PERSONALITY

Is it WHO we are? Or Something else.

What are we talking about when we talk about personality?

Personality: The pattern of enduring characteristics that differentiates a person --- the pattern of behaviors that makes each individual different

Personality refers to a distinctive pattern of behaviour, mannerisms, thoughts, motives, emotions that characterize an individual over time and across situations.

What are we talking about when we talk about personality?

According to the statement, the pattern of behavior has to be: 1) seen as components of identity that helps distinguish that person from other people 2) these behaviors are caused primarily by internal forces rather than external environmental factors 3) these behaviors seem to FIT TOGETHER in a meaningful fashion, suggesting an inner personality that guides and directs behavior.

Analyzing Personality
Psychologists define personality as a relatively stable pattern of thinking, feeling, and behaving that distinguishes one person from another. Two important components of this definition are distinctiveness and relative consistency.
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Theoretical Approaches
Explanations of personality variations centers around three main theoretical approaches

Biological/genetic

Nature/Genetic differences are important determinants of our personality and individuality

Biological Factors in Personality

Additional support for the belief that biological factors influence personality. A growing body of research points to the importance of biological factors in several personality characteristics.

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Biological Factors in Personality

The study of identical twins reared apart allows researchers to identify the effects of heredity independently of the influence of environmental factors.

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Biological Factors in Personality

Evidence from such studies indicates that heredity plays a role in a wide range of personality characteristics as evidenced by heritability estimates between 20 and 50%.
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Biological Factors in Personality

The evolutionary perspective would predict that those aspects of our personality that help us adapt to environmental demands are passed along to subsequent generations. Researchers have generated considerable data in support of the theory of psychologist David Buss that evolution has had an impact on the type of people that men and women choose as dates and mates.
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Learning

Socialization is the process that nurtures our learning to adapt to our environment

The Learning-Theory Perspective

The term Personality for the Behaviourists was a convenient illusion that psychologists used. They believed that we are what we have learned to be, people do not carry internal traits in them like their internal body organs. The consistency seen in peoples behaviours are due to patterns of reinforcements over time. Any changes seen in behaviours are also due to the changes introduced through the reinforcers.

Psychoanalytic

Frueds theory that unconscious forces act as determinants of personality

 THE

Frueds model of the mind

Conscious mind: represents the part of the iceberg above the surface, clearly visible and apparent to the individual Preconscious mind: consists of thoughts, ideas, and beliefs which are easily retrieved. Unconscious: contains all sorts of disturbing and emotionally significant ideas and memories, exerting powerful ,unseen influence.

The Psychodynamic Perspective

Three concepts form the backbone of Freuds theory: psychic determinism, instincts, and levels of consciousness. Psychic determinism refers to the influence of the past on the present. Freud believed that much of our behavior, feeling, and thinking is determined by events that occurred earlier in our lives.
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The Psychodynamic Perspective

The third major concept in psychodynamic theory is Freuds proposal that there are various levels of consciousness. Freud described three levels of consciousness. The conscious level refers to the thoughts, wishes, and emotions you are aware of at this moment.
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The Psychodynamic Perspective

The level just below consciousness is called the preconscious; its contents are waiting to be pulled into consciousness like fish from a pond. The thirdand in Freuds theory the most importantlevel of consciousness (or awareness) is below the preconscious and is called the unconscious. The unconscious consists of thoughts, wishes, and feelings that exist beyond our awareness; we can gain access to them only with great effort. Copyright 2010 Pearson Education,
Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

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Personality
Freud believed that personality was the result of hidden desires, and an unconscious conflict between pleasureseeking id, the disciplined super ego, and the manifest ego.

The Psychodynamic Perspective

According to Freuds comprehensive theory, the mind consists of three separate but interacting elements: the id, the ego, and the superego. This model compares the mind to an iceberg. Just as most of an iceberg lies beneath the surface of the water, much of what is truly significant in psychodynamic theory lies below conscious awareness.
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Frueds model of the mind

The model of the mind is constructed a bit like an iceberg with fourth fifths of it buried under the surface

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Psychoanalytic Explanations
Looks at personality as: Behaviour is governed by unconscious as well as conscious motives and processes Personality structures develop over time, as a result of the interaction between the childs inborn needs/drives and the responses of the key people in the childs life Development of personality is fundamentally stage like, with each stage centered on a particular task of the childs developmental basic need. The specific personality a child develops is the outcome of the degree of success the child experiences in meeting these needs, as the child travels through these various stages.

Sigmund Freuds Theory of Psychoanalytic Development

Is it true that the human mind is like a vast submerged iceberg, only the tip of which rises above the surface into conscious awareness? If so, then what about the other parts or regions that are there; Freud labeled the different regions of the mind as:

Components of adult personality

Freud assigned a structure with parts to Personality The ID The EGO The SUPEREGO Dynamic structures, and repression is used to camouflage the internal struggle.

SUPEREGO

ID

EGO

Components of personality
Id: The raw , unorganized, inborn part of personality, whose sole purpose is to reduce tension and created by primitive drives related to hunger, sex, aggression, and irrational impulses (pleasure principal)

Components of personality

Ego: The part of personality that provides a buffer between the id and the outside world (reality principal)

Components of personality

Superego: The final personality structure to develop; it represents societys standards of right and wrong as handled down by the persons parents, teacher, and other important figures. ( conscious & ego-ideal)

How does a Personality Develops

Personality develops in a stage-wise fashion, and the journey determines the outcome Personality is powerfully molded by experiences in the first few years of life The ids pleasure-seeking tendencies are focused on specific pleasure-sensitive areas of the erogenous zones Potential deprivations if experienced during any of these stages, it will result in fixation and an impasse situation for the person arises.

Stages of Psychosexual Development

Oral Stage Anal Stage Phallic Stage Latency Stage Genital Stage

The Psychodynamic Perspective

Freud proposes that there is a neverending battle between two irrational forces (the id and the superego), with a mediator (the ego) in the middle. Much of this conflict is unconscious, but when it becomes serious, an alarm goes off.
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 Anxiety: an intense, negative emotional experience

Defence mechanisms: unconscious strategies people use to reduce anxiety by concealing the source of the anxiety from themselves and others

The Psychodynamic Perspective

When the anxiety or guilt alarm rings, the ego defends itself through unconscious efforts referred to as defense mechanisms that tend to deny or distort reality. The effect of defense mechanisms is to reduce anxiety or guilt.
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In search of human uniqueness

OTHER MAJOR APPROACHES TO PERSONALITY

The Humanistic Perspective

A group of theorists called humanistic psychologists oppose the basic beliefs of both psychodynamic theory and behaviorism. They focus on the present and the healthy personality. Whats more, they view the individuals perceptions of events as more significant than the learning theorists or therapists perceptions. For these reasons, they are often called phenomenological psychologists. Phenomenology is the study of experience just as it occurs.
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The Humanistic Perspective

Carl Rogers shared Maslows belief that people are innately good and are directed toward growth, development, and personal fulfillment. As we develop, our concept of self emerges. The self is our sense of I or me; it is generally conscious and accessible and is a central concept in Rogerss theory.
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The Humanistic Perspective

The self-concept is our perception of our abilities, behaviors, and characteristics. Rogers believed that we act in accordance with our self-concept. Maslow and Rogers agreed that people have a strong need to be loved, to experience affection. Sometimes, however, people experience affection that is conditionalgiven only if they engage in behaviors that are approved by others.
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The Humanistic Perspective

Rogers contrasted this conditional regard with what he called unconditional positive regard, in which a person is accepted for what he or she is, not for what others would like the person to be. According to Rogers, if you grow up believing affection is conditional, you will distort your own experiences in order to feel worthy of acceptance from a wider range of people.
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The Humanistic Perspective

According to Rogers, we have a real self, the self as it really is, a product of our experiences. We also have an ideal self, the self we would like to be. Maladjustment results when there is a discrepancy between the real self and the ideal self.
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Humanistic perspectives
Maslow and Carl Rogers , view personality in terms of the development of the self, including self actualization and realization of ones potential

The Humanistic Perspective

Humanists believed personality was the private SELF, the true self behind the many masks that people wear everyday. They focused on the individuals free will and strength. They argued that people have a conscious need to self-actualize, people are unique and need to follow unique paths to self-actualization. Control may hamper the risks the person requires to take to actualize the potential present

Trait theories
Personality: The pattern of relatively enduring ways in which a person feels, thinks, and behaves.
Develops over a persons lifetime Generally stable in the context of work Can influence career choice, job satisfaction, stress, leadership, and even performance

Trait: A specific component of personality that describes particular tendencies a person has to feel, think, and act in certain ways.

Trait Approaches
Eysenck said we can describe personality as consisting of three basic traits: extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism. Extraversion has been associated with a number of differences in everyday behavior.

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The Trait Perspective

Traits are reasonably stable elements of personality that are inferred from behaviour. (consistent ones) The big five personality traits: Extraversion Agreeableness Consciousness Neuroticism (emotional (in) stability) Openness/Intellect

Extroversion

The Big Five Model of Personality Dimensions

Sociable, gregarious, and assertive

Agreeableness
Good-natured, cooperative, and trusting.

Conscientiousness
Responsible, dependable, persistent, and organized.

Emotional Stability
Calm, self-confident, secure under stress (positive), versus nervous, depressed, and insecure under stress (negative).

Openness to Experience
Curious, imaginative, artistic, and sensitive

Personality
Personality develops by Nature
nurture

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Factors Influencing Personality

Is it determined by heredity or environment? What is your opinion on the POWERS of peers, situations, circumstances, and the cultural influences on the development of personality?