Personality Assessment and Theory

1. Personality Assessment and Theory NOTE: We will be skipping the chapters on Gender and Sexuality and Motivation at this time.

2. Personality Assessment • Personality—Relatively stable and enduring patterns of thoughts, feelings, and actions. • Interviews • Observation • Objective Tests • MMPI-2 • 16PF • Projective Tests • Rorschach Inkblot Test • Thematic Apperception Test

3. Trait Theories • Trait—A relatively stable and consistent characteristic that can be used to describe someone • Factor Analysis—Statistical procedure for determining the most basic units or factors in a large array of data • Five-Factor Model (FFM)—Trait theory that explains personality in terms of a Big Five model—openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, aggreeableness, and neuroticism

4. Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic Theories • Freud • Levels of consciousness • Conscious—In Freudian terms, thoughts or motives that a person is currently aware of or is remembering • Preconscious—Freud’s term for thoughts or motives that one can become aware of easily • Unconscious—Freud’s term for thoughts or motives that lie beyond a person’s normal awareness but that can be made available through psychoanalysis.

5. Freud’s Personality Structure • Id—According to Freud, the source of instinctual energy, which works on the pleasure principle (seeking immediate pleasure) and is concerned with immediate gratification. • Ego—In Freud’s theory, the rational part of the psyche that deals with reality by controlling the id while also satisfying the superego; (from the Latin ego meaning I)

6. Freud’s Personality Structure • Reality principle—According to Freud, the principle on which the conscious ego operates as it tries to meet the demands of the id and the superego and the realities of the environment. • Superego—In Freud’s theory, the part of the personality that incorporates parental and societal standards of morality

7. Ego Defense Mechanisms • When the ego fails to satisfy both the id and the superego, anxiety occurs. In order to avoid the discomfort of anxiety, the ego distorts reality by the use of defense mechanisms.

8. Ego Defense Mechanisms • Repression—preventing painful or dangerous thoughts from entering consciousness • Sublimation—Working off unmet desires or unacceptable impulses in activities • Denial—Protecting oneself from an unpleasant reality by refusing to perceive it • Rationalization—Substituting socially acceptable reasons

9. Ego Defense Mechanisms • Intellectualization—Ignoring the emotional aspects of a painful experience by focusing on abstract thoughts, words or ideas • Projection—Transferring unacceptable motives or impulses to others • Reaction formation—Refusing to acknowledge unacceptable urges, thoughts or feelings by exaggerating the opposite state

10. Ego Defense Mechanisms • Regression—Responding to a threatening situation in a way appropriate to an earlier age or level of development • Displacement—Substituting a less threatening object for the original object or impulse

11. Psychsexual Stages of Development • In Freudian theory, five developmental periods during which particular kinds of pleasures must be gratified if personality development is to proceed normally

12. Oral Stage • 0-18 months—infant receives satisfaction through sucking, eating, biting, etc. Erogenous zone is the mouth. • Overindulgent—gullible, dependent, and passive • Underindulgent—aggressive, sadistic person • Oral fixated adults orient their life around their mouth by overeating, alcoholism, smoking, talking too much

13. Anal Stage • 18 months-3 years—the child receives satisfaction by having and retaining bowel movements. Erogenous zone is the anus. • Fixation results in retentive or explosive personality • Anal-retentive—highly controlled, compulsively neat • Anal-explosive—messy, disorderly, rebellious, and destructive

14. Phallic Stage • 3-6 years—center of pleasure is the genitals, typically a time of exploration of pleasure through masturbation and “playing doctor” • Child resolves the Oedipus Complex—(the period of conflict during the phallic stage when children are sexually attracted to the opposite-sex parent and hostile toward the same-sex parent • Castration anxiety in males and penis envy in girls

15. Latency Stage • Age 6 to puberty—children repress sexual thoughts and engage in nonsexual activities such as developing social and intellectual skills • Task is to develop successful interactions with same-sex peers and refine appropriate gender roles

16. Genital Stage • Adolescence on—genitals are again the erogenous zones. • Individual seeks to fulfill his or her sexual desires through emotional attachment to members of the opposite sex. • Unsuccessful outcomes lead to sexual relationships based on lustful desires rather than respect and commitment.

17. Neo-Freudian/Psychodynamic Theories • Alfred Adler—Individual Psychology—Our goals in life provide the source of our motivation—to obtain security and overcome feelings of inferiority • Inferiority Complex—feelings of inferiority develop from early childhood experiences of helplessness and incompetence • Birth order and family constellation are important concepts for Adlerian Psychology

18. Neo-Freudian/Psychodynamic Theories • Carl Jung—Analytical Psychology—unconscious contains positive and spiritual motives as well as sexual and aggressive ones • Collective Unconscious—Jung’s concept of an inherited unconscious that all humans share • Archetypes—According to Jung, the images or patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behavior that reside in the collective unconscious

19. Neo-Freudian/Psychodynamic Theories • Karen Horney—disagreed with Freud that differences between men and women are biologically based. • Penis Envy was really Power Envy which was a result of social status rather than biology • Basic Anxiety—According to Horney, the feelings of helplessness and insecurity that adults experience because as children they felt alone and isolated in a hostile environment.

20. Evaluating Psychoanalytic Theories • Difficult to test • Overemphasis on biology and unconscious forces • Inadequate evidence • Sexism • Lack of Cross-cultural support

21. Humanistic Theories • Carl Rogers—the father of humanistic psychology • Strong belief in the basic goodness of people • Each person’s experience of the world is unique • Everyone possesses a positive drive toward self-fulfillment (or actualization)

22. Humanistic Theories • Self-concept—Rogers’ term for all the information and beliefs about their own nature, qualities, and behavior • Congruence—match between our self-concept and our life experiences • Unconditional Positive Regard—Rogers’ term for positive behavior toward a person with no contingencies attached.

23. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs • Physiological Needs: hunger, thirst, and maintenance of internal state of the body • Safety Needs: to feel secure and safe, to seek pleasure and avoid pain • Belonging and Love Needs: to affiliate with others, be accepted and give and receive attention • Esteem Needs: to achieve, be competent, gain approval and excel • Self-Actualization Needs: to find self-fulfillment, and realize one’s potential

24. Evaluating Humanistic Theories • Naïve Assumptions—humanists are unrealistic, romantic, and naïve about human nature • Poor testability and inadequate evidence—unconditional positive regard and self-actualization are difficult to operationalize and test • Narrowness—humanistic theories merely describe, rather than explain personality

25. Social/Cognitive Perspective • Bandura • Self-Efficacy—learned beliefs that one is capable of producing desired results, such as mastering new skills and achieving personal goals. • Reciprocal Determinism—cognitions, behaviors, and the learning environment interact to produce personality • Rotter • Locus of Control—one’s expectancies and view of the source of life’s rewards and punishments