Personality Theories

Question 1

Before the various perspectives

Define Personality

Broad Definition

Answer 1

Psychological qualities that contribute to an individual’s enduring and distinctive patterns of feeling, thinking and behaving.

Question 2

Define personality and explain how the various perspectives in psychology view personality?

Answer 2

Personality:
Unique way in which each individual
thinks, acts and feels throughout life
Perspectives or theories
Different ways of viewing
and explaining personality
* Psychodynamic:
* Based on work of Freud; primary focus is on role of unconscious mind
* Behavioural and social cognitive views: Focus on the effect of the
* environment on behaviour; based on theories of learning
* Humanistic: Focuses on conscious life experiences and choices
* Trait: Focuses on characteristics themselves, not roots of personality

Question 3

Define a personality trait?

Answer 3

relatively stable predisposition to behave in
a certain way in a variety of situations
- they exist on a continuum

Question 4

Describe the five-factor model?

OCEAN

Answer 4

• Openness: a person’s willingness to try new things and be open to new experiences. People who try to maintain the status quo and who do not like to change things would score low on openness.
• Conscientiousness refers to a person’s organisation and motivation, with people who score high in this dimension being those who are careful about being at places on time and careful with belongings as well. Someone scoring low on this dimension, for example, might always be late for important social events or borrow belongings and fail to return them or return them in poor condition.
• Extraversion is a term first used by Carl Jung (1933), who believed that all people
  could be divided into two personality types: extraverts and introverts. Extraverts are outgoing and sociable, whereas introverts are more solitary and dislike being the centre of attention.
• Agreeableness refers to the basic emotional style of a person, who may be easygoing, friendly and pleasant (at the high end of the scale) or grumpy, irritable and hard to get along with (at the low end).
• Neuroticism refers to emotional instability or stability. People who are excessive worriers, overanxious and moody would score high on this dimension, whereas those who are more even-tempered and calm would score low.

O
High score: Creative, curious.
Low Score: Down to eart, conventional
C
High score: Organised, neat
Low score: Unreliable, negligent
E
High score: Talkative, opportunistic
Low score: Reserved, okay alone
A
High score: Trusting, helpful
Low score: Rude Irritable
N
High Score:
Worrying, insecure
Low score: Calm, secure

Question 5

Define the psychodynamic theory of personality?

Answer 5

Personality is determined by unconscious
processes which originate in early childhood

Question 6

3 Level of Awareness

Psychoanalytic

Answer 6

Conscious : we are aware of our thoughts
Preconscious : material that is not currentlv in our conscious awareness
but can be brought in easily. (similar to LTM)
Unconscious: thoughts, wishes and feelings that cannot be easily
brought into conscious awareness.

Question 7

Identify the psychosexual stages and describe the conflicts and concerns of each?

Answer 7

1. Oral Stage - erogenous zone is the mouth.
   - Conflict: over weaning
   - Concern: Orally fixated Adult Personality
2. Anal Stage - erogenous zone is the anus.
   - Conflict: Toilet Training
   - Concern: Fixation too harsh take 2 forms
   - a).Child who refuse too result in adult as an anal expulsive personality, sees messiness as a statement of personal control and who is somewhat destructive and hostile.
   - b). Child who is terrified of making a mess As adults, they are stingy, stubborn and excessively neat. This type is called the anal retentive personality.
3. Phallic Stage
   - Conflict: centres on the awakening sexual feelings of the child. Freud essentially believed that boys develop
   both sexual attraction to their mothers and jealousy of their fathers during this stage, a phenomenon called the Oedipus complex.
   - Girls: Electra complex, with their father as the target of their affections and their mother as the rival. The result of identification is the development of the superego, the internalised moral values of the same-sex parent.
   - Concern/ Fixation: exhibit promiscuous
   sexual behaviour and are very vain.
4. Latency Stage- sexual and aggressive
   impulses channeled into socially acceptable
   behaviors- they are repressed
5. Genital Stage- mature sexuality and
   relationships

Question 8

Describe the structure of the personality?

Structure, Level of Thought, Operating Principle and Description.

Answer 8

Id- unconscious- pleasure principle- simple
biological needs, sexual and aggressive
impulses

Ego- largely conscious- reality principle-
mediator between the id, superego and reality’s demands, rational thought and
problem solving

Superego- preconscious- idealistic
principle- conscience, internalized values
and morals

Question 9

Name defence
mechanisms and their definition?

Superego and ID have conflict result in anxiety.
Ego deals with this through defence mechanisms

Answer 9

• Repression: exclude anxiety source from awareness
• Projection: Attribute unacceptable self qualities to someone else
• Reaction formation: Emphasise opposite of an uncomfortable thought
• Rationalisation: seemingly logical/socially acceptable excuse for shameful thoughts or actions
• Displacement: Shift emotion from one object to another less dangerous one
• Sublimation: Channel socially unacceptable impulses into more acceptable or admirable ones

Question 10

Define the neu-freudian approach?

Answer 10

• Place less emphasis on sex and aggression and more on social interactions
• Place less emphasis on the unconscious and more on the ego

Question 11

What did Karen Horney do?

Answer 11

• Developed concept womb envy
• Focused more on social interactions as the source of of adult personality and behaviour
• When infants are borned into a world bigger than them they develop basic anxiety
• When the infant is nurtured, cared for and receives affection they will overcome this anxiety into adulthood
• When they are not nurtured for they will develop the three strategies

Question 12

Identify the three strategies that are overused by developonh neurotic styles when children do not grow up in healthy environments?

Neo-Freudian Perspective

Karen Horney

Answer 12

1. Compliant- move towards too much-
   sweet, self-sacrificing, people pleaser,
   overly submissive
2. Aggressive- move against too much-
   powerful, argumentative, difficult,
   uncooperative, need to control
3. Detached- move away too much- self-
   reliant, afraid to ask for help, aloof, perfectionistic

Question 13

3 strategies to cope with
basic anxiety

Neo-Freudian Perspective

(Karen
Horney)

Answer 13

1. Move towards others- reach out,
   cooperate
2. Move against others- Assert, argue
3. Move away from others- withdraw/ enjoy own company

Question 14

Define learning theories?

Behaviour and Learning Theories.

Answer 14

• For behaviourists, personality is a set of learned responses and habits, gained through classical and operant conditioning
• Principles of classical and operant conditioning apply when explaining personality and behaviour.
• In social cognitive view, both learning
  (individual and through imitation of models)
  and cognitive processes (such as anticipation,
  judgement and memory) are important.

Question 15

Define three factors that influence one
another in determining the patterns of behaviour that make up personality?

Learning Theories

Answer 15

• the environment,
• the behaviour itself
• personal or cognitive factors that the person brings into the situation from earlier experiences

Question 16

Define Bandura’s reciprocal determinism?

Learning Theories

Answer 16

Personal self-efficiacy influences behaviour which gets feedback from environment which then influences self-efficiacy.

Question 17

Define Bandura’s Self-Effiiciacy

Learning Theories

Answer 17

The self-perceptions that individuals hold
about their capabilities
Higher self-efficacy = more chance of
success even if ability level is the same as
someone with lower self-efficacy

Question 18

What are the influences of self-efficiacy?

Learning Theories

Answer 18

-motivation
-perseverance
-locus of control
-confidence

Question 19

Where does self-efficiacy comes from?

Learning Theories

Answer 19

• Performance experiences
• Observational learning
• Verbal persuasion
• Emotional arousal
• influenced by both environment and
  personal behaviour and beliefs

Question 20

Describe Rotter’s Locus of Control?

Learning Theories

Answer 20

the degree to which people perceive the
control of rewards as internal to the self or external to the environment.

Internal- generally better, you believe you
are in control and are more likely to feel
positively about your ability to deal with
things.

External- More likely to be negative about a situation because you think the environment controls the situations outcomes and do not believe you have much personal power to change things

Question 21

Explain Expectancy and Reinforcement?

Rotter

Learning Theories

Answer 21

Expectancy and self-efficacy are similar concepts, both referring to the belief that a behavior will lead to a positive outcome. High expectancy for success is based on past experiences with successes and failures. Reinforcement value is an individual’s preference for a particular reinforcer over others. Things that are particularly appealing have a higher reinforcement value.

Question 22

Evaluate the strenghts and limitations of learning theories.

Answer 22

Contributions:
- These theories are scientific and practical, which makes them testable and useful.
- They have led to the development of therapies that help people improve their behavior and thinking, ultimately leading to a better life.
- Behavior therapy is an effective method that can help people lead happier lives.

Limitations:
- These theories do not fully take into account our thoughts and feelings when explaining our behavior.
- Human behavior is complex and cannot be fully explained by just examining our thoughts and external influences.
- Most of the research has been conducted in the United States, so they may not be applicable to other cultures and countries.

Question 23

Two components of the self-concept?

Humanistic

Could be asked in a question such as Describe how humanists such as Carl Rogers explain personality. Remember to incorporate components and development of self concept.

Answer 23

Rogers proposes that a person’s self-concept comprises two parts: the real self and the ideal self.

The real self refers to how a person sees their own traits and abilities.
The ideal self is the person’s perception of who they would like to be or feel they ought to be.

When a person’s real self and ideal self are alike, they feel satisfied and at peace. However, when there is a difference between the two selves, a person may experience anxiety and engage in neurotic behavior.

Question 24

Regard (Carl Rogers)

Describe the development of self-concept?

Humanistic

Could be asked in a question such as Describe how humanists such as Carl Rogers explain personality. Remember to incorporate components and development of self concept.

Answer 24

When receiving unconditional positive regard, an individual is able to attain self-actualization and become fully functioning. This includes being open to new experiences, living in the present moment, trusting oneself and having the freedom to make choices and take responsibility. Additionally, creativity is fostered, which in turn positively impacts others.

However, when positive regard is conditional, an individual may experience self-discrepancies and incongruence. They may feel the need to abandon their true desires, dreams and feelings in an attempt to gain parental approval.

Question 25

Maslow Hierarchy of Needs

Humanistic

Answer 25

1. Physical Needs: Satisfy Hunger
2. Safety Needs: Feel secure
3. Belongingness and Love Needs: Be with others
4. Esteem Needs: Achieve and be competent
5. Cognitive Needs: To understand and explore
6. Aesthetic Needs: Appreciate symmetry and beauty
7. Self- Actualisation: Find self-fullfillment
8. Transcendence: Find spiritual meaning beyond one’s immediate self.

8

Question 26

Seligman

Identify Virtues and Character Needs

Humanistic Perspective

Answer 26

• Courage - Creativity, curiousity
• Wisdom - Bravery, persistence
• Humanity - Kindess
• Justice - Citizenship, fairness
• Temperance - Mercy, self-conttol
• Transcendence - Humor, Hope, Spirituality

Seligman’s Positive Psychology
- the presence of certain characteristics or personality traits allows a person to perform at their
best
- 6 virtue clusters were derived from 24 character strengths

Question 27

Evaluate strenghts and limitations of the humanistic view of personality?

Answer 27

• The Humanistic Perspective is a psychological approach that places emphasis on **the human potential and personal growth. **
• It focuses on identifying and developing individuals’ strengths, and recognizes the importance of understanding ourselves better.
• This perspective has led to the development of various therapies that aim to promote personal growth and self-awareness.
• Despite its many benefits, the Humanistic Perspective has certain limitations.
• It does not fully address the darker sides of human nature, such as our tendency towards racism, xenophobia or lack of conscience.
• Furthermore, it can be difficult to* test the theories associated with this perspective scientifically, as they are primarily focused on subjective experiences, feelings and self-concept. Nonetheless, it remains an important approach to understanding and improving our human experience.

Question 28

Define Behavioural genetics and Heritability?

Biological Perspective

Answer 28

Behavioural genetics: how genes and the environment work together to influence behaviour
Behavioural geneticists try to establish the influence of heredity on behaviour.

Heritability: to the passing on of traits from one generation to the next through genetic inheritance
- Refers to how much of the variation of a particular trait in a population can be accounted for by the differences in our genes

Question 29

Define Eysenck’s Theory

Biological factors of personality

Answer 29

• Personality is linked to specific neurophysiological mechanisms
• According to Eysenck, the difference between extraverts and introverts can be explained in terms of genetically based differences in arousal of the central nervous system
  + Introverts brain are over aroused which is why** they avoid stimulation** (more easily aroused eg. coffee has a greater effect on them)
• Extraverts brain is under aroused which is why they seek stimulation

Question 30

Reinforcement sensitivity
theory (Gray)

Biological Perpective

Answer 30

Behavioral activation system (BAS) - brain
structures that lead to people approaching stimuli in search of rewards – the GO system

Behavioral inhibition system (BIS) - Brain
structures involved in inhibiting behavior that may lead to danger or pain, sensitive to punishment- the STOP system

Extraverts have a stronger BAS and
introverts stronger BIS

Question 31

How do genes exert the influence and Define Temperament?

Biological Perspective

Answer 31

• Most aspects of personality are not affected by a single gene, but by the interaction of multiple genes with each other and with the environment.
  Temperament: Innate, biologically-based tendencies to feel or act in certain ways
• form the foundation for our adult personality

Question 32

2 measures of personality

Answer 32

1. Projective- examine unconscious
   processes by having people interpret
   ambiguous stimuli, used by psychodynamic theorists - e.g. rorschack inkblot or thematic aperception test
   the reliability and validity of these is
   questionable because ppl answer diff on diff days and it is no good at diagnosing specific disorders and also ranks normal people as psychologically disturbed
2. Objective- structured and standardized
   assessments based on self report or
   informant ratings- e.g. 16 personality factor questionnaire, or Minnesota multiphasicpersonality inventory
   used to diagnose with disorders, to measure how traits link to other variables, to explore how personality matches up to job requirements by employers

Question 33

What are the two 2 broad approaches to
personality assessments?

Answer 33

1. Idiographic- person centered approaches focus on individual lives and how various characteristics are integrated into unique persons
2. Nomothetic- focus on characteristics
   common to all people but how they occur to varying degrees between people

Question 34

Identify the types of music and what we can guess about the
listeners

Rentfrow and Gosling

Answer 34

Reflective and complex listeners - classical, jazz- inventive, imaginative, tolerant, liberal, openness to xp

Intense and rebellious listeners- rock, alt,
heavy metal- curious, intelligent, active, risk taker, openness

Upbeat and commercial listeners- country, pop- cheerful, socially outgoing, reliable, attractive, conventional, extraverted, low openness to xp

Energetic and rhythmic- hip hop, electronic - talkative, energetic, liberal, forgiving, high extraversion and agreeableness

Question 35

Explanations for musics
link to personality and
why people like to listen
to specific music

Answer 35

1. Activity congruence- ppl like to listen to
   music that compliments their preferred
   activities
2. Emotional regulation- ppl like music that reinforces their emotional state
3. Self- identity motives- ppl like music that supports their own self perceptions and communicated the information to others similar to how we dress to express ourselves

Question 36

Define trait?

Answer 36

• A personality trait is a relatively stable predisposition to behave in a certain way in a variety of situations
  Traits exist on a continuum

Question 37

Buss and Plomin (1984) 3 genetically-based dimensions of temperament:

Answer 37

• Activity level: the overall amount of energy a person exhibits
• Emotionality: the intensity of a person emotional reactions
• Sociability: the extent to which somebody likes to associate with others
• these 3 are the aspects of personality that are most influenced by genes and have high heritability

Question 38

Contributions and limitations of biological perspective:

Answer 38

• Evidence from behavioral genetics has demonstrated that personality has a substantial genetic component.
However, heritability coefficients tend to oversimplify a complex issue:
  genes and environment are both crucial to every trait.

Question 39

Do animals have personality:

Answer 39

• Gosling (1998) found evidence of 5 personality traits in spotted hyenas (although not exactly the same traits found in humans)
• Assertiveness
• Excitability
• Human direct agreeableness
• Sociability
• Curiosity
• Gosling and John (1999) found evidence that traits similar to extraversion, neuroticism and agreeableness could be seen in most species
• Some animals also displayed individual differences in curiosity and play (openness to experience)
• But only chimpanzees showed any signs of conscientiousness

Question 40

Why animal personalities must be studied:

Answer 40

• to provide insights into the genetic, biological, and environmental determinants of personality,
• to understand general processes in personality perception,
• to apply our understanding to real-word contexts and promote animal welfare.

Question 41

Age and personality:

Answer 41

• The shift from temperament to personality can be observed in young children, as parents are able to identify the Big Five traits in their offspring by the age of 3.
• Some links exist between early temperament and later personality, but some aspects of personality do not fully stabilize until middle childhood or later, which is a better predictor of one’s personality.
• Personality can undergo changes during adulthood.
• On average, many people tend to become more agreeable, conscientious, and emotionally stable from adolescence to middle age, a phenomenon known as the maturity principle.
• Relative rankings on the Big Five personality traits tend to persist over time.
• Stability in personality tends to increase with age, although change in personality is still possible.
• The stability in personality can be explained by various factors such as genes, childhood experiences, and stable environments.
• Changes in personality may be the result of biological changes such as Alzheimer’s, environmental changes such as changes in work or social roles, or a poor fit between one’s personality characteristics and lifestyle.

Question 42

Gender and Personality

Answer 42

• Women tend to score higher on traits reflecting social connectedness, focusing on the importance of relationships with others.
• Women tend to be more empathic and nurturing.
• Women score higher on neuroticism.
• Men score higher on traits reflecting individuality and autonomy, separateness from others, achievement, and self-sufficiency.
• Men score higher on anger and aggression.

Possible reasons:
- Biological reasons: testosterone, higher levels in men contribute to anger and aggression.
- Natural selection: women strive to be good mothers, men strive to reproduce.
- Sociocultural: social roles and expectations are different for men and women, therefore they learn different beliefs.
- Personality differences within each gender are greater than those between men and women.

Question 43

Culture and personality:

Answer 43

• Theories of personality often prioritize values of individuality and autonomy that are prominent in Euro-American cultures. However, such values may not be applicable to the rest of the world.
• Personality differences are evident across cultures.
• Collectivist cultures such as the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, place more emphasis on the good of the group and value family, caring for others, and maintaining social order. As a result, they tend to score higher on agreeableness and have a more external locus of control.
• Individualistic cultures such as the United States, Britain, Australia, and Canada, encourage people to think of themselves as unique individuals, value individual freedom, autonomy, and equality, and tend to score higher on extraversion and openness to experience, and have a more internal locus of control.
• The explanation for such cultural differences in personality can be attributed to genetically influenced differences in temperament across different geographical regions, biased response styles, and children being socialized according to their culture’s values.

Question 44

Personality and adjustments importance:

Answer 44

• The degree to which we fit into our environment, including our cultural environment, is crucial for our ability to adapt and adjust throughout our lives.
• Whether particular personality traits are beneficial or not is largely determined by how well they align with the environment in which we find ourselves.
• If we are frequently forced to adapt to situations that do not match our personality, this can lead to a lack of congruence and difficulty in adjusting.

Question 45

Finding the right career for your personality (holland) :

Answer 45

1. Realistic:
   Personality type: active and stable
   Work activities: like working with tools and machinery
   Jobs suited : farmer, carpenter or engineer
2. Investigative
   Personality type: intellectual and analytical
   Work activities: working with information
   Jobs suited :chemist or mathematician
3. Artistic
   Personality type: original and imaginative
   Work activities: creating things
   Jobs suited: becoming a writer
4. Social
   Personality type: idealistic and responsible
   Work activities: helping other and working with others
   Jobs suited : social work or teaching
5. Enterprising
   Personality type: extraverted and confident
   Work activities: leading or influencing
   Jobs suited : sales representative, lawyer or politician
6. Conventional
   Personality type : consciousness and conforming
   Work activities: organising
   Jobs suited : secretary or accountant
   to find the right carrier you must know your personality and where it fits in with the world of work

Question 46

Freuds two theories

Answer 46

1. Topography of the mind: He states that the mind could be divided into three sections (Levels of Awareness)
2. Drives or instinct model: what drives or motivates us. (People are motivated by two types of drives: Sex and Aggression)