Chapter 11
Personality
Learning Objectives
Introduction: What Is Personality?, p. 453
1.
Define personality, discuss the nature of personality theories, and identify the four basic theoretical perspectives in
personality.
The Psychoanalytic Perspective on Personality, pp. 454-469
2.
Discuss the course of Sigmund Freud’s life, some of his notable publications, and the social and cultural events that
shaped Freud’s views about human nature.
3.
Distinguish between the three levels of awareness and characterize the three basic structures of personality in Freud’s
psychoanalytic theory.
4.
Discuss Freud’s notion of the ego defense mechanisms, and provide an everyday example of each of the major ego
defense mechanisms.
5.
Describe the psychosexual stages of development, focusing on the core conflict at each stage, and explain the
consequence of fixation.
6.
Compare and contrast Freud’s psychoanalytic theory with the personality theories of neo-Freudians Carl Jung, Karen
Horney, and Alfred Adler.
7.
Identify criticisms of Freud’s theory and, more generally, of the psychoanalytic perspective.
The Humanistic Perspective on Personality, pp. 469-474
8.
Describe the humanistic perspective and contrast it with psychoanalytic theory and behaviorism.
9.
Discuss the background of Carl Rogers and the key concepts in his theory of personality, especially the roles of
conditional and unconditional positive regard in the development of personality.
10.
Compare and contrast the viewpoints of Sigmund Freud and Carl Rogers on human nature.
11.
Identify the key strengths and weaknesses of the humanistic perspective.
The Social Cognitive Perspective on Personality, pp. 474-477
12.
Discuss the key ideas of Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory of personality, noting the role of self-efficacy
beliefs in the development of a person’s self-system.
13.
Compare and contrast the viewpoints of Sigmund Freud and Albert Bandura on the nature of human aggression.
14.
Specify the strengths and weaknesses of the social cognitive perspective.
The Trait Perspective on Personality, pp. 478-485
15.
Describe how trait theories differ from the other perspectives on personality, and distinguish between surface traits
and source traits.
16.
Compare and contrast the trait theories of Raymond Cattell and Hans Eysenck.
17.
Describe the brain-imaging research findings suggesting that personality traits are associated with specific patterns of
brain activity.
18.
Describe the five-factor model of personality, and the research evidence supporting it.
19.
Describe some of the research strategies used in the field of behavioral genetics, and note what role genetics seems to
play in the five-factor model of personality.
20.
Describe the “Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart,” and the notion of emergenic traits in explaining similarities
between identical twins.
21.
Identify criticisms of the trait perspective.
Assessing Personality: Psychological Tests, pp. 486-490
22.
Compare and contrast the methods used by projective tests and self-report inventories to measure personality.
23.
Compare and contrast the methods of personality assessment advocated by the pseudosciences of astrology and
graphology, noting what scientific research has indicated about the validity of each method.
24.
Identify the key strengths and weaknesses of projective tests and self-report inventories.
Application: Possible Selves: Imagine the Possibilities, p. 491-492
25.
Discuss how your “possible selves” can influence your sense of self-efficacy, motivation, behavior, and life
decisions.