Chapter 12
Personality
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Psychodynamic Perspectives
Humanistic Perspectives
Trait Perspectives
Personological and Life Story Perspectives
Social Cognitive Perspectives
Biological Perspectives
Personality Assessment
Personality and Health and Wellness
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Personality
…a pattern of enduring distinctive thoughts,
emotions, and behaviors that characterize the
way an individual adapts to the world
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Psychodynamic Perspectives
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personality is primarily unconscious
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understanding personality involves exploring
the symbolic meanings of behavior and the
unconscious mind
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early childhood experiences sculpt the
individual’s personality
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Freud’s
Psychoanalytic Theory
Freud and Psychoanalysis
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sex drive – main determinant of personality
development
Hysteria
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physical symptoms without physical cause
overdetermined – multiple unconscious causes
Iceberg Analogy of Human Personality
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Personality Structure
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Personality Structure
Id
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instincts and reservoir of psychic energy
pleasure principle
Ego
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deals with the demands of reality
reality principle
Superego
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moral branch of personality; “conscience”
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Defense Mechanisms
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conflict between the id, ego, and superego
results in anxiety
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defense mechanisms reduce anxiety by
unconsciously distorting reality – not
necessarily unhealthy
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repression
 foundation for all defense mechanisms
 push unacceptable impulses out of
awareness
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Defense Mechanisms
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repression
rationalization
displacement
sublimation
projection
reaction formation
denial
regression
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Defense Mechanisms
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Defense Mechanisms
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Psychosexual Stages
Oral Stage: 0-18 Months
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infant’s pleasure centers on the mouth
Anal Stage: 18-36 Months
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child’s pleasure involves eliminative functions
Phallic Stage: 3-6 Years
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child’s pleasure focuses on the genitals
Oedipal complex
castration anxiety
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Psychosexual Stages
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Psychosexual Stages (cont’d)
Latency Stage: 6 Years - Puberty
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psychic “time-out”
interest in sexuality is repressed
Genital Stage: Adolescence and Adulthood
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sexual reawakening
source of sexual pleasure is someone else
Fixation - remain locked in particular developmental
stage (e.g., anal retentive)
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Dissenters and Revisionists
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sexuality – not pervasive force
behind personality
early experience –not as powerful as
Freud thought
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importance of conscious thought
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sociocultural influences
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Dissenters and Revisionists
Horney’s Sociocultural Approach
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both sexes envy the attributes of the other
need for security, not sex, is primary motivator
Jung’s Analytical Theory
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collective unconscious and archetypes
Adler’s Individual Psychology
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perfection, not pleasure, is key motivator
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Evaluating
Psychodynamic Theory
Criticisms
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too much emphasis on early experiences
too much faith in unconscious mind’s control
too much emphasis on sexual instincts
theory can not be tested
Contributions
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importance of childhood experiences
development proceeds in stages
role of unconscious processes
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Humanistic Perspectives
…emphasis on a person’s capacity for
personal growth and positive human
qualities
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Humanistic Perspectives
Abraham Maslow
 third force psychology
 self-actualization
 peak experiences
 biased since focus was on highly
successful individuals
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Humanistic Perspectives
Carl Rogers
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personal growth and self-determination
unconditional positive regard
- conditions of worth
- self-concept
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empathy
genuineness
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Evaluating
Humanistic Perspectives
Contributions
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self-perception is key to personality
consider the positive aspects of human nature
emphasize conscious experience
Criticisms
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too optimistic about human nature
promotes self-love and narcissism
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Trait Perspectives
Trait
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an enduring disposition that leads to
characteristic responses
traits are the building blocks of personality
Trait Theories
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people can be described by their typical
behavior
strong versus weak tendencies
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Trait Perspectives
Gordon Allport
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personality understood through traits
behavior consistent across situations
lexical approach  4500 traits
W. T. Norman
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five factor model
broad traits – main dimensions of
personality
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Five Factor
Model of Personality
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Five Factor
Model of Personality
Do the big five show up in the
assessment of personality in
cultures around the world?
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Five Factor
Model of Personality
Do the big five personality
traits show up in animals?
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Evaluating Trait Perspectives
Contributions
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traits influence health, cognitions, career
success, and interpersonal relations
Criticisms
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ignores the role of the situation in behavior
ignores nuances of an individual’s personality
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Personological Perspectives
…focusing on an individual’s
life history or life story
Henry Murray
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personology: the study of the whole person
motives are largely unconscious
thematic apperception test (TAT)
- need for achievement, affiliation, and power
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Life Story Approach
Dan McAdams
 our life story is our identity
 intimacy motivation
Psychobiography
 applying personality theory to one
person’s life
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Evaluating
Life Story Approach
Contributions
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rich record of an individual’s experience
Criticisms
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difficult and time-consuming
- extensive coding and content analysis
prone to bias
not easily generalized
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Social Cognitive Perspectives
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emphasize conscious awareness, beliefs,
expectations, and goals
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incorporates principles from behaviorism
when exploring:
- reasoning
- beliefs
- self reflection
- interpretation of situation
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Social Cognitive Perspectives
Albert Bandura
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reciprocal determinism
- behavior, environment, and cognitive
factors interact to create personality
Key Processes and Variables
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observational learning
personal control
self-efficacy
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Reciprocal Determinism
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Social Cognitive Perspectives
Walter Mischel
Situationalism
- behavior and personality vary
considerably across context
CAPS Model of Personality
- stability over time rather than across
situations
- interconnections among cognitions and
emotions affect our behavior
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Evaluating
Social Cognitive Theory
Contributions
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focuses on interactions of individuals with
their environments
suggests people can control their environment
Criticisms
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too concerned with change and the situation
ignores the role of biology
very specific predictions hinder generalization
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Biological Perspectives
Personality and the Brain
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brain damage alters personality
brain responses correlate with personality
Eysenk’s Reticular Activation System Theory
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extraverts and introverts have different base-line levels
of arousal
Gray’s Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory
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behavioral activation system and behavioral inhibition
system
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Biological Perspectives
Role of Neurotransmitters
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growth of dopamine receptors stimulated
by warm care-givers
disposes person to reward-sensitivity
(extraversion)
less serotonin in circulation leads to
negative mood (neuroticism)
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Biological Perspectives
Behavioral Genetics
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twin studies reveal substantial genetic
influence on Big Five traits
most traits influenced by multiple genes
Evaluating the Biological Perspective
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ties personality to animal learning, brain
imaging, and evolutionary theory
criticisms (e.g., biology may be the
affect, not the cause, of personality)
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Personality –
Stability vs Change
Traits are stable by definition yet
positive traits increase across
adulthood (social maturity).
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Personality Assessment
Self-Report Tests
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beware social desirability
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empirically-keyed tests used to get around
social desirability problem
- test takers do not know what is being measured
- test items not related to purpose of test
- MMPI is an example
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Personality Assessment
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
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567 items
controls for social desirability
assesses mental health and used to make hiring
decisions and to determine criminal risk
Neuroticism Extraversion Openness
Personality Inventory-Revised
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assesses the big five factors and 6 subdimensions
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Personality Assessment
Myers Briggs Type Indicator
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four dimensions used to make personnel
decisions:
- extraversion-introversion
- sensing-intuiting
- thinking-feeling
- judgment-perception
not empirically supported
Barnum effect
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Personality Assessment
Projective Tests
…psychodynamic approach
…project own meaning on ambiguous stimuli
Rorschach inkblot test
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personality score based on description of inkblots
questionable reliability and validity
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
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series of ambiguous pictures viewed one at a time
elicited stories reveal an individual’s personality
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Rorschach Inkblot Test
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Thematic Apperception Test
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Other Assessment Methods
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direct behavioral observation
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cognitive assessment of attention and memory
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peer ratings
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psychophysiological measures (e.g., polygraph)
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brain imaging
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Personality and Health and
Wellness
Personality traits correlated with health
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conscientiousness
personal control
self efficacy
optimism
type A/type B behavior pattern
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Personality and Health and
Wellness
Subjective Well-Being
…person’s assessment of own positive
affect relative to negative affect, and
evaluation of own life in general
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Chapter Summary
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Define personality.
Discuss the following perspectives on personality
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psychodynamic
humanistic
trait
personological and life story
social cognitive
biological
Characterize the main methods of personality assessment.
Summarize how personality relates to health and wellness.
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Chapter Summary
Psychodynamic Perspectives
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focus on unconscious determinants
personality structure and defense mechanisms
psychosexual stages of development
Humanistic Perspectives
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Maslow and self-actualization
Rogers and unconditional positive regard
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Chapter Summary
Trait Perspectives
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traits are stable over time and situations
Personological and Life Story Perspectives
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personology - study the whole person
identity can be understood through life stories
Social Cognitive Perspectives
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behavior, environment, and cognitive factors
self-efficacy and personal control
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Chapter Summary
Biological Perspectives
Personality Assessment
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self-reports tests
projective tests
other assessment techniques
Personality and Health and Wellness
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healthful personality traits
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.