Untitled Quiz

Introduction to Psychology: Personality

• Personality is a pattern of enduring, distinctive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that characterize how a person adapts to the world.
• Psychologists use various approaches to understand these characteristics, focused on different aspects of the individual.

Outline

• Personality definition
• Personality theories
• Psychoanalytic theory (Freud)
• Defense mechanisms (types and uses)
• Humanistic theory (Rogers)
• Adler's theory
• Horney's theory
• Basic personality measurement tools

Psychoanalytic Theory: Freud

• Freud believed the sexual drive was crucial in shaping human behavior.
• He theorized that drives like sex are the main factors influencing personality development, psychological disorders, dreams, and all human behavior.
• The conflict between unconscious sexual drives and societal demands influences a person's behavior.

Psychoanalytic: Freud- Structures of the Mind

• ID: Driven by the pleasure principle, present from birth, seeks immediate gratification of basic needs (e.g., hunger, thirst, sex). It's primarily unconscious(e.g. irrational and unrealistic desires).
• EGO: Operates on the reality principle, mediating between the ID and external world. Strives to balance the ID's impulses with the constraints of reality and the demands of the superego.
• SUPEREGO: Represents internalized societal and parental standards of morality and judgment. Strives for perfection and moral behavior, and can lead to feelings of guilt or shame if those standards aren't met.

Psychoanalytic: Freud- Levels of Awareness

• Conscious: The thoughts and feelings you are aware of at a given moment.
• Preconscious: Thoughts and feelings that are not currently in your awareness but can be retrieved easily.
• Unconscious: Thoughts, feelings, desires, and memories that are beyond your awareness.

Sigmund Freud: Defense Mechanisms

• Unconscious tactics used by the ego to reduce anxiety by distorting reality
  • Repression
  • Rationalization
  • Sublimation
  • Identification
  • Reaction Formation
  • Projection
  • Denial
  • Displacement
  • Regression

Psychosexual Stages of Development (Freud)

• Oral Stage (birth-1 year): Oral activities (mouth, lips, tongue, gums) are primary source of pleasure. Fixation can lead to oral habits like smoking, overeating, or excessive talking.
• Anal Stage (1-3 years): Pleasure focuses on the anus; toilet training is crucial. Fixation could lead to extremes on orderliness (anal retentiveness) or messiness (anal expulsiveness).
• Phallic Stage (3-6 years): Genitals become a focus; Oedipus complex (boys) and Electra complex (girls) emerge when children develop feelings toward the opposite-sex parent. Fixation may result in problems with relationships.
  • Oedipus Complex (Boys): Boys develop sexual desires for their mother and jealousy/fear of the father. They imitate father to gain mother's affection.
  • Electra Complex (Girls): Girls develop sexual desires for their father and jealousy/rivalry toward their mother. Mimic mother to gain father's affection.
• Latency Stage (6-11 years): Sexual impulses are suppressed. Focus shifts to cognitive and social development.
• Genital Stage (adolescence/adulthood): Sexual impulses reemerge and are directed toward peers; healthy development, relationships and sexual intimacy.

Horney's Sociocultural Approach

• She rejected Freud's focus on anatomy as destiny.
• She emphasized sociocultural factors in personality development, arguing for the need for security as primary motivation.
• Healthy personality development results from fulfilling security needs.

Adler's Individual Psychology

• People are motivated by purposes and goals towards perfection.
• Emphasis on individual's ability to shape their own development
• Birth order can influence personality development and potential for psychological issues
  • First born: can be vulnerable, potentially high-achieving and competitive.

Humanistic Theory: Rogers

• Stresses the capacity for personal growth and positive human qualities.
• Emphasizes personal value, acceptance and self-concept.
• Rogers emphasized unconditional positive regard and the importance of empathy and genuineness. Empathy involves understanding the feelings and experiences of others and genuine means to be open and honest with oneself and others.
• Conditions of worth limit self-worth and true self-fulfillment.

Measurement of Personality

• Psychologists use various tools:
  • Personal Interview
  • Direct Observation
  • Objective Tests: standardized methods to assess personality (e.g., MMPI, 16PF, NEO-PI-R)
  • Projective Tests: ambiguous stimuli to explore unconscious aspects of the personality (e.g., Rorschach Inkblot Test, TAT)