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General PsychologyPSYC 200
Personality
But first…
• What do we think about https://www.crystalknows.com/http://www.dailydot.com/technology/crystal-app-email-wtf/
Announcements
• Extra credit: 10 points per– Go to Psych lecture & write 1 page – next one
April 30th 5:30 pm – Topping Room– Go to Science Museum, take 3 selfies of psych
exhibits, write one page– Participate in RATS study & write 1 paragraph
about experience
Sources and Credibility
• How do we decide what is credible?
“Since this anthology discusses psychology, a science based on a lot of assumptions, it cannot be considered reliable information”
Outline
What is Personality?
How do We Measure it?
Trait Approach
Psychodynamic Approach
Humanistic Approach
Social-Cognitive Approach
I What is Personality?
• An individual’s characteristic style of behaving, thinking, and feeling
• Across time, across situations
• Trait: A relatively stable disposition to behave in a particular and consistent way
Across different situations?
• Trait vs. Situation
• Long time controversy
I How Do We Measure It?
• Self-Report: Just ask people– MMPI
• Projective Tests– Standard set of ambiguous stimuli that elicit
unique responses
What do you see?
Figure 12.1 Sample Rorschach InkblotSchacter, Gilbert and Wegner: Psychology, First EditionCopyright © 2009 by Worth Publishers
Figure 12.2 Sample TAT CardSchacter, Gilbert and Wegner: Psychology, First EditionCopyright © 2009 by Worth Publishers
I How Do We Measure It?
• Self-Report: Just ask people– Drawback: self-reports can be limited
• “Are you conceited?”
• Projective Tests– Drawback: Don’t work (can’t predict behavior)
Four Major Approaches
• differ dramatically • methods used• questions asked• assumptions made• current popularity
II Trait Approach
• identify core traits• enduring predispositions• e.g., introverted, conscientious, helpful
• focus on description• not explanation
• self-report methodology• personality inventories• MMPI
“Oh, God! Here comes little Miss Perky.”
“Big Five”
• leading personality inventory• Avoids overlap, captures variation
• reliable• stable over time, different data
• valid• e.g., high conscientiousness and low neuroticism are
correlated with successful job performance
• cross-cultural validity
• www.outofservice.com
http://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/results/?oR=0.725&cR=0.722&eR=0.312&aR=0.861&nR=0.188
OCEAN
• Openness• Conscientiousness• Extraversion• Agreeableness• Neuroticism
• Openness to Experience• curious; vivid imagination• like variety and unusual ideas; unconventional• like the abstract, ambiguous, and subtle
• Conscientiousness• self-disciplined and dutiful; prefer order• prefer planning over spontaneity; detail-oriented; careful and exact
• Extraversion• get energy from being with others• energetic and enthusiastic; talkative
• Agreeableness• compassionate and cooperative; value harmony• friendly, generous; feel others’ emotions; soft-hearted
• Neuroticism• anger prone; anxious and irritable• unstable, moody; often depressed and stressed
Nature or Nurture?
• surprisingly high heritability rates for many personality traits
• e.g., introversion/extraversion
• evidence for genetic basis to personality• twin studies• adoption studies• family patterns
• Does environment matter too?
V Psychodynamic Approach
• historical value• personality is shaped by desires and needs that
are outside of our awareness• power of the unconscious
• psychic determinism• assumption that all psychological events have a cause• no free choice
• primary methodology involved projective tests• Rorschach Test
It’s just a simple Rorschach ink-blot test, Mr. Bromwell, so calm down and tell me what each one suggests to you.”
• Freudian slips
Freud
• first comprehensive theory of personality• late 1800s
• physician specializing in neurotic disorders• no known physical cause
• unconscious motivations• sex• aggression
• mind is like an iceberg• mostly hidden
Id
Superego
Ego Conscious mind
Unconscious mind
Structure of the Mind
• tensions among the id, ego, and superego shape our personality
• pleasure = id• reality = ego• morality = superego
• anxiety is a driving force• defense mechanisms help relieve anxiety
• unconscious coping mechanisms
Defense Mechanisms
• repression• blocking emotionally threatening memories or impulses
• projection• attributing your own unacceptable feelings or impulses to someone
else
• displacement• directing an unacceptable impulse onto a safer and more socially
acceptable target
• reaction formation• transforming an anxiety-provoking emotion into its opposite
• regression• returning to younger stages of development
• rationalization• providing a reasonable sounding explanation for an
unreasonable behavior
• denial• refusing to admit that something unpleasant or taboo is
happening
• sublimation (+)• transforming a socially unacceptable impulse into an admired
goal
Defense Mechanisms• Elise accuses other women of talking too much when she is really the
one who talks too much.
• John got in a lot of fights as a child. When he started high school he channeled that hostility into playing football.
• Mr. Egosi forgot to mail the letter inviting his mother-in-law to spend the winter with them.
• After failing an exam, Kenny slams the door as he leaves the classroom.
• Lisa dresses in provocative clothes and uses suggestive language although she actually fears that she is unattractive.
Personality Development
• which conflicts we have when shape our unique personalities
• fully formed by age 6• 6 psychosexual stages
• differentiated by area of the body
Stage Focus
Oral Pleasure centers on the mouth--(0-18 months) sucking, biting, chewing
Anal Pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder (18-36 months) elimination; coping with demands for
control
Phallic Pleasure zone is the genitals; coping with (3-6 years) incestuous sexual feelings
Latency Dormant sexual feelings(6 to puberty)
Genital Maturation of sexual interests(puberty on)
Oedipus Complex
Psychosexual Stages
Oedipus Complex
• phallic stage• boys• develop powerful attraction to Mommy
• see Daddy as rival
• castration anxiety• eventually give up and identify with Daddy
• If you can’t beat him, join him
Electra Complex
• girls• attracted to Daddy• fantasize about getting rid of
Mommy• develop penis envy (??)
• feel inferior to boys
• girls never get over their penis envy entirely unless they give birth to a boy
Fixations
• “stuck”• too much or too little gratification; can’t resolve
conflicts• manifest as distinct personality characteristics or
flaws• oral fixation → eating disorders, excessively needy• anal fixation → stubborn, obsessive-compulsive• phallic fixation → jealous, sex-role identity problems
Evaluating the Psychoanalytic Approach
• biased case studies• vague terms• gender, race, and
cultural biases• just plain wrong about
many things
• unparalleled impact• emphasized talk
therapy• got us thinking
about the unconscious
IV Humanistic Approach
• 1960s-70s• emphasized free will
• personality shaped by our choices
• emphasized potential for growth• reaching optimal states of being
• upbeat, positive about human nature• core motives are good, not evil• optimistic to the point of being naive
Self-Actualization• Abraham Maslow• living up to one’s fullest potential• MLK, Helen Keller, Mahatma Gandhi, Thomas
Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln
Unconditional Positive Regard• Carl Rogers• necessary for optimal, healthy personality development• individual differences stem from different conditions of
worth imposed on us• impact on parenting
Social-Cognitive Approach
• Personality: How we think about situations and behave in response to them
• emphasizes the interaction of our traits with our situations– Mischel : Traits alone often don’t predict behavior– Also Mischel – marshmallow study
• and the importance of mental processes• how we interpret and respond to events• how we view ourselves and our place in the world
• locus of control• do we view ourselves as controlling, or as controlled by, our
environment
Locus of Control
Internal• what happens is result
of our actions• high sense of control• self as effective and
powerful• take credit for
successes and responsibility for failures
• “can do” mentality
External• what happens is result
of chance, fate, luck, other forces
• low sense of control• feel less powerful or
effective• tend not to take credit
for successes or failures
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