Chapter 13 Personality PDF

Chapter 13 Personality Michelle Dixon Palmer Personality How would you define what it is? Overview: Ways of Looking at the Self ▪ Freudian/Psychodynamic views of the Unconscious parts of the self ▪ Humanistic view of the Self-Actualizing Person ▪ Examining Traits, including the Big Five Fac...

Chapter 13 Personality Michelle Dixon Palmer Personality How would you define what it is? Overview: Ways of Looking at the Self ▪ Freudian/Psychodynamic views of the Unconscious parts of the self ▪ Humanistic view of the Self-Actualizing Person ▪ Examining Traits, including the Big Five Factors/Dimensions ▪ Social and Cognitive Influences on Personality ▪ Self-Esteem and Self-Serving Bias These different perspectives and concepts can help us examine: ▪ What we have in common: Personality components, basic drives, stages of development, categories of traits ▪ Ways in which we differ: individual paths through stages, ways of managing basic drives and  Personality: An individual’s characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors [persisting over time and across situations] Agreeable, Open Introverted Naïve Sensitive, Contentedly Reactive Neurotically Conscientious lethargic irritable Freud’s Path to Developing Psychonalysis ▪ Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) started his career as a Vienna physician. ▪ He decided to explore how mental and physical symptoms could be caused by purely psychological factors. ▪ He became aware that many powerful mental processes operate in the unconscious, without our awareness. ▪ This insight grew into a theory of the structure of human personality and its development. ▪ His name for his theory and his therapeutic technique: psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytic Theory Had great influence on our culture & fostered popular concepts. (e.g., Freudian slip) However, some of Freud’s theories have turned out to be somewhat or fully wrong. Psychoanalytic Theory (Debunked) Two impulses/drives lay under all behavior: Sexuality Aggression Psychoanalytic Theory The unconscious: motivating force behind behavior Psychoanalysis: treatment therapy involving free association Psychoanalytic Theory No one could completely hide one’s unconscious desires. Revealed in: dreams, Freudian slips, and behaviors called defense mechanisms. Psychoanalytic Theory Components of Personality: Id Ego Superego Psychoanalytic Theory Components of Personality: Id: instincts & excitations Ego: rational part that interacts with world; mediator Superego: internalized representation of parents/authority figures; moral authority Psychoanalytic Theory Id’s impulses have to be largely kept hidden. Because ego can never succeed fully, humans forever burdened by anxiety.  Unfalsifiability: He developed theories that are hard to prove or disprove: can we test to see if there is Unrepresentati Post facto an id? ve sampling: explanations (hindsight bias) Flaws He did not build rather than in his theories on a broad sample of predictions: Whether or not a Freud’s observations; he situation makes scientif described all of humanity based you anxious or not, you could ic on people with either be fixated method Biased unusual psychological or repressing. observations: problems. He based theories on his patients, which may give him an incentive to see them as unwell before his treatment. Freud’s Legacy ▪ Freud benefitted psychology, giving us ideas about: the impact of childhood on adulthood, and human irrationality, sexuality, evil, defenses, anxiety, and the tension between our biological selves and our socialized/civilized selves. ▪ Most colleges have courses related to psychoanalysis outside of psychology departments! ▪ Freud gave us specific concepts we still use often, such as ego, projection, regression, rationalization, dream interpretation, inferiority “complex,” oral fixation, sibling rivalry, and Freudian slips. Not bad for someone writing over 100 years ago with no technology for seeing inside the brain. Psychoanalytic Theory Projective test by Hermann Rorschach. Identify people’s unconscious feelings by interpreting blots. Rorschach test: “what do you see in these inkblots?” Problem: Results don’t link well to traits (low validity) and different raters get different results (low reliability). Psychoanalytic Theory Mixed reviews about psychoanalytic theory Psychoanalytic psychologists still practicing today. Confirmed: much of our cognition happens outside our awareness. Psychoanalytic Theory Gave rise to ego psychology (Horney, Bowlby, Erikson) Less focus on sexual drive More focus on anxiety in interpersonal relationships  Humanistic Theories of Personality Abraham Carl Maslow Rogers ▪ In the 1960’s, some psychologists began to reject: ▪ the dehumanizing ideas in Behaviorism, and ▪ the dysfunctional view of people in Psychodynamic thought. ▪ Maslow and Rogers sought to offer a “Third Force” in psychology: The Humanistic Perspective. ▪ They studied healthy people rather than people with mental health problems. ▪ Humanism: focusing on the conditions that support healthy personal growth. Humanistic Theories If other needs are met, we seek self- actualization and self- transcendence. Goals based on studying noteworthy people. Maslow: The Self-Actualizing Person In Maslow’s view, people are motivated to keep moving up a hierarchy of needs, growing beyond getting basic needs met. At the top of this hierarchy are self-actualization, fulfilling one’s potential, and self-transcendence. In this ideal state, a personality includes being self-aware, self- accepting, open, ethical, spontaneous, loving caring, focusing on a greater mission than social acceptance.  Rogers’ Person-Centered Perspective Rogers agreed that people have natural tendencies to grow, become healthy, move toward self-actualization Genuineness: Being honest, direct, not using a façade. The 3 conditions Acceptance, a.k.a that facilitate Unconditional Positive growth (just as Regard: acknowledging water, nutrients, feelings, even problems, and light facilitate without passing judgment; the growth of a honoring, not devaluing. tree): Empathy: tuning into the feelings of others, showing your efforts to understand, listening well (NOT sympathy: people need to be heard, not to be pitied) Humanistic Theories Environmental variables fostering positive growth & self-love: Genuineness Acceptance Empathy Studied self-concept: thoughts & feelings we hold about ourselves. Devised questionnaires but preferred open and detailed interviews. Humanistic Theories Mixed reviews. Based on researchers’ subjective values. Life fulfilling to one’s self- growth can turn too much focus inward, lead to narcissism, selfishness, & self-indulgence. Seen as too “positive”, not addressing dark realities of people’s potential. Assessing the Self in Humanistic Psychology: Ideal Self vs. Actual Self Questionnaires can be used, but some prefer open interview. Questions about actual self: How do you see yourself? What are you like? ▪ In the humanistic perspective, the core What do you value? of personality is the self-concept, our What are you sense of our nature and identity capable of? ▪ People are happiest with a self-concept If the answers do that matches their ideal self not match the ideal, ▪ Thus, it is important to ask people to self-acceptance may describe themselves as they are and as be needed, not just they ideally would like to be. self-change Critiquing the Humanist Perspective Too much self-centeredness? Some say that the pursuit of self- concept, an accepting ideal self, and self-actualization encouraged not self- transcendence but self- indulgence, self-centeredness. Humanist response: The therapist using this approach should not encourage selfishness, and should keep in mind that that “positive regard” means “acceptance,” not “praise. Trait Theories Popular now Trait: Enduring personal characteristic that underlies category of behaviors and thoughts. Trait Theories stable over time stable over situations, though specific behavior may vary Demonstrates ways of behaving E.g., shyness “tends to be quiet”, “is reserved”, “is inhibited”, “is not outgoing”… Traits: Rooted in Biology? ▪ Brain: Extraverts tend to have low levels of brain activity, making it hard to suppress impulses, and leading them to seek stimulation. ▪ Body: The trait of shyness appears to be related to high autonomic system reactivity, an easily triggered alarm system. ▪ Genes: Selective breeding of animals seems to create lifelong differences in traits such as aggression, sociability, or calmness, suggesting genetic roots for these traits. Trait Theories Personality inventory: investigates several different traits. Popular personality inventory: Big Five Inventory or BFI. Trait Theories “Big Five” “Factor” traits or big categorical traits that widely & parsimoniously (efficiently) characterize a person. Can describe several widely different aspects of someone’s personality. The “Big Five” Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience O C E A N C ◼ Conscientiousness ◼ Industriousness Control ◼ Perfectionism Cautiousness ◼ Tidiness Task Planning ◼ Procrastination Refrainment ◼ Perseverance The “Big Five”/ C.A.N.O.E. Impulsive Personality Trusting Anxious Dimensions Conforming Fun-Loving The Person-Situation Debate Person Environment  The Person-Situation Debate Now agree: INTERACTION between person and situation → behavior. Person’s traits & situation have effect on each other. ◼ What trait makes a person perform a behavior? (personality psych) ◼ What situation makes a person perform a behavior? (social psych) Question depends on research focus Questions about Traits These topics are the subject of ongoing research: Stability: Does one’s Predictive value: Can we profile of traits use these traits to predict change over the behavior? → levels of success lifespan? → No, one’s in work and relationships distinctive mix of relates to traits. traits doesn’t change much over the lifespan. Heritability: Are traits However, everyone in learned or genetic? → in adulthood becomes: general, genes account for ▪ More conscientious 50% of the variation for and agreeable, and most traits ▪ Less extraverted, neurotic/unstable, and less open  Change vs. Consistency: Shifts with Age Over years of development, we change interests, attitudes, roles, jobs, relationships; we develop skills, maturity. Do traits stay stable through all this change? The evidence shows that it takes time for personality to stabilize. Traits do change, but less and less so over time. We change less, become more consistent.  Personality Affecting the Situation, Not Just a Function of the Situation ▪ Your Facebook timeline and profile picture, your website, music lists, choice of ringtone--these all reflect your personality. ▪ These choices also may shape how others treat you, which may affect your personality This room may reflect the personality of the guy who lives there. The setup and contents of the room may also shape his personality. Trait Theories – Seminal & Recent Research Gosling et al. 2002 – what your office or bedroom says about you Trait Theories – Seminal & Recent Research Block 1961– California Adult Q-sort (CAQ) and California Child Q-sort (CCQ) Trait Theories – Seminal & Recent Research McAdams 1995 – Multiple levels of personality Trait Theories – Seminal & Recent Research Mehl, Gosling, & Pennebaker 2006 – Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR). Other Trait Approaches Typological approach: focuses on configuration of traits that people share & is associated with certain behavior. The effects of attractiveness on behavior There is evidence in research and real life that attractive people often behave confidently because they are treated nicely by others. Trait Theories Traits very stable over time. People may not behave identically in all situations but have “behavioral signatures” –consistent style of behaving that takes situational factors into account (Fournier, Moskowitz, & Zuroff, 2008) Trait Theories – What has been learned? Strangers’ assessments of individuals after viewing “thin slices”(30 seconds or even 6 seconds!!) of behavior are similar to assessments made by those who observed the individuals longer (e.g, for a semester) (Ambady & Rosenthal, 1993) Recent Research Fun Quiz Who/what is the best judge of personality? a. Family b. Friends c. Computers Recent Research Fun Quiz Who/what is the best judge of personality? c. Computers Based on enough Facebook likes, computers can judge your personality traits better than your friends, family and even your partner. Using a new algorithm, researchers have calculated the average number of Likes artificial intelligence (AI) needs to draw personality inferences about you as accurately as your partner or parents. Recent Research Fun Quiz Can a spouse’s personality affect one’s success at work? Recent Research Fun Quiz Can a spouse’s personality affect one’s success at work? Yes. Workers who scored highest on measures of occupational success tended to have a spouse with a personality that scored high for conscientiousness, and this was true whether or not both spouses worked and regardless of whether the working spouse was male or female, the study found. Recent Research Fun Quiz Can personality affect the size of different brain regions? Recent Research Fun Quiz Can personality affect the size of different brain regions? Yes. For example, conscientious people tend to have a bigger lateral prefrontal cortex, a region of the brain involved in planning and controlling behavior. Recent Research Fun Quiz Can you judge someone’s personality by looking at them? Recent Research Fun Quiz Can you judge someone’s personality by looking at them? Yes. Self-esteem, ratings of extroversion and religiosity were correctly judged from physical appearance.