Personality: Some Definitions
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Personality
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Personality Traits
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An individual’s relatively distinct & consistent
pattern of thinking, feeling, and behaving.
dispositions to behave in a particular way in a
variety of situations
Personality Psychology
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The scientific study of the psychological forces
that people uniquely themselves.
The Main Themes of Course
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Interactionist model of
behavior
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Genes, environment,
experiences
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Many causes for behavior
Behavior varies in different
situations
Diversity & Commonality
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Idiographic & nomothetic
Consistency & variability
Findings based on research
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Behavior is Multi-faceted
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Empirical studies
Replication of studies
Generalizability of findings
Applicable to real life
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Validity of theories in personal
experiences
Useful in predicting or
explaining behavior
The 8 Basic Aspects
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Psychoanalytic
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Skinner, Dollard, Miller
Allport, Cattell, Eysenk
Humanistic
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Kelly, Bandura
Trait
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Pavlov, Eysenck
Behaviorist
Cognitive
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Jung, Horney, Adler
Biological
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Freud
Neo-Analytic
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Rogers, Maslow
Interactionist
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Murray, Mischel
Psychodynamic Perspectives: Freud
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Psychoanalytic theory
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unconscious drives & motives
sexual & aggressive urges
emphasis on early childhood
experiences
Structure of personality
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id (pleasure principle)
ego (reality principle)
super ego (moral
values/beliefs)
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Defense Mechanisms
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Conflicts: Id & Super Ego
Goal is to reduce anxiety
Common defenses
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Denial, repression,
rationalization
Psychodynamic Perspectives: Freud
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Psychosexual Stages of Development
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Oral, anal, phallic, latent, genital
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Emphasis placed on early development
Trauma at a stage leads to “fixation”
Consciousness (levels of awareness)
conscious, preconscious, unconscious
 Traumatic early childhood experiences
repressed into the unconscious
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Neo-Analysts
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Carl Jung - Analytical Psychology
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Alfred Adler - Individual Psychology
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Archetypes & the collective unconscious
types: introverts/extroverts (Myers-Briggs test)
striving for superiority & the inferiority complex
effects of birth order on personality development
Karen Horney – Early Feminist
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Basic anxiety
Neurotic coping strategies
Biological Perspectives
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Biological influences on personality
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Twin studies
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behavior is determined by genes
behavioral tendencies are inherited
twins are more alike in certain characteristics than
siblings and unrelated persons
Some biologically based traits
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extraversion vs introversion
optimistic/positive vs pessimistic/negative
exploratory/risk-taking vs cautious/anxious
Behavioral/Learning Perspectives
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Behaviorism
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psychology should study only behavior
observable, can be studied scientifically
rejected notion of the unconscious
Personality is behavior
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behavior is the result of classical or operant
conditioning
determinism: behavior is caused by environmental
stimuli and situations (no free will)
behavior follows “laws” of reinforcement and past
experience
Cognitive/Social Learning Theory
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Cognitive model
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Explanatory Styles
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people think, problem-solve, reason, etc.
Perceptual indiosyncrasies
Perceptions are individual
Attributions, locus of control, learned helplessness
Social- Cognitive Learning
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we learn by observing others behave and observing
the consequences that follow
can choose to follow model or not
Traits and Skills
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Introversion-Extroversion
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George Allport’s Trait Psychology
The Big 5
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Jung’s 16 PF
Q-test data
O. C. E. A. N.
Henry Murray’s Needs and Presses
Expressive Styles
Skills & Intelligence
Humanistic-Existential Perspective
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Humanism
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Person-centered theory - Carl Rogers
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self-concept (who you believe you are)
congruence vs incongruence (being your true self)
Existential Anxiety
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emphasis on the unique qualities of individual & on free will
opposed to propositions of psychoanalysts and behaviorists
Anxiety: Rollo May
Meaning of life – Victor Frankl
Self-Actualization - Abraham Maslow
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emphasized healthy aspects of human behavior
self-actualization (need to fulfill your potential)