Chapter 12 Personality

1. Chapter 12 Personality

2. Chapter Preview Psychodynamic Perspectives Humanistic Perspectives Trait Perspectives Personological and Life Story Perspectives Social Cognitive Perspectives Biological Perspectives Personality Assessment Personality and Health and Wellness

3. Personality …a pattern of enduring distinctive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that characterize the way an individual adapts to the world

4. Psychodynamic Perspectives personality is primarily unconscious understanding personality involves exploring the symbolic meanings of behavior and the unconscious mind early childhood experiences sculpt the individual’s personality

5. Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory Freud and Psychoanalysis • sex drive – main determinant of personality development Hysteria • physical symptoms without physical cause • overdetermined – multiple unconscious causes Iceberg Analogy of Human Personality

6. Personality Structure Id • instincts and reservoir of psychic energy • pleasure principle Ego • deals with the demands of reality • reality principle Superego • moral branch of personality; “conscience”

7. Personality Structure

8. Defense Mechanisms • conflict between the id, ego, and superego results in anxiety • defense mechanisms reduce anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality – not necessarily unhealthy • repression • foundation for all defense mechanisms • push unacceptable impulses out of awareness

9. Defense Mechanisms repression rationalization displacement sublimation projection reaction formation denial regression

10. Defense Mechanisms

11. Defense Mechanisms

12. Psychosexual Stages Oral Stage: 0-18 Months • infant’s pleasure centers on the mouth Anal Stage: 18-36 Months • child’s pleasure involves eliminative functions Phallic Stage: 3-6 Years • child’s pleasure focuses on the genitals • Oedipal complex • castration anxiety

13. Phallic Stage • Pleasure focuses on genitals • discovery that self-stimulation is enjoyable • Oedipus Complex • boy’s intense desire to replace father and enjoy affections of mother • castration Anxiety • boy’s intense fear of being mutilated by father • identifying with father and adopting male gender role to reduce conflict, as foundation for superego • without experience of castration anxiety, girls cannot develop superego like boys

14. Psychosexual Stages (cont’d) Latency Stage: 6 Years - Puberty • psychic “time-out” • interest in sexuality is repressed Genital Stage: Adolescence and Adulthood • sexual reawakening • source of sexual pleasure is someone else Fixation - remain locked in particular developmental stage (e.g., anal retentive)

15. Psychosexual Stages

16. Dissenters and Revisionists sexuality – not pervasive force behind personality early experience –not as powerful as Freud thought importance of conscious thought sociocultural influences

17. Dissenters and Revisionists Horney’s Sociocultural Approach • both sexes envy the attributes of the other • need for security, not sex, is primary motivator Jung’s Analytical Theory • collective unconscious and archetypes Adler’s Individual Psychology • perfection, not pleasure, is key motivator

18. Evaluating Psychodynamic Theory Criticisms • too much emphasis on early experiences • too much faith in unconscious mind’s control • too much emphasis on sexual instincts • theory can not be tested Contributions • importance of childhood experiences • development proceeds in stages • role of unconscious processes

19. Humanistic Perspectives …emphasis on a person’s capacity for personal growth and positive human qualities

20. Humanistic Perspectives Abraham Maslow • third force psychology • self-actualization • peak experiences • biased since focus was on highly successful individuals

21. Humanistic Perspectives Carl Rogers • personal growth and self-determination • unconditional positive regard - conditions of worth - self-concept • empathy • genuineness

22. Evaluating Humanistic Perspectives Contributions • self-perception is key to personality • consider the positive aspects of human nature • emphasize conscious experience Criticisms • too optimistic about human nature • promotes self-love and narcissism

23. Trait Perspectives Trait • an enduring disposition that leads to characteristic responses • traits are the building blocks of personality Trait Theories • people can be described by their typical behavior • strong versus weak tendencies

24. Trait Perspectives Gordon Allport • personality understood through traits • behavior consistent across situations • lexical approach  4500 traits W. T. Norman • five factor model • broad traits – main dimensions of personality

25. Five Factor Model of Personality

26. Evaluating Trait Perspectives Contributions • traits influence health, cognitions, career success, and interpersonal relations Criticisms • ignores the role of the situation in behavior • ignores nuances of an individual’s personality

27. Personological Perspectives …focusing on an individual’s life history or life story Henry Murray • personology: the study of the whole person • motives are largely unconscious • thematic apperception test (TAT) - need for achievement, affiliation, and power

28. Life Story Approach Dan McAdams • our life story is our identity • intimacy motivation Psychobiography • applying personality theory to one person’s life

29. Evaluating Life Story Approach Contributions • rich record of an individual’s experience Criticisms • difficult and time-consuming - extensive coding and content analysis • prone to bias • not easily generalized

30. Social Cognitive Perspectives • emphasize conscious awareness, beliefs, expectations, and goals • incorporates principles from behaviorism when exploring: - reasoning - beliefs - self reflection - interpretation of situation

31. Social Cognitive Perspectives Albert Bandura • reciprocal determinism - behavior, environment, and cognitive factors interact to create personality Key Processes and Variables • observational learning • personal control • self-efficacy

32. Reciprocal Determinism

33. Social Cognitive Perspectives Walter Mischel Situationalism - behavior and personality vary considerably across context CAPS Model of Personality - stability over time rather than across situations - interconnections among cognitions and emotions affect our behavior

34. Evaluating Social Cognitive Theory Contributions • focuses on interactions of individuals with their environments • suggests people can control their environment Criticisms • too concerned with change and the situation • ignores the role of biology • very specific predictions hinder generalization

35. Biological Perspectives Personality and the Brain • brain damage alters personality • brain responses correlate with personality Eysenk’s Reticular Activation System Theory • extraverts and introverts have different base-line levels of arousal Gray’s Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory • behavioral activation system and behavioral inhibition system

36. Eysenck’s RAS Theory • Reticular Activating System (RAS) • Located in brain stem • Plays role in wakefulness or arousal • Eysenck’s Theory • All share optimal arousal level • RAS of extraverts and introverts may differ in baseline levels of arousal, with behaviors aimed at regulating arousal around these baselines • But introverts may just be more sensitive to stimuli

37. Gray’s Reinforcement Sensitivity • Behavioral approach system (BAS) and behavioral inhibition system (BIS) underlie personality • Differences in sensitivity to rewards and punishers • BAS • Sensitive to rewards • Predisposition to positive emotion • Underlies extraversion • BIS • Sensitive to punishers • Predisposition to fear • Underlies neuroticism

38. Biological Perspectives Role of Neurotransmitters • growth of dopamine receptors stimulated by warm care-givers • disposes person to reward-sensitivity (extraversion) • less serotonin in circulation leads to negative mood (neuroticism)

39. Biological Perspectives Behavioral Genetics • twin studies reveal substantial genetic influence on Big Five traits • most traits influenced by multiple genes Evaluating the Biological Perspective • ties personality to animal learning, brain imaging, and evolutionary theory • criticisms (e.g., biology may be the effect, not the cause, of personality)

40. Personality Assessment Self-Report Tests • beware social desirability • empirically-keyed tests used to get around social desirability problem - test takers do not know what is being measured - test items not related to purpose of test - MMPI is an example

41. Personality Assessment Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory • 567 items • controls for social desirability • assesses mental health and used to make hiring decisions and to determine criminal risk Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory-Revised • assesses the big five factors and 6 subdimensions

42. Personality Assessment Myers Briggs Type Indicator • four dimensions used to make personnel decisions: - extraversion-introversion - sensing-intuiting - thinking-feeling - judgment-perception • not empirically supported • Barnum effect

43. Personality Assessment Projective Tests …psychodynamic approach …project own meaning on ambiguous stimuli Rorschach inkblot test • personality score based on description of inkblots • questionable reliability and validity Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) • series of ambiguous pictures viewed one at a time • elicited stories reveal an individual’s personality

44. Rorschach Inkblot Test

45. Thematic Apperception Test

46. Other Assessment Methods direct behavioral observation cognitive assessment of attention and memory peer ratings psychophysiological measures (e.g., polygraph) brain imaging