UNIT 2: SELF AND OTHERS
AREA OF STUDY 2: INTELLIGENCE & PERSONALITY
PERSONALITY
Because we can’t see it or touch it, this makes it
really hard for psychologists to come up with a
commonly accepted definition of personality
A widely accepted definition of personality is;
Personality is an individual’s unique pattern of
thoughts, feelings and behaviour that are
relatively stable over time and across
situations. It incorporates your individual
attitudes, values, morals, motivations, wishes,
loves and fears
CLASS ACTIVITY
• LEARNING ACTIVITY 12.1 (pg.509)
THEORIES OF PERSONALITY
PSYCHOLOGIST
TYPE
TITLE
SIGMUND FREUD
PSYCHODYNAMIC
THEORY
PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY
OF PERSONALITY
CARL JUNG
PSYCHODYNAMIC
THEORY
THEORY OF
PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES
GORDON ALLPORT TRAIT THEORY
HIERARCHY OF TRAITS
RAYMOND
CATTELL
TRAIT THEORY
16 PERSONALITY FACTOR
MODEL
HANS EYSENCK
TRAIT THEORY
P.E.N. MODEL
PAUL COSTA
ROBERT McCRAE
TRAIT THEORY
FIVE FACTOR MODEL
CARL ROGERS
HUMANISTIC THEORY
PERSON-CENTERED
THEORY
THEORIES OF PERSONALITY
1. PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORIES
Psychodynamic Theory of Personality (Sigmund Freud)
2. TRAIT THEORIES
Hierarchy of Traits
16 Personality Factor Model
P.E.N. Model
Five Factor Model
(Gordon Allport)
(Raymond Cattell)
(Hans Eysenck)
(Paul Costa & Robert McCrae)
3. HUMANISTIC THEORY
Person-Centered Theory
(Carl Rogers)
HOMEWORK
• LEARNING ACTIVITY 12.2 (pg.511)
PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORIES
SIGMUND FREUD
Psychodynamic Theory of Personality
Personality is a result of unconscious psychological conflicts
and how effectively these are resolved by the individual
PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY OF PERSONALITY
STRUCTURE
ID:
Innate, biological needs which all of us
are born with (those needs which help
us to survive). Often described as the
demanding, impulsive, illogical,
irrational and extremely selfish force.
Seeking immediate satisfaction
EGO:
The part of our personality which is
realistic, logical and orderly. Plays a
mediating role against the ID
SUPEREGO: Is our conscience, always looking
over us, judging our thoughts,
feelings and actions according to the
morals and ideals of the society in
which we live. The superego is
responsible for guilt when we do
something wrong
PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY OF PERSONALITY
HOMEWORK
• LEARNING ACTIVITY 12.3 (pg.515)
• LEARNING ACTIVITY 12.5 (pg.516)
PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY OF PERSONALITY
DEFENSE MECHANISMS
Freud used this term to describe the unconscious processes by
which the ego defends or protects itself against anxiety arising
from internal conflicts.
Defence mechanisms reduce the anxiety that the ego feels when
having to defend itself against the id and the superego.
Defence mechanisms occur unconsciously. Some examples of the
different types are over on the next slide.
PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY OF PERSONALITY
DEFENSE MECHANISMS
HOMEWORK
• LEARNING ACTIVITY 12.6 (pg.517)
PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY OF PERSONALITY
DEVELOPMENT
Freud said that our personality is fully developed by 5-6 years of
age
He believed that personality development is sequential and
progresses through a series of 5 stages (psychosexual stages)
PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY OF PERSONALITY
STRENGTHS
LIMITATIONS
•Freud’s psychodynamic theory
•Few contemporary psychologists
describes and explains how personality believe that personality development
develops throughout the lifespan, whilst proceeds in age-related stages
this is overlooked by other theories
•Most believe that personality continues
•Many agree that adult personality is
to develop throughout the lifespan
significantly influenced by experiences
early in life
•Freud’s theory lacks scientific research
evidence
•There is research evidence supporting
the use of defence mechanisms,
•Often criticised for his lack of attention
although in order to support selfto the importance of social interactions
esteem rather than reduce anxiety
or socio-cultural influences
•Mental processes can occur below the
level of conscious awareness
HOMEWORK
• LEARNING ACTIVITY 12.9 (pg.522)
TRAIT THEORIES
Personality Trait
=
a personality
characteristic that lasts
over time and across
different situations
TRAIT THEORIES
Focus on measuring, identifying and describing
individual differences in personality in terms of traits
 Assumes that personality traits are relatively stable and predictable over time
 Assumes that personality traits are relatively stable across different situations
 Personality consists of a number of different traits, and that some people have
more or less of each trait than others
 Some traits are more closely interrelated than other traits and tend to occur
together (sets of traits are called dimensions)
TRAIT THEORIES
GORDON ALLPORT
Hierarchy of Traits
Found 4500 words considered to be suitable descriptors of personality
traits
Organised these ‘trait words’ into three groups as a hierarchy
HIERARCHY OF TRAITS
CARDINAL TRAITS: Are very dominant personality traits to
the point of controlling
someone’s life.
They are usually rare
but motivate
behaviour (eg. greed for
money)
CENTRAL TRAITS: A personality trait present in varying
degrees in all people within a culture or
society. The building blocks of our
personality and influence our behaviour in
many situations (eg. intelligent, honest,
shy, anxious)
SECONDARY TRAITS: A personality trait present in varying
degrees in all people,
influencing
behaviour, but dependent on
the
specific situation
HOMEWORK
• LEARNING ACTIVITY 12.12 (pg.526)
TRAIT THEORIES
RAYMOND CATTELL
16 Personality Factor Model
Cattell thought that Allport’s model had too many traits
Through factor analysis he reduced Allport’s number to 16
dimensions (or ‘factors’ as he called them)
Also identified two types of traits;
SURFACE TRAITS: A trait that can be observed indirectly
through behaviour (eg. easygoing)
SOURCE TRAITS: An underlying trait that can be observed
in
behaviour through a set of source
traits
(eg. outgoing)
16 PERSONALITY FACTOR MODEL
 Cattell developed the 16PF test from his theory
 Creates an overall picture of a person’s personality and
allows comparison between individuals
HOMEWORK
• LEARNING ACTIVITY 12.14 (pg.528)
TRAIT THEORIES
HANS EYSENCK
P.E.N. Model
Thought that Allport’s model had too many personality
factors (16) so he reduced them to three
He calls them ‘dimensions’
ALLPORT
EYSENCK
RESERVED – OUTGOING
EXTRAVERSION – INTROVERSION
AFFECTED BY FEELINGS – EMOTIONALLY
STABLE
NEUROTICISM – EMOTIONAL STABILITY
PSYCHOTICISM
– not a dimension but present in all individuals in
some capacity
P.E.N. MODEL
He developed the
Eysenck Personality
Questionnaire (EPQ)
to test a person’s
personality
160 Self Report Items
The questions are
designed to measure
the 9 traits that
underlie each of the 3
dimensions. Look over
the page for these
P.E.N. MODEL
HOMEWORK
• LEARNING ACTIVITY 12.16 (pg.531)
• LEARNING ACTIVITY 12.17 (pg.531)
TRAIT THEORIES
PAUL COSTA & ROBERT McCRAE
Five Factor Model
Described 5 factors (or broad dimensions) of personality
traits
 Openness to experience
 Conscientiousness
 Extraversion
 Agreeableness
 Neuroticism
PAGE 532 in the text book describes the
dimensions for each of these factors (Box 12.6)
FIVE FACTOR MODEL
Widely recognised as the most
accurate representation of
personality
The 5 factor model shows the
structure of personality and
describes personality.
It does not explain personality
Costa & McCrae developed two
inventories to test personality:
• NEO Personality Inventory
(NEO-PI-R)
• NEO Five-Factor Inventory
(NEO-FFI)
TRAIT THEORIES
STRENGTHS
LIMITATIONS
• Have provided useful descriptions of
personality and its structure
•Can lead people to use oversimplified
classifications and descriptions of
people
• Have provided the foundation for the
development of valid and reliable
•Underestimate the ways in which
personality assessment devices
specific situations and socio-cultural
factors can influence human behaviour
• The theories and associated tests
are based on ‘why’ we develop the
•Tend to underestimate the uniqueness
traits we have
of each individual
HOMEWORK
• LEARNING ACTIVITY 12.19 (pg.535)
HUMANISTIC THEORIES
CARL ROGERS
Person-Centered Theory
 Developed his theory through his clinical work with clients
 Believed each of us contains within ourselves an
enormous potential to grow and develop for the rest of our
lives
 Likened a person to a seed
growing into a tree
PERSON CENTERED THEORY
A well adjusted and happy individual is one whose (1) IDEAL SELF
(2) SELF-IMAGE and (3) TRUE SELF are congruent (they match)
EG:
• Important to you to be generous
• You believe you are generous
• You behave in a generous manner
(IDEAL SELF)
(SELF IMAGE)
(TRUE SELF)
PERSON CENTERED THEORY
Q-SORT TEST
Rogers believed that you cannot ‘score’ or ‘rate’ personality
Therefore he developed a ‘Q-Sort Test’ to measure how congruent your
ideal self, self-image and true self are
‘I AM AFRAID OF WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK OF ME’
Is this statement most like you or least like you?
Rogers would then ask you to rate the same statement in relation to your
ideal self, then again in relation to your self-image, and finally in relation
to your true self
This is done for a large number of statements
He then checks if your responses are congruent across the 3 selves
HUMANISTIC THEORIES
STRENGTHS
LIMITATIONS
•They focus on the positive dimensions
of personality
•They are often criticised as being
simplistic, idealistic and vague
•They give a complete picture of how a
healthy person develops
•Can’t often be tested scientifically
•Provides a description for the
development of an unhealthy
personality
•Often criticised as being unrealistic in
its view of the world as it does not
consider pessimism or the capacity for
evil
•Humanistic theories are often
considered subjective and developed
under a non-scientific basis
HOMEWORK
• LEARNING ACTIVITY 12.21 (pg.538)