Theories of Personality

psychology
third edition
CHAPTER
13
theories of personality
Psychology, Third Edition Saundra K. Ciccarelli J. Noland White
Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Learning Objectives
LO 13.1 Personality from various perspectives LO 13.2 Freuds historical views of personality LO 13.3 Jung, Adler, Horney, and Eriksons modifications LO 13.4 How does modern psychoanalytic theory differ from Freud LO 13.5 Behavioral and social cognitive explanations of personality LO 13.6 How humanists explain personality LO 13.7 The history and current views of the trait perspective LO 13.8 Biology, heredity and cultural roles in personality LO 13.9 Advantages and disadvantages of various measure of personality
Personality
LO 13.1 Personality
Personality - the unique and relatively stable ways in which people think, feel, and behave. Character - value judgments of a persons moral and ethical behavior. Temperament - the enduring characteristics with which each person is born.
Four Perspectives in Study of Personality

LO 13.1 Personality
Psychoanalytic Behavioristic (including social cognitive theory) Humanistic Trait perspectives
Sigmund Freud
LO 13.2 Freuds historical views of personality
Founder of the psychoanalytic movement in psychology.
Sigmund Freud
Europe during the Victorian age.

Men were understood to be unable to control their "animal" desires at times, and a good Victorian husband would father several children with his wife and then turn to a mistress for sexual comfort, leaving his virtuous wife untouched.
Sigmund Freud
Europe during the Victorian age.

Women, especially those of the upper classes, were not supposed to have sexual urges. Backdrop for this theory.
Divisions of Consciousness
Preconscious mind - level of the mind in which information is available but not currently conscious. Conscious mind - level of the mind that is aware of immediate surroundings and perceptions.
Divisions of Consciousness
Unconscious mind - level of the mind in which thoughts, feelings, memories, and other information are kept that are not easily or voluntarily brought into consciousness.
Can be revealed in dreams and Freudian slips of the tongue.
Figure 13.1 Freuds Conception of the Personality This iceberg represents the three levels of the mind. The part of the iceberg visible above the surface is the conscious mind. Just below the surface is the preconscious mind, everything that is not yet part of the conscious mind. Hidden deep below the surface is the unconscious mind, feelings, memories, thoughts, and urges that cannot be easily brought into consciousness. While two of the three parts of the personality (ego and superego) exist at all three levels of awareness, the id is completely in the unconscious mind.
Freuds Theory: Parts of Personality

Id - part of the personality present at birth and completely unconscious.

Libido - the instinctual energy that may come into conflict with the demands of a societys standards for behavior. Pleasure principle - principle by which the id functions; the immediate satisfaction of needs without regard for the consequences.

Ego - part of the personality that develops out of a need to deal with reality, mostly conscious, rational, and logical.
Reality principle - principle by which the ego functions; the satisfaction of the demands of the id only when negative consequences will not result.

Superego - part of the personality that acts as a moral center.

Ego ideal - part of the superego that contains the standards for moral behavior. Conscience - part of the superego that produces pride or guilt, depending on how well behavior matches or does not match the ego ideal.
Defense Mechanisms
Psychological defense mechanisms unconscious distortions of a persons perception of reality that reduce stress and anxiety. Denial - psychological defense mechanism in which the person refuses to acknowledge or recognize a threatening situation.
Defense Mechanisms
Repression - psychological defense mechanism in which the person refuses to consciously remember a threatening or unacceptable event, instead pushing those events into the unconscious mind. Rationalization - psychological defense mechanism in which a person invents acceptable excuses for unacceptable behavior.
Defense Mechanisms
Projection - psychological defense mechanism in which unacceptable or threatening impulses or feelings are seen as originating with someone else, usually the target of the impulses or feelings.
Defense Mechanisms
Reaction formation - psychological defense mechanism in which a person forms an opposite emotional or behavioral reaction to the way he or she really feels to keep those true feelings hidden from self and others. Displacement - redirecting feelings from a threatening target to a less threatening one.
Defense Mechanisms
Regression - psychological defense mechanism in which a person falls back on childlike patterns of responding in reaction to stressful situations. Identification - defense mechanism in which a person tries to become like someone else to deal with anxiety.
Defense Mechanisms
Compensation (substitution) - defense mechanism in which a person makes up for inferiorities in one area by becoming superior in another area. Sublimation - channeling socially unacceptable impulses and urges into socially acceptable behavior.
Freuds Theory: StagesLO 13.2Personality Development of Freuds historical views of personality Fixation - disorder in which the person does not fully resolve the conflict in a particular psychosexual stage, resulting in personality traits and behavior associated with that earlier stage. Psychosexual stages - five stages of personality development proposed by Freud and tied to the sexual development of the child.
Freuds Theory: StagesLO 13.2Personality Development of Freuds historical views of personality Oral stage - first stage occurring in the first year of life in which the mouth is the erogenous zone and weaning is the primary conflict. Id dominated.
Freuds Theory: StagesLO 13.2Personality Development of Freuds historical views of personality Anal stage - second stage occurring from about 1 to 3 years of age, in which the anus is the erogenous zone and toilet training is the source of conflict. Ego develops.
Anal expulsive personality - a person fixated in the anal stage who is messy, destructive, and hostile.
Freuds Theory: StagesLO 13.2Personality Development of Freuds historical views of personality Anal stage - second stage occurring from about 1 to 3 years of age, in which the anus is the erogenous zone and toilet training is the source of conflict. Ego develops.
Anal retentive personality - a person fixated in the anal stage who is neat, fussy, stingy, and stubborn.
Freuds Theory: StagesLO 13.2Personality Development of Freuds historical views of personality Phallic stage - third stage occurring from about 3 to 6 years of age, in which the child discovers sexual feelings. Superego develops.
Oedipus complex- situation occurring in the phallic stage in which a child develops a sexual attraction to the opposite-sex parent and jealousy of the same-sex parent.
Freuds Theory: StagesLO 13.2Personality Development of Freuds historical views of personality Phallic stage - third stage occurring from about 3 to 6 years of age, in which the child discovers sexual feelings. Superego develops.
Identification - defense mechanism in which a person tries to become like someone else to deal with anxiety.
Freuds Theory: StagesLO 13.2Personality Development of Freuds historical views of personality Latency - fourth stage occurring during the school years, in which the sexual feelings of the child are repressed while the child develops in other ways. Genital sexual feelings reawaken with appropriate targets.
Freuds Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis - Freuds term for both the theory of personality and the therapy based on it.
Neo-Freudians
LO 13.3 Jung, Adler, Horney, and Eriksons modifications
Neo-Freudians - followers of Freud who developed their own competing theories of psychoanalysis.
Jung developed a theory of a collective unconscious.
Personal unconscious - Jungs name for the unconscious mind as described by Freud.
Neo-Freudians
Collective unconscious Jungs name for the memories shared by all members of the human species. Archetypes - Jungs collective, universal human memories.
Neo-Freudians
Adler proposed feelings of inferiority as the driving force behind personality and developed birth order theory.
Neo-Freudians
Horney developed a theory based on basic anxiety and rejected the concept of penis envy.
Basic anxiety - anxiety created when a child is born into the bigger and more powerful world of older children and adults. Neurotic personalities maladaptive ways of dealing with relationships in Horneys theory.
Neo-Freudians
Erikson developed a theory based on social rather than sexual relationships, covering the entire life span.
Modern Psychoanalytic Theory

LO 13.4 Modern psychoanalytic theory
Current research has found support for:

Defense mechanisms Concept of an unconscious mind that can influence conscious behavior
Other concepts cannot be scientifically researched.
Behaviorism and Personality

LO 13.5 Behavioral and social cognitive explanations of personality
Behaviorists define personality as a set of learned responses or habits.

Habits - in behaviorism, sets of well-learned responses that have become automatic.
Social cognitive learning theorists theorists who emphasize the importance of both the influences of other peoples behavior and of a persons own expectancies on learning.

Social cognitive view learning theory that includes cognitive processes such as anticipating, judging, memory, and imitation of models. Reciprocal determinism - Banduras explanation of how the factors of environment, personal characteristics, and behavior can interact to determine future behavior.

Self-efficacy individuals perception of how effective a behavior will be in any particular circumstance (NOT the same as self-esteem).
Figure 13.2 Reciprocal Determinism In Banduras model of reciprocal determinism, three factors influence behavior: the environment, which consists of the physical surroundings and the potential for reinforcement; the person (personal/cognitive characteristics that have been rewarded in the past); and the behavior itself, which may or may not be reinforced at this particular time and place.
Humanistic Theories of Personality

LO 13.6 How humanists explain personality
Humanistic perspective - the "third force" in psychology that focuses on those aspects of personality that make people uniquely human, such as subjective feelings and freedom of choice. Developed as a reaction against the negativity of psychoanalysis and the deterministic nature of behaviorism.
Rogers Theory of Personality

Self-actualizing tendency the striving to fulfill ones innate capacities and capabilities. Self-concept - the image of oneself that develops from interactions with important, significant people in ones life. Self - archetype that works with the ego to manage other archetypes and balance the personality.

Real self - ones perception of actual characteristics, traits, and abilities. Ideal self - ones perception of whom one should be or would like to be. Positive regard warmth, affection, love, and respect that come from significant others in ones life.
Figure 13.3 Real and Ideal Selves According to Rogers, the self-concept includes the real self and the ideal self. The real self is a persons actual perception of traits and abilities, whereas the ideal self is the perception of what a person would like to be or thinks he or she should be. When the ideal self and the real self are very similar (matching), the person experiences harmony and contentment. When there is a mismatch between the two selves, the person experiences anxiety and may engage in neurotic behavior.

Unconditional positive regard - positive regard that is given without conditions or strings attached. Conditional positive regard- positive regard that is given only when the person is doing what the providers of positive regard wish.

Fully functioning person a person who is in touch with and trusting of the deepest, innermost urges and feelings.
Trait Theories of Personality

LO 13.7 Trait perspective
Trait theories - theories that endeavor to describe the characteristics that make up human personality in an effort to predict future behavior.
Trait - a consistent, enduring way of thinking, feeling, or behaving.
Allport first developed a list of about 200 traits and believed that these traits were part of the nervous system.

Cattell reduced the number of traits to between 16 and 23 with a computer method called factor analysis. Surface traits - aspects of personality that can easily be seen by other people in the outward actions of a person.
Figure 13.4 Cattells Self-Report Inventory This is an example of personality profiles based on Cattells 16PF self-report inventory. The two groups represented are airline pilots and writers. Notice that airline pilots, when compared to writers, tend to be more conscientious, relaxed, selfassured, and far less sensitive. Writers, on the other hand, are more imaginative and better able to are think abstractly. Source: Cattell (1973).

Source traits - the more basic traits that underlie the surface traits, forming the core of personality.
Example: Introversion - dimension of personality in which people tend to withdraw from excessive stimulation.
The Big Five Theory

Five-factor model (Big Five) - model of personality traits that describes five basic trait dimensions.
Openness - one of the five factors; willingness to try new things and be open to new experiences. Conscientiousness - the care a person gives to organization and thoughtfulness of others; dependability.
The Big Five Theory

Five-factor model (Big Five) - model of personality traits that describes five basic trait dimensions.
Extraversion - dimension of personality referring to ones need to be with other people.
The Big Five Theory

Extraverts - people who are outgoing and sociable. Introverts - people who prefer solitude and dislike being the center of attention.
Agreeableness - the emotional style of a person that may range from easygoing, friendly, and likeable to grumpy, crabby, and unpleasant.
The Big Five Theory

Introverts - people who prefer solitude and dislike being the center of attention.
Neuroticism - degree of emotional instability or stability.
Trait Theories Today

Cross-cultural research has found support for the five-factor model of personality traits in a number of different cultures.
Future research will explore the degree to which child-rearing practices and heredity may influence the five personality factors.
Trait Theories Today

Trait-situation interaction - the assumption that the particular circumstances of any given situation will influence the way in which a trait is expressed.
Biology and Personality

LO 13.8 Biology, heredity and cultural roles in personality
Behavior genetics - a field of study of the relationship between heredity and personality.
Twin and adoption studies have found support for a genetic influence on many personality traits.
Figure 13.5 Personalities of Identical and Fraternal Twins Identical and fraternal twins differ in the way they express the Big Five personality factors. The scores of identical twins have a correlation of about 50 percent, whereas those of fraternal twins have a correlation of only about 15 to 20 percent. These findings give support to the idea that some aspects of personality are genetically based. Source: Loehlin (1992)
James Arthur Springer and James

Edward Lewis, otherwise known as the "Jim" twins. Although separated shortly after birth and reunited at age 39, they exhibited many similarities in personality and personal habits.
Cultural Personality
Four basic dimensions of personality along which cultures may vary:

individualism/collectivism power distance masculinity/femininity uncertainty avoidance
Measuring Personality: Interviews

LO 13.9 Advantages and disadvantages of various measure of personality
Interview - method of personality assessment in which the professional asks questions of the client and allows the client to answer, either in a structured or unstructured fashion. Halo effect tendency of an interviewer to allow positive characteristics of a client to influence the assessments of the clients behavior and statements.
Measuring Personality: Projective Tests

Projection - defense mechanism involving placing, or "projecting," ones own unacceptable thoughts onto others, as if the thoughts actually belonged to those others and not to oneself. Projective tests - personality assessments that present ambiguous visual stimuli to the client and ask the client to respond with whatever comes to mind.

Rorschach inkblot test - projective test that uses 10 inkblots as the ambiguous stimuli. Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) projective test that uses 20 pictures of people in ambiguous situations as the visual stimuli.
Figure 13.6 Rorschach Inkblot Example A facsimile of a Rorschach inkblot. A person being tested is asked to tell the interviewer what he or she sees in an inkblot similar to the one shown. Answers are neither right nor wrong but may reveal unconscious concerns. What do you see in this inkblot?
Figure 13.7 Thematic Apperception Test Example A sample from the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). When you look at this picture, what story does it suggest to you? Who are the people? What is their relationship?

Subjective - concepts and impressions that are only valid within a particular persons perception and may be influenced by biases, prejudice, and personal experiences. This is a problem with projective tests.
Measuring Personality: Behavioral Measures

Direct observation - assessment in which the professional observes the client engaged in ordinary, day-to-day behavior in either a clinical or natural setting. Rating scale- assessment in which a numerical value is assigned to specific behavior that is listed in the scale.
Measuring Personality: Behavioral Measures

Frequency count - assessment in which the frequency of a particular behavior is counted.
Measuring Personality: Personality Inventory

Personality inventory - paper and pencil or computerized test that consists of statements that require a specific, standardized response from the person taking the test.
NEO-PI - based on the five-factor model Myers-Briggs Type Indicator - based on Jungs theory of personality types.
Measuring Personality: Personality Inventory

Personality inventory - paper and pencil or computerized test that consists of statements that require a specific, standardized response from the person taking the test.
MMPI-2 - designed to detect abnormal personality.
Personality Tests and Internet

There are numerous personality tests available on the Internet. Not all equal in quality, reliability, or validity. Lack of professional interpretation of the results of such tests.

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psychology

Psychology, Third Edition Saundra K. Ciccarelli J. Noland White

Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Psychology, Third Edition Saundra K. Ciccarelli J. Noland White

Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Four Perspectives in Study of Personality

Psychoanalytic Behavioristic (including social cognitive theory) Humanistic Trait perspectives

Psychology, Third Edition Saundra K. Ciccarelli J. Noland White

Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Founder of the psychoanalytic movement in psychology.

Psychology, Third Edition Saundra K. Ciccarelli J. Noland White

Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Europe during the Victorian age.

Psychology, Third Edition Saundra K. Ciccarelli J. Noland White

Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Europe during the Victorian age.

Psychology, Third Edition Saundra K. Ciccarelli J. Noland White

Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Psychology, Third Edition Saundra K. Ciccarelli J. Noland White

Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Psychology, Third Edition Saundra K. Ciccarelli J. Noland White

Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Psychology, Third Edition Saundra K. Ciccarelli J. Noland White

Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Freuds Theory: Parts of Personality

Id - part of the personality present at birth and completely unconscious.

Psychology, Third Edition Saundra K. Ciccarelli J. Noland White

Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Freuds Theory: Parts of Personality

Psychology, Third Edition Saundra K. Ciccarelli J. Noland White

Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Freuds Theory: Parts of Personality

Superego - part of the personality that acts as a moral center.

Psychology, Third Edition Saundra K. Ciccarelli J. Noland White

Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Psychology, Third Edition Saundra K. Ciccarelli J. Noland White

Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Psychology, Third Edition Saundra K. Ciccarelli J. Noland White

Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Psychology, Third Edition Saundra K. Ciccarelli J. Noland White

Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Psychology, Third Edition Saundra K. Ciccarelli J. Noland White

Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Psychology, Third Edition Saundra K. Ciccarelli J. Noland White

Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Psychology, Third Edition Saundra K. Ciccarelli J. Noland White

Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Psychology, Third Edition Saundra K. Ciccarelli J. Noland White

Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Psychology, Third Edition Saundra K. Ciccarelli J. Noland White

Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Psychology, Third Edition Saundra K. Ciccarelli J. Noland White

Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Psychology, Third Edition Saundra K. Ciccarelli J. Noland White