CHAPTER 11 PERSONALITY personality: a person’s unique and stable pattern of behavior and characteristics the main way you define yourself personality theories: attempts to explain how people are similar to one another or how they are different from one another SIGMUND FREUD medical doctor from Vienna one of the first doctors to study the anesthetic properties of cocaine was the first person to study psychoanalysis: the first personality theory; our behaviors are influenced by unconscious forces developed theory around most of his patients suffered from 3 Levels of Awareness 1) conscious: what you are aware of at any given moment Ex: 2) preconscious: any information you know but are not presently aware of; can easily access the information Ex: 3) unconscious: most important of the 3 controls all of your behaviors holds all of your bad, repressed childhood memories also contains all sexual and aggressive instincts (bad ones) everything here is destructive not easy to access 3 Parts of the Personality 1) Id: present at birth completely irrational; does not consider consequences operates according to the pleasure priniciple: concept of immediate gratification, “I want what I want right now, no matter what” Ex: 2) Superego: all of your morals, beliefs, and standards tells you to do the right thing 2 Subsystems: ego ideal: ideal self-image that is made up of good and rewarded behaviors how we think we should be we are proud when we do good and are rewarded conscience: being punished for bad behaviors feel guilt when we do something wrong conscience is responsible for guilty feelings EX: 3) Ego: the rational part of the personality the mediator between the id and superego, tries to find a compromise b/t the id and superego operates by the reality principle: satisfying the id in a rational and appropriate manner Freud felt we use ego defense mechanisms to temporarily reduce anxiety until the ego can find a compromise are done on an unconscious level should be only temporary and not permanently Defense Mechanisms 1) repression: block out any memories that can produce anxiety and burying it into the unconscious once you have repressed memories, they are hard to get rid of Ex: 2) denial: refusal to believe a reality that would produce anxiety Ex: 3) projection: attribute your own problems or bad behavior to someone or something else Ex: 4) reaction formation: express an exaggerated emotion that is the opposite of how you really feel Ex: 5) regression: revert back to a behavior that reduced anxiety at an earlier age or revert back to a time that was less anxious for them usually happens after a traumatic event Ex: 6) rationalization: supplying a socially acceptable reason for your behavior or feeling instead of the real reason want to avoid how they really feel or avoid the real reason for their behavior Ex: 7) displacement: redirecting feelings or behaviors onto someone or something that doesn’t deserve it Ex: 8) sublimation: channel an aggressive behavior into one that is socially acceptable the only defense mechanism that you can use permanently Freud developed five stages of development called psychosexual stages during these stages, a child expresses himself through pleasure from different parts of the body as you go through the stages, you are supposed to face a developmental conflict that you must overcome if you overcome it, you progress to the next stage if you don’t you become fixated at that stage: displaying behaviors and needs from an earlier stage PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES 1) Oral Stage: is major source of pleasure eating, sucking, chewing, biting use mouth to explore world 2) Anal Stage: major source of pleasure is the pottie-training occurs during this stage child is either going to keep it in or get it out and more pleasurable if out 3) Phallic Stage: major source of pleasure are become curious about their genitals and may play with them wonder why other gender doesn’t have same thing during this stage, children experience a conflict called the Oedipus complex, where the child is unconsciously sexually attracted to the opposite-sex parent and unconsciously hates the same-sex parent little boys tend to feel more hostile towards their father they want to be able to hug and kiss mommy like daddy does realize daddy is bigger and stronger if daddy finds out about his feelings, daddy may castrate him castration anxiety: fear of father punishing him by cutting off penis girls- at first want to be with their mothers when discover the genitals of opposite sex, doesn’t want to be with mom but with dad then go through Oedipus complex penis envy: feel they are inferior to a man’s genitals, which are superior blames mom for her not having an adequate penis (clitoris) boys and girls resolve the conflict by identifying with the same-sex parent 4) Latency Stage: sexual urges are repressed during this stage focus on more acceptable things like peers, school, sports, etc. 5) Genital Stage: major source of pleasure are but in a more socially acceptable manner KAREN HORNEY was a German doctor who was associated with psychoanalysis when she came to the states, she realized that peoples personalities were not developed based on a sexual nature, but more from their felt that psychological problems were caused by and not from sexual conflicts these problems are caused by basic anxiety: feelings of loneliness and helplessness in a hostile world to deal or cope with basic anxiety and to relate to others, we use 3 strategies: moving toward (compliance), moving against (hostility), and moving away (detachment) 3 strategies 1) moving toward (compliance): have an exaggerated need for approval and affection 2) moving against (hostility): exaggerated need for power, prestige, and social recognition 3) moving away (detachment): exaggerated need to be self-sufficient and independent Freud had penis envy, Horney had womb envy: men and boys are jealous of women’s ability to have children and nurse the children ABRAHAM MASLOW came from a humanistic perspective, which emphasizes a person’s potential for psychological growth Maslow proposed that our motivation for psychological growth is based upon a hierarchy of needs when you have the most basic needs, you are able to advance to the next higher need Hierarchy of Needs 1) physiological needs: for survival; like food, water, oxygen, sleep, shelter 2) safety needs: stable, orderly, predictable world 3) belonging and love needs: need intimate relationships with other people, need affection and to feel a part of other groups 4) self-esteem needs: need for self-respect and respect from others need to feel competent, confident, independent, free from others- recognition, acceptance, and appreciation 5) self-actualization needs: the desire to achieve your highest potential if other needs have been met, person may choose self-actualization needs are difficult to describe since these needs vary depending on the person the person is refining their personality, or fine-tuning it TRAIT THEORY trait: a stable and consistent personality characteristic 2 types: 1) surface traits: observable traits EX: 2) source traits: unobservable traits EX: FIVE FACTOR MODEL the most popular trait theory used today five basic personality traits that you can score high, low, or in the middle on each scale called the “Big Five” 1) Openness to Experience considers how willing you are to take a risk or try something new; how rigid are you and do you have a very structured environment EX: low---------------------------------------------------------high 2) Conscientiousness considers how organized a person is EX: low-------------------------------------------------------high 3) Extraversion considers how sociable a person is EX: low---------------------------------------------------------high 4) Agreeableness considers how easy a person is to get along with EX: low------------------------------------------------------high 5) Neuroticism considers how moody a person is EX: low-----------------------------------------------------high PERSONALITY TESTS 2 types: self-report and projective 1) self-report: the client provides their own answers to questions MMPI: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory; most commonly used today for adults; measures to see if there is a presence of abnormal behavior; helps in diagnosing psychiatric disorders; so well-structured that it’s difficult to fake or pretend being mentally ill or insane 2) projective: a person is shown an image and they have to interpret the image; any unconscious feeling, thoughts, etc. should be projected when shown the images two of the best known projective tests are the Rorschach Inkblot Test and the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) Rorschach Inkblot Test: person is shown a series of black and white inkblots and they must tell what it looks like the examiner looks for a theme in the person’s answers Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): person is shown real pictures and have to make up a story about each one examiner looks for a theme