General Psychology General Psychology (PY110)(PY110)

Chapter 8

Personality Theories and Assessment

PersonalityPersonality

A person’s internally based characteristic ways of acting and thinkingAn enduring trait or characteristic such as extroversion or introversion

Freudian Classical Psychoanalytic Freudian Classical Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality Theory of Personality

Developed by Sigmund Freud inthe late nineteenth century◦Freud was a neurologist◦Had patients whose symptoms

could not be explained medically

◦Discovered that physical problems could have a mental cause (Mind/Body Connection)

Believed that people are driven to seek pleasure (sex) and avoid pain (aggression)

Freud’s Three Levels of Freud’s Three Levels of AwarenessAwareness

Freud’s Freud’s Three-Part Personality StructureThree-Part Personality Structure

•The conflict between Id and Superego anxiety•These can be temporarily resolved by Ego defense mechanisms

Id Superego Id Superego ConflictConflict

Freud’s Defense Freud’s Defense MechanismsMechanisms

Repression Unknowingly placing an unpleasant memory or thought in the unconscious

Not remembering a traumatic incident in which you witnessed a crime

Regression Reverting back to immature behavior from an earlier stage of development

Throwing temper tantrums as an adult when you don’t get your way

Displacement Redirecting unacceptable feelings from the original source to a safer substitute target

Taking your anger toward your boss out on your spouse or children by yelling at them and not your boss

Freud’s Defense Freud’s Defense MechanismsMechanisms

Sublimation Replacing socially unacceptable impulses with socially acceptable behavior

Channeling aggressive drives into playing football or inappropriate sexual desires into art

Reaction Formation

Acting in exactly the opposite way to one’s unacceptable impulses

Being overprotective of and lavishing attention on an unwanted child

Projection Attributing one’s own unacceptable feelings and thoughts to others and not yourself

Accusing your boyfriend of cheating on you because you have felt like cheating on him

Rationalization Creating false excuses for one’s unacceptable feelings, thoughts, or behavior

Justifying cheating on an exam by saying that everyone else cheats

Unhealthy PersonalitiesUnhealthy Personalities

Freud believed that:Defense mechanisms can provide

temporary relief from id < > superego conflict

Can also cause ‘unhealthy personalities’ when we become too dependent upon them

Usually when the id or superego is unusually strong or the ego unusually weak

Freud’s Freud’s Psychosexual Stage TheoryPsychosexual Stage Theory

Developed to explain personality development, divided childhood into 5 stages

Each stage has an erogenous zone where the id’s pleasure-seeking tendencyis focused

Fixation occurs when excessive or insufficient gratification occurs during a stage

This can impact their behavior and personality traits in later life

Freud’s Psychosocial States Freud’s Psychosocial States of Personality Developmentof Personality Development

Stage (age range) Erogenous Zone

Activity Focus

Oral (birth to 1½ years)

Mouth, lips, and tongue

Sucking, biting, and chewing

Anal (1½ to 3 years)

Anus Bowel retention and elimination

Phallic (3 to 6 years)

Genitals Identifying with same-sex parent to learn gender role and sense of morality

Latency (6 years to puberty)

No erogenous zone

Cognitive and social development

Genital (puberty to adulthood)

Genitals Development of sexual relationships, moving toward intimate adult relationships

Anal Stage - Potty TrainingAnal Stage - Potty TrainingParents try to get the child to have

self-control during toilet trainingHarsh toilet training can result in

◦ Child getting even by withholding bowel movements leading to an anal-retentive personality Orderliness, neatness, stinginess,

and obstinacy

◦ Child rebels and has bowel movements whenever and wherever leads to an anal-expulsive personality Conceit, suspicion, excessive ambition

Phallic Stage Conflicts Phallic Stage Conflicts Oedipus conflict:

little boy becomes sexually attracted to his mother and fears the father (his rival)

In the Electra conflict, the little girl is attracted to her father because he has a penis; she wants one and feels inferior without one (penis envy)

Both conflicts can result in difficulty in finding an appropriate partner later in life

Neo-Freudian Neo-Freudian Theories of Personality Theories of Personality

Agree with many of Freud’s basic ideas, but differ in one or more important ways

Carl Jung’s Collective

Unconscious

Carl Jung’s Collective

Unconscious

Alfred Adler’s Striving for Superiority

Alfred Adler’s Striving for Superiority

Karen Horneyand the

Need for Security

Karen Horneyand the

Need for Security

Carl Jung’s Carl Jung’s Collective Unconscious Collective Unconscious

Jung proposed two main personality attitudes, extraversion and introversion

Jung also proposed four functions/styles of gathering information◦ Sensing is the function where the world is carefully

perceived◦ Intuiting is more subjective perception◦ Thinking is logical deduction◦ Feeling is the subjective emotional function

The two personality attitudes and four functions are the basis for the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, still in wide use today

Alfred Adler’s Alfred Adler’s Striving for SuperiorityStriving for Superiority

Saw main motivation as “striving for superiority” overcoming a sense of inferiority that we feel as infants

A healthy person learns to cope with these feelings, becomes competent, and develops a sense of self-esteem

Inferiority complex is the strong feeling of inferiority felt by those who never overcome this initial feeling of inferiority

Karen Horney and Karen Horney and The Need for Security The Need for Security

Focused on dealing with our need for security

If security is not achieved then three neurotic personality patterns could develop◦Moving toward people

A compliant, submissive person◦Moving against people

An aggressive, domineering person◦Moving away from people

A detached, aloof person

The Humanistic The Humanistic Approach to Personality Approach to Personality

Abraham Maslow is considered the father of the humanistic movement ◦Humanists emphasizes conscious free will

in one’s actions, the uniqueness of the individual person, and personal growth

◦Maslow studied the lives of very healthy and creative people to develop his theory of personality

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs arranges the needs that motivate our behavior, from the strongest needs at the bottom to the weakness needs at the top

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Maslow’s Hierarchy of NeedsNeeds

The needs of each level must be reasonably met to progress to next

Self-ActualizationSelf-ActualizationMaslow saw Self-Actualization as the peak

of human achievementCharacteristics of

self-actualized people ◦ Accepting of themselves,

others, and the nature of world

◦ Need privacy and onlya few close, emotional relationships

◦ Being autonomous and independent, democratic, and very creative

◦ Having peak experiences – Experiencing whatever you are doing as fully as possible

Roger’s Self TheoryRoger’s Self TheoryCarl Rogers dealt with college

students with adjustment problems◦Believed that people need positive regard – to be accepted by and have the affection of others

Our parents set up conditions of worth - behaviors and attitudes for which gave us positive regard

Unconditional positive regard – acceptance and approval without conditions◦Empathy from others, and having genuine

respect for your own feelings is necessary for self-actualization

Note that neither Maslow nor Roger’s theories are research-based

Unconditional Positive Unconditional Positive Regard?Regard?

“Just remember son, it doesn’t matter if you win or lose – Unless you want

Daddy’s love.”

Personality AssessmentPersonality AssessmentPersonality tests are used to aid

in diagnosing people’s problems, counseling, and making personnel decisions

There are two main types:

PersonalityInventories

PersonalityInventories

ProjectiveTests

ProjectiveTests

Personality InventoriesPersonality InventoriesDesigned to measure multiple traits of

personality, and in some cases, disordersResults are objective and tests can be

administered by anyone

MMPIMMPIMinnesota Multiphasic

Personality InventoryUses “True/False/

Cannot Say” questions ◦ “I like to cook”◦ “I like to speak in public”

Measures abnormal personality, with 10 clinical scales including depression and schizophrenia

Also includes questions designed to catch lies and people trying to cover up their problems

Used worldwide – translated into over 100 languages

Projective TestsProjective TestsContain a series of ambiguous stimuli,

such as inkblots, to which the test taker must respond about his perceptions of the stimuli

Sample tests◦ Rorschach Inkblots Test ◦ Thematic Apperception

Tests (TAT) Tests are highly subjective and

can only be administered by trained mental healthprofessionals

Rorschach Inkblots TestRorschach Inkblots Test10 symmetric inkblots which the

examiner asks “what do you see?” then asks for explanation of interpretation.

Assumes the test taker’s responses are projections of their personal conflicts and personality dynamics

Widely used but not demonstrated to be reliable and valid

Thematic Apperception Tests Thematic Apperception Tests (TAT)(TAT)20 cards with ambiguous

black and white picturesTest taker asked to make up

a story for each card◦ What happened before,

is happening now, and how things will turn out

Looks for recurring themes in the responses

Scoring has yet to be demonstrated to be either reliable or valid