Last Class in Review• Attitudes:

– A relatively stable opinion containing beliefs and opinions about people, groups, ideas, and activities• Implicit (unconscious) vs. Explicit (conscious)• Factors that change our attitudes

• Group influences on behavior– Conformity– Groupthink– The anonymous crowd

• Diffusion of responsibility (bystander apathy, social loafing, deindividuation)• Why do people go against conformity and stand up for beliefs?

– Dissent and Altruism• Group Identity

– Social identity: gives us a sense of our place in the world– Ethnic identity vs. Acculturation

• Ways to balance the conflict:1. Bicultural2. Assimilation3. Ethnic Separatists4. Marginal

– Ethnocentrism• Robber’s Cave

• Stereotypes• Prejudice

– Explicit vs. Implicit• How do we measure implicit prejudice

– How can we reduce prejudice?• Group exercise: Chapter 10 review questions

Learning Objectives1. What are the 3 elements that make up the structure of personality,

according to Freud? What happens when conflicts are not resolved at a given stage?

2. What are 6 common defense mechanisms? Be able to identify examples of each.

3. What are the 5 stages of psychosexual development?

4. What is the difference between the Jungian theory and Freud’s Psychoanalytic theory?

5. What is the collective unconscious? What are archetypes?

6. What is most important in the Object-Relations Theory?

7. What are the 3 major shortcomings of psychodynamic theories?

8. What do the humanistic approaches to personality focus on?

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Definitions PersonalityDistinctive and relatively stable pattern of behaviors, thoughts, motives, and emotions that characterizes an individual

TraitA characteristic of an individual, describing a habitual way of behaving, thinking, and feeling

• shy, outgoing, ambitious, lazy, easy-going, anal, high-strung, confident, grumpy, happy, friendly, etc

Theories of Personality

Psychodynamic Theories

Biological Theories

Environmental Psychology Theories

Cultural Psychology Theories

Humanistic Theories

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Psychodynamic theoriesSigmund Freud – psychoanalysis

Explains behavior and personality in terms of unconscious dynamics within the individual

• Emphasizes internal conflicts, attachments, and motivations

• Adult personalities are formed by experiences in early childhood

•Three variations:• Freud and traditional psychoanalysis• Jungian Theory• Object-Relations School

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Freud’s Psychoanalysis:The structure of personality

1. Id- Unconscious

2. Ego- unconscious, preconscious,

conscious

3. Superego- unconscious, preconscious, conscious

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Freud’s Psychoanalysis:The ID

Operates according to the pleasure principle

–Present from birth

–Primitive • basic needs and wants

–2 competing instincts:• Life (sexual) - libido• Death (aggressive)

–Unconscious

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Freud’s Psychoanalysis:The Ego

Operates according to the reality principle

– Arises in first 3 years of life

–Mediates between ID and Superego

–Rational part of mind• you can’t always get what you

want

– Floats between all 3 levels of consciousness

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Freud’s Psychoanalysis:The Superego

Moral Conscience

– Develops around age 5• At end of Phallic Stage

–Stores and enforces rules• Inner voice that tells you not to do

something or that what you did was wrong

–2 subsystems:• Ego Ideal = parents

approve/value• Conscience = parents disapproval

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Freud’s Psychoanalysis: Defense mechanisms

1. Repression• When a threatening idea, memory, or emotion is blocked (either

consciously or unconsciously) from consciousness

2. Projection• When repressed feelings are attributed to someone else

3. Displacement• When a person’s emotions are directed towards people or animals that

are not the real object of the emotion• Sublimation: acting out socially unacceptable impulses in a socially

acceptable way

4. Reaction formation• When a feeling or belief that causes anxiety is transformed into the opposite

feeling or belief in our consciousness

5. Regression• Returning to a previous stage of development

6. Denial• Refusal to admit something unpleasant or that something that provokes

anxiety is happening

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Your turn

Your math instructor caught you with the textbook open during a test. Despite the fact that you know he knows you were cheating, you protest your innocence. This defense mechanism is:

1. Denial

2. Reaction formation

3. Regression

4. Displacement

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Personality development: Freud’s Psychosexual StagesFixation occurs when the conflicts at a given stage aren’t

resolved successfully

Freud’s Psychosexual Stages1. Oral (birth – 18 months)

• Babies learn about the world with their mouths, oral pleasures• Oral fixation – preoccupation with oral activities as an adult

2. Anal (18 months – 3 years)• Control of eliminating and retaining feces, toilet training issues• Anal retentive – obsession with cleanliness, perfection, control• Anal expulsive – messy, disorganized

3. Phallic (Oedipal; 3 – 5 or 6 years)• Pleasure zone is the genitals• Oedipus complex – development of feelings for opposite sex parent and rivalry feelings

towards same sex parent– Boys – fear of castration; Girls – penis envy

4. Latency (6 – puberty)• Sexual urges repressed, play with same sex peers

5. Genital (puberty on)• Leads to adult sexuality

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Other psychodynamic approaches

1. Jungian theory

2. The Object-Relations School

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Jungian Theory(aka analytical psychology)Carl Jung (1875-1961)

Divides unconscious into 2 parts:Personal unconscious: reservoir of personal information and memories that was once conscious, but has been forgotten or suppressed and is unique to the individual

Collective unconscious: deepest level of the human psyche that contains universal memories, symbols, and experiences of all humans

• a reservoir of inherited experiences• Archetype: a generic, idealized model of a person,

personality or behavior– Innate, universal prototypes– Appear in myths, stories, art, and dreams

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Jungian Theory(aka analytical psychology)•Archetype: a generic, idealized model of a person, personality or behavior

• Stereotype, epitome

• 4 main archetypes:– The Self– The Shadow– The Anima– The Animus

• Commonly seen archetypes– The Child– The Hero– The Great Mother

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Object-Relations SchoolMelanie Klein & D.W. Winnicott

Emphasizes interpersonal relationships and believes the ego-self exists only in relation to other objects

most important = mother-child relationship

• Central problem = balance between need for independence and need for others

• Emphasizes the importance of the infant’s first two years of life and the baby’s formative relationships, especially with mother

Object: Something to which the subject relates, usually a person, a part of a person or symbols for these.

External object: an actual person, place, or thing

Internal object: a memory, idea, or fantasy about a person

place or thing

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Evaluating psychodynamic theories

Three scientific failings:1. Violating the principle of falsifiability

2. Drawing universal principles from the experiences of a few atypical patients

3. Basing theories of personality development on retrospective accounts and the fallible memories of patients

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Humanistic Approaches to Personality

Humanistic psychologyAn approach that emphasizes personal growth, resilience,

and the achievement of human potential

Humanist psychologists:1. Abraham Maslow

2. Carl Rogers

3. Rollo May

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Humanistic Psychology:Abraham Maslow

Personality development is a gradual

progression to self-actualization

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Your turn

You are on your way to a restaurant to meet some friends, and you are hungry. As you are walking from your car to the restaurant, you are looking forward to talking with your friends. Just then, you hear a gunshot. According to Maslow, your primary motivation would be determined by

1. Your hunger

2. Your desire to converse with your friends

3. Your desire for safety

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Humanistic Psychology:Carl Rogers

Interested in fully functioning individuals

Congruence this is displayed by fully functioning people and is a harmony between the image they project to others and their true feelings or wishes

To become fully functioning we need:–Unconditional positive regard

A situation in which the acceptance and love one receives from significant others is unqualified, no strings attached

Unfortunately many children and adults are treated with:

–Conditional positive regard

A situation in which the acceptance and love one receives from significant others is contingent upon one’s behavior

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Evaluating humanist approaches

The bad:1.Assumptions are not testable

2.Hard to operationally define many of the concepts

The good:1.Added balance to the study of personality

2.Encouraged others to focus on “positive psychology”

3.Fostered new appreciation for resilience

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Last Class in Review• Personality: Distinctive and relatively stable pattern of

behaviors, thoughts, motives, and emotions that characterizes an individual

• Trait: A characteristic of an individual

• Psychodynamic Theories of Personality:– Freud’s Psychoanalysis

• Id, Ego, Superego• Defense mechanisms of the Ego:

– Repression, projection, displacement, reaction formation, regression, denial

• Psychosexual Stages– Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latent, Genital

– Jungian Theory– Object-Relations School

Learning Objectives1. What are the Big Five personality dimensions currently favored by

personality researchers?2. What are temperaments and how are they related to personality

traits?3. What does heritability refer to?4. What is reciprocal determinism?5. How does the environment influence personality?6. What is the non-shared environment?7. What are 3 lines of evidence that suggest parents have a minor

influence on the development of their children’s personality?8. How does culture influence personality?9. What the the main differences between an individualistic and

collectivist culture?

Measuring Personality: Objective tests (inventories)

Standardized questionnaires asking a series of questions where people rate themselves

– Typically include scales – Assumes that you can accurately report– No right or wrong answers

The responses help develop picture of you called a personality profile

2 common tests:Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ)

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Allport’s Trait TheoryGordon Allport (1897-1967)

1. Cardinal Trait• Dominates and shapes personality, rare

2. Central Trait• Basic building blocks of personality that

everyone has to some degree

3. Secondary Trait• Only seen in certain circumstances

Raymond Cattell1905-1998

16 Personality Factors1. Warmth2. Reasoning3. Emotional Stability4. Dominance5. Liveliness6. Rule-consciousness7. Social Boldness8. Sensitivity9. Vigilance10. Abstractedness11. Privateness12. Apprehension13. Openness to change14. Self-reliance15. Perfectionism16. Tension

Personality Traits: The Big Five

1. Openness to experience

• Open = Curiosity, imaginative, creative

• Resistant = Conforming, predictable

2. Conscientiousness

• Conscientious = Responsible, persevering, self-disciplined

• Impulsive = Quick to give up, fickle, careless

3. Extroversion• Extroversion = Outgoing – talkative, sociable, adventurous

• Introversion = Shy – silent, reclusive, cautious

4. Agreeableness• Agreeable = Good-natured, cooperative, secure

• Antagonistic = Irritable, abrasive, suspicious, jealous

5. Neuroticism• Neurotic = anxious, impulsive, worrier, emotionally negative

• Emotionally stable = only has those feelings when the circumstances dictate

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Genetic Influences on Personality

• Nature vs. Nurture debate– Nature: Biology/genetics determines personality– Nurture: Experiences determines personality– Not mutually exclusive

• Biology and experience interact and shape our personalities together

• How can biology influence our personality?– Genes: functional units of heredity, composed of DNA and

specify the structure of proteins• Specify how the brain and nervous systems should develop and

function– Influence the behaviors that make up our personality

How do psychologists measure genetic contributions to personality?

1. Studying personality traits in other species

2. Studying temperaments of infants and children

3. Heritability studies in twins and adopted individuals

Personality Traits in Other Species• Examine the physiology, genetics, ecology and ethology of

animals

• Evidence of 4 of the Big Five traits in 64 different species– monkeys dogs octopi– Conscientiousness has only been found in humans

• Puppy Personality Experiment (Gosling, 2003)– Owners provided personality assessments of dogs and

themselves– A person who knew them both filled out a personality inventory– Independent observers rated the dogs in a park All 3 ratings were very similar

Personality Traits in Infants and ChildrenTemperamentsPhysiological dispositions to respond to the environment in certain ways

• Present in infancy, assumed to be innate

• Relatively stable over time

Temperaments:1. Easy/Flexible: positive disposition, curious about new situations,

adaptable, low-moderate emotional intensity40% of babies

2. Difficult/Feisty: negative moods, slow to adapt to new situations10 % of babies

3. Slow-to-Warm: inactive, calm reactions to environment, negative moods and withdraw from new situations, adapt slowly

15 % of babies

35 % have babies have combination of characteristics and can’t be categorized

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Dimension of Temperament Definition 

1. Activity level Proportion of active to inactive time 

2. Approach-Withdrawal The response to a new person or object, based on whether the child accepts or withdraws from the situation

3. Adaptability How easily the child is able to adapt to changes in his or her environment

4. Quality of Mood The contrast of the amount of friendly, joyful, and pleasant behavior with unpleasant, unfriendly behavior

5. Attention span and persistence The amount of the time a child devotes to an activity and the effect of distraction on that activity

6. Distractibility The degree to which stimuli in the environment alters behavior

7. Rhythmicity (regularity) The regularity of basic functions, such as hunger, excretion, sleep and wakefulness

8. Intensity of reaction The energy level or reaction of the child’s response

9. Threshold of responsiveness The intensity of stimulation needed to elicit a response

The Heritability of Personality Traits

Heritabilitya statistical estimate of how much variation in a trait can be attributed to genetics within a given population

• 0 – 1.0– 0.5 = 50 % of the variation in a personality trait can be

attributed to genetics– 1.0 = 100 % of the variation in a personality trait can be

attributed to genetics

Heritability of personality traits is about 0.5Within a group of people, about 50% of the variation associated with a given trait is attributable to genetic differences among individuals in the group.

Genetic predisposition is not genetic inevitability

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The Heritability of Personality Traits

How is heritability studied?– Adoption studies

• Compare correlations between traits of children and their biological and adoptive parents

– Twin Studies• Identical twins = share 100 % of genes• Fraternal twins = share about ½ genes, just like

regular siblings• Compare same-sex groups of identical and

fraternal twins• Look at personality traits in adopted identical and

fraternal twins

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Environmental Influences on Personality Traits

1. Situational Influences (social learning)

2. Parental Influences

3. Social circles (peer pressure)

Situational Influences:Social Learning

• Behaviorist view:– Behaviors are rewarded and punished

differently in different situations

• Social-cognitive view:– Personality traits result from a person’s

learning history and their expectations, beliefs, perceptions of events and other cognitions

– Reciprocal (mutual) determinism

Situational Influences:Reciprocal Determinism

Two-way interaction between aspects of the

environment and aspects of the individual in the

shaping of personality traits

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Situational Influences:Non-shared environment

Unique aspects of a person’s environment and aspects of the individual in the shaping of personality traits

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Parental InfluencesParental child-rearing practices have a strong influence on who we become, but research has shown that it is not the primary determinant:

1. The shared environment of the home has little influence on personality.

• The non-shared environment is a more important influence.

2. Few parents have a single child-rearing style that is consistent over time and that they use with all children.

3. Even when parents try to be consistent, there may be little relation between what they do and how their children turn out.

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Parental InfluencesNevertheless, parents still do influence their children in a number of ways:

• Religious beliefs and values• Intellectual and occupational interests, skills• Feelings of self-esteem or inadequacy• Degree of helpfulness

Influence on traits that are highly heritable:• Aggressiveness• Shyness

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Social Influence: Peer Pressure

How many of you have behaved differently around your parents that you do your friends?

Adolescent culture:• different peer groups, organized by different

interests, ethnicity and status

Peer acceptance is so important to children and adolescents that being bullied, victimized, or rejected by peers is far more traumatic than punitive treatment by parents.

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Cultural Influences on Personality

CultureA program of shared rules that govern the behavior of members of a community or society

A set of values, beliefs, and attitudes shared by most members of that community

Individualist culturesCultures in which the self is regarded as autonomous, and individual goals and wishes are prized above duty and relations with others

Collectivist culturesCultures in which the self is regarded as embedded in relationships, and harmony with one’s group is prized above individual goals and wishes

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Cultural Influence on Personality

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Individualistic Cultures Collectivist CulturesDefine self as autonomous, independent of groups

Define self as an interdependent part of a group

Give priority to individual, personal goals

Give priority to needs and goals of group

Value independence, leadership, achievement

Value group harmony, duty, obligation, security

Give more weight to individual’s attitudes and preferences, than to group norms to explain behavior

Give more weight to group norms than individual attitudes to explain behavior

Attend to the benefits and costs of relationships; if costs exceed advantages, a person is likely to drop a relationship

Attend to needs of group members; if relationship is beneficial to group, but costly to individual, the individual is likely to stay in the relationship

Cultural Influences in Personality

When culture is not appropriately considered, people attribute unusual behavior to personality.

• Timeliness

• Personal Space

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