Lecture Notes - General Psychology

Personality Definition of Personality Personality is a pattern of enduring, distinctive thoughts and emotions, and behaviors that characterize the way an individual adapts to the world. Psychologists have approached these enduring characteristics in a variety of ways, focusing on different aspects of the person (king, 2013). Perspectives in the Study Personality 1. Psychodynamic Perspective emphasize that personality is primarily unconscious or is beyond awareness, thus enduring patterns that make up personality are largely unavailable to out conscious awareness and they powerfully shape our behaviors. Psychodynamic theorists stress the role of early childhood experiences that shape our earliest conceptions of ourselves and of others. Sigmund Freud developed psychoanalysis, his approach to personality, through his work with patients suffering from hysteria. Hysteria refers to physical symptoms that have no physical cause. For instance, a person might be unable to see, even with perfectly healthy eyes, or unable to walk, despite having no physical injury. Structures of Personality Freud called the structures of personality as the id, ego, and superego. Id (“it”): consists of unconscious drives and is the individual’s reservoir of sexual energy. The it is a pool of amoral and often vile urges pressing for expression. The id works for the pleasure principle. Ego (“I”): the Freudian structure of personality that deals with the demands of reality. It abides by reality principle as it tries to bring the individual pleasure within the norms of the society. The ego helps us to test reality, to see how far we can go without getting into trouble and hurting ourselves. Id (“it”): consists of unconscious drives and is the individual’s reservoir of sexual energy. The it is a pool of amoral and often vile urges pressing for expression. The id works for the pleasure principle. Ego (“I”): the Freudian structure of personality that deals with the demands of reality. It abides by reality principle as it tries to bring the individual pleasure within the norms of the society. The ego helps us to test reality, to see how far we can go without getting into trouble and hurting ourselves. Defense Mechanisms Defense Mechanisms are tactics that the ego uses to reduce anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality. Denial – the most primitive defense mechanism, in which the ego simply refuses to acknowledge anxietyproducing realities. e.g A man might refuse to accept his diagnosis of cancer Displacement – directing unacceptable impulses at a less threatening target e.g. An employee was reprimanded by his boss and yelled to his innocent son at home. Sublimation –is a special form of displacement in which the person expresses an unconscious wish in a socially valued way, such as a boxer who sublimates his aggressive drive in the ring. Repression – is the most powerful and pervasive defense mechanism. It pushes unacceptable id impulses back into the unconscious mind. Repression is the foundation for all the psychological defense mechanisms, which goal is to repress threatening impulses, that is, to push them out of awareness. Horney’s Sociocultural Approach (Karen Horney, 1885- 1952) Karen Horney rejected the classical psychoanalytic concept that anatomy is destines and cautioned that some of Freud’s most popular ideas were only hypotheses. She insisted that these hypotheses be supported with observable data before being accepted as fact. She also argued that socio-cultural influences on personality development should be considered (Schultz & Schultz, 21012 in King, 2013). She also believed that the need for security, not for sex, is the prime motive of human existence. Jung’s Analytical Theory (Carl Jung,1875-1961) Freud’s contemporary Carl Jung (1875-1961) shared Frued’s interest in the unconscious, but he believed that Freud underplayed the unconscious mind’s role in personality. Collective unconscious is Jung’s name for the impersonal, deepest layer of the unconscious mind, shared by all human beings because of their common ancestral past. He posited that collective unconscious contains archetypes which pertain to emotionally laden ideas and images that have rich and symbolic meaning for all people. He concluded that these archetypes emerge in art, literature, religion and dreams (DOurley, 2011; Morgan, 2012 in King, 2013). He introduced the archetypes of anima (passive feminine side) and animus (an assertive masculine side). Another archetype, the persona, represents the public mask that we all wear during social interactions. Adler’s Individual Psychology (Alfred Adler, 1870-1937) Individual psychology posits that people are motivated by purposes and goals – thus, perfection, not pleasure, is their key motivator. Adler argued that people have the ability to Individual psychology posits that people are motivated by purposes and goals – thus, perfection, not pleasure, is their key motivator. Adler argued that people have the ability to Compensation is Adler’s term for the individual’s attempt to overcome imagined or real inferiorities or weaknesses by developing one’s own abilities. (e. g. a person of small stature and limited physical abilities might compensate by excelling in academics. Humanistic Perspectives Humanistic Perspectives - stress a person’s capacity for personal growth and positive human qualities. Humanistic psychologists believe that we all have the ability to control our lives and to achieve what we desire (Schultz & Schultz, 2012). Abraham Maslow – a leading architect of the humanistic movement (19081970). According to Maslow, self-actualization is the motivation to develop one’s full potential as human being. A person at this optimal level of existence would be tolerant of others, have a gentle sense of humor, and be likely to pursue the greater good. Carl Rogers (1902-1987) believed that we are all born with the raw ingredients of a fulfilling life – we simply need the right condition to thrive. Each person is born with natural capacities for growth and fulfillment. Unconditional Positive Regard is Roger’s term for being accepted, valued, and treated positively regardless of one’s behavior. Conditions of worth are the standards we must live up to in order to receive positive regard. Trait Perspectives According to trait theories, personality consists of broad, enduring dispositions (traits) that tend to lead to characteristic responses, thus, we can describe people as outgoing, friendly, private, or hostile. Gordon Allport (1897-111967) is referred to as the father of American personality psychology. In defining personality, Allport stressed each person’s uniqueness and capacity to adapt to the environment. For Allport the crucial unit for understanding personality is the trait. Traits are mental structures that make different situations the same for the person. Allport’s definition of trait implies that behavior should be consistent across different situations The Five- Factor Model of Personality The Big five factors of personality are broad traits that are thought to describe the main dimensions of personality such as neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Neuroticism, or the tendency to worry and experience negative emotions). A person with low level of neuroticism is calm, secure, and self-satisfied. Extraversion, or more likely than others to engage in social activities (Emmons & Diener, 1986 in King, 2013), experience gratitude (McCullough, Emmons, & Tsang, 2002 in King 2013), show strong sense of meaning in life (King et al., 2006 in King, 2013), and are more forgiving (Thompson, et al., 2005 in King, 2013). Openness to Experience is related to liberal values,open-mindedness, tolerance (McCrae & Sutin, 2009 in King, 2013) and creativity (Silvia & others, 2009 in King, 2013). Agreeableness is related to altruism and generosity (Caprara et al., 2010 in King, 2013), to reports of religious faith (Haber, Koenig, & Jacob, 2011 in King 2013) and to more satisfying romantic relationships (Donnellan, LarsenRife, & Conger, 2005 in King, 2013). Conscientiousness’ is a key factor in a variety of life domains. Researchers have found that it is positively related to high school and college student’s grade point averages (Noftle & Robins, 2007 In King, 2013), is organized, careful and disciplined (King, 2013). Biological Perspectives Personality characteristics reflect underlying biological processes such as those carried out by the brain, neurotransmitters, and genes. Eysenck suggested that the brain’s reticular activation system (RAS) plays a role in introversion/extraversion. He thought of these traits as the outward manifestations of arousal regulation. Gray’s Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory states that two neurological systems, the BAS or behavioral activation system and the BIS or the behavioral inhibition system, explain differences in an organism’s attention to environmental rewards and punishments, and in this way shape personality. In Gray’s theory the BAS is sensitive to rewards in the environment, predisposes one to feelings of positive emotion, and underlies the trait of extraversion. In contrast, the BIS is sensitive to punishments and is involved in avoidance learning; it predisposes the individual to feelings of fear and underlies the trait of neuroticism (Berkman, Lieberman, & Gable, 2009; Corr, 2008; Gray & McNaughton, 2000 in King, 2013). Personality Assessment Understanding personality involves objective and subjective methods such as follows: 1.Self-report tests or an objective test is a method of measuring personality characteristics that directly asks people whether specific items describe their personality traits. Example: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI): the most widely used and researched empirically keyed self-report personality test. 2.Projective Test presents individuals with an ambiguous stimulus and asks them to describe it or tell a story about it – to project their own meaning onto the stimulus. Examples: Thematic Apperception Test: a projective test that is designed to elicit stories that reveal something about an individual’s personality. Rorschach Inkblot Test: developed in 1921 by the Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach. This uses an individual’s perception of inkblots to determine his or her personality. 3.Interview is a subjective method of personality assessment that involves questioning techniques designed to reveal the personality of the client. 4.Observational methods involve watching a person’s actual behavior in a natural or simulated situation.