PERSONALITY Flashcards
Personality
- similarities and differences in people’s identities: patterns of behaviours, thoughts and feelings
- understanding ousels and others by studying these comparisons
- used to predict and explain patterns of response to life situations
- somewhat consistent and enduring across lifetime and place
- unique
Basis -Freud (1915)
- personality is as a result of unconscious thoughts from early childhood
- dynamic interplay of conflicting inner motivational forces to release psychic energy (libido)
- worked with conversion hysteria patients
- they improved when repressed memories are re-experienced
Mental events
Conscious: immediate awareness
Preconscious: not aware right now but is retrievable
Unconscious: wishes, feelings and impulses
-stores majority of mental events
-revealed the Freudian slip
Balance of the Ego, Superego and Id. Anxiety is caused by a conflict between the ego and id.
Defence mechanisms -Ego
- unconscious mental operations that distort or deny reality
- protect us short term
- excessive use is bad and can cause mental problems
Defence mechanisms - repression
pushes impulses/memories into unconscious mind
Defence mechanisms -Denial
refusal to acknowledge anxiety arousing aspects
Defence mechanisms -Displacement
impulse is repressed and directed at a safer substitute
Defence mechanisms -intellectualisation
impulse is repressed and situation is dealt with as an intellectual event
Defence mechanisms -projection
impulse is repressed and attributes to other people
Defence mechanisms -rationalisation
false explanation for behaviour or event that occurred
Defence mechanisms -Reaction formation
impulse is regressed ands psychic energy finds release in exaggerated expression of the opposite behaviour
Defence mechanisms -Sublimation
repressed impulse is released in the form of socially acceptable or admired behaviour
Psychosexual stages of development - basis
- deprivation or over indulgence results in fixation
- regression during stressful situations
Psychosexual stages of development -Oral
- birth
- eating and sucking
- self indulgence or dependency; drinking and smoking
Psychosexual stages of development- Anal
- age 3
- elimination (emptying bowls)
- expulsive/disorganised if toilet training was relaxed
- retentive/ organised if toilet training was harsh
Psychosexual stages of development - Phallic
- age 4/5
- Sexual (Opedipus and Electra complexes resolve through identification
- vain, attention-seeking, or sexually aggressive
Projective tests
- to uncover unconscious desires and rectify anxiety from the conflict between is and ego
Rorschach inkblot test: “What does this look like?
Thematic apperception test (TAT): interpret stories from ambiguous pictures
Limitations
- untestable because so complex
- lacks empirical evidence
- tests are subjective and unreliable
- biased towards European males
- too much focus on sexuality
- personality continues throughout life
- too deterministic, no free will
other explanations:
Alfred Adler: inferiority complex
Carl jung: motivation forces
Theory
- positive side of psychology
- innate drive towards self actualisation
- freedom we have to guide personal growth
Hierachy of needs -Maslow (1943, 1954)
Physiological Safety Belongingness Self esteem Cognitive Self actualisation
Self actualised people- peak experiences
feelings of ecstasy, Harmony and deep meaning
Self actualised people- efficient perceptions of reality
judge situations correctly, in line with reality
Self actualised people- continued freshness of appreciation
renewed appreciation for life
Self actualised people- acceptance of self, others and nature
comfortable with flaws of self and others
Self actualised people- spontaneity
tackle problems and challenges in new ways rathe than hampered by convention
Self actualised people- some other characteristics
- task centring
- autonomy
- profound interpersonal relationships
- comfort with solitude
- non-hostile sense of humour
- few friends
- socially compassionate
Person centred Theory-Rogers (1951)
- strive to becoming fully functional individuals
- self concept: beliefs about who you are
- need for self-consistency, to avoid conflicts between out self-perceptions
- strive for congruency
Rogers (1951) Congurency
congruency between ideal self and the perceived self :
Congruency: self concepts match reality = self actualisation
Incongruence: maladaptive= deny reality/ problems with living
OR
adaptive= modify self concept/ self growth (Bettie for this to be flexible)
Self perception profile questionnaires
Harter (1986, 2012)
- assessed congruency though a discrepancy score
- importance minus competence
Innate psychosocial needs- Unconditional positive regard
- parents foster congruence and positive self concept
- love child unconditionally
- not attached to external factors of success
Innate psychosocial needs- Conditional positive regard
- parents foster incongruence and negative self concept
- love is dependent on behaviour
- results in fluctuation of self esteem
Innate psychosocial needs- 3 important elements
…that foster personal growth:
- genuineness
- acceptance (unconditionally)
- empathy
limitations
- too subjective
- untestable, hard to examine scientifically
- lower needs do not always have to be satisfied
- biased sample on white European
- hierarchy reflects Western values
- extremely influential, inspired theories on wellbeing and motivation (Deci and Ryan’s self determination theory)
theory
Behaviour is determined by traits: fundamental and relatively stable cognitive, emotional and behavioural category.
- personality is a degree to which an individual possessed a particular dimension
- we are all somewhere on the continuum
- using psychometric tests
Lexical Approach
- important characterises should be commonly used and embedded in language
- Allport and Obert (1936)- factor analysis- finds groups of variables that correlate with one another
Cattell’s personality Factors (1946)
- rating scale
- adjectives are clustered into traits
- 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire
e. g. warmth, liveliness, sensitivity, tension, privateness, abstractedness
Eyseneck’s Two Factor Theory (1967)
-introversion-extraversion
-neuroticism-stability
= produces diverse personality patterns
Revised questionnaire:
Psychoticism: aggressive and impulsive vs cooperative and controlled
- still too over simplistic
Five Factor Theory - Goldberg (1991), McCrae and Costa (2003)
- 5 factors each with six subtypes
- measured using NEO-PI-R
OCEAN Openness Conscientiousness Extraversion Agreeableness Neuroticism
- metaanalysis highlights gender differences
- varies across cultures
Esyneck’s (1967) Biological Theory
- 40% heritability
- resting comical arousal patterns in rain are due to genetic variations
We need to maintain optimal levels of arousal:
Introverts: need to minimise overall arousal
Extroverts: need to stimulate under-arousal
Neurotic: sudden shifts in arousal
Stable: gradual, less extreme changes
Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory- Grey (1982)
Personality due to variations in sensitivity to reward and punishment.
Behavioural approach system (BAS): sensitivity to rewards
Behavioural inhibition system (BIS): sensitivity to punishment
Limitations
- only modest correlation between childhood and adulthood personality
- low to moderate correlation between behaviour and emotions
- doesn’t account for situational factors and environment
*showed us the value of identifying, classifying and measuring personality
theory
reciprocal determinism: dispositions, behaviours and environment all interact to influence each other
Locus of Control- Rotter(1966)
Degree of personal control over life.
Internal: outcomes under out control
External: outcomes due to external
- acquired thought patterns of reinforcement (whether your efforts were rewarded with success or failure e.g. learnt helplessness)
- harsh rather than worm parenting leads to E-LOC
Self efficacy- Bandura (1997)
One’s belief in ability to perform behaviours needed to achieve desired outcome.
Determinants:
- previous performance experiences
- observable learning
- verbal persuasion (feedback)
- emotional arousal- interpretations and management of stress and anxiety
Implications
- Motivation : I-LOC seek out info for success and behave in a more self determines manner
- Academic achievement and success
- Job and Athletic performance
- Health and wellbeing : I-LOC better for management , E-LOC: associated with depression
Limitations
- self efficacy scales do not identify underlying factors that determine self efficacy
- high self efficacy may lead to negative outcomes
- choices and motivations baed on other factors (personal values/ social norms)
*strong scientific base bringing together two well established perspectives to explain personality
