Chapter 14:
Personality
C. Brown: Unit 11
Who We Are
Personality
Relatively stable patterns of
__________________________________.
Psychoanalysis
The Cognitive Social-Learning Approach
Genes and Personality
The Humanistic Approach
The Trait Approach
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Personality
Are Personality traits real?
 The word comes from the Latin
persona, meaning “______.”
 Personality
y
An individual’s distinct and relatively
enduring pattern of
_______________________________
The Psychoanalytic
Perspective
Freud’s theory
of personality
and method of
psychotherapy
, both of which
assume that
our motives
are
____________
Most people exhibit consistent traits across
different situations. Some studies suggests that
up to ___% of personality traits are due to
inheritance and this supports the idea that
inheritance,
personality traits are consistent and real. Some
individuals may display more consistent traits
than others, while other people may be more
influenced by situational factors (these
differences between individuals are personality
factors).
Psychoanalytic Theory
 Freud believed mental illness was
psychogenic rather than somatogenic
 Caused by psychological factors
 Core assumptions:
 ___________________– all psychological
events have a cause
 ________meaning – all actions are meaningful
 _____________motivation – we rarely understand
why we do things
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
1
Freud
Born in 1856 in the Czech republic, moved to
Vienna at age 4. Freud’s mother was his
father’s second wife, and she was 21 when
Freud was born.
born Freud had a cold and distant
relationship with his father, but was his mother’s
favorite child. He was the first born child, and
the only child to have his own room. Freud’s
sister had to give up the piano when her
practice disturbed Freud’s studies.
Freud
He was ambitious and wanted to become a
medical researcher, but he became discouraged
and went into private practice. Collected
antiques heavy smoker
antiques,
smoker, developed cancer of
the mouth, cancer operations ended his public
speaking career. As a Jew he fled the Nazis to
England in 1938. Died of throat cancer in 1939.
Developed an interest in hypnosis early in his
career.
Psychoanalysis
Freud’s Theory of Personality
The Structure of
Personality
Unconscious Mind
The bulk of the mind, the layer below the
preconscious mind, is the unconscious –
the thoughts, desires, impulses and
wishes of which we remain largely
unaware. Some of this material was once
conscious, but it has become actively
repressed because it is too anxietyprovoking. Other parts of the unconscious
have always been hidden to the
individual.
Levels of Consciousness
We may respond to stimuli that we cannot
report perceiving. Freud believed that
most of the mind __________the
threshold of conscious experience
experience. Above
the threshold is the conscious mind, and
below it lies the much larger preconscious
mind. A portion of the preconscious mind
are the memories that are not a part of
one’s current thoughts that can readily
brought to mind.
PRS
According to Freud most people are
unaware of the forces that influence their
personality.
T/F
2
Freud’s Theory of Personality
The Structure of Personality
 Id: Operates according to the
__________________
Primitive and unconscious, hidden from
view
Contains basic drives
 Ego: Operates according to the
___________________
Mediates the conflict between id and
superego
Id
The most primary personality structure.
Composed of innate primitive urges: nursing,
aggressive impulses, sexual urges etc.
(Mankind wants to simultaneously live and die,
die
create and destroy). The id seeks
___________________gratification (pleasure
principle), it creates an image of its goal (wish
fulfillment), such as it’s mother’s breast, and it
activates the ego to seek its goal.
 Superego: Consists of moral ideals
and conscience
Libido
The instinctual life force (psychic fuel) that
powers the id. The source of all creative acts
and mental (and physical) activity (including
sexuality).
sexuality)
In common usage today, libido is used to
reference ______drive. Changes in libido (sex
drive) may indicate possible health problems
including endocrine imbalances and depression.
Psychoanalysis
The Structure of Personality
 Pleasure Principle:
In psychoanalysis, the id’s boundless
drive for ________gratification
 Reality Principle
In psychoanalysis, the ego’s capacity to
_______gratification
Ego
The ego seeks to match images evoked by the
id with physical objects, or hold the id in check
until conditions are favorable for the satisfaction
p
The ego
g follows the ‘realityy
of its impulses.
principle’ it takes into account the external
conditions and the consequences of various
actions, and directs behavior to maximize
pleasure and minimize pain. A portion of the
ego is in the conscious mind, and a portion is in
the unconscious. We never directly experience
the ego’s struggle with the id.
Super Ego
A primitive personality structure concerned with
perfection and morality. The superego permits
the ego to satisfy the id only when it is morally
correct to do so
so, not simply when it is safe or
feasible (as would be permitted by the ego
without the superego’s intervention). The
superego reflects the social ideals and
behavioral standards upheld by society, and is
the source of
_______________________________________
.
3
Psychological Conflict
Freud believed that all people_______________
between the id’s demands for immediate
pleasure, and the superego’s prohibitions
against giving in to those demands. The id and
superego are both infantile and irrational
irrational, one
composed of selfish promptings and the other
composed of blind absolute do’s and don’ts.
Both were formed when the child’s cognitive
abilities were quite primitive. Thus, the ego has
two masters (id & superego), and the price for
this conflict is unhappiness, and occasionally
neurosis and psychosis.
Dreams
Repression is so strong that one will not
even dream of forbidden matters directly,
they will only be permitted to surface in
symbolic disguise in the ________dream.
Dreamers never experience the true
underlying __________dream containing
one’s hidden wishes, impulses and
concerns.
Parallel with literary interpretation.
Repression
The chief defense mechanism used by the ego
to control the id. ________acts are repressed
because of the anxiety associated with being
scolded Repression is so complete that one will
scolded.
not repeat an act that had been punished.
Furthermore, one will not even think of
repeating the forbidden act, or even remember
that the act had been committed in the past and
that it had resulted in punishment (childhood
amnesia).
Three Agencies in Conflict
Freud believed that these three agencies
interacted continuously
Hypothesized that psychological distress is
caused
d by
b disharmony
di h
between
b t
three
th
agencies
i
of the psyche
All dreams are wish fulfillments – expression of the
id’s impulses
The superego commands the ego to convert these
wishes into _______
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Defense Mechanisms
The ego is in a constant struggle to
prevent the eruption of the id’s impulses.
The ego experiences anxiety when the id’s
impulses rise closer to the surface, and
tax the ego’s ability to hold them in check.
Sometimes repression fails, and the
forbidden thought or act breaks through.
__________________________
The thought or behavior breaks through, but is
not recognized for what it is. The subject
invents a false, but socially acceptable reason
for the behavior (masking the unacceptable
motives).
Heretics have been burned at the stake to ‘save
their immortal soul’, and cruel fathers have beat
their own children, because its for their ‘own
good’.
4
_________________
The thought or behavior breaks through,
but it is redirected at the last minute from
a dangerous object to a safe one.
A lusting husband kisses his own wife and
escapes the impulse of kissing his
neighbor’s wife.
________________
The forbidden urge breaks through and is
recognize for being forbidden, but the
subject attributes the event to the actions
of another individual.
‘This would never have happened, but
you mesmerized me, and I am as much a
victim of your illicit lustful urges as is my
poor suffering wife’.
____________Formation
 defense mechanism by which the ego
unconsciously switches unacceptable
impulses into their opposites
 people may express feelings that are
the opposite of their anxiety-arousing
unconscious feelings
__________________
Transferring unacceptable thoughts or impulses
into a socially acceptable form. People act in the
best interest of society, rather than in the
gratifying
y g their id. This defense
interest of g
mechanism makes civilization possible. Society
requires the repression of many of the id’s direct
impulses. The harder that one works to achieve
a common good, the more anxious they are that
the unacceptable id impulses are about to break
through.
________________
Sometimes the response to anxiety from
the urges of the id is to abruptly adopt
the response patterns appropriate only at
an earlier stage of development.
PRS
A four year old child starts wetting the
bed when its new baby brother is brought
home from the hospital. This is an
example of
A.
B.
C.
D.
Displacement
Rationalization
Projection
Regression
5
Psychosexual Development
Psychosexual Stages
Freud’s stages of personality
development during which pleasure is
derived from different parts of the
body
Oral (the first year of life)
Anal (ages 2-3)
Phallic (ages 4-6)
When Oedipus complex and identification
occur
Latency period (ages 7-12)
Genital (starting at puberty)
_________________
If an excess amount of libido is consumed at a
particular stage of development, less is available
to that individual as an adult, and the individual
may show an immature personality (and
possibly a number of psychological disorders).
Either too much gratification or too little
gratification at a stage of development results in
a “defect” which is apparent in the individual’s
personality.
Anal Stage
This stage develops in response to parental
efforts to toilet train young children (2-3 years).
The process of elimination becomes the primary
focus of pleasure
pleasure.
Too much gratification – resulting from the
parents being too lax in toilet training their
children produces an undisciplined, messy,
disorderly, impulsive, extravagant or sadistic
personality type.
Psychosexual Stages of
Development
Biological determinism: all people pass through
these universal stages, and their experiences
during these stages determine their personality.
Anything an individual achieves in life consumes
some amount of their psychic energy (libido),
and their libido is exhausted over the course of
a lifetime.
The release of libido is closely related to
pleasure, but the focus of the pleasure – and
the expression of the libido changes as one
develops.
Oral Stage
Birth – 2 years of age:
The source of pleasure is focused on the mouth.
Too _______gratification: results in thumb
sucking, over eating, too passive, too
dependent.
Too ______gratification: results in oral
aggressive behavior – excessive hostility, verbal
sarcasm, too tough, too independent.
Anal Stage
Too little gratification – resulting from
overly harsh toilet training experiences
produces an individual who is overly
compulsive; exhibiting excess neatness,
stubbornness, or stinginess. These
individuals can’t leave a job unfinished
and strive for perfection.
6
__________Stage
4-5 years of age, the _________become the
primary source of pleasure, children begin to
masturbate, and take increasing pride and
interest in their genitalia. Children eventually
seek an erotic partner and because their parents
have satisfied all their biological needs up to this
point their natural conclusion is that their
opposite sex parent should satisfy this urge
now. Thus, children fantasize about having sex
with their opposite sex parent, and the desire
for incest is initiated by children who see their
parents as sex objects.
______________Complex
 For a parallel process to occur for a little girl she must
switch her attachment from her mother to her father at
the onset of the Phallic stage, and then this stage can
be resolved when the little girl re-identifies with her
mother. Penis envy: it is a psychological catastrophe
when
h little
littl girls
i l discover
di
th
thatt men have
h
a penis
i and
d
women do not. Little girls feel unworthy because they
lack a penis, they withdraw their love from their mother
(who must be equally unworthy), and switches her love
to her father (who in fact has a penis). At this point the
conflict for little girls is parallel to the case for little boys.
Both are fearful of the same sex parent, and resolve the
complex by developing an identification with the same
sex parent.
Latency Stage
Age 6 – ______. The Oedipus and Electra
complexes have been repressed, the child
settles down psychologically, goes to
school, makes friends, develops self
confidence, and learns the rules for
appropriate male or female behavior.
______________Complex
 Little boys who see a naked girl for the first time are horrified, for
they conclude that her penis must have been cut off. Who could
have done such a thing? It must have been done by the all
powerful father.
 Castration anxiety – little boys are terrified that their fathers will
detect their sexual desire for their mother. This anxietyy causes the
little boy to repress his incest desire, to accept the authority of his
father, and to identify with him. The identification process results
in a little boy who accepts his father’s standards of morality –
strengthening the child’s superego. By becoming more like dad, the
little boy knows that someday he too will enjoy an erotic partner,
and while it won’t be his mother, at least it will be with someone
much like her.
 “I want a girl, just like the girl, that married dear old dad!”
Phallic Stage
 In children of both genders the conflict is resolved by
age 5-6, and the child identifies with their
____________parent.
 If identification is incomplete the resulting personality
type reveals an ________to
to control sexual impulses,
impulses a
general weakness in moral character, and hostile
attitudes towards authority.
 Little girls do not experience the intensity of castration
anxiety as experienced by little boys (because they do
not have a penis to lose), and as a result women do not
develop as strong a superego as do men. (Freud
proposed a gender bias in the strength of moral
character).
Genital Stage
Puberty – adulthood. Pleasure becomes
focused again on the genitals. However,
lust becomes blended with true affection,
and individuals become capable of mature
adult love. The full development of the
final psychosexual stage can only be
achieved if a fixation has not occurred at
some earlier stage.
7
Personality
Development
Freud’s Psychosexual Stages
Stage
Focus
Oral
(0-18 months)
Pleasure centers on the mouth-sucking, biting, chewing
Anal
(18-36 months)
Pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder
elimination; coping with demands for
control
Pleasure zone is the genitals; coping with
incestuous sexual feelings
Phallic
(3-6 years)
Latency
(6 to puberty)
Dormant sexual feelings
Genital
(puberty on)
Maturation of sexual interests
Psychoanalysis
The Psychodynamics of
Personality
 Unconscious
sexual and
aggressive urges
find acceptable
forms of
expression.
___________
A primitive variant of repression in which
anxiety-loaded external events are
blocked from awareness.
PRS
Freud proposed that pleasure was derived
from different body parts at different
stages of development.
T/F
Personality
Development
 ______________
 the process by which children
incorporate
p
their parents’
p
values into
their developing superegos
 ___________
 a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking
energies at an earlier psychosexual
stage, where conflicts were unresolved
PRS: Which concepts do
these events suggest?
Family members of a terminally ill patient
refuse to admit that a loved one is dying.
A. Denial
B. Displacement
C. Electra Complex
D. Reaction Formation
8
PRS: Which concepts do
these events suggest?
PRS: Which concepts do
these events suggest?
A man who is angry at his boss shouts at
his kids.
A. Denial
B. Displacement
C. Electra Complex
D. Reaction Formation
A 4-year old girl snuggles on her daddy’s
lap, but refuses to kiss her mother.
A. Denial
B. Displacement
C. Electra Complex
D. Reaction Formation
PRS: Which concepts do
these events suggest?
A man who is gay has a number of
conspicuous heterosexual affairs and
openly criticizes gays.
A. Denial
B. Displacement
C. Electra Complex
D. Reaction Formation
Carl Jung
Animus – the __________side of females
Anima – the __________side of males
Soul mate – the person onto who we best
project these hidden sides of our own
personality
Jung also created the labels of extrovert
and introvert (enduring personality
dimension)
Psychoanalysis
Freud’s Legacy
Neo-Freudian Theorists
Carl Jung
Proposed the idea of a Collective
_____________
A kind of memory bank that stores
images and ideas that humans have
accumulated over the course of evolution
Alfred Adler
Proposed the idea of the inferiority
complex and the notion that social
conflicts are important in the development
of personality.
Karen Horney
Believed that each gender had attributes that
were admired by the other, and that neither
gender should be viewed as morally superior or
inferior because of biological differences.
differences
Believed that psychological disorders did not
stem from fixation of psychic energy, but rather
from disturbed interpersonal relationships
during childhood.
9
Psychoanalysis
Freud’s Legacy
Neo-Freudian Theorists
Later generations considered themselves
classical Freudians or expanded
psychoanalysis in two directions.
One direction focused on social
relationships.
The other direction enlarged the role of the
ego.
Assessing the
Unconscious
Assessing the
Unconscious
 __________Test
 a personality test, such as the Rorschach or
TAT, that provides ambiguous stimuli
designed to trigger projection of one’s inner
dynamics
 Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
 a projective test in which people express their
inner feelings and interests through the
stories they make up about ambiguous
scenes
Assessing the
Unconscious--Rorschach
 Rorschach _________Test
 the most widely used projective test
 a set of 10 inkblots designed by
Hermann Rorschach
 seeks to identify people’s inner feelings
by analyzing their interpretations of the
blots
The Psychoanalytic
Perspective
 ___________Association
 in psychoanalysis, a method of
exploring
l i the
h unconscious
i
 person relaxes and says whatever
comes to mind, no matter how trivial
or embarrassing
Psychoanalysis
Current Perspectives on
Psychoanalysis
There are three major criticisms of
psychoanalysis:
The theory’s portrait of human nature is
too _______.
The theory does not meet acceptable
scientific standards.
Research fails to support many of its
propositions.
10
Criticisms of
Psychoanalytic Theory
Unfalsifiability
Failed predictions
Lack of evidence for defense mechanisms
Questionable conception of the unconscious
Reliance on _____________samples
Flawed assumption of _______environmental
influences
Freud’s theories have exerted a profound
influence on conceptions of the mind, but they
are problematic, scientifically
In Defense of Freud
He did not take notes, and some of his
most significant early cases may have
been victims of childhood sexual abuse.
These cases may have had excess impact
on his view of the development of
personality.
The psychodynamic view may still be the
best approach to treat victims of sexual
abuse.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Psychoanalysis
Current Perspectives on
Psychoanalysis
Two enduring aspects of the theory
remain influential:
The view of the mind as an iceberg (i.e.,
(i e
the importance of the unconscious).
The analysis of defense mechanisms,
which is supported throughout psychology
in studies of attention, thinking, feeling,
etc.
Cooperative Group Learning
Only 6 are used.
1. displacement
2. identification
3. sublimation
4. intellectualization
5. projection
6. regression
7. repression
8. reaction formation
Evidence of Repression
Studies of audiotapes of psychological sessions
have shown that lapses in the train of thought
do not occur randomly in the session, but are
patient is dealing
g with a
more likelyy when the p
crucial event.
Combat neurosis – if pressed to recall events
during warfare the patient may stutter, shake
and display other symptoms of terrible anxiety.
Some facets of memory deficits may be linked
to anxiety itself.
Q1.
1. _____ is an act of returning
psychologically to a younger, and typically
simpler and safer age.
11
Q2
Q3
2. _____ is avoiding emotions associated
with anxiety-provoking experiences by
focusing on abstract and impersonal
thoughts.
3. _____ is unconscious attribution of our
negative characteristics to others.
Q4
Q5
4. _____ is a process of adopting
characteristics of people we find
threatening.
5. _____ is directing an impulse from a
socially unacceptable target onto a safer
and more socially acceptable one.
Q6
6. _____ is transforming a socially
unacceptable impulse into an admired
goal.
The Cognitive SocialLearning
Approach
 Cognitive Social-Learning
Theory
 An approach to personality
that focuses on social learning
(modeling), acquired cognitive
factors (expectancies, values),
and the person-situation
interaction
12
The Cognitive SocialLearning Approach
Social-Learning Theory
Modeling
Classical Conditioning
Operant Conditioning
Stimulus Generalization
Discrimination
Extinction
The social-learning process by which behavior
is observed and imitated
__________Control
The expectancy that one’s reinforcements are
generally controlled by internal or external
factors
Self-_________
The belief that one is capable of performing
the behaviors required to produce a desired
outcome
Locus of Control
 Two-Alternative Forced Choice
A) Without the right breaks, one cannot become an effective
leader.
B) Capable people who fail to become leaders have often not
taken
ta
e ad
advantage
a tage o
of ttheir
e oppo
opportunities.
tu t es
A) I have often found out that what is going to happen, will
happen.
B) Trusting to fate has never turned out as well for me as
making a decision to take a definite course of action.
A) Sometime I can’t understand how teachers arrive at the
grade they give.
B) There is a direct connection between how hard I study and
the grades I get.
Social-Cognitive
Perspective
Locus of Control
Individuals tend to perceive them selves as able
to influence their situation in life (internal locus
of control), or as largely controlled by outside
forces (external locus of control)
control).
Review learned helplessness paradigm
presented in the learning section of the course.
Learned helplessness may be linked with
depression. (Depressed people are very
passive, they feel that nothing can be done to
ease their suffering.)
Weakness of the Cognitive
Social Learning Approach
 Learned Helplessness
Denies the importance of
__________causes of personality.
Minnesota Twin Study:
y
Uncontrollable
bad events
Bridget & Dorthy (39 years of age)
Perceived
lack of control
Generalized
helpless behavior
Same IQ score
7 rings & 3 bracelets
One son: Richard Andrew/Richard Andrew
One daughter: Catherine Louise/Karen Louise
13
Jim Twins
 Both
Good at math, but poor at spelling
Drove Chevrolet cars
Part-time deputy sheriffs
Vacationed in Florida
Had a small dog named Toy
Had a son named James Alan/James Allen
Married and divorced a women named Linda
Enjoyed mechanical drawing and carpentry
Chewed their fingernails and had hemorrhoids
Identical blood pressures, sleep patterns & suffered from mixed
headache syndrome beginning at age 18
PRS
Twin studies suggest that all differences
in personality traits are likely the results
of environmental factors.
T/F
Humanistic Perspective
 Carl Rogers (1902-1987)
 focused on growth and fulfillment of
individuals
 genuineness
 acceptance
 empathy
Oskar Stohr & Jack Yule
 Born in Trinidad, one was raised in Germany and
became a Nazi, the other was raised as Jew in the
Caribbean. Both
Wore wire-rimmed glasses, two-pocket shirts with epaulets &
had mustaches
Liked spicy foods & sweet liqueurs
Were absent minded and feel asleep watching TV
Flushed the toilet before using it
Wore rubber bands on their wrists
Thought it humorous to sneeze before strangers
Read magazines from back to front
Liked to dip buttered toast in their coffee
Exhibited a domineering attitude towards women
The Humanistic Approach
 Humanistic Theory
 An approach to personality
that
h ffocuses on the
h self,
lf
subjective experience, and the
capacity for ________
Rogers
Individuals seek to develop most of their
positive characteristics and strive to
become fully functioning persons.
Experience life to its fullest, live in the here
and now, able to trust their own feelings,
sensitive to the needs of others, do not
_________to restrictive social standards…
14
The Humanistic Approach
Rogers
Rogers’ Theory
Individuals stop growing because of the
anxiety produced when their life
experiences are inconsistent with their
ideals about themselves (psychological
(p y
g
defenses and denial are the result).
 ______________Positive Regard
The acceptance and love one receives
from significant others is unqualified
 _____________Positive Regard
The acceptance and love one receives
from significant others is contingent
upon one’s behavior
Rogers
Rogers
Distorted self-concepts can be repaired if
the individual is placed in the context of
“unconditional positive regard” (when the
barriers that caused distorted selfconcepts are removed, individuals will
naturally begin to move along the path of
becoming fully functioning persons).
Distortions of the self-concept are
common because people are raised in a
context of “___________positive regard”
(thus they are forced to deny the
existence of various feelings and concepts
that they have about themselves).
Humanistic Perspective
Humanistic Perspective
 Abraham
Maslow (19081970)
 studied selfactualization
processes of
productive
and healthy
people (e.g.,
Lincoln)
 Self-____________
 the ultimate psychological need that
arises
i
after
ft b
basic
i physical
h i l and
d
psychological needs are met and selfesteem is achieved
 the motivation to fulfill one’s potential
15
Maslow and SelfActualization
Self-actualization: the fulfillment of a
person’s potential.
The Humanistic Approach
Abraham Maslow
The State of Self-Actualization
Csikszentmihalyi
studied this, based
on Maslow
Maslow’ss
writings.
A state of “flow”
arises when
engaging in
activities demanding
skill and challenge,
Flow, The Optimal Experience
but are not too
difficult.
 Has peak experiences
Perspectives on the
Humanistic Approach
Praise for the Humanistic Approach
For the idea that people are inherently ______
For placing importance on conscious mental
experience
i
For the idea that the self-concept is the heart of
personality
Criticisms of the Humanistic Approach
For taking people’s self-report statements at face
value
For being too __________about human nature
and ignoring human capacity for
Contemporary Research-The Trait Perspective
PRS
The idea that conditional positive regard
could hinder a persons full development
was proposed by
A.
B.
C.
D.
Self-Actualization
Freud
Jung
Rogers
Maslow
 Trait
 a characteristic pattern of behavior
 a __________to feel and act, as assessed by
self-report
self
report inventories and peer reports
 Personality Inventory
 a questionnaire (often with true-false or
agree-disagree items) on which people
respond to items designed to gauge a wide
range of feelings and behaviors
 used to assess selected personality traits
16
Empirical Approach
Self ratings using a Likert rating scale (15):
I am very careful and methodical.
I cry easily.
Sometimes I feel totally worthless.
I work best under a great deal of tension.
I like to read about crime.
Empirical Approach
Q-sort cards are sorted into piles (most like you
or not like you). The raters are you, your
friends or family members. (Look for
correlations between self ratings and ratings of
others).
Has a wide range of interests.
Gets things done.
Is basically anxious.
Seeks reassurance from others.
Rate Yourself:
5= like you, 1= not like you
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
am
am
am
am
am
am
am
am
am
often a leader.
often affectionate.
aggressive.
cheerful.
cheerful
ambitious.
childlike.
analytical.
compassionate.
assertive.
Rate Yourself
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
am
am
am
am
am
am
am
am
am
loyal.
competitive.
gullible.
dominant.
dominant
gentle.
independent.
shy.
self-reliant.
yielding.
The Trait Approach
___________
Add all the scores for the odd items (1, 3,
5..), and all the scores for the even items
(2, 4, 6..). Odd items are masculine
traits, and the even items are feminine
traits.
Individuals high in androgyny exhibit
traits that are typical of both genders.
They are more flexible, and can adapt to
novel situations.
The Building Blocks of
Personality
Trait
A relatively stable predisposition to
behave in a certain way
Five-factor Model
 A model of personality that consists
of five basic traits:
Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness,
Agreeableness, and
Conscientiousness
17
The Trait Perspective
The “Big Five” Personality Factors
Trait Dimension
Description
Emotional Stability
Calm versus anxious
Secure versus insecure
Self-satisfied versus self-pitying
Extraversion
Sociable versus retiring
Fun-loving versus sober
Affectionate versus reserved
Openness
Imaginative versus practical
Preference for variety versus
preference for routine
Independent versus conforming
Agreeableness
Soft-hearted versus ruthless
Trusting versus suspicious
Helpful versus uncooperative
Organized versus disorganized
Careful versus careless
Disciplined versus impulsive
Conscientiousness
The Trait Perspective
Moody
Anxious
Rigid
Sober
Pessimistic
Reserved
Unsociable
Quiet
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality
Inventory (MMPI)
A large scale test designed to
measure a multitude of psychological
disorders and personality traits
Most widely used personality instrument
Now the MMPI - 2
Used in clinical and employment settings
Easy to administer and relatively objective
Caution should be used when interpreting
the responses of people from different
cultures
The Trait Perspective
UNSTABLE
 Hans and Sybil
Eysenck use two
primary personality
factors as axes for
EXTRAVERTED describing personality
sanguine
variation
Sociable
Touchy
Restless
Aggressive
Excitable
Changeable
Impulsive
Optimistic
Active
melancholic choleric
INTROVERTED
phlegmatic
Passive
Careful
Thoughtful
Peaceful
Controlled
Reliable
Even-tempered
Calm
Outgoing
Talkative
Responsive
Easygoing
Lively
Carefree
Leadership
Clinically
significant
range
Hypochondriasis 1
(concern with body symptoms)
Depression2
(pessimism, hopelessness)
After
treatment
(no scores
in the clinically
significant range)
Hysteria 3
(uses symptoms to solve problems)
Psychopathic deviancy 4
(disregard for social standards)
Before
treatment
(anxious,
depressed,
and
displaying
deviant
behaviors)
Masculinity/femininity 5
(interests like those of other sex)
Paranoia 6
(delusions, suspiciousness)
Psychasthenia 7
(anxious, guilt feelings)
 Minnesota
Multiphasic
Personality
Inventory
(MMPI) test
profile
Schizophrenia 8
(withdrawn, bizarre thoughts)
Hypomania 9
(overactive, excited, impulsive)
Social introversion 10
(shy, inhibited)
STABLE
0
30
40
50
60
70
80
T-score
Cooperative Group Challenge
Only six of the following items are used.
1. peak experiences
2. collective unconscious
3 catharsis
3.
4. projective tests
5. traits
6. learning history
7. inferiority complex
8. Freudian slip
Q1
1. A pupil of Freud, Jung took the
concept of unconscious further and
theorized there is a _____ that comprises
memories that ancestors passed down to
us across generations.
18
Q2.
Q3.
2. Radical behaviorists like Skinner
believe that our personalities stem largely
from our _____.
3. Personality consists of _____,
relatively enduring predispositions that
influence our behavior across many
situations.
Q4.
Q5.
4. “A lady states that few gentlemen
know how to vale the ‘ineffectual’ qualities
in a woman, as opposed to ‘intellectual’.”
This is an example of a _____.
5. _____ consist of ambiguous stimuli
that examinees must interpret to make
sense of.
Q6.
6. Maslow studied self-actualized people,
and found they were prone to _____
transcendent moments of intense
excitement.
19