Revised by Pauline Davey Zeece, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

12Personality

Chapter Overview Chapter Overview

What is personality?

Psychodynamic theories

Humanistic theories

Trait theories

Social-cognitive theories

Exploring the self

What is personality?

Psychodynamic theories

Humanistic theories

Trait theories

Social-cognitive theories

Exploring the self

What Is Personality?

Personality

Individual’s characteristic pattern of: Thinking Feeling Acting

Psychodynamic Theories

Freud’s psychoanalytic perspective: Exploring the unconscious

The Neo-Freudian and later psychodynamic theorists

Assessing unconscious processes Evaluating Freud’s psychoanalytic perspective

and modern views of the unconscious

Psychodynamic Theories

View personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences

Derived from Freud’s psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) “I was the only worker in a new field.”

Freud’s Psychoanalytic Perspective

Freud theorized that the mind contained a large unconscious region where feelings and ideas were repressed.

Saw the unconscious seeping in disguised forms

Used free association to help patients find and release forbidden thoughts

Freud’s View of Personality

Human personality arises from a conflict between one’s impulse and restraint With socialization, people internalize social

restraints against urges. Personality is the result of people’s efforts to

resolve basic conflict.

Freud’s Idea of the Mind’s Structure

Icebergs hide most of their bulk beneath the surface of the water.

Psychologists often use this image to illustrate Freud’s idea that the mind is mostly hidden beneath the conscious surface of our awareness.

Unlike the parts of a frozen iceberg, however, the id, ego, and superego interact.

Freud’s Psychosexual Stages

Childhood stages of development during which the id’s pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones

Boys learn to cope with the Oedipus complex by repressing them. Identification: Children incorporate their parents’

values into their developing superegos. Unresolved conflicts cause problems in adulthoodFixation: Lingering focus of pleasure-seeking

energies at an earlier psychosexual stage with unresolved conflicts

Table 12.1 - Freud’s Psychosexual StagesStage Focus

Oral (0–18 months) Pleasure centers on the mouth—sucking, biting, chewing

Anal (18–36 months) Pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder elimination; coping with demands for control

Phallic (3–6 years) Pleasure zone is the genitals; coping with incestuous sexual feelings

Latency (6 to puberty) A phase of dormant sexual feelings

Genital (puberty on) Maturation of sexual interests

Defense Mechanisms

Ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

Operate indirectly and unconsciously

Repression underlies all of the other defense mechanisms.

Regression Children and young orangutans may regress if faced with a stressor, Freud believed, retreating to the comfort of earlier behaviors.

Table 12.2 - Six Defense MechanismsDefense Mechanism

Unconscious Process Employed to Avoid Anxiety-Arousing Thoughts or Feelings

Example

Regression Retreating to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated.

A little boy reverts to the oral comfort of thumb sucking in the car on the way to his first day of school.

Reaction formation

Switching unacceptable impulses into their opposites.

Repressing angry feelings, a person displays exaggerated friendliness.

Projection Disguising one’s own threatening impulses by attributing them to others.

“The thief thinks everyone else is a thief” (an El Salvadoran saying).

Rationalization Offering self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening unconscious reasons for one’s actions.

A habitual drinker says she drinks with her friends “just to be sociable.”

Displacement Shifting sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person.

A little girl kicks the family dog after her mother puts her in a time-out.

Denial Refusing to believe or even perceive painful realities.

A partner denies evidence of his loved one’s affair.

Freud believed that repression, the basic mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing impulses, enables other defense mechanisms, six of which are listed here.

Retrieve and Remember 1

According to Freud’s ideas about the three-part personality structure, the _____ operates on the reality principle and tries to balance demands in a way that produces long-term pleasure rather than pain; the _____ operates on the pleasure principle and seeks immediategratification; and the _____ represents the voice of our internalized ideals (our conscience).

Retrieve and Remember 2

In the psychoanalytic view, conflicts unresolved during one of the psychosexual stages may lead to _____ at that stage.

Freud believed that our defense mechanisms operate _____ (consciously/unconsciously) and defend us against _____.

Neo-Freudian and Later Psychodynamic Theorists

Accepted Freud’s basic ideas Personality has three parts—id, ego, and superego. The unconscious is key. Personality forms in childhood. We use defense mechanisms to ward off anxiety.

Alfred Adler (1870–1937)

Karen Horney (1885–1952)

Carl Jung (1875–1961)

Neo-Freudian Theorists

Assumed much of mental life is unconscious Disagreements with Freud Placed emphasis on the role of the conscious

mind Doubted that sex and aggression were all-

consuming motivations Emphasized social interactions and other

motives

Projective Tests

Provides an ambiguous image designed to trigger projection of the test-taker’s unconscious thoughts or feelings

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Rorschach test

The Rorschach Test In this projective test, people tell what they see in a series of symmetrical inkblots.Some who use this test are confident that the interpretation of ambiguous images will reveal unconscious aspects of the test-taker’s personality.

Evaluating Freud’s Psychoanalytic Perspective and Modern Views of the Unconscious

Recent research contradicts many of his ideas. Theories rest on few objective observations, which

have few hypotheses to verify or reject them Freud’s contributions Brought forth enduring ideas such as the

unconscious and the irrational Drew attention to the importance of human

sexuality and the tension between one’s biological impulses and their social well-being

Modern Research Challenges the Idea of Repression

People may spare their egos by ignoring threatening information.

Extreme, prolonged stress may disrupt memory by damaging the hippocampus.

Repression is a rare reaction to trauma. High stress and associated stress hormones

enhance memory.

The Modern Unconscious Mind

The human mind has a vast out-of-sight realm.

Cognitive researchers argue that unconscious thought is a part of the two-track mind.

Information processing occurs without one’s awareness.

Research supports Freud’s defense mechanisms of reaction formation and projection.

Less motivated by sexual and aggressive impulses

Retrieve and Remember 3

What are three big ideas that have survived from Freud’s psychoanalytic theory? What are three ways in which Freud’s theory has been criticized?

Which elements of traditional psychoanalysis have modern-day psychodynamic theorists and therapists retained, and which elements have they mostly left behind?

Humanistic Theories

Abraham Maslow’s self-actualizing person Carl Rogers’ person-centered perspective Assessing the self Evaluating humanistic theories

Humanistic Theories

Focus on ways healthy people strive for self-determination and self-realization

Research involved asking people to report their experiences and feelings.

Abraham Maslow“Any theory of motivation that is worthy of attention must deal with the highest capacities of the healthy and strong person as well as with the defensive maneuvers of crippled spirits” (Motivation and Personality, 1970).

Abraham Maslow’s Self-Actualizing Person

Self-actualization

Self-esteem

Love and belonging

Safety needs

Physiological needs

Carl Rogers’ Person-Centered Perspective

Humans are primed to reach their potential in a growth-promoting environment.

Qualities that nurture growth: Genuineness Acceptance (unconditional positive regard) Empathy

One’s self-concept is the central feature of personality.

The Picture of Empathy

Being open and sharing confidences is easier when the listener shows real understanding. Within such

relationships, we can relax and fully express our true selves.

Assessing the Self

Humanistic psychologists believed that: Standardized assessment of personality is

depersonalizing Interviews and intimate conservations help

understand a person’s unique experiences

Evaluating Humanistic Theories

Contributions: Influenced counseling, education, child raising, and

management Laid the groundwork for positive psychology and

influenced popular psychology Criticisms: Concepts are vague and based on the personal

opinions of theorists. Attitudes encouraged could lead to self-indulgence,

selfishness, and lack of moral restraint. Human capacity for evil is not recognized.

Retrieve and Remember 4

How did humanistic psychology provide a fresh perspective?

What does it mean to be empathic? How about self-actualized? Which humanistic psychologists used these terms?

Trait Theories

Exploring traits Thinking critically about: The stigma of

introversion Assessing traits The Big Five factors Evaluating trait theories

Traits

Characteristic pattern of behavior or tendency to feel and act in a certain way Assessed by self-report

inventories and peer reports

Trait theories define personality as a stable and enduring pattern of behavior.

Trait Theories: Exploring Traits

Identifying factors help identify personality. Factors: Clusters of behavior tendencies that

occur together Hans Eysenck and Sybil Eysenck Reduced normal human variations to dimensions

of extraversion–introversion and stability–instability

Biology and personality Genes influence temperament and behavioural

style. Brain activity varies with personality.

Two Personality Dimensions

Two primary personality factors (extraversion–introversion and stability–instability) are useful as axes for describing personality variation.

Varying combinations define other, more specific traits (from Eysenck and Eysenck, 1963).

Thinking Critically

Stigma of introversion

Western cultures prize extraversion.

Being introverted seems to imply that something is missing.

Attractive and successful people are presumed to be extraverts.

Introverted people are sensitive.

Seek low levels of stimulation in their environment

Myers/DeWall, Psychology in Everyday Life, 4e, © 2017 Worth Publishers

Retrieve and Remember 5

Which two primary dimensions did Hans Eysenck and Sybil Eysenck propose for describing personality variation?

Personality Inventory

Questionnaire that covers a wide range of feelings and behaviors

Scoring is objective Does not guarantee validity Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

(MMPI) Most widely researched and clinically used of

all personality tests

Table 12.3 - The “Big Five” Personality Factors

Retrieve and Remember 6

What are the Big Five personality factors, and why are they scientifically useful?

Evaluating Trait Theories: Person-Situation Controversy

Personality traits: Stabilize with age Help predict a person’s average behavior Average behavior - Behavior across many

different situations Provide a weak prediction of a person’s

behavior in any one specific situation

Room with a Cue

Even at zero acquaintance, people can catch a glimpse of others’ personality from looking at their online and personal spaces.

So, what’s your read on this person’s office?

Retrieve and Remember 7

How well do personality test scores predict our behavior? Explain.

Social-Cognitive Theories

Reciprocal influences Assessing behavior in situations Evaluating social-cognitive theories

Social-Cognitive Perspective

Views behavior as influenced by the interaction between persons and their social context Reciprocal determinism: Interacting influences

of behavior, internal personal factors, and environment

When people enter a social situation, they bring their: Past learning Self-efficacy Unique way of thinking

Figure 12.5 - Reciprocal Determinism

Reciprocal Influences

Social-cognitive theorists explore the interaction among the following sets of influence: Different people choose different

environments. People’s personalities shape how they

interpret and react to events. People’s personalities help create situations

to which they react.

Figure 12.6 - The Biopsychosocial Approach to the Study of Personality

Retrieve and Remember 8

Albert Bandura proposed the _____ perspective on personality, which emphasizes the interaction of people with their environment.To describe the interacting influences of behavior, thoughts, and environment, he used the term _____.

Social-Cognitive Theories: Assessing Behavior

Behavior is observed in realistic situations. Limitation Assessment exercises may not reveal less

visible, important characteristics. A person’s future behavior can be predicted by

observing his/her past behavior patterns in similar situations.

Evaluating Social-Cognitive Theories

Theories are built from psychological research on cognition and learning.

Criticism: Theories focus more on the situation than a

person’s inner traits. Sometimes, unconscious motives, emotions,

and traits can shine through. Personality traits help predict behavior at work,

love, and play.

Retrieve and Remember 9

What is the best way to predict a person’s future behavior?

Exploring the Self

The benefits of self-esteem Self-serving bias Culture and the self

Introducing the Self

Self: Image and understanding of who one is Self-image - Internal

view of one’s personality People’s possible selves

motivate them to make specific goals that direct them efficiently and effectively.

Spotlight Effect

Overestimating others’ noticing and evaluating one’s appearance, performance, and blunders

Can be minimized by: Being aware of the

effect Taking the audience’s

perspective

Self-Esteem

One’s feelings of high or low self-worth People with high self-esteem: Feel less pressure to conform Exhibit more persistence at difficult tasks Are less shy, anxious, and lonely Are happier and experience more success in

the future

Low Self-Esteem

Caused by problems and failures

Effect of low self-esteem Tendency to

behave negatively toward others

Self-Serving Bias

Readiness to perceive oneself favourably Research findings: People accept more responsibility for good

deeds than for bad, and for successes than for failures. Most people see themselves as better than

average. Underlies conflicts

Reasons Why People Put Themselves Down

Protection from repeating mistakes Mechanism to prompt positive feedback Preparation for possible failure

Categories of Self-Esteem

Defensive self-esteem: Is fragile Makes failures and criticism seem threatening Triggers people to respond to threats with

anger or aggression Secure self-esteem: Is sturdy Relies less on other people’s evaluations Leads to greater quality of life

Retrieve and Remember 10

What are the positive and negative effects of high self-esteem?

The tendency to accept responsibility for success and blame circumstances or bad luck for failures is called _____.

Retrieve and Remember 11

_____ (Secure/Defensive) self-esteem is linked to more angry and aggressive behavior.

_____ (Secure/Defensive) self-esteem is a healthier self-image that allows us to focus beyond ourselves and enjoy a higher quality of life.

Culture and Self

Meaning of self varies from culture to culture Individualism involves: Giving priority to one’s own goals over group

goals Defining one’s identity in terms of personal

traits rather than group membership Collectivism: Giving priority to the goals of

one’s group, often extended family or work group, and defining their identity accordingly

Table 12.5 - Value Contrasts Between Individualism and Collectivism

Concept Individualism Collectivism

Self Independent (identity from individual traits) Interdependent (identity from belonging to groups)

Life task Discover and express your own uniqueness Maintain connections, fit in, perform your role

What matters Me—personal achievement and fulfillment; rights and liberties; selfesteem

Us—group goals and solidarity; social responsibilities andrelationships; family duty

Coping method Change reality Adjust to reality

Morality Defined by the individual (self-based) Defined by social networks (duty-based)

Relationships Many, often temporary or casual; confrontation is acceptable

Few, close and enduring; harmony is valued

Attributing behavior Behavior reflects the individual’s personality and attitudes

Behavior reflects social norms and roles

Considerate Collectivists

Japan’s collectivist values, including duty to others and social harmony, were on display after the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Virtually no looting was reported, and residents remained calm and orderly, as shown here while waiting for drinking water.

Retrieve and Remember 12

How do people in individualist and collectivist cultures differ?