survival
collective unconscious passed from generation to generation, promoting
survival and protection.
Jung also developed the terms introvert Introverts are shy people who like Extroverts are people who are
and extrovert to describe personality.
to be by themselves and prefer
outgoing, like social events, and enjoy
quiet events.
talking to other people.
Adler believed that the inferiority
Children often argue with parents about being able to do something by
Alfred
complex guided personality through
themselves. Adler believed children wanted to show their parents that they
Adler
providing motivation and desire to
are capable of doing things on their own and are not dependent on them and
overcome childhood inferiorities
hence inferior. Adler also believed that people brag to cover up to make
through being superior in life during
other people forget or not notice their inferiorities.
adulthood
Horney thought that Freud was too
1. Moving toward
People who are classified as this relationship
Karen
relationship- excessive
become bothered, or act differently when they
Horney male-dominated, and believed social
relationships were responsible for
need for approval
are not given enough attention or support from
personality development. She described
friends and family.
what people stress or need in 3 types of
different relationships:
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Personality
People who are classified with this relationship
become irritated and act differently when they
are not in control or allowed to make decisions
in group settings.
3. Moving away
People in this relationship become upset when
relationship- desire to be
they are not given enough “alone time”, or are
independent
constantly being asked questions by others.
The goal of the humanistic perspective is help people reach their human potential through development of a healthy self-concept,
and the emphasis of free will, which is allowing people to discover their own strengths and weaknesses
Humanistic Perspective
2. Moving against
relationship- excessive
need for power
Carl
RogersPerson
Centered
Approach
Actualizing tendency- an
innate drive within a
person that pushes him or
her to reach their potential
and live life to their fullest
An example of the actualizing tendency is the “little voice” within us to try harder and
never give up. Some people believe that competitiveness cannot be taught; but rather is
something that resides inside a person. In other words, it is something you are born
with, or is innate.
Self-concept- set of
perceptions or beliefs a
person has about him or
herself. According to
Rogers, these beliefs
affect the personality and
its development.
Factors that affect the self-concept
Conditional positive regard(conditional love) occurs
when certain people only
show love or affection for
others when certain
conditions or requirements
are met or satisfied.
Unconditional positive
regard (unconditional love)
occurs when a person
expresses their love and
affection for others without
conditions being met
A boy who believes that his parents will only show love
and approval when he is successful at school will have a
tendency to only tell his parents successful outcomes, as
the boy understands when he does not perform well at
school his parents will not show affection. This results
in incongruence, when the self-concept- thoughts about
oneself- and actual experience do not match. The boy
knows he is not doing well in school, but continues to lie
to his parents to gain their approval.
Some people know no matter what they do, their parents,
friends, etc. will still love them. This understanding
leads to congruence, when a person’s self-concept
matches what they actually say and do.
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Trait Perspective
Personality
Traits are characteristic patterns or predispositions (adjectives)
A person who has a caring trait will behave in a caring way in
to behave
most situations
Gordon Allport was on of the first theorists to research the role of traits in determining behavior and personality
Allport’s Source
Allport’s Surface traits- A good way to distinguish between source and surface traits is through the
following statement, “On the surface (traits that are easy observed by others)
traits- (also called
(also called secondary
central traits)- are traits) are traits that are
he seemed like a nice guy, but as I got to know him (the source of who he is)
few in number and
easily observed by other he turned out to be liar- (source traits take more time to identify and are an
considered to be the people that may not
indication of who someone is)
roots or source of
actually describe who the
personality
person really is
Raymond Cattell used a factor analysis,
A factor analysis would show that a person who is caring would also probably
which is a mathematical formula that shows
be dependable, or a person who is a cheater is probably also a liar. From a
how traits predict or relate to other traits
factor analysis Cattell developed the 16 Personality Factor test- 16 source
traits
Robert McCrae and Paul Costa developed the The Big Five Source Traits- you either lean to one trait or the other:
Big Five Personality Source Traits, which are Conscientiousness- organized or disorganized
considered the building blocks of personality
Agreeableness- trusting or suspicious
*Remember Canoe or Ocean*
Neuroticism- (sometime called emotional stability)- calm or anxious
Openness- imaginative or practical
Extraversion- affectionate or reserved
Hans Eysenck identified 3 dimensions of
On a spectrum he believed that people fell somewhere between the two
biological traits, traits he believed people were
opposite dimensions:
born with
Extraversion ______________+__________________Introversion
Extraversion (outgoing) –
A person who is outgoing, likes to go out, and being around other people
Introversion (shy) dimension
would fall closer to the extraversion dimension than someone who stays at
home and likes quiet time, which is more introversion.
Neuroticism (very emotionally
A person who is moody would fall closer to the neuroticism dimension than a
unpredictable) – emotional stable
person who is not overly emotional, which would lean more to the emotional
dimension
stable dimension.
Psychoticism dimension- overall
A person who is high in the psychoticism dimension is someone who has no
welfare for other people
remorse, or feelings for another person; a person who is low in the
psychoticism dimension has feelings for other people
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Social-Cognitive Perspective
Personality
Objective personality tests contain direct
The MMPI is the mostly widely used objective personality test. This test is
questions that have specific answers. These
empirically derived, which means that the questions are written from objective
tests are comprised of multiple-choice, truedata and past experiences of people who have taken the test. The MMPI was
false questions and answers. *Unlike projective originally written to measure abnormal behavior.
tests, which rely on interpretation, objective
tests can be easily scored, very cheap, and can
be quickly administered*
Social-cognitive perspective emphasized the interaction of cognitive, behavioral, and environmental and learning factors, which
affect personality.
Bandura developed reciprocal
According to Bandura, personality is influenced by the thoughts (cognition),
Albert
determinism- personality is the the way a person acts (behavior), and the environment one grows up in.
Bandura
result of cognitive, behavioral,
Reciprocal
environmental factors
determinism
Bandura also believed that self- The thought of “I think I can” would positively affect the way a person acts
efficacy beliefs, the beliefs or
when performing a task or activity
opinions a person has about him
or herself, also influence
personality.
These expectancies guide
External locus of controlJulian Rotter Rotter believed that
Internal locus of
learning results in
behavior, for example
the belief that you have no
control- the belief that
expectancies, which
Expectancy
personal effort, through
control, or are controlled by you control your own
Theory
are our expectations of what we think is going to
other outside factors- the
fate- you control how
the outcome of a
happen- this can also be
expectation to fail because
long and how much you
situation.
influenced by our sense of
you did not write the test, or study, resulting in the
control in a situation
don’t know what is going to expectation that you can
be on the test
pass the test
Martin
Seligman
Learned
helplessness
Seligman believed that learned
helplessness results when
people who repeatedly attempt
something and continuously fail
will eventually give up
Seligman, through his research on the effects and prevention of learned
helplessness, developed positive psychology, which focuses on optimism and
helping people work more effectively through difficulties and becoming
successful.
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Personality
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