Your Theory of Personality
o
1. Human
behavior results primarily from heredity, what has been genetically transmitted
by parents, or from environment, the external circumstances and experiences
that shape a person after conception has occurred.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 heredity environment
Your Theory of Personality
o
2. Personality is relatively unchanging, with
each person showing the same behavior throughout a lifetime, or personality is
relatively changing, with each person showing different behavior throughout a
lifetime.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
unchanging changing
Your Theory of Personality
o
3. The most important influences on behavior
are past events, what has previously occurred to a person, or future events,
what a person seeks to bring about by striving to meet certain goals.
1
2 3 4 5 6 7
past future
Your Theory of Personality
o
4. People are motivated to cooperate with
others mainly because they are self-centered, expecting to receive some
personal gain, or mainly because they are altruistic, seeking to work with
others only for the benefit of doing things with and for others.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
self-centered altruistic
What is Personality?
Basic perspectives
§
Psychoanalytic—Sigmund
Freud
§
Humanistic– Carl
Rogers
Sigmund Freud
o
Lived 1856 – 1939
o
Was a Physician
o
Theory based on
clinical population
o
Theory influenced
by “Victorian Times”
The Psychoanalytic Perspective
§
Freud’s
theory proposed that childhood sexuality
and unconscious motivations influence personality
The Psychoanalytic Perspective
§
Psychoanalysis
§
Freud’s theory of
personality that attributes our thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and
conflicts
§
techniques used
in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret
unconscious tensions
The Psychoanalytic Perspective
§
First Came up use
of hypnosis – influenced by work of Dr. Mesmer
§
Free Association
§
in
psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious
§
person relaxes
and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing
The Psychoanalytic Perspective
§
Unconscious
§
according to
Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings and
memories
§
contemporary
viewpoint- information processing of which we are unaware
Personality Structure
§
Id
§
contains a
reservoir of unconscious psychic energy
§
strives to
satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives
§
operates on the
pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification
Personality Structure
§
Superego
§
the part of
personality that presents internalized ideals
§
Represents “rules”
of society
§
provides
standards for judgement (the conscience) and for future aspirations
Id and Superego
o
Id and Superego are in constant conflict
o
This cause guilt and anxiety
o
People need to learn how to cope with this
conflict– some do it successfully and others don’t
o
Conflicts most be resolved by ego
Personality Structure
§
Ego
§
the largely
conscious, “executive” part of personality
§
mediates among
the demands of the id, superego, and reality
§
operates on the
reality principle, satisfying the id’s desires in ways that will realistically
bring pleasure rather than pain
Personality Structure
§
Freud’s idea of
the mind’s structure
Personality Development
§
Psychosexual
Stages
§
the childhood
stages of development during which the id’s pleasure-seeking energies focus on
distinct erogenous zones
Personality Development
Personality Development
§
Identification
§
the process by which children incorporate their
parents’ values into their developing superegos
§
The reason our culture placed so much emphasis
on traditional families
§
Fixation
§
a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies
at an earlier psychosexual stage, where conflicts were unresolved
Defense Mechanisms
§
Defense
Mechanisms
§
the ego’s
protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality
§
Repression
§
the basic defense
mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from
consciousness
§
Freud argues it’s
why we don’t remember many things from early childhood
Defense Mechanisms
§
Regression
§
defense mechanism
in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile
psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated
§
Example– party
behavior?
Defense Mechanisms
§
Reaction Formation
§
defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously
switches unacceptable impulses into their opposites
§
people may express feelings that are the
opposite of their anxiety-arousing unconscious feelings (e.g., express a
disdain for pornography but really enjoy it)
§
For example, someone who can’t cope with anxiety
becomes very religious, become celibate, etc.
Defense Mechanisms
§
Projection
§
defense mechanism by which people disguise their
own threatening impulses by attributing them to others
§
Prejudice against other ethnic groups or ages
groups such as teens
§
Rationalization
§
defense mechanism that offers self-justifying
explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for
one’s actions
§
I “hit” because she “deserved” it
Defense Mechanisms
§
Displacement
§
defense mechanism
that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less
threatening object or person
§
as when
redirecting anger toward a safer outlet., e.g., football for aggression; art
for sexual desire
Assessing the Unconscious
§
Projective Test
§
a personality test, such as the Rorschach or
TAT, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one’s
inner dynamics
§
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
§
a projective test in which people express their
inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous
scenes
Assessing the Unconscious--TAT
Assessing the Unconscious
§
Rorschach Inkblot
Test
§
the most widely
used projective test
§
a set of 10
inkblots designed by Hermann Rorschach
§
seeks to identify
people’s inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots
Assessing the Unconscious--Rorschach
Humanistic Perspective– Self Actualization
Theories
§
Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
§
studied self-actualization processes of productive
and healthy people (e.g., Lincoln)
Humanistic Perspective
§
Self-Actualization
§
the ultimate
psychological need that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are
met and self-esteem is achieved
§
the motivation to
fulfill one’s potential
Rogers
§
Everyone has a
self concept and an ideal self
§
Goal is to
actualize or become ideal self
§
Requires
realistic idea of self
§
Requires
realistic ideal self
§
Require Positive
Self Regard
Heredity
Nature
Nurture
1---------------------------------------------------7
Freud Rogers, Skiner
Personality Change
Constant Changing
1----------------------------------------------------7
Freud
Skinner Rogers
Influence of Past
Past is Critical Focus
on Future
1---------------------------------------------------7
Freud
Skinner Rogers
Selfishness
Selfish
Altruistic
1----------------------------------------------------7
Freud
Skinner Rogers