Chapter 14: Personality Flashcards
Personality
People’s fixed ways of thinking, feeling and behaving
What causes personalities to form?
Genetics: Indirectly, our genes influence our neurotransmitters and their levels of functioning is associated with traits
Shared & Nonshared environmental factors
Twin Studies & Personality
- Identical twins are more genetically similar than fraternal twins therefore have higher correlations of traits when environments are comparable
- Identical twin correlation < fraternal twin correlation = non-shared environmental factors
- Identical twins reared apart are similar in traits
Adoption Studies & Personality
- Permits us to separate the effects of genes & environment
- Correlations between bio parent & adopted-away kids > correlation between adoptive parents & their adopted children
Freud
Initially thought mental disorders were physiologically caused
Seeing grand hysteria jn women led him to think mental issues are psychological
Freud & Psychic Determinism
We have no free will and all psychological events have a subconscious meaning
Freud & Symbolic Meaning
Events and objects in dreams as well as the things we do that we don’t have an explanation for represent our subconscious desires
Freud & Unconscious Motivation
We rarely understand why we do things. Also we have access to a “common” unconscious containing our ancestors’ thoughts which guide us
The Id (3)
Unconscious, immediate reward, basic instincts like sex & aggression
The Ego (3)
Conscious, “the boss”, makes decisions
Reality Principle
The tendency of the Ego to postpone satisfaction
The Superego
Moral standards, conscious & unconscious
Freud thought psychological distress results from…
conflict between the Id, the Ego & the Superego
Defence Mechanisms
Unconscious manoeuvres intended to minimize anxiety (“coping tools”
Freud thought these were essential, without them we’d suffer uncontrollable anxiety
Freud’s Beliefs of Psychosexual Development (3)
Freud thought sexually begins in infancy
The extent to which we resolve each stage are crucial in affecting personality development
We become stuck in a stage if we were either deprived of sexual gratification or were excessively gratified
Oral Stage
Birth - 18 months
Didn’t pass?
-React to stress by being dependent on others
-Unhealthy oral behaviours (overeating, smoking)
Anal Stage (through the bowels)
10 months - 3 years
If toilet training is too strict or lenient we become fixed
Didn’t pass? Anal personalities include excessive neatness, rules, aggression & stubbornness
Phallic Stage (Oedipus Complex)
3 - 6 years
Powerful attraction for opposite sex parent & elimination of same sex parent
Must befriend father to pass
Didn’t pass? “Penis envy”: girls find themselves inferior because of their “missing organ”
Latency Stage
6 - 12 years
Impulses are unconscious
Kids find opposite sexes gross
The Genital Stage
Impulses reawaken
Passed? Develop mature romantic relationships
Psychoanalytic Theory Evaluated
- Unfalsifiable
- Failed predictions
- Questionable conception of the unconscious
- Reliance on unrepresentative samples
- Flawed assumption of shared environmental influence
Neo-Freudian Development
Less emphasis on sexuality as a driving force
More emphasis on social drives like culture and the need for approval
More optimistic concerning personality growth
Social influences must be considered
Alder
Motive in human personality is not sex but the striving for status (style of life)
Children pampered or neglected by their parents are at risk for an inferiority complex resulting in over demonstration of dominance
Jung
Collective Unconscious: we recognize our mothers immediately after birth because of this
Archetypes: cross-culturally universal models in the collective unconscious
*Archetypes might just be universal because they stem from the environment OR shared experiences
Hornet
Women’s inferiority stems from dependency on men ingrained by society
Oedipus complex is a symptom not a cause of mental problems: when the opposite parent is too protective and the same sex parent is overly critical
Worked in the restrictive impact of culture on our growth and development
Skinner & Behaviourism (5)
-Differences in personality stem from differences in learning histories
-Actions are pre existing causal influences (determinism)
-Personalities are HABITS through conditioning
-Personality is under control of GENETICS and CONTINGENCIES IN THE ENVIRONMENT
-Personality CONSISTS of behaviours not CAUSES them
STIMULUS -> RESPONSE
Skinner & Freud
-Rejects belief that the first yrs of life are critical in personality development
-We have no free will
-Denies existence of “the” unconscious
Unconscious processing: We’re unconscious of things because we’re unaware of immediate situational influences
Social Learning Theories
Thinking, perception & reactions shape our personality
stimulus -> thinking -> response
Reciprocal Determinism
Personality, behaviour & environment all mutually influence each other
Humanistic Models
Reject determinism
Embrace free will
Self actualization: Core motive in personality is the drive to develop our potential to the fullest extent
Freudians would say this is disastrous because the Id needs to be controlled
The Organism
Innate & genetically influenced blueprint, like the Id but more helpful
The Self
Our self-concept: set of beliefs of who we are
Conditions of Worth
Expectations we place on ourselves for good & bad behaviour
Comes from society, parents
Different conditions of worth are our individual differences
Unhealthy behaviour results from conditions of worth which blocks self actualization
Humanistic Models Evaluated
Human nature is not entirely positive
Our capacity of aggression is inherent in chimpanzees
Twin studies show aggression is part of genetics
So actualization of our full genetic potential is unlikely to be so positive
The Big Five Evaluated
Does not fairly reflect all cultures like openness to experience
