Psychology: Personality and Self-Esteem

Study Notes

Refers to the way we perceive ourselves
Includes ideas about our competencies and attributes
Can be positive or negative
Examples: positive self-concept about athletic bravery, negative self-concept about academic talents

Refers to the value judgment we make about ourselves
Can be high or low
Influences our behavior and relationships
Examples: children with high academic self-esteem perform better, children with high social self-esteem are more liked by peers

Refers to the belief in our ability to control life outcomes
Can be high or low
Example: people with high self-efficacy can stop smoking when they decide to do so

Developed by Sigmund Freud
Focuses on the internal functioning of the mind
Includes three levels of consciousness: conscious, preconscious, and unconscious
Uses techniques such as free association, dream analysis, and analysis of errors

According to Freud, the primary structural elements of personality are:
- Id: source of instinctual energy, seeks immediate gratification
- Ego: seeks to satisfy instinctual needs in accordance with reality
- Superego: moral branch of mental functioning, internalises parental authority

Developed by Freud
Include repression, projection, reaction formation, and rationalisation
Examples: repression of anxiety-provoking behaviors, projection of own traits onto others

Focuses on the role of rational, conscious ego processes in personality development
Emphasizes the concept of identity crisis in adolescence
Includes eight stages of psychosocial development

Includes techniques such as self-report measures, projective techniques, and behavioral analysis
Examples: MMPI, 16 PF, Rorschach Inkblot Test, Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), and Sentence Completion Test### Methods of Assessing Personality
Sentence completion tests are used to assess personality, where an individual completes a sentence to reveal their thoughts and feelings.
Examples of sentence completion tests include: "My father ___________________.", "My greatest fear is ___________________.", etc.

The interview method is commonly used to assess personality, involving talking to the person and asking specific questions.
There are two types of interviews: structured and unstructured.
Unstructured interviews aim to develop an impression about a person by asking a range of questions.
Structured interviews address specific questions and follow a set procedure to make objective comparisons.
Rating scales may be used to enhance the objectivity of evaluations.

Observation requires careful training of the observer and a detailed guideline for analyzing behaviors.
A clinical psychologist may observe a client's interaction with family members and home visitors to gain insight into their personality.
Limitations of observation and interview methods include:
- Professional training required for data collection is demanding and time-consuming.
- Maturity of the psychologist is necessary for obtaining valid data.
- The presence of the observer may influence the behavior of the person being observed.

Behavioural ratings are used to assess personality in educational and industrial settings.
Ratings are taken from people who know the individual intimately and have interacted with them over time.
The method of rating suffers from limitations such as:
- Raters may display biases that influence their judgments (halo effect).
- Raters may place individuals in the middle or extreme categories on the scale (middle category bias or extreme response bias).

The nomination method is used to obtain peer assessment and is often used with persons who have been in long-term interaction.
Each person is asked to choose one or more persons they would like to work with and specify the reason for their choices.
Nominations are analyzed to understand personality and behavioral qualities.

Situational tests provide information about how a person behaves under stressful situations.
The most commonly used test is the situational stress test, which involves a role-playing scenario where the person is instructed to perform a task with non-cooperative and interfering individuals.
The test involves a verbal report and may be a realistic or video-based scenario.