PERSONALITY

Chapter 12

WHAT DO OTHER PEOPLE THINK OF YOUR PERSONALITY?

Think about the personality of the person you are sitting next to What personality characteristics do you associate with them? Write down the first 5 that come to mind when you think of this person

NOTE: Try to be positive or at least neutral. Even if there are negative characteristics that are part of this persons personality (and we definitely all have them!!) there is no need to write these ones down

WHAT IS PERSONALITY?
An

individuals unique pattern of thoughts, feelings and behaviour that are relatively stable over time and across situations

It influences your preferences for how you handle situations, your sense of humor, or your expectations of others

THEORIES OF PERSONALITY

Many different perspectives on personality and the study of personality psychology Thus, many different theories have emerged, attempting to explain how personality develops, why personality varies between people and how best to measure and evaluate an individuals personality

THEORIES OF PERSONALITY

A personality theory is an approach to describing and explaining the origins and development of personality. Each perspective contains a set of theories that share certain assumptions about human nature how personality forms and then develops; whether people are inherently good or bad, the relative importance of biological and environmental factors; and the question of stability and change Each theory has its own strengths and weaknesses, which need to be assessed along with the theory itself We will discuss three approaches to personality: Psychodynamic Theories Trait Theories Humanistic Theories

PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORIES OF PERSONALITY

Sigmund Freud (1856 1939)

Basic understanding of a psychodynamic theory of personality is that personality is a result of unconscious psychological conflicts and that these are effectively resolved by the individual The origin of these conflicts are seen to be in childhood experiences, due to the fact that an individuals instinctive urges often do not match up to what is viewed as acceptable in society

In relation to his theory of personality Freud is known for his use of The Iceberg Metaphor

FREUDS STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY

The Iceberg Metaphor Freud believed that the human mind is like an iceberg, where most of it is beneath the surface 3 different levels within the mind: -- conscious -- pre-conscious -- unconscious

FREUDS STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY

-- Conscious Everything we are thinking, remembering, feeling, sensing or aware of at this particular moment -- Pre-Conscious Contains information that lies in the back of our mind can easily be brought into the conscious level merely by thinking about it -- Unconscious Storage area for all the information about ourselves that is not acceptable to the conscious mind Memories that emotionally painful, extremely frightening and very difficult for us to bring into our conscious minds. Freud believed these memories have an influence over our conscious thoughts and behaviour, although we are not directly aware of them

FREUDS STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY

Personality is fully formed by age of 5 and is made up of 3 parts the id, ego and superego Freud believed that the conflict between these 3 parts and the manner in which it is resolved is the cause of a persons behaviour and shapes an individuals personality

FREUDS STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY

Id Represents innate, biological needs which require fulfilment for our survival Needs such as hunger, thirst, sleep and sex It is not a structure, but a force which consists of a demanding, impulsive, illogical, irrational and relatively selfish part of our personality Pleasure principle its needs must be met to increase pleasure and avoid pain

FREUDS STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY

Ego Develops as child grows and begins to understand how the world works that their needs cannot always be satisfied immediately Operates out of the Reality principle deals with the Ids demands by applying some logic and real-life restrictions to it Plays a mediating role, as it attempts to deal with id demands and superego demands

FREUDS STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY

Superego Our conscience or judging element of our personality, the superego weighs our thoughts, feelings and actions according to the morals and ideals of the society in which we live Operates by the Moral principle, informing our decisions with knowledge of what is right and wrong Therefore, also the cause of our feelings of guilt punishment to the ego when it does not make the right decision

FREUDS STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY

The id is impulsive, the ego is realistic, and the superego is idealistic and judgemental Freud suggested that these 3 forces are constantly in conflict and that our behaviour is produced as a result of this interaction

EXAMPLE
Suppose that you have decided you will complete your Psychology assessment task tonight, because it is due tomorrow. At 8:30 pm, you still have about an hours work left to complete the task. But a movie you really want to watch is just about to start. Id: Do the work later. Go relax and watch the movie. Superego: If you leave it until later you wont do it, forget about the movie and get your work done. Ego:

SCENARIO 1
Scenario: 4.a) You are desperate to go to a friends party, but your parents have grounded you because you came home late from the last party you went to Id:

Ego:

Superego:

SCENARIO 2
Scenario: 4 b) You are desperate to go to a friends party but have promised another friend that you will help them study for a test Id

Ego

Superego

SCENARIO 3

Scenario: You are shopping and see new bathers that will be a perfect replacement for the bathers you have outgrown. You have planned to go to the beach tomorrow with friends and dont have enough money to buy the new bathers. You know that when you wake up tomorrow morning, you are unlikely to want to go to the beach wearing your old bathers Id

Ego
Superego

SCENARIO 4
Scenario: Ryan is overweight. He puts himself on a strict diet, Some close friends invite him to go with them to his favourite restaurant that specialises in fancy ice-cream dishes Id:

Ego:

Superego:

SCENARIO 5
Scenario: Rebecca and her friend Yin arranged to go to the movies on Saturday night. On Friday at school, a boy who Yin really likes invites her to his birthday party. Id:

Ego:

Superego:

SCENARIO 6
Scenario: Goren meets a girl at a party. They spend most of the evening together talking and laughing. Goren plans to ask the girl out to the football the next day. Then another boy arrives and the girl makes plans to leave the party with him and to see him the next day. Id:

Ego: Superego:

THE PSYCHE (PERSONALITY)

Id: Pleasure

Ego: Reality

Superego: Morality

Healthy Psyche

OK Guys Im in charge. Anything you want has to go through me. OK. OK.

Ego Id Superego

Neurotic

Listen up! Im in charge, and you are not here to enjoy yourselves. Get ready for a double-size portion of anxiety with a side order of guilt!
No fun.
>whimper<

Superego

Id

Ego

PSYCHOTIC

Food! Drink! NOW!

Who turned out the lights?

Id

Ego

Superego

FREUDS STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY

Defence Mechanisms There are many instances when this conflict is not effectively resolved and according to Freud, this results in individuals feeling anxiety However, it is the egos role to protect us from such anxiety The unconscious processes by which the ego attempts to protect us from the anxiety arising out of unresolved internal conflict are called defence mechanisms By denying, falsifying or distorting reality at an unconscious level, our ego leads us to believe that there is no need to feel anxious

FREUDS STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY

Denial: claiming/believing that what is true to be actually false. Displacement: redirecting emotions to a substitute target. Projection: attributing uncomfortable feelings to other people around. Compensation: covering up weaknesses by emphasizing perceived strengths Intellectualisation: Ignoring emotions and feelings by talking about painful events in a cold way

FREUDS STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY

Rationalization: creating false but credible justifications. Reaction Formation: overacting in the opposite way to your true feelings. Regression: going back to acting as a child. Repression: pushing uncomfortable thoughts into the subconscious. Sublimation: redirecting 'wrong' urges into socially acceptable actions. Fantasy: Fulfilling unconscious wishes by imagining them in activities

TRAIT THEORIES OF PERSONALITY

A personality trait is a personality characteristic that endures (lasts) over time and across situations Trait theories of personality focus on measuring, identifying and describing individual differences in personality in terms of traits or characteristics The trait approach emphasises differences between individuals rather than similarities Most personality tests are based on the trait approach to personality

TRAIT THEORIES OF PERSONALITY

Trait approach based on 4 main assumptions: 1. personality traits are relatively stable and predictable over time 2. personality traits are stable across different situations 3. personality is made up of many different traits, individuals can have more or less of a particular characteristic 4. some personality traits are more closely interrelated than others and have a tendency to occur together

ALLPORTS HIERARCHY OF TRAITS

Gordon Allport (1897 1967)

Widely recognized as the first trait approach to studying personality

Compiled a list of all the words that could be used to describe personality ~ 18000 words

ALLPORTS HIERARCHY OF TRAITS

Allport organised these traits into 3 groups:

1. Cardinal traits: traits which are seen as motivators or a driving force in that persons personality Cardinal traits are very dominant, but extremely rare

Power could be seen as an example, for an individual such as Hitler

ALLPORTS HIERARCHY OF TRAITS

2. Central traits: traits which are present to some degree in all individuals within a culture or society Allport suggested that central traits are the basis of our personality and influence our behaviour to a large extent (independence, kindness, trustworthiness, sensitivity)

When we describe our own personality or have others attempt to do so, they often describe the persons central traits

ALLPORTS HIERARCHY OF TRAITS

3. Secondary Traits: like central traits these traits too are present to some degree in all individuals.However, they do not influence behaviour to the same degree
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Examples of secondary traits include: Liking a particular style of clothing Liking a particular style of music (emo, country)

Secondary traits can change according to the situation, thus considered superficial or peripheral traits

HUMANISTIC THEORY OF PERSONALITY

Humanistic theories of personality emphasize: uniqueness of the individual

the positive qualities and potential of all human beings to fulfill their lives

These theories are based on the assumptions that: All people are born good All people want to strive to reach their full potential

HUMANISTIC THEORY OF PERSONALITY

Therefore, according to these theories a healthy personality is the

result of a person achieving their full potential

An individuals personality is viewed as the total of all experiences and choices they have had to make upto that point in time

Thus, to completely understand someones personality you need to try to understand all the problems they have had to deal with in their

lives up to that point

ROGERS PERSON-CENTRED HUMANISTIC THEORY OF PERSONALITY

Carl Rogers Person-centred theory developed from clinical work with his clients

He believed that all people have the potential to grow and develop through their lives, unless some event prevents this growth (eg: a death in the family) But can be overcome with support and guidance

What other events could cause changes in the development of an individuals personality?

ROGERS PERSON-CENTRED HUMANISTIC THEORY OF PERSONALITY

Rogers theory is based around the understanding that any individual can have a healthy, fulfilled personality . We have the power to make our own changes and can choose to be happy Thus, Rogers asks why, when we live in a society that is in so many respects immeasurably rich, so many of us are so unhappy?

The answer, in Rogers view, is at least partly that the things to which we attach value are not the things that are necessarily good for our psychological well-being.

ROGERS PERSON-CENTRED HUMANISTIC THEORY OF PERSONALITY

-

The self-image (person you think you are) -the ideal self (person you want to be)

The true self (person you actually are)

Rogers believed that all 3 need to be fairly similar for a healthy, well-adjusted personality to develop

ROGERS PERSON-CENTRED HUMANISTIC THEORY OF PERSONALITY

Healthy Personality Unhealthy Personality

ROGERS PERSON-CENTRED HUMANISTIC THEORY OF PERSONALITY

Client Centred Therapy

Rogerian Client Centred Therapy (CCT) is nondirective. Unlike most other therapies it does not involve the therapist telling the client what to do or think. It is more to do with creating a relationship that allows the client to solve their own problems. An important part of this is that the client feels as if they are listened to and understood.

WHAT INFLUENCES OUR PERSONALITY?

Genetic and Environmental factors

Longitudinal Studies Twin Studies Adoption Studies

MEASURING PERSONALITY

Personality Tests An assessment device used to evaluate or measure aspects of personality such as specific traits There are two types of personality test: Personality inventories and projective tests Personality Inventories a self report (either on paper or on the internet) which is objective

Projective Tests attempts to uncover unconscious desires

MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR

Is a type of personality inventory based on the work of Swiss psychologist Carl Jung

Jung proposed that people could be described in terms of psychological types

MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR

MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR

RORSCHACH INK BLOT TEST

Is an example of a projective test of personality. The inkblot test consists of 10 stimulus cards with ambiguous shapes or figures

These tests are used to uncover a patients unconscious desires or motivations by asking them what they see. There is no right or wrong answer

RORSCHACH INK BLOT TEST

RORSCHACH INK BLOT TEST