Personality
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PERSONALITY C Chapter 15 PSYCHOANALYTIC C Personality Theory of the Mind Levels of Consciousness • Conscious • Thoughts and feelings we are aware of • Preconscious • Thoughts and memories we are not currently thinking about • But are easily retrieved • Unconscious • Unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings and memories • Things we can’t access • Become exposed in dreams, hypnosis, free association, and Freudian slips Bodies of the Mind • Id • Present at birth • Found in the unconscious mind • Founded in basic sexual and aggression drives • Operates on the pleasure principle • Ego • Mediator • Operates on the reality principle: good and reason • Superego • Ideals and standards we learn from growing up in society (age 4 or 5) • What we should do • Too strong=guilt, Too weak=impulsive Theory of the Mind Id is totally unconscious, superego and ego can operate both consciously and unconsiously Personality Development • Personality is set by age seven! • Problems in adults come from poorly resolved conflicts during childhood • In each stage the id focuses on a different part of the body: erogenous zones • Individuals with strong conflict could become stuck in a phase: fixate Oral Stage • Age: 1-18 months • Focus • Pleasure Center: mouth • Behaviors: Sucking, biting, chewing • Conflict • Weaning • Failure: Oral Fixation • Gum chewing, fingernail biting, smoking • Emotional Dependence Anal Stage • Age: 18-36 months • Focus • Pleasure Center: bowel and bladder function • Behaviors: Controlling bowel and bladder function • Conflict: Potty Training • Failure: anal fixation • Dominating • Requires things neat and perfect; too much control (inverse is not enough control, messy) Phallic Stage • Age: 3-6 years • Focus • Pleasure Center: Genitals • Behaviors: coping with incestuous feelings • Conflict: Oedipus Conflict • Love for their mothers and hatred, fear, or jealousy of the father • Fear punishment from the father • Views father as competition • Other psychoanalytic psychologists propose an Electra Complex • Fixation: obsession with phallic objects and emotional power Latency Stage • Age: 6-Puberty • Focus • Dormant sexual feelings • Conflict: Repress feelings towards rival parent; identification process • Children now view the same sex parent as a role modelgender identity • What defense mechanism does this remind you of? Genital Stage • Age: Puberty on • Focus: maturation of sexual interests • Mature sexual relationships Defense Mechanisms • Conflict between the id and superego causes anxiety • Ego utilizes unconscious defense mechanisms to relieve tension • Seven Defense Mechanisms 1. Repression 2. Regression 3. Denial 4. Reaction 5. Projection 6. Rationalization 7. Displacement Repression • What is it: Unconscious burying of unpleasant information into the unconscious to protect the ego • Goal of psychoanalysis is to bring repressed info to the surface • Characteristics of repressors: • Fewer personal memories • High level of arousal to emotional situations • Simple and non-specific memories • Engage in impulsive/immature behavior Regression • What is it: Retreating to a more comfortable stage • Characteristics: • Immature • Childish •Examples? Denial • What is it: • Refusing to admit that something unpleasant is happening • Refusing to recognize the unpleasant emotions associated with the event •Examples?? Reaction-Formation • What is it: Expressing the opposite (and usually exaggerated) feeling of the anxiety producing emotion • Characteristics • Gullible • Strong desire to be loved or liked • High moral standards •Examples?? Rationalization • What is it: Justifying anxiety producing behavior • Similar to Intellectualization • What is it: removing the emotion from the situation. • KISS: thinking about something in a cold and critical way • Characteristics • Rational • Obsessive •Examples?? Displacement • What is it: Attacking an item that comes to symbolize the cause of anxiety • KISS: acting out on something or moving the feelings to a safer target • Characteristics • Aggressive •Examples Projection • What is it: Putting your feelings on others • KISS: Thinking someone has your feelings • Examples?? Some other mechanisms • Humor • Sublimation: channeling impulses into socially acceptable behavior • Suppression: consciously trying to stop thinking about something • Altruism: civil service that brings personal satisfaction Some useful sources http://psychology.about. com/od/theoriesofperson ality/ss/defensemech.htm Neo-Freudians • Alfred Adler • Childhood • Social not sexual tensions • Inferiority complex: strive to overcome such feelings • Karen Horney • Childhood • Social not sexual tensions • Anxiety caused by helplessnessseek love • Countered the notion of penis envy • Carl Jung • Collective unconscious based on universal experiences Measuring Unconscious Processes • Projective Tests: your inner feelings/conflicts come out as you project onto neutral stimuli • Thematic Apperception Test: tell a story about a generic photo • Rorschach Inkblot Test: ten set inkblots • Lack scoring systems (working to improve this with computer systems • Limited reliability or validity Evaluating Psychoanalysis • Outdated • Lack of biological knowledge: Model T versus Tesla • Neglect role of peers • Gender identity occurs early and without same-sex parent • Myth • Many say he lead female patients to “remember” experiences of abuse • Relies heavily on concept of repression • 100% of children who witnessed a parent’s murder remembered it • Holocaust • PTSD Evaluation of Psychoanalysis • Modern Acceptance • Nonconsious, implicit learning • Not repression, but just a different way to process information • Unconsious mind is valid, but extremely different than the way Freud suggested (check out pg 606) • Brings attention to legitimate things: defense mechanisms, social versus biological tension, sexuality • Scientific Proof • Not objective or empirical • Relied on few observations; case studies • Fails to predict things, but Freud never claimed it was! HUMANISTIC C Personality Abraham Maslow • Beliefs center on the idea that all people are inherently good • All people seek self-actualization • Ideas based off studying “healthy” people • Developed hierarchy of needs Carl Rogers • People are naturally good • Environmental situations cause problems • People require environments that provide genuineness, acceptance, and empathy • Personality founded in one’s self-concept • Answer to the question “Who am I?” Assessment Tools • Self-Concept Questionnaires • Ideal versus Actual Self • When the values are similar, there is a high self-concept • Problems with questionnaires: depersonalization • Solution: interviews and conversation Criticism and Praise • Legacy • Self-concept is key to happiness/success • People are basically good • Believed by 80% of Americans • Criticism • Vague and subjective; expression of personal values • Not scientific • Overly individualized; self-centeredness/self-indulgence • Humanists say complete self acceptance is just the first step • Fails to appreciate human potential for evil TRAIT PERSPECTIVE C Personality What is the Trait Perspective • Define personality based on enduring patterns of behavior • Describes traits, does not explain • Classify people by types • Four initial types: Greeks 1. Melancholic (depressed) 2. Sanguine (cheerful) 3. Phlegmatic (unemotional) 4. Choleric (irritable) Myers-Briggs • Sorts people based on Carl Jung’s personality types • People define their own preferences • Is it what you are or what you want to be? • Everyone is flattered • Highly popular test but lacks scientific support • Ranks you as either: extravert/introvert; sensing/intuition; thinking/feeling; judging/perceiving Factor Analysis • Statistical analysis that identifies clusters of behaviors • Determines correlations • Ex: outgoing, social, excitement orientedextraversion • Groups behaviors together • Eysenck says that all traits can be reduced to two or three dimensions • Extraversion/introversion; stability/instability The Big Five Factors • Five dimensions: conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, and extraversion • Each trait is organized based on three dimensions • Recent questions in the five factor model • Trait stability: most are stable, but extraversion, openness, and instability decrease post-college; conscientiousness increases post-college agreeableness increases in 30s and beyond • Heredity: Varies, but about 50% heritable • Cultural differences: universal • Predictability: YES! Conscientious people tend to be morning people, extraverted people are night owls, etc. Biology of Traits • Traits are based on biological characteristics • Arousal theory • Extraverts need stimulation because normal brain arousal is relatively low • Genes influence temperament, which define personality Assessing Traits • Personality Inventories • Long questionnaires • Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory • Assesses abnormal personality tendencies • Empirically derived • Problems • You can shape the answers • MMPI has a lie scale Evaluating This Theory • Person-Situation Controversy • Behavior is influenced by interaction of our disposition with our environment • Look for traits that exist across time and situation • There is some change, but stabilizes in adulthood • Traits do not correlate strongly with behavior • Average behaviors do correlate: music preferences, personal space, web-sites/social media pages • Consistency of expression style • Do we always expose our traits? • We actually tend to be consistent • What about people who aren’t as expressive SOCIAL-COGNITIVE C Personality Basic Principles of the SocialCognitive View • Proposed by Albert Bandura (remember social learning) • Our behavior comes from observational learning • But we can evaluate our situation to affect our behavior • Interaction between individuals and environment Reciprocal Influence • Interaction between personality and environment • There are internal cognitive factors, environmental factors, and behavioral factors • Example: archery • Nature and nurture • Different people choose different environments • Personalities shape how we react to events • Personalities create situations Self Control • Emphasizes personal control • Individuals can control (or be controlled by) the environment • Locus of control • External: outside forces determine fate • Internal: I control my destiny • Effects of locus of control on individuals • Internal LoC tend to be more successful, cope with stress better, and have a stronger sense of delayed gratification • Related to self control • Muscle concept of self control: it weakens after exertion and strengthens with exercise Learned Helplessness • People who feel helpless often have an external LoC • Uncontrollable bad eventsPerceived lack of controlgeneralized helpless behavior • Dogs repeatedly subjected to an environment which gives them little choice become helpless and would not escape when later given the chance • Implication for prisons, nursing homes, or abusive relationships? • People thrive in environments where they have personal freedom and empowerment! • But excess freedom can create a decrease in life satisfaction— overwhelmed! Optimism versus Pessimism • Optimism/pessimism and ELoC and ILoC • Attribution Style: how you attribute the events in your life • It’s good to be an optimist • Optimistic people tend to have a greater ILoC and less helplessness • Optimists are more successful and healthier! • But can lead to unrealistic positive illusions • Overconfidence • When are you unaware versus in denial? • Realism isn’t bad • Some anxiety over future failures can fuel you • Asian-Americans have greater pessimism Assessing Behavior • Observe behavior in real life situations • Utilizes simulations • Ex. Hiring, internships, army training • Tries to determine behavior patterns Perspective Evaluation • Criticism • Focuses too much on the situation • Fails to appreciate the inner trait • But locus of control/optimism v. pessimism is a bit of an inner trait • Neglect biological influences • Pros • Encourages us to appreciate interconnectedness • Encourages research on the relationship between learning and cognition EXPLORING THE SELF C Personality People are concerned with themselves • People spend a significant amount of time questioning themselves • We suffer from the spotlight effect • We think people notice and evaluate us more than they actually do • We, in fact, are not in the spotlight • Remember we remember things better if we encode it in terms of ourselves Benefits of Self-Esteem • Self-esteem=feel of self worth • High self-esteem is good! • Fewer sleepless nights, less susceptible to peer pressure, more persistent at difficult tasks, less lonely, and happier! (coughMaslowcough) • Which comes first? The self-esteem or the behavior • What causes high self-esteem? • Telling people they are great or helping people develop effective coping and hard-won achievement • Low self-esteem and people say fewer good things about themselves • Self negativity leads to overall negativity Types of self-esteem • Defensive self-esteem • Fragile • Sustaining itself • Failures and criticism threaten this type of self-esteem • Similar correlation to the aggressiveness and antisocial behavior of low-self esteem • Secure self-esteem • Less fragile • Acceptance for who we are not what we achieve Problems from too much confidence • Hubris • High self-esteem+social rejection=(often) more violent reactions and exceptional aggression • Threatened egotism (more than low self-esteem) predicts aggression Culture and Self-Esteem • Groups who suffer from discrimination, do they suffer from lower self-esteem? • Nope! American minorities actually suffer less depression • Maintain self-esteem by • Valuing things at which they excel • Attributing problems to prejudice • Compare themselves to those within their group Self-Serving Bias • We tend to perceive ourselves favorably • Proof • Accept more respoinsibility for good deeds than bad and for victory than loss • A+: I am so smart, F: my teacher sucks! • I am better than average • Over estimate self rather than underestimate others • Less prominent in Asia • Lake Wobegon: “all the women are strong, all the men are goodlooking, and all the children are above average” • Check out list on page 634-635 What about people who seem to so strongly dislike themselves? • Fishing for compliments? Strategic self-serving bias • “I am so ugly!” • Self-disparaging remarks prepare and protect us for possible failures • Past self versus present self • True sense of inferiority • Comparing self to people who are farther along • Can lead to depressed mood
