perspectives in psychology personality. © the mcgraw-hill companies, inc. psychology concepts:...

Perspectives in Psychology

PERSONALITY

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Psychology Concepts: Personality

Perspectives in PsychologyPersonality

Ways of Understanding Behavior

Issue Neuroscience Psychodynamic Behavioral Cognitive Humanistic

Key issues in psychology and the positions taken by psychologists subscribing to the five major perspectives of psychology

Nature (heredity) vs. nurture (environment)

Nature(heredity)

Nature(heredity)

Nurture(environment)

Nurture(environment)Both


Psychology Concepts: Personalities

PERSONALITIESWays of Understanding Behavior



Conscious vs. unconscious determinants of behavior

Unconscious Unconscious Conscious Both Conscious






Observable behavior vs. internal mental processes

Internal emphasis

Internal emphasis

Observable emphasis

Internal emphasis

Internal emphasis






Free will vs. determinism

Determinism Determinism Determinism Free will Free will






Individual differences vs. universal principles

Universal emphasis

Universal emphasis

Both Individual emphasis

Individual emphasis


Personality: The Unique Way Individuals Think, Feel, and Act

As one group of theorists noted, each of us is in certain respects like all other people, like some other people, and like no other person who has ever lived in the past or will exist in the future.


The behaviors of personality.

Certain perceived characteristics of behavior are seen as reflecting an individual’s personality.

PersonalityAttributed to

Behaviors

Components of identity

Perceived internal cause

Perceived organization and structure


Psychoanalytic TheoryThe first formal theory of personality was advanced by Sigmund Freud in the early years of the 20th century, and it is the prototype of the psychodynamic approach. Freud’s theory divides the personality into three levels of consciousness:1. Conscious

2. Preconscious

3. Unconscious

and three levels of the mind:1. Id

2. Ego

3. Superego



Freud’s Model of Personality


The first formal theory of personality was advanced by Sigmund Freud in the early years of the 20th century, and it is the prototype of the psycho-dynamic approach. Freud’s own representation of his three-part conception of personality shows the relation of the id, ego, and superego to the unconscious, preconscious, and conscious areas of the mind.

Conscious

Preconscious

Unconscious

Immediate awarenessof current environment

Available to awareness(e.g., names of friends,home address)

Unavailable to awareness(infantile memories,repressed wishes andconflicts)


Psychoanalytic Theory Freud was convinced that an unconscious part of the mind exerts great influence on behavior.

• Conscious mind: Consists of mental events in current awareness.

• Preconscious mind: Contains memories, thoughts, feelings, and images that we are unaware of at the moment but that can be recalled (a friend’s telephone number).

• Unconscious mind: A dynamic realm of wishes, feelings, and impulses that lies beyond our awareness.



Basic Elements of Psychoanalytic TheoryDream InterpretationExamining dreams to find clues to unconscious conflicts and problems.

Free AssociationPatients are asked to say aloud whatever comes to mind, regardless of its apparent irrelevance or senselessness. Analysts attempt to recognize and label the connections between what a patient says and the patient’s unconscious.

ResistanceInability or unwillingness to discuss or reveal particular memories,

thoughts, or motivations.

Positive and Negative TransferenceThe transfer of feelings to a psychoanalyst of love or anger that had been originally directed to a patient’s parents or other authority figures (Mann, 1997; Gordon, 2000; Van Beekum, 2005).



Psychoanalytic Theory: Neo-Freudians

Neo-Freudian psychoanalysts disagreed with certain aspects of Freud’s thinking

• They believed that Freud did not give social and cultural

factors a sufficiently important role in the development and dynamics of personality

• Also believed that Freud laid too much emphasis on the events of childhood as determinants of adult personality



Psychoanalytic Theory: Neo-FreudiansFreud laid the foundation for important work done by a series of successors who were trained in traditional Freudian theory but later rejected some of its major points

These theorists are known as neo-Freudian psychoanalysts, and they include: Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, and Karen Horner

• Neo Freudians placed greater emphasis than Freud on the functions of the ego, suggesting that it has more control than does the id over day-to-day activities.

• Also minimized the importance of sex as a driving force in people’s lives.

• Paid greater attention to social factors and the effects of society and culture on personality development.



Psychoanalytic Theory: Neo-FreudiansErik Erikson

• Believed that personality development continues throughout the life span as individuals confront challenges that are specific to particular phases in their lives.

Alfred Adler• Insisted that humans are inherently social beings,

motivated by social interest, the desire to advance the welfare of others.

Carl Jung• Believed that humans possess a personal unconscious and

also a collective unconscious.



Psychoanalytic Theory: Neo-FreudiansKaren Horney

• One of the earliest psychologists to champion women’s issues, sometimes called the first feminist psychologist

• Suggested that personality develops in the context of social relationships and depends on the relationship between parents and child and how well the child’s needs are met

• Rejected Freud’s suggestion that women have penis envy, asserting that what women envy most in men is not their anatomy but the independence, success, and freedom that women are often denied (Horney, 1937; Miletic, 2002).



Behavioral Theory

Using basic principles of learning, behavioral theorists see both normal and abnormal behaviors as responses to various stimuli, responses that have been learned through past experience and that are guided in the present by stimuli in the individual’s environment

Behavioral genetics researchers are finding increasing evidence that cognitive abilities, personality traits, sexual orientation, and psychological disorders are determined to some extent by genetic factors (hereditary) (Reif & Lesch, 2003; Viding et al., 2005).




Humanistic Theory:

A Reaction to Psychoanalysis and BehaviorismHumanistic perspective emphasizes the responsibility people have for their own behavior, even when their behavior is seen as abnormal

• Grew out of the work of Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow• Concentrates on what is uniquely human, viewing people as

basically rational, oriented toward a social world, and motivated to seek self-actualization (Rogers, 1995).



The Third Force: HumanismThe humanistic theory of psychology is often referred

to as the third force • Focus on the relationship of the individual to society,

considering the ways in which people view themselves in relation to others and see their place in the world

• Views people as having an awareness of of life and of themselves that leads them to search for meaning and self-worth

• Though criticized for its reliance on unscientific, unverifiable information and its vague, almost philosophical formulations, it offers a distinctive view of abnormal behavior



Carl Rogers: Self ConceptThe concept of the “self” is central to the personality

theory of Carl Rogers and other humanists

• Our self-concept is our subjective perception of who we are and what we are like

• The concept of self is learned from our interactions with others

• Rogers distinguishes between two self-concepts--there is the self--the person I think I am, and the ideal self--the person I wish I was



Unconditional Positive Regard

Carl Rogers believed that we are born with an innate need for positive regard—for acceptance, sympathy, and love from others

Ideally, positive regard received from the parents is unconditional—that is, independent of how the child behaves

Unconditional positive regard communicates that the person is inherently worthy of love, regardless of accomplishments or behavior



Self-Actualization

A major tenet of humanistic psychology is that humans possess an inner drive to grow, improve, and use their potential to the fullest

Abraham Maslow calls the ultimate in completed growth self-actualization

According to Maslow, the self-actualizing person is reaching the highest level of personal development and has fully realized her or his potential as a human being.


Maslow: The Hierarchy of NeedsAbraham Maslow, a humanistic theorist, proposed a

broad motivational model (1954)


• Maslow proposed that needs are arranged in a hierarchy.

• After meeting our more basic needs, we experience need progression and focus on needs at the next level.

• If a need at a lower level is no longer satisfied, we experience need regression and focus once again on meeting that lower-level need.

Maslow’s Need Hierarchy


Trait Theory

Trait theory seeks to explain, in a straightforward way, the consistencies in individuals’ behavior. Traits are enduring patterns of behavior, such as thinking acting, and feeling, that are relatively consistent across different situations. Traits tend to lead to characteristic responses:

• People can be described in terms of the basic ways they behave, such as whether they are outgoing and friendly or dominant and assertive

• People who have a strong tendency to behave in these ways are described as high on the traits; those who have a weak tendency to behave in certain ways are described as low on the traits



Five-Factor ModelFor the last two decades, the most influential trait approach contends that five traits or factors lie at the core of personality

Researchers have identified a similar set of five factors that underlie personality

1. Openness to experience

2. Conscientiousness

3. Extraversion

4. Agreeableness

5. Neuroticism



The Five-Factor Model of PersonalityThe big five factors of personality (“supertraits”) are thought to describe the main dimensions of personality—specifically, neuroticism (emotional instability), extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness.

Use the acronym OCEAN to remember the big five personality factors:


Openess

• Imaginative or practical

• Interested in variety or routine

• Independent or conforming

Conscientiousness

• Organized or disorganized

• Careful or careless

• Disciplined or impulsive

Extraversion

• Sociable or retiring

• Fun-loving or somber

• Affectionate or reserved

Agreeableness

• Softhearted or ruthless

• Trusting or suspicious

• Helpful or uncooperative

Neuroticism

• Calm or anxious

• Secure or insecure

• Self-satisfied or self-pitying


Gordon Allport (1897-1967)Sometimes referred to as the father of American personality psychology, Allport was particularly bothered by the negative view of humanity that psychoanalysis portrayed:

• Allport rejected the notion that the unconscious was central to an understanding of personality

• He believed that to understand healthy people, we must focus on their lives in the present, not on their childhood experiences

• In defining personality, Allport (1961) stressed the uniqueness of each person and his/her capacity to adapt to the environment



Evaluating Trait PerspectivesIn the late 1930s, Allport and his colleague H.S. Odbert (1936) identified 4500 words (traits) that could be used to describe a person—a method called the lexical approach.

In 1946, Raymond Cattell applied the relatively new statistical procedure of factor analysis to the Allport and Odbert traits.

• Cattell concluded that 16 underlying factors summarized the lexical data.

• This work led to the development of the 16PF, a personality scale that is still used today.

In 1963, W.T. Norman reanalyzed Cattell’s data and concluded that only five factors were needed to summarize these traits.



Personality Assessment:Defining Types of Personality

• Interview: Subjective method that involves questioning

• Observational Method: Watching a person’s actual behavior in a natural or simulated situation

• Test Standardization: Used to validate questions in personality tests by studying the responses of people with known diagnoses



Personality Assessment:

Defining Types of Personality• Projective Personality Test: Uses ambiguous stimulus and asked to

describe it or tell a story about it• Rorschach Test: Show a series of symmetrical visual stimuli and then

ask what the figures represent to them


This inkblot is similar to the type used in the Rorschach personality test.

What do you see in it?(Source: Alloy, Jacobson, & Acocella, 1999.)


Projective TestsBased on the belief of psychoanalysts that the unconscious mind is the basis of personality Projective tests ask the individual to interpret ambiguous stimuli so that unconscious feelings will be “projected” in the interpretation, much as a slide projector projects an image on a blank screen

• The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) (Murray, 1938, 1951) asks the individual to make up a story about ambiguous pictures

• Psychologists believe that, because the stimuli are ambiguous, the ego is not able to fully censor the unconscious thoughts and motives that are projected into the story made up about the picture

• Projective tests are used less today than in the past, largely because research on their validity has been discouraging



Personality Inventories:

Developed By Trait Theorist

One way to assess personality is through an extensive interview which is used to determine the most important events in childhood, social relationships, and success and failures

These self-report measures are also known as Personality Inventory tests



Behavioral Assessments

• Direct Observation: Observing the person’s actual behavior in a natural or simulated situation

• Rating scales: An observer responds to specific items in describing the behavior with a scale of answers such as: “strongly agree,” “ agree,” “disagree,” or “strongly disagree”

• Frequency counts: An interval recording system including: observation, recording antecedent behavior before the event, and recording consequences after the event, known as the Antecedent-Behavior-Consequences chart (A-B-C chart)



Personality Inventories: Objective Tests

• NEO-PI: Based on the Five Factor model, provides a systematized assessment of emotional, interpersonal, experiential, attitudinal, and motivational styles of one’s personality

• Myers-Briggs: Based on Jung’s Personality Types, designed to look at what people perceive and how they reach conclusions in order to understand their interests, reactions, values, motivations, and skills

• MMPI-2: Designed to detect abnormal personalities and psychological difficulties; used to predict everyday behavior



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