Week 8 Personality PDF - NU sikoloEASTa

NU sikoloEASTa: Psychology Society NU East Ortigas _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Week 8 - Personality...

NU sikoloEASTa: Psychology Society NU East Ortigas _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Week 8 - Personality At the end of this module, you are expected to: 1. Understand personality from different psychological perspectives. 2. Briefly discuss the topic about personality from different theories: Psychodynamic, Behavioral and Social Learning, Humanistic Personality, and Trait Theories 3. Explain different assessments to measure personality. Personality The word ‘personality’ is one of the most common terms we use all the time, not just within psychological concepts but even within our common conversation. When describing people to others, we try to convey a sense of their personalities. Personality is defined as a person’s characteristic thinking, feeling, and acting patterns. As discussed in previous modules, we have different psychological approaches to analyzing concepts. As you might expect, psychologists from each of the different perspectives have different ideas about how an individual’s personality is created, and this module will give you the basic concept that you need to know in order to understand personality from different psychological perspectives. Let us begin with Psychoanalytic Theory. Psychodynamic Theories Psychoanalytic Perspective - Freudian Theory Figure 1: Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud is profoundly one of the most influential psychologists in history. Ask 100 people on the street to name a notable deceased psychologist, suggests Keith Week 8_Personality 1  NU sikoloEASTa: Psychology Society NU East Ortigas _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Stanovich (1996, p. 1), and “Freud would be the winner hands down.” And so, what did he teach us in terms of understanding human personality? Sigmund Freud’s treatment of emotional disorders led him to believe that they spring from unconscious dynamics or a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories, information processing of which we are unaware, which he sought to analyze through free associations and dreams. A method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing. He referred to his theory and techniques as psychoanalysis, a theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions. In Freud’s view, human personality—including its emotions and strivings—arises from a conflict between impulse and restraint—between our aggressive, pleasure- seeking biological urges and our internalized social controls over these urges. Freud believed personality is the result of our efforts to resolve this basic conflict—to express these impulses in ways that bring satisfaction without also bringing guilt or punishment. He saw personality as composed of pleasure-seeking psychic impulses (the id), a reality-oriented executive (the ego), and an internalized set of ideals (the superego). Personality Structure - Provinces of the Mind Id Contains a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. The id operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification Ego The largely conscious, “executive” part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality. The ego operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id’s desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain. Superego The part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment, the conscience and for future aspirations. Tensions between the demands of the id and superego cause anxiety. Freud proposed that the ego protects itself with defense mechanisms—tactics that reduce or redirect anxiety by distorting reality. Here are some common examples: Week 8_Personality 2  NU sikoloEASTa: Psychology Society NU East Ortigas _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Sigmund Freud believed that one’s personality was essentially set in early childhood. He believed that children develop through, and that our personalities are influenced by how we have resolved conflicts associated with these stages and whether we have remained fixated at any stage. Freud’s theory has five stages: the oral stage, the anal stage, the phallic stage, the latency stage, and the adult genital stage. Freud believed that sexual urges were an important determinant of people’s personality development. Each of the stages is named for the part of the body from which people derive sexual pleasure during the stage or the erogenous zone. Week 8_Personality 3  NU sikoloEASTa: Psychology Society NU East Ortigas _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Freud’s Psychosexual Stages Stage Focus/ Pleasure Conflict/Fixation source Oral centers on the Weaning away from mother's breast mouth—sucking, (0–18 months) Oral fixation has two possible outcomes. biting, chewing The Oral receptive personality is preoccupied with eating/drinking and reduces tension through oral activity such as eating, drinking, smoking, biting nails. They are generally passive, needy and sensitive to rejection. They will easily 'swallow' other people's ideas. The Oral aggressive personality is hostile and verbally abusive to others, using mouth- based aggression. Anal focuses on bowel Toilet training and bladder (18–36 months) elimination; coping Anal fixation, which may be caused by too much with demands for punishment during toilet training, has two possible control outcomes. The Anal retentive personality is stingy, with a compulsive seeking of order and tidiness. The person is generally stubborn and perfectionist. The Anal expulsive personality is an opposite of the anal retentive personality, and has a lack of self-control, being generally messy and careless. Phallic Pleasure (3– Zone is the genitals; At the age of 5 or 6, near the end of the phallic stage, 6 years) coping with boys experience the Oedipus Complex whilst girls experience the Electra conflict, which is a process Week 8_Personality 4  NU sikoloEASTa: Psychology Society NU East Ortigas _______________________________________________________________________________________________ incestuous sexual through which they learn to identify with the same feelings. gender parent by acting as much like that parent as possible. Boys suffer a castration anxiety, where the son believes his father knows about his desire for his mother and hence fears his father will castrate him. He thus represses his desire and defensively identifies with his father. Girls suffer a penis envy, where the daughter is initially attached to her mother, but then a shift of attachment occurs when she realizes she lacks a penis. She desires her father whom she sees as a means to obtain a penis substitute (a child). She then represses her desire for her father and incorporates the values of her mother and accepts her inherent 'inferiority' in society. Latency Dormant sexual During which they push all their sexual feelings out of feelings conscious awareness, repression. During latency, (6 to puberty) children turn their attention to other issues. They start school, where they learn both how to interact with others and a myriad of academic skills. Genital (puberty on) Maturation of People remain in this stage for the rest of their lives sexual interests and seek sexual pleasure through sexual relationships with others. Neo-Freudians Perspective Week 8_Personality 5  NU sikoloEASTa: Psychology Society NU East Ortigas _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Neo-Freudians Alfred Adler, Karen Horney, and Carl Jung accepted many of Freud’s ideas. However, Jung proposed that the unconscious consists of two parts: the personal and collective unconscious. The personal unconscious is more similar to Freud’s view of the unconscious. Jung believed that an individual’s personal unconscious contains painful or threatening memories and thoughts the person does not wish to confront; he termed these complexes. Jung contrasted the personal unconscious with the collective unconscious. According to Jung, the collective unconscious is passed down through the species and explains certain similarities we see between cultures. The collective unconscious contains archetypes that Jung defined as universal concepts we all share as part of the human species. For example, the shadow represents the evil side of personality and the persona is people’s creation of a public image. Jung suggested that the widespread existence of certain fears, such as fear of the dark and the importance of the circle in many cultures, provides evidence for archetypes. Adler and Horney argued that we have motives other than sex and aggression and that the ego’s conscious control is greater than Freud’s idea. Adler is called an ego psychologist because he downplayed the importance of the unconscious and focused on the conscious role of the ego. Adler believed that people are motivated by the fear of failure, which he termed inferiority, and the desire to achieve, which he called superiority. Adler is also known for his work on the importance of birth order in shaping personality. Behavioral and Social Learning Theories The social-learning/cognitive perspective applies principles of learning, cognition, and social behavior to personality, with particular emphasis on the ways in which our personality influences and is influenced by our interaction with the environment. It assumes reciprocal determinism—that personal-cognitive factors interact with the environment to influence people’s behavior. Radical behaviorists like B. F. Skinner take a very different approach to personality. In fact, these theorists argue that behavior is personality and that the way most people think of the term personality is meaningless. According to this view, personality is determined by the environment. The reinforcement contingencies to which one is exposed create one’s personality. Therefore, by changing people’s environments, behaviorists believe we can alter their personalities. Radical behaviorists are criticized for failing to recognize the importance of cognition. Today, many psychologists call themselves cognitive-behavioral or social-cognitive theorists. They tend to believe that the best way to predict someone’s behavior in a given situation is to observe that Week 8_Personality 6  NU sikoloEASTa: Psychology Society NU East Ortigas _______________________________________________________________________________________________ person’s behavior in similar situations. By studying how people vary in their perceived locus of control (external or internal), researchers have found that personal control helps people cope with life. Research on learned helplessness evolved into research on the effects of optimism and pessimism, which led to a broader positive psychology movement. Humanistic Perspective Humanistic psychologists sought to turn psychology’s attention toward the growth potential of healthy people. Humanistic theories of personality view people as innately good and able to determine their destinies through free will. These psychologists stress the importance of people’s subjective experiences and feelings. They focus on the importance of a person’s self-concept and self-esteem. Self-concept is a person’s global feeling about himself or herself. Self-concept develops through a person’s involvement with others, especially parents. Self-esteem is used to describe a person's overall sense of self-worth or personal value. Someone with a positive self- concept is likely to have high self-esteem. Figure 3: Carl Rogers (left) and Abraham Maslow (right) Abraham Maslow believed that if basic human needs are fulfilled, people will strive toward self-actualization. To nurture growth in others, Carl Rogers advised being genuine, accepting, and empathic. In this climate of unconditional positive regard, he Week 8_Personality 7  NU sikoloEASTa: Psychology Society NU East Ortigas _______________________________________________________________________________________________ believed, people can develop a deeper self-awareness and a more realistic and positive self-concept. Both of these men believed that people are motivated to reach their full potential or self-actualize. Maslow developed the hierarchy of needs that you read about in the motivation module. Self-actualization sits atop this hierarchy. Rogers created self-theory. He believed that although people are innately good, they require certain things from their interactions with others, most importantly, unconditional positive regard, in order to self-actualize. Unconditional positive regard is a kind of blanket acceptance. Parents who make their children feel as if they are loved no matter what provide unconditional positive regard. However, parents who make their children feel as if they will be loved only if they earn high grades or have the right kind of friends send their children the message that their love is conditional. Just as Maslow believes one needs to satisfy the needs of lower on the hierarchy in order to move upward, Rogers believes that people must feel accepted in order to make strides toward self-actualization. Humanistic theories of personality are criticized for putting forth an overly optimistic theory of human nature. If people are innately good and striving to do their best, it is difficult to explain the number and range of terrible acts they commit. Trait Perspective Rather than explain the hidden aspects of personality, trait theorists attempt to describe our stable and enduring characteristics. Through factor analysis, researchers have isolated important dimensions of personality. Genetic predispositions influence many traits. Trait theorists believe that we can describe people’s personalities by specifying their main characteristics or traits. These characteristics (for example, honesty, laziness, ambition) are thought to be stable and to motivate behavior in keeping with the trait. In other words, when we describe someone as friendly, we mean that the person acts in a friendly manner across different situations and times. Some trait theorists believe that the same basic set of traits can be used to describe all people’s personalities. Such a belief characterizes a nomothetic approach. For instance, Hans Eyesenck believed that we could describe their personalities by classifying all people along an introversion-extraversion scale and a stable-unstable scale. Raymond Cattell developed the 16 PF (personality factor) test to measure what he believed were the 16 basic traits present in all people, though different degrees. More recently, Paul Costa and Robert McCrae have proposed that personality can be described using the big five personality traits: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness to experience, and emotional stability (or neuroticism). Extraversion refers to how outgoing or shy someone is. Agreeableness has to do with how easy to get along with someone is. People high on the conscientiousness dimension Week 8_Personality 8  NU sikoloEASTa: Psychology Society NU East Ortigas _______________________________________________________________________________________________ tend to be hardworking, responsible, and organized. Openness to new experiences is related to one’s creativity, curiosity, and willingness to try new things. Finally, emotional stability has to do with how consistent one’s mood is. One might wonder how psychologists can reduce the vast number of different terms we use to describe people to 16 or five basic traits. Factor analysis is a statistical technique used to accomplish this feat. Factor analysis allows researchers to use correlations between traits in order to see which traits cluster together as factors. One could argue that these traits represent a common factor that we could name conscientiousness if a strong correlation is found between punctuality, diligence, and neatness. Other trait theorists, called idiographic theorists, assert that using the same set of terms to classify all people is impossible. Rather, they argue, each person needs to be seen in terms of what few traits best characterize his or her unique self. For example, while honesty may be a very important trait in describing one person, it may not be at all important in describing someone else. Gordon Allport believed that although there were common traits useful in describing all people, a full understanding of someone’s personality was impossible without looking at their personal traits. Allport differentiated between three different types of personal traits. He suggested that a small number of people are so profoundly influenced by one trait that it plays a pivotal role in virtually everything they do. He referred to such traits as cardinal dispositions. Allport posited that there are two other types of dispositions, central and secondary, that can be used to describe personality. As their names indicate, central dispositions influence personality more than secondary dispositions. Central dispositions are more often apparent and describe more significant aspects of personality. Personality Assessment As with any other kind of testing, reliability and validity are a concern in personality assessment. Reliability is often likened to consistency; reliable measures yield consistent, similar results even if the results are not accurate. Validity, on the other hand, means accuracy; a valid test measures what it purports to measure. Not surprisingly, psychologists’ methods of assessing people’s personalities differ depending upon their theoretical orientation. Some of the most common ways of measuring personality are described below, along with the types of psychologists most likely to use them. Projective Test Week 8_Personality 9  NU sikoloEASTa: Psychology Society NU East Ortigas _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Figure 4: Sample of Rorschach Inkblots Projective tests are often used by psychoanalysts. They involve asking people to interpret ambiguous stimuli. For instance, the Rorschach inkblot test involves showing people a series of inkblots and asking them to describe what they see. Figure 5: Sample of Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) consists of a number of cards, each of which contains a picture of a person or people in an ambiguous situation. People are asked to describe what is happening in the pictures. Since both the inkblots and TAT cards are ambiguous, psychoanalysts reason that people’s interpretations reflect their unconscious thoughts. People are thought to project their unconscious thoughts onto ambiguous stimuli. For instance, someone who is struggling with his or her unconscious aggressive impulses may be more likely to describe violent themes. Scoring projective tests, however, is a complicated process. For instance, the Rorschach test looks not only at the content people describe but also at the way they hold and turn the card and whether they focus on the whole inkblot or just a portion of it. Many people believe that projective tests are particularly unreliable because they rely extensively on the therapists’ interpretations. Week 8_Personality 10  NU sikoloEASTa: Psychology Society NU East Ortigas _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Self-report inventories A far simpler and more widespread personality assessment method is self-report inventories. Self-report inventories are essentially questionnaires that ask people to provide information about themselves. Many different kinds of psychologists, such as humanistic psychologists, trait theorists, and cognitive-behavioral psychologists, might use self-report inventories as one means by which to gather data about someone. These kinds of tests are often referred to as objective personality tests since people’s scores are determined simply by their answers and are thus unlikely to be affected by evaluator bias. An interview, on the other hand, is a subjective assessment. Although such subjectivity decreases reliability and opens the door to bias, some believe that subjective measures yield richer and more valid data. Figure 6: Minnesota multiphasic personality inventory (MMPI-2) The Minnesota multiphasic personality inventory (MMPI-2) is one of the most widely used self-report instruments. A potential problem with such inventories is that people may not be completely honest in answering the questions. Some tests have “lie scales” built in to detect when people are not honest. Radical behaviorists would reject all the above methods, arguing that observing their behavior is the only way to measure people’s personality. Again, a number of other kinds of psychologists, particularly cognitive-behavioral ones, would utilize observations of a person’s behavior as one way to gather data. People are naturally curious about what various personality assessments will say about them. Unfortunately, this curiosity makes people susceptible to being deceived. Research has demonstrated that people have the tendency to see themselves in vague, stock descriptions of personality. This phenomenon, the Barnum effect, is named after the famous circus owner P. T. Barnum, who once said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Astrologers, psychics, and fortune-tellers take advantage of the Barnum effect in their work. Personality has proved difficult to define, much less measure, so be skeptical when confronted with people who offer you quick, pat descriptions of your life or future. Week 8_Personality 11  NU sikoloEASTa: Psychology Society NU East Ortigas _______________________________________________________________________________________________ References and Supplementary Materials Books and Journals 1. Feist, G., & Rosenberg, E. Psychology: Perspectives and Connections. McGraw-Hill, ISBN-10: 0077861876 2. Myers, David G, C. Nathan DeWall. Psychology Twelfth Edition. New York: Worth Publishers Online Supplementary Reading Materials 1. The Major Personality Perspectives https://www.verywellmind.com/personality-perspectives-2795950 http://mrmcnabb.weebly.com/5-major-perspectives-in-psychology.html 2. Is It Impossible To Change Your Personality Past The Age Of 30? https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/personality-change-past-age-30-is-it- possible-psychology-kirsten-godfrey-david-buss-carol-rothwell-a7757866.html 3. The New Era of Positive Psychology by Martin Seligman (Transcript) https://singjupost.com/the-new-era-of-positive-psychology-by-martin-seligman- transcript/ Online Instructional Videos : 1. Measuring Personality: Crash Course Psychology #22 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUrV6oZ3zsk&vl=en 2. Rorschach & Freudians: Crash Course Psychology #21 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUELAiHbCxc 3. Who are you, really? The puzzle of personality https://www.ted.com/talks/brian_little_who_are_you_really_the_puzzle_of_person ality?language=en Week 8_Personality 12