PSYCHOANALYTICAL APROACHKey figures: Freud, Jung, Adler, HorneyPersonality is…it

arises from a conflict between our aggressive pleasure seeking biological impulses & the internalized social restraints against them. It is a way of expressing impulses that brings satisfaction w/o guilt or punishment.

Assessments:Freudian treatment

approaches: dream analysis, hypnosis, free association

Projective tests: TAT: Thematic

Apperception Test Rorschach inkblot test

Weakness: too subjective, potentially not reliable and/or valid

PSYCHOANALYTICAL APROACHStrengths:

Importance of childhood

Power of the unconscious

Struggle with inner conflicts

Provided building blocks

Weaknesses:Development a

lifelong process not just childhood

Underestimate peer influence

Superiority of men belief

Dream theoriesRepression myth?Defining the

unconscious (not as big as thought)

Lack of scientific methodology

ICEBURG ANALOGY OF THE MIND

FREUD’S COMPONENTS OF PERSONALITY1. Id – “pleasure principle” unconscious impulses that

want to be gratified, without regard to potential punishment….YOUR INNER CHILD

2. Ego “reality principle” – moderates between the id and superego…YOU IN THE MIDDLE

3. Superego – the “moral principle” of our personality which tells us right from wrong our conscience…YOUR INNER PARENT

PSYCHOANALYTICAL APPROACHTERMS TO KNOW:Defense mechanisms:

Repression, regression, reaction formation, projection, rationalization, displacement, & sublimation

Freud’s stages of psychosexual development:oral, anal, phallic, latency, & genital

Trait TheoryPersonality is…

identifiable and measurable behavior patterns to be described, labeled & categorized.

The Greeks had 4: melancholic, sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric

Key figures: Allport, Myers & Briggs, Eysenck, Costa & McCrae

AssessmentChildren: shy-inhibited or

fearless-uninhibitedType A or Type BBody types: endomorph,

mesomorph, ectomorphMyers-Briggs: thinking-

feeling (Keirsey test is a version of this)

MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasice Personality Inventory…business, jobs, etc.

Eysenck: introvert/extrovert stable/unstable

Costa & McCrae: The Big 5: OCEAN (openness, conscientiousness, extroverted, agreeableness, neurotic)

Trait theoryStrengths

Objective tests

• Averaging our behaviors reveals distinct personality traits

• Individual differences are typically easily perceived.

WeaknessesSelf reports are ok,

but peer reports seem better

Person-situation controversy: do personality trait persist over time & across situations or do situations influence us more than we like to admit?

Personality scores do not strongly predict behaviors…again situational influences

Humanistic theoryPersonality is…our

sense of self and should be viewed through the eyes of the subject not the researcher.

Key figures: Abraham Maslow & Carl Rogers

AssessmentSometimes

subjective sometimes objective

The ideal vs. the actual self (when equitable, it is considered a + self-concept)

Humanistic theoryStrengths

The importance of the self

Significant influence on counseling, education, parenting, management

Emphasis on the individual reinforces Western values

WeaknessesIs self-esteem a cause

of personality or an effect of events? (self esteem is the core concept of this approach)

Self-serving bias: the tendency to perceive ourselves more favorably; adaptively, a good thing

Vague & subjectiveToo much focus on the

self?Naively optimistic?

What about evil?

Social-Cognitive PerspectivePersonality is…a

result of external events and how we interpret them.

Key players: Alfred Bandura (Bobo doll)

Reciprocal determinism: process of interacting w/ our environment

AssessmentCorrelation &

experimentation… putting people in situations and measuring their behaviors

Predictive power in past behavior patterns or simulated situations

Social-Cognitive PerspectiveDo you feel the world is run by a few

powerful people?Do you feel that getting a good job depends

mainly on being at the right place at the right time?

Do you feel that success and luck go hand in hand?

If so, you tend to have an external locus of control.

Social-Cognitive PerspectiveDo you strongly believe that what happens

to you is of your own doing?Do you believe that the average person can

influence government decisions?Do you believe being successful is a matter

of hard work?If so, you tend to have an internal locus of

control.A sense of control is a human necessity or

one may likely suffer from learned helplessness.

Culture’s influenceIndividualistic societies:

MEGive priority to one’s own

goals over the group goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications

Typical of American, Western European, Australian & New Zealand cultures

Join groups but not as focused on group harmony

Collectivistic societies: WEGive priority to the

goals of one’s group (often one’s extended family or work group) and defining one’s identity accordingly

Typical of Eastern cultures (China, Japan, SE Asia)

Group harmony & connections to extended family are highly valued.

Social-Cognitive PerspectiveStrengths

Notes the importance of the interaction of the person & situationBuilds on research of learning & cognition

WeaknessesToo much focus on

the situation & not the individual’s traits

Where is the “person” in personality?