Lesson 3 Theories of Personality PDF

THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Lesson Outline The nature of personality Psychodynamic perspectives Behavioural perspectives Humanistic perspectives Biological perspectives The Nature of Personality: Defining personality What does it mean if you say that a friend has an optimistic personalit...

THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Lesson Outline The nature of personality Psychodynamic perspectives Behavioural perspectives Humanistic perspectives Biological perspectives The Nature of Personality: Defining personality What does it mean if you say that a friend has an optimistic personality? Your statement indicates that the person has a fairly consistent tendency to behave in a cheerful, hopeful, enthusiastic way, looking at the bright side of things, across a wide variety of situations. Although no one is entirely consistent in his or her behaviour, this quality of consistency across situations lies at the core of the concept of personality. Distinctiveness is also central to the concept of personality. Everyone has traits seen in other people, but each individual has her or his own distinctive set of personality traits. Each person is unique, thus, the concept of personality helps explain why people do not act alike in the same situations. The Nature of Personality We use the idea of personality to explain: 1. The stability in a person’s behaviour over time and across situations (consistency), and 2. The behavioural differences among people reacting to the same situation (distinctiveness). We can combine these ideas into the following definition: “Personality refers to an individual’s unique pattern of consistent behavioural traits.” Personality Traits When we attempt to describe an individual’s personality, we usually do so in terms of specific aspects of personality, called traits. A personality trait is a durable disposition to behave in a particular way in a variety of situations. Adjectives such as honest, dependable, moody, impulsive, suspicious, describe dispositions that represent personality traits. Most trait theories of personality assume that some traits are more basic than others. According to this notion, a small number of fundamental traits determine other, more superficial traits. For example, a person’s tendency to be impulsive, restless, irritable, and impatient might all derive from a more basic tendency to be excitable. Personality Traits 1. Extraversion: outgoing, sociable, cheerful, friendly, assertive. Referred to as positive emotionality. 2. Neuroticism: anxious, hostile, self- conscious, insecure and vulnerable. Referred to as negative emotionality. 3. Openness: curiosity, flexibility, vivid fantasy, imaginative, artistic sensitivity and unconventional attitudes. 4. Agreeableness: sympathetic, trusting, cooperative, modest and straightforward. 5. Conscientiousness: diligent, disciplined, well organised, punctual and dependable. Lesson Outline The nature of personality Psychodynamic perspectives Behavioural perspectives Humanistic perspectives Biological perspectives Psychodynamic Perspectives Psychodynamic theories include all the diverse theories descended from the work of Sigmund Freud, that focus on unconscious mental forces. Freud was a physician in neurology. Like other neurologists in his era, he often treated people troubled by nervous problems such as irrational fears, obsessions, and anxieties. Eventually he devoted himself to the treatment of mental disorders using an innovative procedure he developed, called psychoanalysis, which required lengthy verbal interactions in which Freud probed deeply into patients’ lives. Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory Although Freud’s theory became popular, many psychologists in his time were uncomfortable with this theory for at least 3 reasons: 1. He argued that unconscious forces govern human behaviour. This idea was disturbing because it suggested that people are not masters of their own minds. 2. He claimed that childhood experiences strongly determine adult personality. This notion distressed people because it suggested that people are not masters of their own destinies. 3. He said that individuals’ personalities are shaped by how they cope with their sexual urges. This assertion offended the conservative values of his time. Therefore, Freud was criticised heavily even after his work began to attract more favourable attention. Freud’s Structure of Personality Freud divided personality structure into 3 components: 1. The id 2. The ego 3. The superego. Freud’s Structure of Personality The Id The id is the primitive, instinctive component of personality that operates according to the pleasure principle. For Freud, the id houses the raw biological urges (to eat, sleep, defecate, copulate, and so on) that energises human behaviour. The id operates according to the pleasure principle, which demands immediate gratification of its urges. The id engages in primary process thinking, which is primitive, illogical, irrational, and fantasy oriented. Freud’s Structure of Personality The Ego The ego is the decision-making component of personality that operates according to the reality principle. The ego mediates between the id, with its forceful desires for immediate satisfaction, and the external social world, with its expectations and norms regarding suitable behaviour. The ego considers social realities (social norms, etiquette, rules, and customs) in deciding how to behave. The ego is guided by the reality principle, which seeks to delay gratification of the id’s urges until appropriate outlets and situations can be found. In short, to stay out of trouble, the ego often works to tame the unrestrained desires of the id. Freud argues that the ego is like a man on horseback, who has to hold in check the superior strength of the horse. In the long run, the ego wants to maximise pleasure, just like the id. Hover, the ego engages in secondary process thinking, which is relatively rational, realistic, and oriented toward problem solving. Freud’s Structure of Personality The Superego The superego is the moral component of personality that incorporates social standards about what represents right and wrong. Throughout their lives, but especially during childhood, individuals receive training about what is good and bad behaviour. Eventually social norms are internalised. This means that they truly accept certain moral principles, then they put pressure on themselves to live up to these standards. The superego emerges out of the ego at around 3-5 years of age. In some people, the superego can become irrationally demanding in its striving for moral perfection. Such people are plagued by excessive guilt Freud’s Structure of Personality According to Freud, the id, ego and superego are distributed across 3 levels of awareness. He contrasted the unconscious with the conscious and preconscious. The conscious consists of whatever one is aware of at a particular point in time. (hopefully what we are discussing right now in class!) The preconscious contains material just beneath the surface of awareness that can be easily retrieved. Ex your middle name, what you ate for dinner last night or an argument with a friend yesterday. The unconscious contains thoughts, memories, and desires that are well below the surface of conscious awareness, but that still influence one’s behaviour. Ex a forgotten trauma from childhood or hidden feelings of hostility toward a parent. Freud’s Conflict and Defence Mechanisms Freud assumed that behaviour is the outcome of an ongoing series of internal conflicts. Internal battles among the id, ego, and superego are routine because: the id wants to gratify its urges immediately, but the norms of civilised society (the superego) call on the ego to act otherwise. Freud believed that conflicts revolving around sexual and aggressive impulses are especially likely to have bigger consequences. Freud thought that sex and aggression are subject to more complicated and unclear social controls than other basic motives. The norms governing sexual and aggressive behaviour are less obvious, and people often get mixed messages about what is appropriate. Moreover, while hunger and thirst are more easily satisfied, aggression and sex cannot be gratified as easily especially in public. In the long run conflicts involving sexual and aggressive impulses (played out in the unconscious) can produce anxiety that slips to the surface of conscious awareness. This anxiety is produced by the ego worrying about the id getting out of control and doing something terrible. Freud’s Conflict and Defence Mechanisms The feeling of anxiety is very important for Freud’s theory of personality. Anxiety is distressing, so people try to get rid of this feeling. The effort to avoid anxiety often involves the use of defence mechanisms. Defence mechanisms are largely unconscious reactions that protect a person from painful emotions such as anxiety and guilt. They are mental exercises that work through self-deception. The defence mechanisms are: rationalisation, repression, projection, displacement, reaction formation, regression, and identification Freud’s Conflict and Defence Mechanisms Rationalisation: involves creating false but plausible excuses to justify unacceptable behaviour. Ex justifying eating cake because yesterday you skipped lunch. Repression: involves keeping distressing thoughts and feelings buried in the unconscious. (most important for psychoanalysis) People tend to repress desires that make them feel guilty, conflicts that make them anxious, and memories that are painful. Projection: involves attributing one’s own thoughts, feelings, or motives to another. Ex you really dislike someone and you attribute that feeling to this person thinking that she/he hates you. Freud’s Conflict and Defence Mechanisms Displacement: involves diverting emotional feelings (usually of anger) from their original source to a substitute target. Ex your boss gives you a hard time at work and you start yelling at your partner when you arrive at home for no apparent reason. Regression: involves a reverting to immature patterns of behaviour. Ex a person finding it difficult to find a job boasting about his incomparable talents and achievements. Identification: involves boosting self-esteem by forming an imaginary or real alliance with some person or group. Ex young persons usually boost their self-worth by identifying with rock stars, movie stars or famous athletes. Adults may join exclusive country clubs or civic organisations with which they identify. Freud’s Theory of Development: Psychosexual Stages Freud argued that the foundation of an individual’s personality is laid down by the age of 5. Freud formulated a stage theory of development. He emphasised how young children deal with their immature, but powerful, sexual urges (he used the term “sexual” in a very general way to refer to many physical urges and pleasures not just the urge to have sex). According to Freud, these sexual urges shift in focus as children progress from one stage to another. Psychosexual stages are developmental periods with a characteristic sexual focus that leave their mark on adult personality. Each psychosexual stage has its own unique developmental challenges or tasks. The way these challenges are handled supposedly shapes personality. The notion of fixation plays an important role in this process. Fixation is a failure to move forward from one stage to another as expected. It is caused either by excessive gratification or excessive frustration of needs at a particular stage. Either way, fixations left over from childhood affect adult personality, leading to an overemphasis on the psychosexual needs that were prominent during the fixated stage.  FREUD’S THEORY OF DEVELOPMENT: PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES Evaluating Psychodynamic Perspectives The psychodynamic approach has given us a number of far-reaching theories of personality. It demonstrated that: 1. That unconscious forces can influence behaviour, 2. That internal conflict often plays a key role in generating psychological distress, 3. That early childhood experiences can exert considerable influence over adult personality, and 4. That people do rely on defence mechanisms to reduce their experience of unpleasant emotions. Disadvantages of Psychodynamic Perspectives Poor testability: scientific investigations require testable hypotheses. Psychodynamic ideas have often been too vague to permit a clear scientific test. Concepts such as the superego, the preconscious, and collective unconscious are difficult to measure. Inadequate evidence: the empirical evidence on psychodynamic theories has often been characterised as inadequate. The approach depends too much on case studies, in which it is easy for clinicians to see what they expect to see based on their theory. Recent re-examination of Freud’s own clinical work suggest that he sometimes distorted his patient’s case histories to mesh with his theory and that there was substantial disparity between Freud’s writing and his actual therapeutic methods. Accumulated evidence on psychodynamic theories have only provide modest support for the central hypothesis. Sexism: many critics have argued that psychodynamic theories harbour a bias against women. Freud believed that females felt inferior to males because of their biological make up. He also believed that females tended to develop weaker superegos and to be more prone to neurosis than males. Overall, the psychodynamic approach has generally provided a rather male-centred viewpoint. Lesson Outline The nature of personality Psychodynamic perspectives Behavioural perspectives Humanistic perspectives Biological perspectives Behavioural Perspectives Behaviourism holds that scientific psychology should study observable behaviour. Behaviourism has been a major school of thought in psychology since 1913, when B. Watson published an influential article. Watson argued that psychology should abandon its earlier focus on the mind and mental processes and focus exclusively on overt (obvious/unconcealed) behaviour. Behaviourists show little interest in internal personality structures similar to Freud’s id, ego, and superego, because such structures cannot be observed. They prefer to think in terms of response tendencies which can be observed. Behaviourists view an individual’s personality as a collection of response tendencies that are tied to various stimulus situations. A specific situation may be associated with a number of response tendencies that vary in strength, depending on an individual’s past experience. Although behaviourists have shown relatively little interest in personality structure, they have focused extensively on personality development. Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning Classical Conditioning is a type of learning in which a neutral stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus. The process was first described back in 1903 by Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov was studying digestive processes in dogs when he discovered that the dogs could be trained to salivate in response to the sound of a tone. What was so significant about a dog salivating when a tone was rung? The key was that the tone started out as a neutral stimulus; that is, originally it did not produce the response of salivation. However, Pavlov managed to change that by pairing the tone with a stimulus (meat powder) that did produce the salivation response. Through this process, the tone acquired the capacity to trigger the response of salivation. What Pavlov had demonstrated was how learned reflexes are acquired. Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning In Pavlov’s experiment the bond between the meat powder and salivation was a natural association that was not created through conditioning. In unconditioned bonds, the unconditioned stimulus is a stimulus that evokes an unconditioned response without previous conditioning (an unlearned reaction that occurs automatically). In contrast, the link between the tone and salivation was established through conditioning. In conditioned bonds, the conditioned stimulus is a learned reaction to a conditioned stimulus that occurs because of previous conditioning. Pavlov’s discovery came to be called the conditioned reflex. Classically conditioned responses are viewed as reflexes because most of them are relatively involuntary. Responses that are a product of classical conditioning are said to be elicited. This word is meant to convey the idea that the responses are triggered automatically. Classical Conditioning in Everyday Life What is the role of classical conditioning in shaping personality in everyday live? It contributes to the acquisition of emotional responses, such as anxieties, fears, and phobias. This is a relatively small but important class of responses, as maladaptive emotional reactions underlie many adjustment problems. Although a number of processes can cause phobias, it is clear that classical conditioning is responsible for many of our irrational fears. Ex a woman horrified by bridges because her father used to make jokes while crossing an old bridge when she was young. Classical conditioning also appears to account for more realistic and moderate anxiety responses. Example a news reporter consistently getting negative feedback on his work by his bosses (the negative feedback is an unconditioned stimulus producing anxiety) who starts getting triggered as soon as he arrives at the office (because the noise and sight of the newsroom would become a conditioned stimulus triggering anxiety even when his bosses are absent). Classical Conditioning: Extinction Not every frightening experience leaves a conditioned fear in its wake. A variety of factors influence whether a conditioned response is acquired in a particular situation. Furthermore, a newly formed stimulus-response bond does not necessarily last indefinitely. The right circumstances can led to extinction: the gradual weakening and disappearance of a conditioned response tendency. What leads to extinction in classical conditioning? The consistent presentation of the conditioned stimulus alone, without the unconditioned stimulus. Ex when Pavlov consistently presented only the tone to a previously conditioned dog, the tone gradually stopped eliciting the response of salivation. How long it takes to extinguish a conditioned response depends on many factors, including the strength of the conditioned bond when extinction begins. Some conditioned responses extinguish very quickly, while others are very difficult to weaken. Skinner’s Operant Conditioning Classical Conditioning best explains reflexive responding controlled by stimuli that precede the response. However, both animals and humans make many responses that do not fit this description. Ex studying is a response to a stimulus that is yet to come (an exam). Therefore, your studying response is mainly influenced by events that follow it – its consequences. This kind of learning is called operant conditioning: a form of learning in which voluntary responses come to be controlled by their consequences. Operant conditioning governs a larger share of human behaviour than classical conditioning, since most human responses are voluntary rather than reflexive. Because they are voluntary, operant responses are said to be emitted and not elicited. Skinner’s Operant Conditioning The study of operant conditioning was led by B.F. Skinner who spent most of his career studying simple responses made by laboratory rats and pigeons. Skinner demonstrated that organisms tend to repeat those responses that are followed by favourable consequences, and they tend not to repeat those responses that are followed by neutral or unfavourable consequences. In Skinner’s theory, favourable, neutral and unfavourable consequences involve reinforcement, extinction, and punishment, respectively. The Power of Reinforcement According to Skinner, reinforcement can occur in 2 ways, which he called: positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement occurs when a response is strengthened (increases in frequency) because it is followed by the arrival of a pleasant stimulus (reward). Certain responses occur because they have led to positive outcomes in the past (ex studying for exams will usually lead to good grades!! Try it out… it works ) Positive reinforcement influences personality development in a straightforward way. Responses followed by pleasant outcomes are strengthened and tend to become habitual patterns of behaviour. Negative reinforcement occurs when a response is strengthened (increase in frequency) because it is followed by the removal of an unpleasant stimulus. Negative reinforcement is still reinforcement but the strengthening occurs because the response gets rids of an unwanted stimulus. Extinction Like the effects of classical conditioning, the effects of operant conditioning may not last forever. In both types of conditioning, extinction refers to the gradual weakening and disappearance of a response. In operant conditioning, extinction begins when a previously reinforced response stops producing positive consequences. As extinction progresses, the response typically becomes less and less frequent and eventually disappears. The response tendencies that make up one’s personality are not necessarily permanent. How quickly an operant response extinguishes depends on many factors in the person’s earlier reinforcement history. Punishment Some responses may be weakened by punishment. In Skinner’s theory, punishment occurs when a response is weakened (decreases in frequency) because it is followed by the arrival of an unpleasant stimulus. DO NOT CONFUSE THIS WITH NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT! They are different events with opposite outcomes. In negative reinforcement a response leads to the removal of something aversive, and this response is strengthened. In punishment, a response leads to the arrival of something aversive, and this response tends to be weakened. Punishment Punishment does not only involve a disciplinary procedure. Punishment occurs whenever a response leads to negative consequences. Example wearing a new dress and your friends make fun of it (most likely you will not wear the same outfit again). Or going to a restaurant and having a horrible meal (chances are you will not go to that restaurant again). We behave automatically Skinner assumes that conditioning strengthens and wakens people’s response tendencies ‘mechanically’, without their conscious participation. Skinner argued that we can explain behaviour without being concerned about individuals’ mental processes. Skinner’s ideas continue to be influential, but his mechanical view of conditioning has not gone unchallenged by other behaviourists. Bandura and Social Learning Theory Albert Bandura developed a behavioural model where cognition plays a role. Cognition refers to the thought processes involved in acquiring knowledge. Cognition is another name for the mental processes that behaviourists have traditionally shown little interest in. He and others point out that humans obviously are conscious, thinking, feeling beings. In neglecting the cognitive process, Skinner ignores the most distinctive and important feature of human behaviour. Bandura calls his modified brand of behaviourism social learning theory. Bandura agrees with the previous theories of behaviourism that personality is largely shaped through learning. However, he argues that conditioning is not a mechanical process in which people are passive participants. Individuals actively seek out and process information about their environment in order to maximise their favourable outcomes. Observational Learning Bandura argues that observational learning occurs when an organism’s responding is influenced by the observation of others, who are called models. He does not view observational learning as entirely separate from classical and operant conditioning. Instead he asserts that both classical and operant conditioning can take place indirectly when one person observes another’s conditioning. Observational Learning The theories of Skinner and Pavlov make no allowance for this type of learning. Observational learning requires that you pay attention to your friend's behaviour, that you understand its consequences, and that you store this information in memory. Attention, understanding, information and memory involve cognition, which behaviourists used to ignore. The social learning theory holds that some models are more influential than others. Both children and adults tend to imitate people they like or respect more than people they do not. People are also prone to imitate the behaviour of those they consider attractive or powerful (such as celebrities). Moreover, imitation is more likely when individuals see similarity between the model and themselves. Thus, children imitate same-gender role models. Finally, people are more likely to copy a model if they see the model’s behaviour leading to positive outcomes. Observational Learning According to social learning theory, models have great impact on personality development. Children learn to be assertive, conscientious, self- sufficient, dependable, easy going, etc by observing others behaving in these ways. Parents, teachers, relatives, siblings, and peers serve as models for young children. Bandura and his colleagues have done extensive research showing how models influence the development of aggressiveness, gender roles, and moral standards in children. Self-Efficacy Bandura believes that self-efficacy is a crucial element of personality. Self-efficacy is one’s belief about one’s ability to perform behaviours that should lead to expected outcomes. When a person’s self-efficacy is high, he or she feels confident in executing the responses necessary to earn reinforcers. When self-efficacy is low, the individual worries that the necessary responses may be beyond her or his abilities. Perceptions of self-efficacy are subjective and specific to different kinds of tasks. Ex you might feel very confident about your ability to handle difficult social situations but not sure about your ability to handle academic challenges. Although specific perceptions of self-efficacy predict behaviour best, these perceptions are influenced by general feelings of self-efficacy, which can be measured with a scale: a 23 item measure of general expectations of self-efficacy that are not tied to a specific situation. The more items you agree with, the stronger your self efficacy. High scores on the complete scale are predictive of vocational and educational success. Self-Efficacy Scale by Sherer et al. Read each statement and decide to what extent it describes you. There are no right or wrong answers. Indicate your own personal feelings and try to be as truthful as possible. A = Disagree strongly; B = Disagree moderately; C = Neither agree nor disagree; D = Agree moderately; E = Agree Strongly 1. When I make plans I am certain I can make them work. 2. If I can’t do a job the first time, I keep trying until I can. 3. If I see someone I would like to meet, I go to that person instead of waiting for him or her to come to me. 4. When I have something unpleasant to do, I stick to it until I finish it. 5. When I decide to do something, I go right to work on it. 6. When I’m trying to become friends with someone who seems uninterested at first, I don’t give up very easily. 7. Failure just makes me try harder. 8. I am a self-reliant person. Evaluating Behavioural Perspectives Behavioural theories are firmly rooted in empirical research rather than clinical intuition. Pavlov’s model has shed light on how conditioning can account for people’s sometimes troublesome emotional responses. Skinner’s work has demonstrated how personality is shaped by the consequences of behaviour. Bandura’s social learning theory has shown how people’s observations mould their characteristic behaviour. Behaviourists have also provided an account of why people are only moderately consistent in their behaviour. Ex a person who is shy in one context might be quite outgoing in another. Other models of personality largely ignore this inconsistency. Behaviourists have shown that this inconsistency occurs because people behave in ways they think will lead to reinforcement in the situation at hand. Situation factors play a significant role in controlling behaviour. Disadvantages of the Behavioural Approach Dilution of the behavioural approach: The behaviourists used to be criticised because they neglected cognitive processes, which clearly are important factors in human behaviour. The rise of social learning theory responds to this criticism. However, social learning theory undermines the foundation on which behaviours was built – the idea that psychologists should study only observable behaviour. Thus, some critics complain that behavioural theories aren’t very behavioural anymore. Overdependence on animal research: many principles in behavioural theories were discovered through research on animals. Some critics, especially humanistic theorists, argue that behaviourists depend too much on animal research and that they indiscriminately generalise from the behaviour of animals to the behaviour of humans. Lesson Outline The nature of personality Psychodynamic perspectives Behavioural perspectives Humanistic perspectives Biological perspectives Humanistic Perspectives: Criticism of Psychodynamic and Behavioural Theories Humanistic theory emerged in the 1950s as a reaction to the behavioural and psychodynamic theories. The principal criticism toward these two theories was that they were dehumanising. Freudian theory was criticised for its belief that primitive, animalistic drives dominate behaviour. Behaviourism was criticised for its preoccupation with animal research. Critics argued that both schools view people as helpless pawns (puppets) controlled by their environments and their past, with little capacity for self-direction. Many of these critics blended into a loose alliance that came to be known as humanism because of its exclusive interest in human behaviour. Humanistic Perspectives Humanism is a theoretical orientation that emphasises the unique qualities of humans, especially their free will and their potential for personal growth. Humanistic psychologists do not believe that we can learn anything of significance about the human condition from animal research. They take an optimistic view of human nature. In contrast to most psychodynamic and behavioural theorists, humanistic theorists believe that: 1. That human nature includes an innate drive toward personal growth, 2. That individuals have the freedom to chart their courses of action and are not pawns of their environment, and 3. That humans are largely conscious and rational beings who are not dominated by unconscious, irrational needs and conflicts. Humanistic theories also maintain that one’s subjective view of the world is more important than objective reality. According to this notion, if you think you are homely, or bright, or sociable, these belies will influence your behaviour more than the actual realities of how homely, bright or sociable you are. Rogers’ Person- Centred Theory Carl Rogers was one of the founders of the human potential movement, which emphasises personal growth through sensitivity training, encounter groups, and other exercises intended to help people get in touch with their true selves. He devised a new approach to psychotherapy. Like Freud, Rogers based his personality theory on his extensive therapeutic interactions with many clients. Because of his emphasis on a person’s subjective view, Rogers called his approach a person- centred theory. The Self and its Development Rogers viewed personality structure in terms of just one construct. He called this construct the self, although it is more widely known today as the self- concept. A self-concept is a collection of beliefs about one’s own nature, unique qualities, and typical behaviour. Your self-concept is your mental picture of yourself. It is a collection of self- perceptions. For example, a self-concept might include such beliefs as “I am easy-going” or “I am intelligent” or “I am hardworking”.  Rogers stressed the subjective nature of the self-concept. Your self- concept may not be entirely consistent with your actual experiences. Your self-concept may be inaccurate. Most people are prone to distort their experiences to some extent to promote a relatively favourable self-concept. For example, you may believe that you are quite bright academically, but your grade transcript might suggest otherwise. Rogers used the term incongruence to refer to the disparity between one’s self-concept and one’s actual experience. In contrast, if a person’s self concept is reasonably accurate, it is said to be congruent with reality. Everyone experiences some Incongruence/Congruence incongruence; the crucial issue is how much. Rogers maintained that a great deal of incongruence undermines a person’s psychological well-being.  In terms of personality development, Rogers was concerned with how childhood experiences promote congruence or incongruence. According to Rogers, everyone has a strong need for affection, love, and acceptance from others. Early in life, parents provide most of this affection. Rogers claimed that some parents make their affection conditional. That is, they make it depend on the child’s behaving well and living up to their expectations. When parental love seems to be conditional, children often distort Personality and block out of their self-concept those experiences that make them feel unworthy of love. At the other end of the spectrum, Rogers asserted that some Developmen parents make their affection unconditional. Their children have less need to block out unworthy experiences because they have t been assured that they are worthy of affection no matter what they do. Anxiety Rogers believed that individuals who grow up believing that affection from others is conditional go on to distort more and more of their experiences to feel worthy of acceptance from a wider array of people, making the incongruence grow. Experiences that threaten people’s personal views of themselves are the principal cause of troublesome anxiety. The more inaccurate your self-concept, the more likely you are to have experiences that clash with your self perceptions. People with highly incongruent self-concepts are specially likely to be plagued by recurrent anxiety. Anxiety and Defence To ward off this anxiety, such people often behave defensively. Thus, they ignore, deny, and twist reality to protect their self-concept. Consider a young woman who, like most of us, considers herself a “nice person”. Let us suppose that in reality she is rather selfish and hard headed, and she gets feedback from both boyfriends and girlfriends that she is self-centred. How might she react in order to protect her self-concept? She might ignore or block out those occasions when she behaves selfishly and then deny the accusations by her friends that she is self-centred. She might also attribute her girlfriends’ negative comments to their jealousy of her good looks and blame boyfriends’ negative remarks on their disappointment because she won’t get more serious with them. Meanwhile, she might start doing some kind of charity work to show everyone (including herself) that she really is a nice person. Rogers also emphasised the importance of psychological health. He argued that psychological health is rooted in a congruent self-concept. In turn, congruence is rooted in a sense of personal worth, which stems from a childhood saturated with unconditional affection from parents and others. Maslow’s Theory of Self- Actualisation Abraham Maslow, like Rogers, argued that psychology should take a greater interest in the nature of the healthy personality, instead of dwelling on the causes of disorders. He said that: “to over simplify the matter somewhat, it is as if Freud supplied to us the sick half of psychology and we must now fill it out with the healthy half.” Maslow’s key contributions were his analysis of how motives are organised hierarchically and his descriptions of the healthy personality. Hierarchy of Needs Maslow proposed that human motives are organised into a hierarchy of needs: a systematic arrangement of needs, according to priority, in which basic needs must be met before less basic needs are aroused. This hierarchical arrangement is usually portrayed as a pyramid. The needs toward the bottom of the pyramid, such as physiological or security needs, are the most basic. Higher levels in the pyramid consist of progressively less basic needs. When a person manages to satisfy a level of needs reasonably well (complete satisfaction is not necessary), this satisfaction activates needs at the next level. Like Rogers, Maslow argued that humans have an innate drive toward personal growth – that is, evolution toward a higher state of being. Thus, he described the needs in the uppermost reaches of his hierarchy as growth needs. These include the needs for knowledge, understanding, order, and aesthetic beauty. Hierarchy of Needs Need for self- Progression actualisation: realisation if lower of potential needs are satisfied Aesthetic needs: order and beauty Cognitive needs: knowledge and Regression if understanding lower needs Esteem needs: achievement and are not gaining of recognition being Belongingness and love needs: affiliation satisfied and acceptance Safety and security needs: long-term survival and stability Physiological needs: hunger, thirst, and so forth Self- Actualisation Foremost among the growth needs is the need for self-actualisation, which is the need to fulfil one’s potential; it is the highest need in Maslow’s motivational hierarchy. Maslow summarised this concept with a simple statement: “What a man can be, he must be.” According to Maslow, people will be frustrated if they are unable to fully utilise their talents or pursue their true interests. For example, if you have great musical talent but must work as an accountant, or if you have scholarly interests but must work as a sales clerk, your need for self-actualisation is frustrated. The Healthy Personality Because of his interest in self-actualisation, Maslow set out to discover the nature of the healthy personality. He tried to identify people of exceptional mental health so that he could investigate their characteristics. In one case, he used psychological tests and interviews to sort out the healthiest 1% of a sizable population of college students. He also studied admired historical figures and personal acquaintances characterised by superior adjustment. Over a period of years, he accumulated his case histories and gradually sketched a picture of ideal psychological health. Maslow called people with exceptionally healthy personalities self-actualising persons because of their commitment to continued personal growth. He identified various traits characteristic of self-actualising people. In short, he found that self-actualisers are accurately tuned in to reality and that they are at peace with themselves.  Evaluating Humanistic Perspectives The humanists added a refreshing perspective to the study of personality. Their argument that a person’s subjective views may be more important than objective reality has proven compelling. Today, even behavioural theorists have begun to consider subjective personal factors such as beliefs and expectations. The humanistic approach also deserves credit for making the self- concept an important construct in psychology. Finally, the humanists have often been applauded for focusing attention on the issue of what constitutes a healthy personality.  Poor testability: like psychodynamic theorists, the humanists have been criticised for proposing hypothesis that are difficult to put to a scientific test. Humanistic concepts such as personal growth and self- actualisation are difficult to define and measure. Unrealistic view of human nature: critics also Disadvantages charge that the humanists have been overly optimistic in their assumptions about human nature and of the unrealistic in their descriptions of the healthy personality (it sounds too perfect). Humanistic portraits of psychological health are unrealistic. Humanistic Inadequate evidence: humanistic theories are based primarily on discerning but uncontrolled observations Perspectives in clinical settings. Case studies can be valuable in generating ideas, but hey are ill-suited for building a solid database. Moreover, experimental research is needed to catch up with the theorising in the humanistic camp. This is precisely the opposite of the situation that you’ll encounter in the next section, on biological perspectives, where more theorising is needed to catch up with the research. Lesson Outline The nature of personality Psychodynamic perspectives Behavioural perspectives Humanistic perspectives Biological perspectives Biological Perspectives The biological perspectives aim at exploring the hereditary roots of personality. Research conducted in this area focuses primarily in observing the behaviour of identical twins separated early in life. Ex 1: Jim Lewis and Jim Springer were found to have been leading very similar lives even though they had been separated four weeks after their birth (they were born in 1940 and were only reunited n 1979). They discovered they drove the same blue car model, smoked the same cigarette brand, chewed their fingernails, and owned dogs named Toy. They go on vacation to the same beach in Florida, and when tested for personality traits they responded almost exactly the same. Studying identical twins Ex 2: Identical twins Oscar Stohr and Jack Yufe were separated soon after birth. Oskar was sent to a Nazi-run school in Czechoslovakia, while Jack was raised in a Jewish home on a Caribbean island. When they were reunited for the first time during middle age, they both showed up wearing similar mustaches, haircuts, shirts, and wire- rimmed glasses. Ex 3: A pair of previously separated female twins both arrived at Minneapolis airport wearing seven rings on their fingers. One had a son named Richard Andrew, and the other had a son named Andrew Richard! Could personality be largely inherited? These anecdotal reports of striking resemblances between identical twins reared apart certainly raise this possibility. Eysenck’s Theory Born in Germany but fled to London during Nazi rule. He went on to become one of Britain’s most influential psychologists. According to Eysenck, “Personality is determined to a large extent by a person’s genes.” How is heredity linked to personality in Eysenck’s model? In part, he explains this through conditioning concepts borrowed from behavioural theory. Eysenck argues that some people can be conditioned more readily than others because of inherited differences in their physiological functioning. These variations in ‘conditionability’ are assumed to influence the personality traits that people acquire through conditioning. Eysenck’s Theory Eysenck views personality structure as a hierarchy of traits. Numerous superficial traits are derived from a smaller number of more basic traits, which are in turn derived from a handful of fundamental higher-order traits. Extraversion- introversion He was interested in explaining variations in extraversion-introversion traits. He proposed that introverts tend to have higher levels of physiological arousal than extroverts. This higher arousal might motivate them to avoid social situations that will further elevate their arousal and makes them more easily conditioned than extraverts. People who condition easily acquire more conditioned inhibitions than others. These inhibitions, coupled with their relatively higher arousal, make them more bashful, tentative, and uneasy in social situations. This social discomfort leads them to turn inward. Hence, they become introverted. Can this be proved? There is some research that supports Eysenck’s explanation of the origins of introversion, but the evidence is rather inconsistent. Many studies have found that introverts tend to exhibit higher levels of arousal than extraverts, but many studies have also failed to find the predicted differences. Part of the problem is that the concept of physiological arousal has turned out to be much more multifaceted and difficult to measure than Eysenck originally anticipated. Still theorists of many persuasions agree with Eysenck that introversion and closely related traits (shyness, sensitivity, inhibited temperament) seem to have some sort of physiological basis. Recent Research in Behavioural Genetics Recent twin studies have provided impressive support for Eysenck’s hypothesis that personality is largely inherited. In twin studies researchers assess hereditary influence by comparing the resemblance of identical twins and fraternal twins on a trait. The logic underlying this comparison is as follows: 1. Identical twins emerge from one egg that splits, so that their genetic makeup is exactly the same (100% overlap). 2. Fraternal twins result when two eggs are fertilised simultaneously; their genetic overlap is only 50%. 3. Both types of twins usually grow up in the same home at the same time, exposed to the same relatives, neighbours, peers, teachers, events and so forth. 4. Thus, both kinds of twins normally develop under similar environmental conditions, but identical twins share more genetic kinship. 5. If sets of identical twins exhibit more personality resemblance than sets of fraternal twins, this greater similarity is probably attributable to heredity rather than to environment. Recent Research in Behavioural Genetics The results of twin studies can be used to estimate the heritability of personality traits and other characteristics. A heritability ratio is an estimate of the proportion of trait variability in a population that is determined by variations in genetic inheritance. Heritability can be estimated for any trait. For example, the heritability of height is estimated to be around 90%, whereas the heritability of intelligence appears to be about 50% to 70%. The accumulating evidence from twin studies suggests that heredity exerts considerable influence over many personality traits. Example, in research on the Big Five personality traits, identical twins have been found to be much more similar than fraternal twins on all five traits. Nature-Nurture debate Some sceptics still wonder whether identical twins might exhibit more personality resemblance than fraternal twins because they are raised more similarly. In other words, they wonder whether environmental factors (rather than heredity) could be responsible for identical twins’ greater similarity. This question can be answered only by studying identical twins who have been reared apart. Which is why the twin studies we have seen before are so important. Identical twins reared apart were found to display more personality resemblance than fraternal twins reared together. This puts into question how much a shared environment impacts on personality. The Evolutionary Approach to Personality In the realm of biological approaches to personality, the most recent development has been the emergence of an evolutionary perspective. Evolutionary psychologists assert that the patterns of behaviour seen in a species are products of evolution in the same way that anatomical characteristics are. Evolutionary psychology examines behavioural processes in terms of their adaptive value for members of a species over the course of many generations. The basic premise of evolutionary psychology is that natural selection favours behaviours that enhance organisms’ reproductive success: i.e. passing on genes to the next generation. Thus, evolutionary analyses of personality focus on how various traits – and the ability to recognise these traits in others – may have contributed to reproductive fitness in ancestral human populations.  Although evolutionary analyses of personality are pretty speculative, recent research in behavioural genetics has provided convincing evidence that biological factors help shape personality. Nonetheless, we must take note of some weaknesses in biological approaches to personality: Problems with estimates of hereditary influence: efforts to carve personality into genetic and Evaluating environmental components with statistics are ultimately artificial. The effects of heredity and environment are twisted together in complicated Biological interactions that can’t be separated cleanly. Although heritability ratios sound precise, they are estimates based on a complicated chain of inference that are Perspectives subject to debate. Lack of adequate theory: at present there is no comprehensive biological theory of personality. Eysenck’s model does not provide a systematic overview of how biological factors govern personality development (and it was never intended to). Evolutionary analyses of personality are even more limited in scope. Additional theoretical work is needed to catch up with recent empirical findings on the biological basis for personality. Theoretical Diversity We have seen how in Psychology as a discipline, we have a number of different theories attempting to explain personality. Why do we have so many competing points of view? One reason is that no single theory can adequately explain everything that we know about personality. Sometimes different theories focus on different aspects of behaviour. Sometimes there is simply more than one way to look at something. Example, if a business executive lashes out at her employees with stinging criticism, is she releasing hidden aggressive urges (a psychoanalytic view)? Is she making a habitual response to the stimulus of incompetent work (a behavioural view)? Is she trying to act a tough boss because that’s a key aspect of her self-concept (a humanistic view)? Or is she exhibiting an inherited tendency to be aggressive (a biological view)?  In some cases, all four explanations might have some validity. In short, it is very simplistic to expect that one view has to be right while all others are wrong. It is best to think of the various theoretical orientations in psychology as complementary viewpoints , each with its own advantages and Theoretical limitations. Differing theoretical perspectives often inspire Diversity fruitful research and how they sometimes converge on a more complete understanding of behaviour than could be achieved by any one perspective alone.