Theories of Personality
Chapter 2
Freud
 Psychoanalysis
Theory of personality
is considered
Psychodynamic
Freud
 Personality is made up of unconscious
motives and conflicts
Id/ego/superego
Defense Mechanisms
Freud
 Used dreams, Freudian slips, hypnosis
and free association to discover what
was in the unconscious
Id - Ego - Superego
Id
Present at birth
Part of the unconscious
2 competing instincts
Life and Death
 always in pursuit of pleasure and
avoiding pain
Superego
Develops during childhood
morality and parental authority
Located in unconscious, preconscious
and preconscious
Judges the id
Ego
Develops over time
referee between instincts and society
Attempts to keep id in control until an
appropriate outlet is available
Represents “Reason and Good Sense”
In Practice
You are on a diet in an attempt to get
healthier. At an after school study session
your friend’s mom just finished baking a
delicious chocolate fudge cake and offers
you a piece.
Id Ego Superego -
Anxiety
• Problem with the pleasure-seeking id
and conscience-guided superego
• We feel uneasiness and worry
• We seek to reduce tension and induce
pleasure and sometimes use defense
mechanisms to help
Defense Mechanisms
 Methods used by the ego to prevent anxiety from
entering consciousness
Repression - threatening idea is blocked from
consciousness
Projection - own unacceptable thoughts are
attributed to others
Displacement - directing emotions to an
unrelated object or person
Defense Mechanisms
Reaction Formation - an unconscious
feeling transforms into its opposite in
consciousness
Regression - A person reverts to a previous
stage of psychological development
Denial - Refusing to admit that something
unpleasant is happening
Basic Personality Test
Answers are for who you are now...... not
who you were in the past.
This is a real test given by the Human
Relations Dept. at many of the major
corporations today. It helps them get better
insight concerning their employees and
prospective employees.
Number your paper 1 to 10.
1. When do you feel at your best?
a) in the morning
b) during the afternoon and early evening
c) late at night
2. You usually walk.....
a) fairly fast, with long steps
b) fairly fast, with little steps
c) less fast head up, looking the world in the
face
d) less fast, head down
e) very slowly
3. When talking to people, you...
a) stand with your arms folded
b ) have your hands clasped
c) have one or both your hands on your hips or
in pockets
d) touch or push the person to whom you are
talking
e) play with your ear, touch your chin or
smooth your hair
4. When relaxing, you sit with...
a) your knees bent with your legs neatly side by
side
b) your legs crossed
c) your legs stretched out or straight
d) one leg curled under you
5. When something really amuses you, You
react with...
a) a big appreciated laugh
b) a laugh, but not a loud one
c) a quiet chuckle
d) a sheepish smile
6. When you go to a party or social gathering,
you...
a) make a loud entrance so everyone notices you
b) make a quiet entrance, looking around for
someone you know
c) make the quietest entrance, trying to stay
unnoticed
7. When you're working or concentrating
very hard, and you're interrupted,
you...
a) welcome the break
b) feel extremely irritated
c) vary between these two extremes
8. Which of the following colors do you like
most?
a) Red or orange
b) Black
c) yellow or light blue
d) Green
e) dark blue or purple
f) White
g) brown or gray
9. When you are in bed at night, in those last
few moments before going to sleep, you lay...
a) stretched out on your back
b) stretched out face down on your stomach
c) on your side, slightly curled
d) with your head on one arm
e) with your head under the covers
10. You often dream that you are...
a) falling
b) fighting or struggling
c) searching for something or somebody
d) flying or floating
e) you usually have dreamless sleep
f) your dreams are always pleasant
Answer Values
1. (a) 2 (b) 4 (c) 6
2. (a) 6 (b) 4 (c) 7 (d) 2 (e) 1
3. (a) 4 (b) 2 (c) 5 (d) 7 (e) 6
4. (a) 4 (b) 6 (c) 2 (d) 1
5. (a) 6 (b) 4 (c) 3 (d) 5 (e) 2
6. (a) 6 (b) 4 (c) 2
7. (a) 6 (b) 2 (c) 4
8. (a) 6 (b) 7 (c) 5 (d)4 (e) 3 (f) 2 (g) 1
9. (a) 7 (b) 6 (c) 4 (d) 2 (e) 1
10. (a) 4 (b) 2 (c) 3 (d) 5 (e) 6 (f) 1
Personality Description
According to your responses, you are an outgoing,
gregarious, and warm person who enjoys socializing with
others. At times, however you are a somewhat introverted
person who needs privacy. When the situation demands it,
you can present your opinions and believes and assert
leadership, while being a follower in other circumstances.
Your ability to make quick and clear decisions is indicated,
although in the past you have experienced some difficulty in
making important choices.
The analysis has also revealed a sense of humor which is
often apparent, but you also posses a sense of seriousness
when the situation warrants it. You have an even temper and
usually keep it under control, but there are times when your
tempter can rise and you let people know you’re upset. In
addition, working on practical and conceptual problems seems
to bring out the best in you.
Barnum Effect
"There's a sucker born every minute" (supposedly) PT Barnum
People will believe any vague, generic set of
personality descriptions of themselves if it
appears that those descriptions come from a
reputable source.
though tests falsely labeled scientifically valid
tend to produce a stronger effect.
In the true Barnum effect experiment, subjects
take a bogus personality test that produces a
set of vague and even self-contradictory
statements
Pig test
 Flip your Barnum Effect paper over
Draw a pig.
Pig Test Results
1.) Pig’s location
Top= optimist, bottom= pessimist, middle= realist
2.) Which direction is the pig facing?
~ right= innovative, left= traditional
~ front= you enjoy debating and drama
3.) Does your pig have many details, or few?
Few= emotional, maybe a risk-taker
Many= cautious and not as trusting
Pig Test Results
4.) How many legs does your pig have?
4= stubborn but secure
Less than 4= insecure, major changes occurring
5.) Does your pig have large ears, or small
ones?
Large= good listener
Small= not so good listener
6.) How long is the pig's tail?
The longer the tail, the better your sex life
Alfred Adler
Adler - first theorist to include not only a
child's mother and father and other adults as
early influence on the child, but the child's
brothers and sisters as well.
Adler considered birth-order another one of
those heuristic ideas -- useful fictions -- that
contribute to understanding people, but must
be not be taken too seriously.
Birth Order
Who is a first, second, or youngest child
isn't as obvious as it might seem. If
there is a long stretch between children,
they may not see themselves and each
other the same way as if they were
closer together.
1. You have a very busy week ahead and need
to get organized so you:
A) Make a to-do list
B) Look over your calendar and make a
mental note
C) Go with the flow, you’re not too worried
2. You are at a family gathering and you find
yourself squished between Aunt Deloris and Uncle
Herbie, what happens next?
A) You talk their ears off about anything and
everything
B) They talk your ears off about anything and
everything
C) You’re counting down the minutes until you can
escape
3. Your best friend asks you if you want to go
to the mall this Thursday, you say:
A) It sounds like fun, but I have a huge
midterm Friday
B) Sure! My parents won’t even notice I’m
gone
C) I’m there! How late is it open?!
4. Your bedroom/dorm room is:
A) Fairly tidy, everything has its own place
B) A little on the messy side
C) A complete disaster
5. You’re trying out for the school soccer
team, what position do you want to fill?:
A) Starter and Captain
B) Doesn’t matter, I just want to make the
team
C) Whatever position gets me in the headlines
of the newspaper
6. You had to submit a piece of art work for your
final assignment in art class, how did it turn out?
A) You created a perfectly sculpted replica of the
Eiffel Tower
B) You won the award for Most Creativity, simply a
masterpiece
C) Your dog ate it
7. Your idea of an adventure would be:
A) A well-planned ski trip with a few close
friends
B) A random road trip
C) Something risky (sky diving, bungee
jumping etc.)
8. You’re working in a group on a major school
project, you:
A) Assign tasks to every group member and work
hard to ensure the quality of the project
B) Do your share of the work load, no more, no less
C) Wait for someone else to take the reigns and do
your share the night before the due date.
9. Every year at your family reunion you play
a big game of football together, during the
game you:
A) Gather up your team in a huddle to talk
about your strategies
B) You wandered away and no one
notices...you hate football anyway
C) You’re the quarterback, you can’t wait for
all eyes to be on you
10. Your mom left you a list of chores to do
today, you:
A) Complete the chores early so the rest of the
day is yours
B) Work on the chores off and on throughout
the day until they’re finished
C) It totally slips your mind, they don’t get
done
- Mostly A’s: You are most likely the oldest child or
an only child. You take on leadership roles and
strive for perfection. You interact well with adults
and are not afraid to take on responsibility. You
are usually confident and laid back. People often
have high expectations from you.
Mostly B’s: You are most likely the middle child
or "other". You may feel inferior, unwanted and
misunderstood. However you tend to have great
social skills and are very creative.
Mostly C’s: You are most likely the last born, or
the baby. You tend to be outgoing, a risk taker,
with great social skills. You may enjoy being in
the spotlight. However, you may sometimes be a
bit absent minded.
Only Child
Only child - more likely than others to
be pampered.
If the parents are abusive, on the other
hand, the only child will have to bear that
abuse alone.
Oldest/First Child
Oldest/first child - begins life as an only
child, with all the attention Then the second
child arrives and "dethrones" the first.
Can disobedient and rebellious, others sullen and
withdrawn.
More likely than any other to become problem
children.
 Often precocious. They tend to be relatively
solitary and more conservative than the other
children in the family.
Middle Child
He or she has the first child as a sort of
"pace-setter,"
 tends to become quite competitive - tries
to surpass the older child.
Youngest Child
Most likely to be the pampered in a
family with more than one child.
second most likely source of problem
children, just behind first children.
may also feel incredible inferiority
 the youngest can also be driven to exceed
other siblings
Adler and Freud
Adler preferred to have everyone
sitting up and talking face to face.
 avoided appearing too authoritarian.
Adler saw resistance to treatment as a
sign of the patient's lack of courage to
give up their neurotic lifestyle. (not a
defense mechanism)
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Thematic Apperception
TAT is among the most widely used,
researched, and taught projective tests in
existence.
series of pictures of relatively ambiguous scenes to
which subjects are requested to make up stories or
fantasies, along with a description of the thoughts
and feelings of the various characters depicted.
for use in the understanding of the subject's
current needs, motives, emotions, and conflicts,
both conscious and unconscious.
Its use in clinical assessment is generally part of a
larger battery of tests and interview data.
TAT
Scoring: The data from the TAT can be scored
according to a variety of existing quantitative
systems.
 more commonly in clinical use the stories are
interpreted in accord with general principles of
inference derived from psychodynamic theory.
Reliability and Validity: The manual provides
no information on reliability or validity,
although the various scoring systems have
independent psychometric data.
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Rorschach Blots
For the 1940's and 1950's, the Rorschach was
the test of choice.
It fell into disfavor - criticized as "subjective" and
"projective"
While working in a psychiatric hospital with
adolescents, he noticed that certain children
gave characteristically different answers to a
popular game known as blotto.
 he characterized the blots as a "Form
Interpretation Test
cautioned that his findings were preliminary and
stressed the importance of much more
experimentation"
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Journal!
If you were a psychologist, which test
would you use to diagnose your
patients?
Barnum
Pig
Birth Order
Thematic Apperception
Rorschach blot
Jungian Theory
 Was one of Freud’s inner circle
Had a fight about the unconscious
 Motivation can come from future goals,
not just past events
Collective unconscious - universal memories
and experiences of humankind represented in
symbols, stories, and archetypes
Archetypes - universal, symbolic actions that
appear in myths, stories, art and dreams
Intro vs. Extro
 Jung divided people intro introverts
and extroverts
Intro -
Extro -
Archetypes
 Shadow - represents basic/animal
instincts and capability for evil
Persona - how you present yourself to
others
Good impression / bad impression
Archetypes
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Animus/Anima - The male and female elements
within each person
Anima - a young girl, very spontaneous and
intuitive, or as a witch, or as the earth mother.
Represents deep emotionality and the force of
life itself.
Animus - a wise old man, a sorcerer, or often a
number of males
Represented as logical, often rationalistic, even
argumentative.
Mental/Emotional problems can arise if a
person tries to repress one of the elements
Archetypes
 Anima
 Animus
 Shadow
 Hero
 Persona
 Child
 Mother
 Sage (Wise Old Man)
 Trickster
 Father
 The fool
 Scapegoat
 The outcast
 The temptress
 The devil
 Lover
 Ruler
 Creator
 Maiden
Journal
 Which theorist do you agree with
more? Jung or Freud? Explain 3
reasons why.
 Select a fairy tale or children’s story.
 Outline the story (bullet points)
 Make a list of characters
 Identify at least 5 archetypes within the
story
 Explain why the event/character
exemplifies the archetype
Myers-Briggs - 4 Functions
 Sensing. Getting information by means of the senses,
it involves perception rather than judging of
information.
 Thinking. Evaluating information or ideas rationally,
logically, it involves decision making or judging.
 Intuiting. A kind of perception that works outside of
the usual conscious processes. It is irrational or
perceptual.
 Feeling. evaluating information by weighing one's
overall, emotional response.
Myers-Briggs
Evaluates which of 16 personality types you
are.




Extrovert (E) - Introvert (I)
Sensing (S) - Intuitive (N)
Thinking (T) - Feeling (F)
Judging (J) - Perceiving (P)
Myers-Briggs
 Rate statements from 0-5 based on your
preference.
Make sure you record your answers on the correct
line!
Add up the columns, and write the total on
the line at the bottom.
Determine which is higher from each column,
write it at the top.
Read the description form the packets up
front!
Big 5 - Trait Theory
 Extroversion - outgoing, shy, talkative, adventurous,
cautious
 Neuroticism - anxiety, impulsivity, worrying,
emotionally stable
 Agreeableness - good-natured, suspicious, jealous,
cooperative
 Conscientiousness - responsible, undependable, steadfast
impulsive, perseverance
 Openness - curious, imaginative, creative, conforming,
predictable
Big 5
 Useful in 50 different countries
Looks at 5 main personality dimensions
Very stable
Works for both self-reports and outside
observations
 most neurotic age:
 Look at the core of personality, but these are
other traits that can be just as important
Journal!
 Rate where you are on a scale of 1-10
for each of the big 5 categories. Explain
why you chose that number.
Genetic Influences on Personality
 nature vs nurture
One theorist (John Watson) thought babies were a
blank slate - they can grow up to be anything
Even days after birth, babies begin to show their
own temperament
Stable over time, develop into personality
Reactivity, soothability
Heritability - statistical estimate of how likely a
person in a group is to inherit a specific trait
Heritability
 difficult to study
Environment can be easily confused with genetics in
some cases
Study adopted children
Especially identical twins separated at birth
 Studies have show the heritability for most
traits is .5 (50%)
Higher for traits like divorce or TV watching
 however predisposition does not equal inevitability
Environmental Influences
 Reciprocal Determinism - Situations
influences behavior and beliefs
Rewards some behaviors and extinguishes others
 Social-Cognitive = we learn from what we
experience
Studying vs test grade
Interaction between your qualities and your
situation
 Not everyone has the same experiences
Siblings have different peer groups
“nonshared” environment
Environmental Influences
 Personality doesn’t equal how your
parents treat(ed) you
1 - Shared environment of a home has little
influence
2 - Parents are not always consistent in
child-rearing styles
3 - Treatment
Cultural Influences
 Culture - a program of shared rules that
govern the behavior of members of a
community
Individualist- value independence of the
individual over relationships with others
Collectivist- the self is a part of many
relationships, harmony with the group is
most important
Cultural Influences
Skim through the section on cultural
influences
In the section “Culture and Testosterone”
find all of the examples of how culture
influences behavior
 Describe in 1-5 words what is being
influenced
Then brainstorm YOUR OWN examples of
influences that fall under the same
categories.
Nature vs. Nurture Debate
 Determine which side you most agree with
and why.
 Find support for your POV based on our
notes, the textbook and RELIABLE research.
 Determine who will write the opening and
closing statements.
 Each person must speak AT LEAST once.
Debate Questions
 Why does your POV have the most influence
over personality?
 How can you explain 2 siblings with very
different personalities?
If criminals are born that way, why invest
money in rehabilitation programs?
 If intelligence is inherited, why invest money
in educational programs?
 Is gender nature or nurture?
Study Guide!
 Freud
 Rorschach Inkblots
 Adler
 Myers-Briggs
 PT Barnum
 Thematic Apperception
 Jung
 Big 5
 Heritability
 Barnum Effect
 Animus/anima
 Drawing Test
 Reciprocal determinism
 Archetypes
 Nature vs. nurture
 Id-Ego-Superego
 Defense Mechanisms 20 matching
 Birth Order
5 short answer (5 or less words)
3 short essay (3-5 sentences)