Chapter 10: Personality

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Personality

The pattern of enduring characteristics that differentiate people – those behaviors that make each of us unique

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Psychoanalytic Approaches

Psychoanalytic theory– Freud’s theory that our behavior is triggered by

forces within personality of which we are not aware

Unconscious– A part of the personality of which a person is

not aware

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Structuring Personality

Id– Raw, unorganized, inborn

part of the personality

– Libido

• Psychic energy that fuels primitive drives

– Pleasure principle

• Immediate reduction of tension and the maximization of satisfaction

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Structuring Personality

Ego– Strives to balance the

desires of the id and the realities of the objective, outside world

– Reality principle

• Instinctual energy is restrained in order to maintain the safety of the individual and help integrate the person into society

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Structuring Personality

Superego– The final personality

structure to develop that represents the rights and wrongs of society as taught and modeled by a person’s parents, teachers, and other significant individuals

– Conscience• Prevents us from

behaving in a morally improper way

– Ego-ideal• Represents the “perfect

person” we wish we were

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Developing Personality

Fixation– Refers to conflicts or concerns that

persist beyond developmental period in which they first occur

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Defense Mechanisms

Unconscious strategies that people use to reduce anxiety by concealing the source from themselves and others

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

The Neo-Freudian Psychoanalyst

Jung’s Collective Unconscious– A set of influences we

inherit from our own relatives, the whole human race, and even nonhuman animal ancestors from the distant past

Adler’s inferiority complex– Situations in which adults

have not been able to overcome the feelings of inferiority that they developed as children

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Trait Approaches

Trait theory– Assumption that all people

possess certain traits Traits

– Enduring dimensions of personality characteristics along with which people differ

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Allport’s Trait Theory

Cardinal trait– A single characteristic that directs most of a person’s

activities Central trait

– The major characteristic of an individual Secondary trait

– Characteristics that affect behavior in fewer situations and are less influential than central or cardinal traits

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Trait Approaches

Cattell– Factor analysis

• A method of summarizing the relationships among a large number of variables into fewer, more general patterns

– Source traits

• Represent the basic dimensions of personality

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Trait Approaches

Hans Eysenck– Extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism

The “Big Five”– Openness to experience

– Conscientiousness

– Extraversion

– Agreeableness

– Neuroticism

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Learning Approaches

Social cognitive approaches– Emphasizes the influence of a person’s

cognitions – thoughts, feelings, expectations, and values – in determining personality

Self-efficacy– Belief in one’s personal capabilities

Self-esteem– Component of personality that encompasses

our positive and negative evaluations

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Biological and Evolutionary Approaches

Suggest that important components of personality are inherited

Temperament– A basic, innate disposition

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Humanistic Approaches

Emphasize people’s basic goodness and their tendency to grow to higher levels of functioning

Unconditional positive regard– An attitude of acceptance and respect on the part

of an observer, no matter what a person says or does

Self-actualization– A state of self-fulfillment in which people realize

their highest potential

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Assessing Personality

Psychological tests– Standard measures devised

to assess behavior objectively

Self-report measures MMPI-2

– A test used to differentiate people with specific sorts of psychological difficulties as well as predicting a variety of other behaviors

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Projective Methods

Projective personality test– A test in which a person is

shown an ambiguous stimulus and asked to describe it or tell a story about it

Rorschach test TAT

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Behavioral Assessment

Direct measures of an individual’s behavior used to describe characteristics indicative of personality