What is Personality?
When psychologists use the term they refer to something more than
the role people play
Personality theorist can’t agree on a single definition of personality –
but it can be said that personality is a pattern of relatively permanent
traits and characteristics that give both consistency and individuality
to a person’s behavior
Traits- contribute to the individual differences in behavior, consistency
of behavior over time, and stability of behavior across situations –
they may be unique, common to some group, or shared by an entire
species but the pattern is unique to each individual
Characteristics are unique qualities of an individual that include
attributes such as temperament, physique, and intelligence
Perspectives In Theory of Personality – 5 major theories
Perspective Primary
Assumptions
Focus/ Key
Terms
Key Figures
Psychodynamic -First 5 years of
life most shape
personality
-unconscious
forces are most
important
-Neurosis
Results from
unhealthly
moving toward,
against, or away
from others
Unconscious
Early
recollections
Collective
unconscious
Archetypes
Object relations
Identity crises
Relatedness
Freud
Adler
Jung
Klien
Horney
Erikson
Fromm
Humanistic
Existential
-People strive to
live meaningful,
happy lives
- People are
motivated by
growth and
psychological
health
- Personality is
shaped by
freedom of
choice, response
to anxiety, and
Meaningful life;
psychological
well-being and
growth
Maslow
Rogers
May
awareness of
death
Dispositional -People are
predisposed to
behave in unique
and consistent
ways; they have
unique traits
-5 trait
dimensions in
human
personality
Traits
Motives
Allport
McCrae & Costa
Biological
Evolutionary
-The foundation
for thought and
behavior is
biological and
genetic forces
-human thoughts
and behaviors
have been
shaped by
evolutionary
forces (natural
and sexual
selection)
Brain structures,
neurochemicals,
and genes
Adaptive
mechanisms
Eysenck
Buss
Learning (social)
Cognitive
-Only
explanation for
behavior is the
conditions that
create behavior
-Learning occurs
through
association and
consequences of
our behavior
-Learning also
occurs through
succeeding or
failing and
watching other
people
fail/succeed in
their tasks
-personality
develops as an
interaction
Conditioned
responses
Shaping
Reinforcement
Observational
Learning
Modeling self-
efficacy
Cognitive
affective units
Constructs
Skinner
Bandura
Rotter
Mischel
Kelly
between internal
and external
characteristics of
a person
-the cognitive
constructs we
develop to
perceive the
world and others
mold our
personalities
Dimensions for a Concept of Humanity
-Determinism vs free choice – can behavior be partially free and
partially determined at the same time? Are people’s behaviors
determined by forces over which they have no control or can people
choose to be what they wish to be?
-Pessimism vs optimism- are people doomed to live miserable,
conflicted, and troubled lives, or can they change and grow into
psychologically healthy, happy, fully functioning people? Personality
theorists who believe in determinism tend to be pessimistic
-Causality vs teleology- causality holds that behavior is a function of
past experiences whereas teleology is an explanation of behavior in
terms of future goals or purposes
-Conscious vs unconscious determinants of behavior- are people
ordinarily aware of what they are doing and why they are doing it, or
do unconscious forces impinge on them and drive them to act without
awareness of these underlying forces?
-Biological vs social influences on personality- are personal
characteristics more the result of heredity or are they environmentally
determined?
-Uniqueness vs similarities -
-Uniqueness vs similarities – is the salient feature of people their
individuality or is it their common characteristics? Should the study of
personality concentrate on those traits that make people alike, or
should it look at those that make people different?
-These are basic issues that separate personality theorists & have
resulted in the different personality theories
Research in Personality Theory
-Psychologists will try to be systematic w their observations so that
their predictions are consistent and accurate
-To approve ability to predict, personality psychologists have
developed a number of assessment techniques, including personality
inventories
-Personality inventories may be reliable and yet lack validity/accuracy
-Personality psychologists are concerned with two types of validity-
construct validity and predictive validity
-Construct validity is the extent to which an instrument measures some
hypothetical construct – such as extraversion, aggressiveness,
intelligence, and emotional stability
oThree important types of construct validity
Convergent construct validity – scores correlate highly
(converge) with scores on variety of valid measures of the
same construct
Divergent construct validity – low or insignificant
correlations with other inventories that do not measure
the same construct
Discriminant validity – if it discriminates between 2
groups of people known to be different
-Predictive validity – the extent to which a test can predict future
behavior
Sigmund Freud
-Born March or May 6th 1856 in Freiberg, Moravia- now part of Czech
Republic
-First born to his parents, but his father had 2 older sons from a
previous marriage - they had 7 more children together within 10
years- but he was always his mothers favorite
-He did not have a close relationship with any of his siblings
-His family moved to Austria when he was 3
-When he was 1.5 old he had a little brother – which he says to had a
significant impact on his development- he hated his brother and
unconsciously wished for his death, which actually happened when he
was 6 months old leading him to feel guilt
-He studied with French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot for 4 months
where he learned the hypnotic technique for treating hysteria- a
disorder typically characterized by paralysis or improper functioning
of certain parts of the body- through this work he became convinced
of a psychogenic and sexual orgin of hysterical symptoms
-He then developed a professional / personal relationship with
Viennese physician – Josef Breuer- who taught him about catharsis
(the process of removing hysteria through “talking them out” – Freud
gradually discovered the free association technique which replaced
hypnosis as his principal therapeutic technique
Levels of Mental
-Freud believed mental life is divided into two levels- the unconscious
and the conscious
-The unconscious has two different levels, the unconscious proper and
the preconscious
-The unconscious
oContains all those drives, urges, or instincts that are beyond our
awareness but motivate most our words, feelings and actions
oWe may be aware of our behaviors, but not the processes that
lie behind them
oFreud felt that its existence could only indirectly be proven, it is
the explanation for the meaning behind dreams, slips of the
tongue, and repression
oUnconscious processes often enter into consciousness only after
being disguised or distorted enough to elude censorship
oTo enter the conscious level of mind, the unconscious images
first must be sufficiently disguised to slip past the primary
censor, then elud the final censor that watches the passageway
between the preconscious and conscious , by the time these
memories enter our mind, we no longer see them as what they
are but instead as pleasant nonthreatening experiences
oMost of these images have sexual or aggressive motifs, because
that’s what we are punished for or suppress in childhood –
punishment and suppression often turn into anxiety which leads
to repression
oFreud also believed that a portion of our unconscious originates
from the experiences of our early ancestors that have been
passed down- he called these our phylogenetic endowment ,
which is similar to Carl Jung’s concept of the collective
unconscious , the difference between the two is that freud relied
on this notion as a last resort
-Preconscious
oThis level of the mind contains all the elements that are not
conscious but can become conscious
oThe contents come from two sources, the first is the conscious
perception- what a person perceives is conscious , but quickly
passes into the preconscious when the focus of attention shifts
to another idea – the second source is from the unconscious
-Conscious
oOnly level of mental life directly available to us
oIdeas reach consciousness from two different directions- the
first is from perceptual conscious system which is turned toward
the outer world and acts as a medium for the perception of
external stimuli- the second is from within the mental structure
and includes the nonthreatening ideas from the preconscious
and the disguised images from the unconscious
Dynamics of Personality
-Freud believed people are motivated to seek pleasure and to reduce
tension and anxiety
-Drives
oFreud used the German word Trieb to refer to a drive or a
stimulus within a person- this term is rendered as instinct but is
more accurately translated to drive or impulse
oDrives operate as a constant motivational force – an internal
stimulus, drives differ from external stimuli as they can not be
avoided through flight
oVarious drives can be grouped under two major heading: sex or
Eros and aggression, distraction, or Thanatos
These drives originate in the id, but they come under
control of the ego
Freud used the word libido for the sex drive, but the
energy from the aggressive drive remains nameless
oSex
The aim of the sexual drive is pleasure, but it not limited
to just genital satisfaction
The ultimate aim of the sexual drive cant change, but can
be reached in different ways
It can be an active or passive form, or it can be temporary
or permanent
To Freud, all pleasurable activities are traceable to the
sexual drive
Example- a infant prematurely forced to give up
breastfeeding may substitute the thumb as an object
of oral pleasure
Sex can take many forms- narcissism, love, sadism, and
masochism the latter two also possess components of the
aggressive drive
Infants are primarily self-centered- known as primary
narcissism, as the ego develops children usually give up
their primary marcissism and develop interest in other
people- to freud this means their giving up a narcissistic
libido for object libido – but during puberyu they often
redirect their libido to the ego – this is called secondary
narcissism (self love)
The second manifestation of Eros is love, in which
develops when people invest their libido on an object or a
person other than themselves
Frued believes a childs first sexual interest is the
person who cares for them- usually their mother-
during infancy children usually experience sexual
love for their mother, but since this is frowned upon
it is usually repressed which brings s second type of
love into existence called aim-inhibited or the kind
of love people feel for their siblings or parents
Sadism is the need for sexuak pleasure by inflicting pain
or humiliation on another person
Masochism is sexual pleasure from suffering pain or
humiliation by themselves or others , because masochists
can provide self-inflicted pain, they do not depend on
another person for satisfaction
oAggression
Partially because of his bad experiences during WW1 and
then because the death of his daughter Sophie, freud
wrong “Beyond the Pleasure Principle” a book that
elevated aggression to the level of the sexual drive
The aim of the destructive drive is to return the organism
to an inorganic state (death, self-destruction)
Aggression can take on a number of forms like teasing,
gossiping, sarcasm, humiliation, humor, and enjoyment
from other peoples suffering
The aggressive tendency is present in everyone and is the
explanation for war and religious persecution
It also explains the need for the barriers people have
erected to check aggression – “Love thy neighbor as
thyself”
oAnxiety
Sex and aggression share the center of Freudian dynamic
theory with the concept of anxiety
Freud emphasized that it is a felt, affective, unpleasant
state accompanied by the physical sensation that warns
the person against impending danger
The unpleasantness is often vague and hard to pinpoint,
but the anxiety is always felt
Only the Ego can produce or feel anxiety, but the id,
superego, and external world are each involved in the
three kinds of anxiety- neurotic, moral, and realistic
The ego’s dependence on the id results in neurotic anxiety.
Its dependence on the superego produces moral anxiety,
and its dependence on the outer world leads to realistic
anxiety
Neurotic anxiety is defined as the apprehension about an
unknown danger
People may feel it in the presence of an authority
figure, because unconscious feelings of destruction
against one or both parents
These feelings of hostility are often accompanied by
fear of punishment which becomes generalized into
unconscious neurotic anxiety
Moral anxiety – stems from the conflict between the ego
and superego
As children establish a superego- usually around 5
or 6- they may experience anxiety as an outgrowth
of the conflict between realistic needs and the
dictates of their superego
Example- moral anxiety would result from sexual
temptations if a child believes that yielding to the
temptation would be morally wrong
Realistic anxiety- closely related to fear – it is defined as
an unpleasant, nonspecific feeling involving a possible
danger
Anxiety serves as an ego-preserving mechanism because it
signals us that some danger is at hand- it allows us to be
comstantly alert for signs and threat of danger
It is self-regulating because it precipitates repression
which in turn reduces the pain of anxiety
Provinces of the Mind
-The Id
oCore of personality and completely unconscious – derived from
the impersonal pronoun meaning “the it” or the not-yet-owned
component of personality
oHas no contact with reality but it strives to reduce tension by
satisfying basic desires – the id serves the pleasure principle
oNewborn infants are the personification of the id because they
are unencumbered by the ego and superego- they seek
gratification of needs without regard of what is possible
(demands of ego) or what is proper (restraints of the superego)
oId is primitive, chaotic, inaccessible to consciousness,
unchangeable, amoral, illogical, unorganized, and filled with
energy received from basic drives and discharged for the
satisfaction of the pleasure principle
-The Ego- the i
oOnly region of the mind in contact with reality
oIt grows out of the id during infancy and becomes a person’s
sole source of communication with the external world
oIt is governed by the reality principle, which it tries to substitute
for the pleasure principle of the id
oThe ego becomes the decision-making/executive branch of
personality
oIt is partly conscious, preconscious, and unconscious so it can
make decisions at all levels
oThe ego takes into consideration the incompatible but equally
unrealistic demands of the id and the superego
oThe ego serves the external world- so it becomes anxious while
trying to meet demands of the 3 different forces
oEgo becomes differentiated from the id when infants learn to
distinguish themselves from the outer world
-The Superego- the above-I
oRepresents the moral and ideal aspects of personality and is
guided by the moralistic and idealistic principles
oIt differs from the ego because it has no contact with the outside
world so it is unrealistic in its demands for perfection
oSuperego has two subsystems
Conscience- results from experiences with punishments
and tells us what we should not do
Ego-ideal – results from experiences with rewards and
tells us what we should do
oA well developed superego acts to control sexual and aggressive
impulses through repression
oGuilt is the result of when the ego acts- or even intends to act-
contrary to the moral standards of the superego – stem from the
conscience
oFeelings of inferiority arise when the ego is unable to meet the
superegos standards of perfect- stem from ego-ideal
oFreud pointed out that the divisions of the mind are different
between individuals
Defense Mechanisms
-Freud first elaborated on the ideas of defense mechanisms in 1926
and his daughter Anna further refined and organized the concept in
1946
-Defense mechanisms when carried to an extreme can lead to
compulsive, repetitive, and neurotic behavior
-Repression
oMost basic defense mechanism
oWhen the ego is threatened by undesirable id impulses, it
protects itself by repressing those impulses – it forces
threatening feelings into the unconscious
oRepression is perpetuated for a lifetime in most cases
Example- young girl may permanently repress her hostility
for a younger sister because the feelings may create too
much anxiety
oNo society permits a complete and uninhibited expression of sex
and aggression, this leads to partial repression of these drives
oFreud’s beliefs on what happens to repressed impulses
The impulses may remain unchanged in the unconscious
They can force their way into consciousness in an
unaltered form- in this case they create overwhelming
anxiety
More common – they are expressed in displaced or
disguised forms
oRepressed drives may be disguised as physical symptoms-
example sexual impotency in a man with sexual guilt
-Reaction formation
oReactive behavior can be identified by its exaggerated character
and its obsessive and compulsive form
oExample- a young woman deeply resents and hates her mother
in turn she shows exaggerated and overdone love for her
mother to deceive herself of these hateful feelings that cause
anxiety
-Displacement
oPeople redirect their unacceptable urges onto a variety of
people or objects so the original impulse is concealed
-Fixation
oPermanent attachment of the libido onto an earlier, more
primitive stage of development
oExample- people who derive pleasure from eating, smoking, or
talking may have an oral fixation
-Regression
oOnce the libido has passed a developmental stage it may revert
back to an earlier stage during times of stress and anxiety
oRegressions are easily visible in children- a weaned child may
demand a bottle or nipple when a younger sibling is born
because the new baby poses a “threat”
oRegression is usually temporary whereas fixations are more or
less permanent
-Projection
oWhen an internal impulse causes too much anxiety, the ego may
reduce the anxiety by attributing the unwanted impulse to an
external object, usually another person
oDefined as seeing in others unacceptable feelings or tendencies
that actually reside in one’s own unconscious
oExample- a man may consistently interpret the actions of older
women as attempted seductions- consciously the thought of sex
with older women may gross him out but unconsciously he is
actually attracted to these women
oParanoia is an extreme type of projection and is characterized
by powerful delusions of jealousy and persecution
-Introjection
oDefense mechanism where people incorporate positive qualities
of another person into their own ego
oAn adolescent may try to introject or adopt the mannerisms of a
movie star
oThe gives people an inflated sense of self-worth and keep
feelings of inferiority to a minimum , because people introject
characteristics that they see as valuable
oFreud saw the resolution of the Oedipus complex as a prototype
of interjection
During the Oedipal period, the young child introjects the
authority and values of one or both parents which leads to
the beginning of the superego – when children introject
what they believe to be their parents’ values, they are
relieved of the work of evaluating and choosing their own
beliefs
-Sublimation
oHelps both the individual and the social group
oRepression of the genital aim of Eros by substituting a cultural
or social aim
oSublimated aim is expressed most obviously in creative
accomplishments like art and music, but it is a part of all human
relationships and social pursuits
oMichelangelo found an indirect outlet for his libido in painting
and sculpting
Stages of Development
-Freud had very little firsthand experience with children but is
developmental theory is almost exclusively about childhood
-Infantile stage (0-4/5)
oOral phase- infants obtain life-sustaining nourishment through
the oral cavity but also gain pleasure from sucking
oThe sexual aim of the early oral activity is to receive one’s body
the object-choice, the nipple
oOral receptive phases- infants feel no ambivalence toward the
pleasurable object but as they grow older they feel frustration
and anxiety as a result of scheduled feeding, increases time
between feedings, and eventual weaning
oThese feelings are accompanied by ambivalence toward their
love object (mother) and increased ability of their budding ego
to defend against the environment and anxiety
oOral-sadistic period- 2 oral phase that starts when they get
teeth- they respond to others through biting, cooing, closing
their mouth, smiling, and crying – their first autoerotic
experience is thumbsucking which helps with anxiety but not
nutritional needs
oAnal phase
oDuring the early anal phase, children find satisfaction in
destroying or losing object- children often behave aggressively
while toilet training
oDuring late anal period, they are interested in their bodily
functions
oCan lead to anal character- people who receive erotic
satisfaction by keeping and possessing objects
Freud believed these people were children who were
overly resistant to toilet training
oPhallic phase- ¾ years old
Male Phallic Phase Female Phallic Phase
1. Oedipus complex (sexual
desires for mother/hostility
for the father)
1 Castration complex in form of
penis envy
2. Castration complex in form of
castration anxiety shatters the
Oedipus complex
2 Oedipus complex as an attempt to
obtain a penis (desires for
father/hostility for mother)
3. Identification with the father 3 Gradual realization that oedipal
desires are self-defeating
4. Strong superego replaces
Oedipus complex
4 Identification with mother
5 Weak superego replaces the
partially dissolved Oedipus complex
-Latency stage (4/5- puberty)
oPeriod of dormant psychosexual development
oBrought about partly because the parents’ attempt to punish or
discourage sexual activity in young children
-Genital period (puberty)
oAdolescents focus their sexual energy toward other people
instead of themselves
-Maturity
Applications of Psychoanalytic theory
-Freud’s early therapeutic technique – dream interpretation and
hypnosis
-Freud’s later technique
oUncovering repressed memories through free association and
dream analysis
oFree association- patients are required to verbalize every
thought that comes to mind, no matter how irrelevant or
repugnant it might be – the purpose of this was to eventually
arrive at the unconscious thoughts and memories
oDream analysis was his favorite technique
-Dream analysis
oUsed to transform content of dreams to latent content – the
content of the dream is the surface or the conscious description
given by the dreamer whereas the latent content is the
unconscious material
-Freudian slips- many everyday slips of the tongue, misreading,
incorrect hearing, misplaced objects, and forgetfulness are not
accidents but actually reveval a person’s unconscious intentions
oCalled parapraxes but often referred to as Freudian slips
