Psychology 001Introduction to

Psychology

Christopher Gade, PhDOffice: 621 Heafey

Office hours: F 3-6 and by apt. Email: gadecj@gmail.com

Class WF 7:00-8:30 Heafey 650

Personality

To effectively examine the topic of personality, one can ask a number of questions… How is an individual’s

personality defined? How do we determine

different personalities? Can and do our

personalities change? How does personality

come about?

What is personality? Personality – all the consistent ways in which

the behavior of one person differs from and is similar to that of others, especially in social situations

Specific behaviors signify specific personalities

Personality measures can’t determine what we do all of the time in every social situation, but it can give us a good indication about what we are likely to do

Personality traits are often tough to define, but there are a number of theories about how many, and what types of traits individuals have

Personality is said to be the product of experience and genetics

Defining Personality: Freud and His Psychodynamic

Approach Psychodynamic theory – personality isbased on the interplay of conflicting forces within the individual. This includes forces that the individual is both aware of (conscious), and unaware of (unconscious). Our personality is a derivative of the experiences

of our past, as well as the current desires acting on the individual

Abnormal personality is a result of pent up or conflicting forces within the individual

Personality-based behaviors are committed in order to reduce the strain built up by desires

Catharsis – a release of pent up tensions

Where do the pent up desires come from?

the ‘id’: an unconscious force that constantly seeks satisfaction of basic needs (survival, sex, immediate gratification)

The ‘superego’: an unconscious force that’s only goal is to push us to do what is ‘right’ (society’s standards)

The ‘ego’: a conscious force that operates on the reality principle. It seeks to satisfy id’s and the superego’s desires in realistic ways

What causes tensions

(according to Freud)?

Tensions and irrational behavior come from a pent up store of desires and experiences that have an effect on the individual Conscious – thoughts,

memories, and emotions that we are aware of

Unconscious – thoughts, memories, and emotions that we are unaware of due to their traumatic or unacceptable nature

Note on the impact of the unconscious in personality

How do we get at these unconscious

memories/emotions/thoughts? Psychoanalysis

Hypnosis

Free association

Dream interpretation

“Freudian Slips”

Differentiation of Sexual Desires

Freud eventually went on to argue that these tensions often come from sexual desires. In particular, libido (psychosexual energy), which comes in different forms throughout development

Anal Pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder stinginess(18-36 months) elimination; coping with demands for control strict orderliness

Freud’s Psychosexual Stages

Stage Focus FixationOral Pleasure centers on the mouth-- smoking, (0-18 months) sucking, biting, chewing overeating

Phallic Pleasure zone is the genitals; coping with penis envy(3-6 years) incestuous sexual feelings castration fear

Latency Dormant sexual feelings (6 to puberty)

Genital Maturation of sexual interests(puberty on)

So what can we take from Freud?

Humans apparently have a mental life that is at least partly unconscious

People often have conflicting motives and desires

Childhood experiences contribute to the development of adult personality and social behavior

Sexual development has an impact on psychological development

Where was Freud just dead wrong?

Unconscious thoughts defined by Freud are very different from today’s theories of unconscious

Its not all about sex and psychosexual stages (if these stages even exist)

Almost all (if not all) forms of mental disorders have been only weakly linked to childhood experiences

Then and now… In the first part of

this class, we began discussing personality psychology by discussing the theories proposed by Sigmund Freud

Now we’ll be continuing our exploration of personality psychology be examining other theories of where personality comes from

Carl Jung (1875-1961)

Colleague of Freud’s

Accepted many of Freud’s beliefs about theformation of personality Personality is formed from both conscious and

unconscious forces Our past experiences have an impact on our

personalities

Broke with Freud’s work because of his differing beliefs about personality formation Our personal unconscious did not contain the basic

instincts that Freud proposed (primarily the id) People possess personality traits as a result of a

collective unconscious. Archetypes – vague, existential, and spiritual

images/concepts found within our personality. Some archetypes are inherited from the experiences of our ancestors, others are unique to the individual.

Alfred Adler’s Superiority Theory

Another early student of Freud’s, but broke awaybecause of differing theories (too much focus on sex)

Formed a branch of psychology called individual psychology Individual psychology – a psychology of the person

as a whole rather than a person in parts Believed that personality was based on our

attempts to pursue our strengths and make up for our shortcomings Striving for superiority – a desire to seek personal

excellence and fulfillment Inferiority complex – an exaggerated feeling of

weakness, inadequacy, and helplessness

Carl Rogers’ & Self Actualization

Formed theory that was very similar in structure to Adler’s theory of striving for superiority

Postulated that people are constantly striving for betterment and to reach a point of self actualization Self-actualization – the achievement of one’s full

potential (note: self-actualization is said to rarely be met by individuals)

Our personality is based on a number of selves that we have, and the discrepancy between these selves Actual self – the person that we are Ideal self – the person that we want to be

Aught self – the person that we feel we “should” be (not Rogers’ idea)

Abraham Maslow’s

Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow wasanother positivepsychologist thatbelieved in theconcept of self-actualization. However, he believed that self-actualization was met through another mechanism… The fulfillment of needs.

Maslow proposed that each of us has a hierarchy of needs, and once all of those needs are met, we are able to approach self-actualization.

What does it mean to be self actualized?

According to positive psychologists (Rogers and Maslow), once a person reaches self actualization, a number of recognizable behaviors take shape. Unconditional positive regard An accurate perception of reality Independence, creativity, and spontaneity Acceptance of oneself and others Enjoyment of life A good sense of humor

***Note: Skeptics have questions whether or not this was a sign of self-actualization, or just a list

of characteristics that Rogers and Maslow valued.

Moving on… In the next class, we’ll look at some

more scientific views of where personality comes from

We’ll also examine some common techniques of measuring personality

See you then