Personality and Its
Development
Mr. Lema, Isaac
Clinical Psychologist (MSc.)
07th December 2015
Outline
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Introduction and overview
Personality theories
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Psychodynamic perspective
Behaviorism perspective
Humanistic perspective
Trait perspective
Personality assessment
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Learning Objectives
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Meaning of personality
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Understand development of personality in
different theoretical perspective
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Explore different personality tests
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Definition of Personality

Personality

A pattern of enduring, distinctive thoughts,
emotions, and behaviors that characterize the way
an individual adapts to the world (King, 2008)

Sum total of all of the ways of acting, thinking, and
feeling that make one person unique (Lahey, 2004)

Consistency in who you are, have bee and will
become
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Personality Theories Overview

Personality theory is a system of assumption,
ideas and principles proposed to explain
personality (Ryckman,1985)

Personality theories share the basis
assumption that personality is something that
belongs to the individual
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Psychodynamic Perspectives

Views personality as being primarily
unconscious (beyond awareness) and
developing in stages

Emphasize that early experience with parents
play an important role in shaping the
individual’s personality
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Psychodynamic Perspectives …

Freud developed psychoanalysis out of his
work with patients who were suffering from
hysteria

Hysterical symptoms were caused by
unconscious psychological conflict

According to Freud personality is divided into
three structures id, ego and superego
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Psychodynamic Perspectives …

Freud focused on early childhood experiences,
especially parent-child relationships, believing
that personality was formed in the first six
years of life

Personality is a conflict between unconscious
id and superego (moral sense) and ego (sense
of reality)
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Psychodynamic Perspectives …

Unconscious mind resulted from early
experiences which we were unable to deal
with at the time
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Encounter an experience in the present that is
in any way similar to that past event, people
experience anxiety

Unconsciously reminded of the situation
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Psychodynamic Perspectives …
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Id
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self serving, irrational, impulsive, totally
unconscious
source of basic biological needs and desire
contain primitive drives i.e. hunger, thirst,
aggression and sex
operate on the pleasure principle
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Psychodynamic Perspectives ...
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Ego
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conscious, rational part of personality
redirect id’s impulses to acceptable times & places
working under reality principle
system of thinking, planning, problem solving, and
deciding
in some circumstances ego may rely on defense
mechanism to cope with internal conflict or with
demands from the environment
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Psychodynamic Perspectives …

Defense mechanisms: ego’s protective
methods for reducing anxiety by
unconsciously distorting reality
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Repression - ego pushes unacceptable impulses
into unconscious mind
Denial – ego refuses to acknowledge anxiety
producing realities
Displacement – ego shifts feelings toward
unacceptable object to another, more acceptable
object
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Psychodynamic Perspectives ...

Defense mechanism cont.,
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Intellectualization – ego replaces an upsetting
event and treating the situation as an intellectually
interesting event
Projection – ego attributes personal shortcomings,
problems, and faults to others
Rationalization – ego constructs a false but
plausible explanation / excuse for an anxietyarousing behavior / event
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Psychodynamic Perspectives ...
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Defense mechanism cont.,
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Reaction formation – ego transforms an
unacceptable motives into its opposite
Sublimation – ego replaces an unacceptable
impulse with a socially acceptable one
Regression – ego seeks the security of an earlier
developmental period in the face of stress
Defense mechanism

Unconscious and not necessarily unhealthy
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Psychodynamic Perspectives ...

Super ego
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acts as judge or censor for the thoughts and
actions of ego
strives to control the instincts of the id
strive for perfection
the moral arm of the personality
contains traditional, values and ideals of society
act as internalized parent’s to bring behavior
under control
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Psychodynamic Perspectives …
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Id is present at births
Ego develops as children experience the
demands and constraints of reality
Super ego develops between 3 - 6 years of age
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individual learns the rules, regulations and moral
values of society
interactions with parents who insist that children
conform to the values of society
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Psychodynamic Perspectives ...
Freud argued
mind is like an
ice berg, most of
it hidden
beneath the
surface
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Psychodynamic Perspectives ...
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When dangerous id impulses threaten to get
out of control or when danger from the
environment threatens, the result is anxiety
The psychoanalytic explanation for depression
illustrates how repression can lead to
symptoms
Freud argued that at the root of depression is
a deep rage against important people in your
life
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Psychodynamic Perspectives ...

Expressing or even consciously acknowledging
this rage causes anxiety, however so the rage
is repressed and made unconscious

The ego turns this rage on itself, leading to the
self criticism and even suicidal behaviors of
depression
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Psychodynamic Perspectives ...
Excessive super ego severity
 usually derived from excessive parental
strictness
 determine excessive repressive mechanism
and ego inhibitions
 irrational moralistic behavior or
 pathological activation of depression and loss
of self esteem
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Psychodynamic Perspectives ...

Psychosexual Stage of Personality
development
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Each stage of development from infancy to
maturity, new events and pressures challenge
individual and require adjustment in their id, ego
and super ego
Successful adjustment lead to personal growth, if
not the personal may become fixated at an early
stage of development
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Psychodynamic Perspectives ...
Stages Physical Psychological
Fixations
Adult
Focus
Theme
(King, 2008)
Character
Oral
Mouth, Dependency Mistrust, fear of
Dependent
stage: sucking
abandonment,
or
0 - 18
thumb sucking,
independent
months
finger nail biting,
pencil / pen
chewing, smoking,
over drinking /
eating, kissing, oral
hygiene, chewing
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gum
Psychodynamic Perspectives ...
Stages
Physical Psychological
Fixations
Focus
Theme
(King, 2008)
Anal
Anus
Self control
Notable interest in
stage: (eliminati
one’s bowel
18 - 36 on /
movements, love of
months toilet
bathroom humor,
activities)
extreme messiness,
stubborn, over
controlling, stingy,
obsessive-compulsive,
too focused on order
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Personality and itsline
Development
& tidiness
Adult
Character
Upright
vs.
impulsive
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Stages Physical Psychological
Focus
Theme
Phallic Penis
Morality and
stage: 3
sexuality
-6
identification
years
Latency
stage: 6
puberty
Period
of
relative
calm
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Fixations
(King, 2008)
Inappropriate
gender roles,
unhealthy
superego, heavy
reliance on
masturbation,
flirtatiousness,
expression of virility
fully socialized,
play with
friends of the
same sex, avoid
Personality and its Development
opposite
sex
Adult
Character
Amoral
vs. very
rigid
morals
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Psychodynamic Perspectives ...
Stages
Physical Psychological Fixations Adult
Focus
Theme
Character
Genital
Genitals Maturity and
Balance
stage:
creation /
of love
adolescents
enhancement
and
of life
adulthood
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Psychodynamic Perspectives ...
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
Erikson view the ego as often operating
independently of id emotions and motivations
In his psychosocial theory, he emphasizes
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ego is a positive force in development
at each stage it acquires attitude and skills that make
the individual an active contributing member of
society
a basis psychological conflict which is resolved along
the continuum from positive to negative determine
healthy or maladaptive outcome at each stage
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Psychodynamic Perspectives ...
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Basic trust Vs Mistrust (birth – 1 year)
Autonomy Vs Shame and doubt (1-3 years)
Initiative Vs Guilt (3-6 years)
Industry Vs Inferiority (6-11 years)
Identity Vs Role confusion (12-19 years)
Intimacy Vs Isolation (20-24 years)
Generativity Vs Stagnation (25-64 years)
Ego integrity Vs Despair (65 years-death)
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Psychodynamic Perspectives ...
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Other psychodynamic theorists
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Carl Jung thought Freud underplayed the
unconscious mind role hence developed concept
of the collective unconscious
Alfred Adler’s theory stressed that people are
striving towards perfection not pleasure
Other prominent contributors include Harry Stack
Sullivan, Theodore Reik, Anna Freud, Melanie
Klein, Karen Horney and Eric Fromm
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Psychodynamic Perspectives ...

Criticism of psychodynamic theories
(strength)
 Recognizing the importance of childhood
 Conceptualizing development through
stages
 Calling attention to the potential role of
unconscious processes in behavior
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Psychodynamic Perspectives ...

Weakness
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Overreliance on reports from the past
Overemphasis of sexuality and unconscious mind
Observations not representative of population
(very sexist and not multicultural)
Many of its concepts are ambiguous and difficult
to operationally define and measure e.g. how can
we measure the strength of an individual’s id
impulses or unconscious ego defenses
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Behavioral Perspective
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By the 1950s psychoanalysis seemed very
unscientific
Behaviorists will bring science back into
psychology
Behaviorism is NOT interested in the
unconscious mind since it cannot be observed
or measured in a laboratory
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Behavioral Perspective …
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Ivan Pavlov was a Russian physiologist
He discovered classical conditioning
associative learning
B.F. Skinner is famous for operant
conditioning (shaping) a learning through
reinforcements (rewards) and punishments
Albert Bandura explain behavior can simply
observe behavior and copy it
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Behavioral Perspective …

Behavioral perspective can explain why

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People do what they do because of classical
and operant conditioning or simply learn
behavior from watching or copying it
People get addicted to gambling (positive
reinforcement)
Many diet apps are based on behaviorist
approach
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Humanistic Perspective …
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Humanism came about in 1960s
Person’s capacity for personal growth,
freedom to choose one’s own destiny, and
positive qualities (Gross, 2010)
Self-awareness is at the core of humanity
People are free to do as they choose with
their lives and, as such, are responsible for the
decisions they make - believe in free will
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Humanistic Perspective …
Maslow’s approach
 Believed that humans are separated from
lower animals because they recognize their
desire to achieve self-actualization – to
reach their full potential
 Human beings have two basic sets of needs
that are rooted in their biology
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Basic or deficiency needs
Growth or meta needs
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Humanistic Perspective …
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People are unique – must follow their own
paths to self-actualization

Involves risk – easier to stay with the tried
and true

from basic needs he developed a
“Hierarchy of Needs” – Maslow’s Hierarchy
of Needs
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Self Actualization
Pursue Inner Talent
Creativity Fulfilment
Self Esteem
Achievement Master
Recognition Respect
Belonging
FriendsFamily SpouseLover
Safety
Security
Stability
Freedom from Fear
Physiological
Food Water Shelter Warmth
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Humanistic Perspective …
Physiological Needs
 Needs for food, water, air, etc.

One function of civilization is to satisfy these
needs so we can focus on the higher ones

Behavioral research usually studies at this
level
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Humanistic Perspective …
Safety Needs
 Need for safety, order, security, etc.
 Focused on after physiological needs met
 Most commonly seen in children
 Seen in some mental disorders (e.g., ObsessiveCompulsive Disorder, Anxiety Disorders,
Dependent Personality Disorder)
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Humanistic Perspective …
Belongingness & Love Needs
 Need for affiliation, friends, supportive family,
group identification, intimate relationships
 This level and higher ones often not satisfied
even in affluent countries
 These needs being unfulfilled at the root of
many mental disturbances (depression,
Borderline Personality Disorder)
 Need to receive and to give love
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Humanistic Perspective …
Esteem Needs
 Need to be held in high regard by self and
others (not just “self-esteem”)
 Comes from mastery, achievement, adequacy,
feelings of competence, confidence,
independence
 Ideally this need met by the deserved respect
of others
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Humanistic Perspective …
Self-Actualization Needs
 A person must actualize, that is make real,
what exists inside them as a potential
 Most other theorists wouldn’t see this as a
need

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Freud would predict people would stop at lower
needs
Even Adler might predict stopping at esteem
needs
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Humanistic Perspective …
Self-Actualisers
1. Efficient perception of reality
•
•
Seeing the world accurately
Judging people accurately/detecting deception
More accepting
2.
•
More accepting of themselves & others
Spontaneous
Problem-centred
3.
4.
•
Not self-centred; focus on problem’s outside of
themselves e.g. environmental concerns
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Humanistic Perspective …
Need privacy (solitude)
Enjoy intimate relationships
Act Independently of culture
5.
6.
7.
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Non-conformists
Peak experiences
8.

9.
10.
Intense experiential states of harmony, joy,
beauty
Creative
Humor
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Humanistic Perspective …
Carl Rogers: Person-Centered Approach
 Rogers believed that humans are basically
good
 The self is the core of personality


Include real self and ideal self
He argued that we have an innate drive to
reach an optimal sense of ourselves &
satisfaction with our lives
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Humanistic Perspective …

People do not behave irrationally, as
psychoanalysis assumed but move with
ordered complexity toward their goals

This tendency leads to complexity,
independence, and social responsibility

The motivation intrinsic to each person is
basically good and healthy
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Humanistic Perspective …

Rogers argues that most of people grow up in
an atmosphere where they are given love and
support as long as they behave the way they
are expected to

This is what he calls conditional positive
regard - the emphasis is that love is given
conditionally (with a string attached)
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Humanistic Perspective …
Conditional positive regard:
 Children accepted by parents when ‘good’ &
rejected when ‘bad’
 We develop the view ‘I ought to be good’, ‘I
have to be good’
 We lose touch with our true nature (‘real self’
& actualizing tendency)
 Develop an Ideal self who we feel we should
be (superego)
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Humanistic Perspective …

Rogers argued that in these cases, parents
withhold their love from children

As a result of this, children learn to abandon
their true feelings, wishes, & desires, for those
of their parents

This paves the way for them to become
alienated from their true selves
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Humanistic Perspective …
Incongruity
 Conflict between real & ideal self

‘I am this but I should be that’

Real self evaluated as a threat

Psychopathology & defense mechanisms


Defensive masks (False selves)
Repression/denial
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Humanistic Perspective …
Unconditional positive regard
 We need this to accept all parts of personality
 With this people know they are loved &
valued for being who they are
 Parents can do this, by it clear that their love
is not contingent on the child’s behavior
 Outcome: Fully functioning person
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Humanistic Perspective …

Direction comes from the client rather than
from the therapist’s insights, so referred to as
nondirective therapy, later client-centered
therapy

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
Empathy
Congruence/Genuineness
Unconditional Positive Regard
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Humanistic Perspective …
Critics - Strength


Sensitize importance of subjective experience of
consciousness, self conception, consideration of
the whole person, and innate positive nature
Calls attention to the positive capacities of human
beings
Weakness


Tendency to be too optimistic
Inclination to encourage excessive self love
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Trait Perspective

Trait Theory - understand individuals by
breaking down behavior patterns into
observable traits (Gross, 2010)

A trait is an enduring personality
characteristic that tends to produce certain
behavior (King, 2008)
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Trait Perspective…

People who have a strong tendency to behave
in certain ways termed as high on the traits
and those who have a weak tendency termed
as low on the traits

Traits theorists


Differ about which traits make up personality
Agree that traits are the fundamental building
blocks of personality
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Trait Perspective …

Personality refers to both unique and
common characteristics

Gordon Allport distinguished two approaches:


Idiographic approaches are “person centered”
Nomothetic approaches examine characteristics
common to all persons, but on which people vary,
and focus on differences between persons
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Trait Perspective…

Many psychologists believe that 5 basic
dimensions of personality can be used to
explain most of the variations among human
and even nonhuman mammal animals

They are known as big 5 personality test
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Extroversion
Extroverted People
 Energetic
 Enthusiastic
 Dominant
 Sociable
 Talkative
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Introverted People
 Shy
 Retiring
 Submissive
 Quiet
 Reserved
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Agreeableness
High Agreeableness
 Friendly
 Cooperative
 Trusting
 Warm
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Low Agreeableness
 Cold
 Quarrelsome
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Conscientiousness
Conscientious
 Cautious
 Dependable
 Organized
 Responsible
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Impulsive
 Careless
 Disorderly
 Undependable
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Neuroticism
Emotionally Unstable
 Nervous
 High-strung
 Tense
 Worrying
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Emotionally Stable
 Calm
 Contented
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Openness
High on Openness
 Imaginative
 Witty
 Original
 Artistic
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Low on Openness
 Down to earth
 Conventional
 Conformist
 Simple
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Big Five Personality Dimensions

Openness to Experience
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Conscientiousness

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sociability, assertiveness, activity, + emotions
Agreeableness

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order, duty, deliberation, self-discipline
Extraversion


intellect, imagination, curiosity, creativity
trust, nurturance, kindness, cooperation
Neuroticism

anxiety, depression, moodiness, vulnerability to
stress
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Trait Perspective…
Critics strength
 Allow prediction of the person’s health,
thinking, job success, and interpersonal skills
Weakness
 Focusing on broad dimensions
 Not attending to each person’s uniqueness
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Personality Assessment

The most widely used method of personality
assessment is the interview

We can use objective and projective methods
to assess personality
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Personality Assessment …

Projective Test - elicits an individual’s
response to abstract stimuli

Behavioral Measures - personality
assessments that involve observing an
individual’s behavior in a controlled situation

Self-Report Questionnaire - assessment
involving an individual’s responses to
questions i.e. MMPI widely used for research
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Personality Assessment …

Assessment methods often vary with
theoretical preferences



Psychodynamic theorists like projective methods
more than trait theorists who use objective
methods
Objective methods use self-reports
Projective methods purport to tap the
unconscious using ambiguous stimuli
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Personality Assessment …

Projective Test
 Thematic
Apperception
Test (TAT)
 Based on Freud’s
defense
mechanisms
(repression,
projection)
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Personality Assessment

Rorschach Ink Blot test
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References

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
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Berger, K. S (1994) The Developing Person Through the Life
Span 3rd Edition, Worth Publishers
King, L.A (2008) the Science of Psychology, McGraw-Hill
Lahey, B.B (2004) Psychology An Introduction 8th Edition;
McGraw-Hill
Ryckman, R.M (1985) Theories of Personality 3rd Edition
Brooks / Cole Publishing Company
Gross, R. (2010) Psychology the Science of Mind and
Behaviors 6th edition;
Macmillan Company
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