Lecture 8 - Personality Flashcards
there are three approaches to personality
psychodynamic theories, humanistic approaches and trait theories
personality
describes the unique patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviours that distinguish a person from others
psychodynamic theories include
id, ego, superego - defence mechanisms - psychosexual stages of development - and contemporary assessment of freudian psychology (neo-freudians)
Freud viewed personality as
a closed energy system, the psychic/instinctive energy moves among id, ego and superego
id
aka instincts - present at birth and contains the primitive desires (hunger, thirst, sex) operating through the pleasure principle
superego
morality - internalise society’s rules for right and wrong, forming what we normally refer to as a conscience
ego
aka reality - acts according to the reality principle, ege is responsible for balancing the id and superego
overly dominant id can lead to
antisocial behaviour
overactive superego can lead to
too much guilt
Freud split the psyche up into
conscious (ego and little superego ), preconscious (ego and most of the superego) and id (unconscious)
defence mechanisms
psychological operation that functions to protect a person from anxiety-producing thoughts and feelings
types of defence mechanisms
avoidance, displacement, projection, regression, suppression, repression, reaction formation and sublimation
avoidance
dismissing thoughts or feelings that are uncomfortable or keeping away from people, places, or situations associated with uncomfortable thoughts or feelings
displacement
transferring one’s emotional burden or emotional reaction from one entity to another
projection
attributing one’s own negative traits or unwanted emotions to others
regression
adapting one’s behaviour to earlier levels of psychosocial development when faced with a stressful situation
repression
subconsciously blocking ideas or impulses that are undesirable
reaction formation
replacing one’s initial impulse toward a situation or idea with the oppsoite impulse
reaction formation
replacing one’s initial impulse toward a situation or idea with the opposite impulse
sublimation
transforming one’s anxiety or emotions into pursuits considered by societal or cultural norms to be more useful
psychosexual stages of development
5 stages (oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital) and personality is the product of conflict between these stages
contemporary assessment of Freud
defence mechanisms and the distinction between conscious and unconscious processes are still widely used but Freud’s ideas are subjective and lack scientific evidence, there is also an overemphasis on sexuality and basic instinct and is too pessimistic
Neo-Freudians
dcreased emphasis on sex and focussed more on the social environment and effects of culture on personality -> Adler, Jung and Horney
Alfred Adler
founder of individual psychology-focuses on our drive to compensate for feelings of inferiority (a persons feeling that they lack worth or don’t measure up to standards of society)
Carl Jung
collective unconscious layer of our unconscious mind is common to mankind (like universal fear of dying) and he defined introversion and extroversion
introversion
focused on the internal world of reflection, dreaming and vision - thoughtful and insightful, uninterested in joining activities of others
extraversion
focused on the outisde world of objects, sensory perception and action, energetic, interested in joining the activities of the world
Karen Horney
Freud thinks women have penis envy but Horney claimed men envy women’s ability to bear children
Humanistic theories of personality
assume that human nature is good, that they strive toward self-actualisation –> criticised pscychodynamic theories as they overemphasised abnormal behaviour
trait theories of personality include
early trait theory, big five theory,
trait
stable personality characteristic
Big five theory
OCENA - Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism
how do situations affect personality
some pychologists argue that personality does not originate from stable traits but due to situational experience - has lead to a number of social-cognitive learning theories
external locus of control
expect that most of the outcomes occur because of chance, luck, opportunity, or other factors beyond one’s control (feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness)
internal locus of control
believe that most of the outcomes are due to one’s own talent and effort (manage stress more effectively, more likely to take responsibility for their actions, less sympathetic with the plight of others)
reciprocal determinism
personality features the mutual influence from the person and the situation -
self-efficacy
confidence in your abilities to gain reinforcement
temperament
child’s pattern of mood, activity or emotional responsiveness linked to later personality
the origin of temparement is
biological but quicklu begins to interact with the physical and social environment
dimensions of temparement in adult personality
reactivity and self-regulation
personality is assessed through
observation, interview, standardized tests and analysis of data from cell phjones and social media
personality inventories
objective tests often using numbered scales or multiple choice
personality inventories
objective tests often using numbered scales or multiple choice
Projective tests
tests bsaed on Freudian theory providing an ambigous stimulus such as the Rorshcach Inkblot test
the self-concept
includes age, sex, student status, personality features, relationships, physical attributes and various other roles
the self-concept
includes age, sex, student status, personality features, relationships, physical attributes and various other roles
self-schema
cognitive organization that helps us think about the self and process self-relevant information
self-reference effect
we process self-relevant information differently than information about others
