3e ch13 lecture

psychology
third edition

CHAPTER 13
theories of
personality

Psychology, Third Edition Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Saundra K. Ciccarelli • J. Noland White All rights reserved.

Learning Objectives
• LO 13.1Personality from various perspectives
• LO 13.2Freud’s historical views of personality
• LO 13.3Jung, Adler, Horney, and Erikson’s modifications
• LO 13.4How does modern psychoanalytic theory differ from Freud
• LO 13.5Behavioral and social cognitive explanations of personality
• LO 13.6How humanists explain personality
• LO 13.7The history and current views of the trait perspective
• LO 13.8Biology, heredity and cultural roles in personality
• LO 13.9Advantages and disadvantages of various measure of personality


Personality
LO 13.1 Personality

• Personality - the unique and relatively
stable ways in which people think, feel,
and behave.
• Character - value judgments of a person’s
moral and ethical behavior.
• Temperament - the enduring
characteristics with which each person is
born.


Four Perspectives in Study of Personality
LO 13.1 Personality

• Psychoanalytic
• Behavioristic (including social cognitive
theory)
• Humanistic
• Trait perspectives


Sigmund Freud
LO 13.2 Freud’s historical views of personality

• Founder of the psychoanalytic movement
in psychology.


Sigmund Freud

• Europe during the Victorian age.
– Men were understood to be unable to control
their "animal" desires at times, and a good
Victorian husband would father several
children with his wife and then turn to a
mistress for sexual comfort, leaving his
virtuous wife untouched.


Sigmund Freud

• Europe during the Victorian age.
– Women, especially those of the upper
classes, were not supposed to have sexual
urges.
– Backdrop for this theory.


Divisions of Consciousness

• Preconscious mind - level of the mind in
which information is available but not
currently conscious.
• Conscious mind - level of the mind that is
aware of immediate surroundings and
perceptions.


Divisions of Consciousness

• Unconscious mind - level of the mind in
which thoughts, feelings, memories, and
other information are kept that are not
easily or voluntarily brought into
consciousness.
– Can be revealed in dreams and Freudian slips
of the tongue.


Figure 13.1 Freud’s Conception of the Personality
This iceberg represents the three levels of the mind. The part of the iceberg visible above the surface is the conscious
mind. Just below the surface is the preconscious mind, everything that is not yet part of the conscious mind. Hidden
deep below the surface is the unconscious mind, feelings, memories, thoughts, and urges that cannot be easily
brought into consciousness. While two of the three parts of the personality (ego and superego) exist at all three levels
of awareness, the id is completely in the unconscious mind.


Freud’s Theory: Parts of Personality

• Id - part of the personality present at birth
and completely unconscious.
– Libido - the instinctual energy that may come
into conflict with the demands of a society’s
standards for behavior.
– Pleasure principle - principle by which the id
functions; the immediate satisfaction of needs
without regard for the consequences.



• Ego - part of the personality that develops
out of a need to deal with reality, mostly
conscious, rational, and logical.
– Reality principle - principle by which the ego
functions; the satisfaction of the demands of
the id only when negative consequences will
not result.



• Superego - part of the personality that acts
as a moral center.
– Ego ideal - part of the superego that contains
the standards for moral behavior.
– Conscience - part of the superego that
produces pride or guilt, depending on how
well behavior matches or does not match the
ego ideal.


Defense Mechanisms

• Psychological defense mechanisms -
unconscious distortions of a person’s
perception of reality that reduce stress
and anxiety.
• Denial - psychological defense
mechanism in which the person refuses to
acknowledge or recognize a threatening
situation.


Defense Mechanisms

• Repression - psychological defense
mechanism in which the person refuses to
consciously remember a threatening or
unacceptable event, instead pushing
those events into the unconscious mind.
• Rationalization - psychological defense
mechanism in which a person invents
acceptable excuses for unacceptable
behavior.

Defense Mechanisms

• Projection - psychological defense
mechanism in which unacceptable or
threatening impulses or feelings are seen
as originating with someone else, usually
the target of the impulses or feelings.


Defense Mechanisms

• Reaction formation - psychological
defense mechanism in which a person
forms an opposite emotional or behavioral
reaction to the way he or she really feels
to keep those true feelings hidden from
self and others.
• Displacement - redirecting feelings from a
threatening target to a less threatening
one.

Defense Mechanisms

• Regression - psychological defense
mechanism in which a person falls back
on childlike patterns of responding in
reaction to stressful situations.
• Identification - defense mechanism in
which a person tries to become like
someone else to deal with anxiety.


Defense Mechanisms

• Compensation (substitution) - defense
mechanism in which a person makes up
for inferiorities in one area by becoming
superior in another area.
• Sublimation - channeling socially
unacceptable impulses and urges into
socially acceptable behavior.


Freud’s Theory:
StagesLO 13.2Personality Development
of Freud’s historical views of personality

• Fixation - disorder in which the person
does not fully resolve the conflict in a
particular psychosexual stage, resulting in
personality traits and behavior associated
with that earlier stage.
• Psychosexual stages - five stages of
personality development proposed by
Freud and tied to the sexual development
of the child.

Freud’s Theory:

• Oral stage - first stage occurring in the first
year of life in which the mouth is the
erogenous zone and weaning is the
primary conflict. Id dominated.


Freud’s Theory:

• Anal stage - second stage occurring from
about 1 to 3 years of age, in which the
anus is the erogenous zone and toilet
training is the source of conflict. Ego
develops.
– Anal expulsive personality - a person fixated
in the anal stage who is messy, destructive,
and hostile.


Freud’s Theory:

• Anal stage - second stage occurring from
anus is the erogenous zone and toilet
training is the source of conflict. Ego
develops.
– Anal retentive personality - a person fixated in
the anal stage who is neat, fussy, stingy, and
stubborn.


Freud’s Theory:

• Phallic stage - third stage occurring from
child discovers sexual feelings. Superego
develops.
– Oedipus complex- situation occurring in the
phallic stage in which a child develops a
sexual attraction to the opposite-sex parent
and jealousy of the same-sex parent.


Freud’s Theory:

• Phallic stage - third stage occurring from
child discovers sexual feelings. Superego
develops.
– Identification - defense mechanism in which a
person tries to become like someone else to
deal with anxiety.


Freud’s Theory:

• Latency - fourth stage occurring during the
school years, in which the sexual feelings
of the child are repressed while the child
develops in other ways.
• Genital – sexual feelings reawaken with
appropriate targets.


Freud’s Psychoanalysis

• Psychoanalysis - Freud’s term for both the
theory of personality and the therapy
based on it.


Neo-Freudians
LO 13.3 Jung, Adler, Horney, and Erikson’s modifications

• Neo-Freudians - followers of Freud who
developed their own competing theories of
psychoanalysis.
– Jung developed a theory of a collective
unconscious.
• Personal unconscious - Jung’s name for
the unconscious mind as described by
Freud.


Neo-Freudians

• Collective unconscious – Jung’s name for
the memories shared by all members of
the human species.
• Archetypes - Jung’s collective, universal
human memories.


Neo-Freudians

• Adler proposed feelings of inferiority as
the driving force behind personality and
developed birth order theory.


Neo-Freudians

• Horney developed a theory based on
basic anxiety and rejected the concept of
penis envy.
– Basic anxiety - anxiety created when a child is
born into the bigger and more powerful world
of older children and adults.
– Neurotic personalities – maladaptive ways of
dealing with relationships in Horney’s theory.


Neo-Freudians

• Erikson developed a theory based on
social rather than sexual relationships,
covering the entire life span.


Modern Psychoanalytic Theory
LO 13.4 Modern psychoanalytic theory

• Current research has found support for:
– Defense mechanisms
– Concept of an unconscious mind that can
influence conscious behavior
• Other concepts cannot be scientifically
researched.


Behaviorism and Personality
LO 13.5 Behavioral and social cognitive explanations of personality

• Behaviorists define personality as a set of
learned responses or habits.
– Habits - in behaviorism, sets of well-learned
responses that have become automatic.
• Social cognitive learning theorists –
theorists who emphasize the importance
of both the influences of other people’s
behavior and of a person’s own
expectancies on learning.


• Social cognitive view – learning theory that
includes cognitive processes such as
anticipating, judging, memory, and
imitation of models.
• Reciprocal determinism - Bandura’s
explanation of how the factors of
environment, personal characteristics, and
behavior can interact to determine future
behavior.


• Self-efficacy – individual’s perception of
how effective a behavior will be in any
particular circumstance (NOT the same as
self-esteem).


Figure 13.2 Reciprocal Determinism
In Bandura’s model of reciprocal determinism, three factors influence behavior: the environment, which consists of the
physical surroundings and the potential for reinforcement; the person (personal/cognitive characteristics that have
been rewarded in the past); and the behavior itself, which may or may not be reinforced at this particular time and
place.


Humanistic Theories of Personality
LO 13.6 How humanists explain personality

• Humanistic perspective - the "third force"
in psychology that focuses on those
aspects of personality that make people
uniquely human, such as subjective
feelings and freedom of choice.
• Developed as a reaction against the
negativity of psychoanalysis and the
deterministic nature of behaviorism.


Roger’s Theory of Personality

• Self-actualizing tendency – the striving to
fulfill one’s innate capacities and
capabilities.
• Self-concept - the image of oneself that
develops from interactions with important,
significant people in one’s life.
• Self - archetype that works with the ego to
manage other archetypes and balance the
personality.


• Real self - one’s perception of actual
characteristics, traits, and abilities.
• Ideal self - one’s perception of whom one
should be or would like to be.
• Positive regard – warmth, affection, love,
and respect that come from significant
others in one’s life.


Figure 13.3 Real and Ideal Selves
According to Rogers, the self-concept includes the real self and the ideal self. The real self is a person’s actual
perception of traits and abilities, whereas the ideal self is the perception of what a person would like to be or thinks he
or she should be. When the ideal self and the real self are very similar (matching), the person experiences harmony
and contentment. When there is a mismatch between the two selves, the person experiences anxiety and may engage
in neurotic behavior.



• Unconditional positive regard - positive
regard that is given without conditions or
strings attached.
• Conditional positive regard- positive
regard that is given only when the person
is doing what the providers of positive
regard wish.



• Fully functioning person – a person who is
in touch with and trusting of the deepest,
innermost urges and feelings.


Trait Theories of Personality
LO 13.7 Trait perspective

• Trait theories - theories that endeavor to
describe the characteristics that make up
human personality in an effort to predict
future behavior.
– Trait - a consistent, enduring way of thinking,
feeling, or behaving.
• Allport first developed a list of about 200
traits and believed that these traits were
part of the nervous system.


• Cattell reduced the number of traits to
between 16 and 23 with a computer
method called factor analysis.
• Surface traits - aspects of personality that
can easily be seen by other people in the
outward actions of a person.


Figure 13.4 Cattell’s Self-Report Inventory
This is an example of personality profiles based on Cattell’s 16PF self-report inventory. The two groups represented
are airline pilots and writers. Notice that airline pilots, when compared to writers, tend to be more conscientious,
relaxed, selfassured, and far less sensitive. Writers, on the other hand, are more imaginative and better able to are
think abstractly. Source: Cattell (1973).



• Source traits - the more basic traits that
underlie the surface traits, forming the
core of personality.
– Example: Introversion - dimension of
personality in which people tend to withdraw
from excessive stimulation.


The Big Five Theory

• Five-factor model (Big Five) - model of
personality traits that describes five basic
trait dimensions.
– Openness - one of the five factors; willingness
to try new things and be open to new
experiences.
– Conscientiousness - the care a person gives
to organization and thoughtfulness of others;
dependability.


The Big Five Theory

• Five-factor model (Big Five) - model of
personality traits that describes five basic
trait dimensions.
– Extraversion - dimension of personality
referring to one’s need to be with other
people.


The Big Five Theory

• Extraverts - people who are outgoing and
sociable.
• Introverts - people who prefer solitude and
dislike being the center of attention.
– Agreeableness - the emotional style of a
person that may range from easygoing,
friendly, and likeable to grumpy, crabby, and
unpleasant.


The Big Five Theory

• Introverts - people who prefer solitude and
dislike being the center of attention.
– Neuroticism - degree of emotional instability
or stability.


Trait Theories Today

• Cross-cultural research has found support
for the five-factor model of personality
traits in a number of different cultures.
– Future research will explore the degree to
which child-rearing practices and heredity
may influence the five personality factors.


Trait Theories Today

• Trait-situation interaction - the assumption
that the particular circumstances of any
given situation will influence the way in
which a trait is expressed.


Biology and Personality
LO 13.8 Biology, heredity and cultural roles in personality

• Behavior genetics - a field of study of the
relationship between heredity and
personality.
– Twin and adoption studies have found support
for a genetic influence on many personality
traits.


Figure 13.5 Personalities of Identical and Fraternal Twins
Identical and fraternal twins differ in the way they express the Big Five personality factors. The scores of identical twins
have a correlation of about 50 percent, whereas those of fraternal twins have a correlation of only about 15 to 20
percent. These findings give support to the idea that some aspects of personality are genetically based.
Source: Loehlin (1992)


James Arthur Springer and James

• Edward Lewis, otherwise known as the
"Jim" twins. Although separated shortly
after birth and reunited at age 39, they
exhibited many similarities in personality
and personal habits.


Cultural Personality

• Four basic dimensions of personality
along which cultures may vary:
– individualism/collectivism
– power distance
– masculinity/femininity
– uncertainty avoidance


Measuring Personality: Interviews
LO 13.9 Advantages and disadvantages of various measure of personality

• Interview - method of personality
assessment in which the professional
asks questions of the client and allows the
client to answer, either in a structured or
unstructured fashion.
• Halo effect – tendency of an interviewer to
allow positive characteristics of a client to
influence the assessments of the client’s
behavior and statements.

Measuring Personality: Projective Tests

• Projection - defense mechanism involving
placing, or "projecting," one’s own
unacceptable thoughts onto others, as if
the thoughts actually belonged to those
others and not to oneself.
• Projective tests - personality assessments
that present ambiguous visual stimuli to
the client and ask the client to respond
with whatever comes to mind.


• Rorschach inkblot test - projective test that
uses 10 inkblots as the ambiguous stimuli.
• Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) -
projective test that uses 20 pictures of
people in ambiguous situations as the
visual stimuli.


Figure 13.6 Rorschach Inkblot Example
A facsimile of a Rorschach inkblot. A person being tested is asked to tell the interviewer what he or she sees in an
inkblot similar to the one shown. Answers are neither right nor wrong but may reveal unconscious concerns. What do
you see in this inkblot?


Figure 13.7 Thematic Apperception Test Example
A sample from the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). When you look at this picture, what story does it suggest to
you? Who are the people? What is their relationship?



• Subjective - concepts and impressions
that are only valid within a particular
person’s perception and may be
influenced by biases, prejudice, and
personal experiences. This is a problem
with projective tests.


Measuring Personality: Behavioral Measures

• Direct observation - assessment in which
the professional observes the client
engaged in ordinary, day-to-day behavior
in either a clinical or natural setting.
• Rating scale- assessment in which a
numerical value is assigned to specific
behavior that is listed in the scale.


Measuring Personality: Behavioral Measures

• Frequency count - assessment in which
the frequency of a particular behavior is
counted.


Measuring Personality: Personality Inventory

• Personality inventory - paper and pencil or
computerized test that consists of
statements that require a specific,
standardized response from the person
taking the test.
– NEO-PI - based on the five-factor model
– Myers-Briggs Type Indicator - based on
Jung’s theory of personality types.


Measuring Personality: Personality Inventory

• Personality inventory - paper and pencil or
computerized test that consists of
statements that require a specific,
standardized response from the person
taking the test.
– MMPI-2 - designed to detect abnormal
personality.


Personality Tests and Internet

• There are numerous personality tests
available on the Internet.
• Not all equal in quality, reliability, or
validity.
• Lack of professional interpretation of the
results of such tests.


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