Chapter 14
Personality
Personality A person's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting
:Currently, psychologists believe that personality is: o Comprised of traits o Relatively enduring
Different Perspectives of Personality
1) Psychoanalytic approach 2) Social-Cognitive approach
Psychoanalytic Approach
Developed by Sigmund Freud Attributes personality to unconscious motives and psychosexual conflicts The unconscious: part of the mind that is outside a person's immediate awareness
Three Pars of the Mind o The relationship between these three determines personality and behavior
1) Id Most primitive part of human mind Operates on pleasure principle 2) Ego Constrains the id to reality Operates on the reality principle 3) Superego - Moral compass
Psychosexual Stages of Personality Development
Oral Stage (Birth -- 18 months)
> Oral fixation > Tendency to overindulge > Nail biting, thumb sucking, pencil chewing > Overly dependent > Verbally attacking, biting, hostile
Anal Stage (18 months - 3 years)
> Develop too much self-control and become compulsive, rigid, overly neat, and never messy > Achieve too little control and become sloppy and dirty > Children are presented with the chance to exercise control and willpower during toilet training -- if children withhold, they might become stingy, holding back, not giving others what they want, and being overly willful or stubborn
Phallic Stage (3 -- 5 years)
> Oedipus complex & Electra complex > Coping with incestuous sexual feelings Latency Stage (6 years -- Puberty) > Little psychological conflict occurs > Phase or dormant sexual feelings
Genital Stage (Puberty -- Adulthood) > No specific conflict > Maturation of sexual interests
Psychoanalytic Approach
Oedipus complex o During phallic stage, boys develop unconscious sexual desires for their mother and jealousy/hatred for their father, whom they consider a rival Boys experience guilt and fear of punishment ("castration anxiety") from their father Boys must cope with these feelings by repressing them and identifying with the rival parent Superego gains strength - Incorporating parents' values : Development of gender identity Electra complex o During phallic stage, girls develop unconscious sexual desires for their father and jealousy/hatred towards their mother, who is the object of father's affection Girls through this process realize they are lacking a penis and therefore experience "penis envy" o Girls blame their mother, causing tension o Girls most cope with these feelings by repressing desires for father, identifies with the mother to assume the female gender role, replaces desire for penis with desire to bear a child
Personality Tests for Revealing the Unconscious
The Rorschach Test The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
Social-Cognitive Approach
Personality is made up of unique, multiple traits o Examples of Traits Honest Dependable Moody Impulsive Eysenck suggested that personality could be reduced to two polar dimensions: o Introversion-extraversion o Emotional stability-instability Eysenck's two factors were limited, so the Big Five Factors were developed
1) Conscientiousness a. Organized/Disorganized b. Careful/Careless c. Disciplined/Impulsive 2) Agreeableness a. Soft-hearted/Ruthless b. Trusting/Suspicious c. Helpful/Uncooperative 3) Neuroticism a. Calm/Anxious b. Secure/Insecure c. Self-satisfied/Self-pitying 4) Openness a. Imaginative/Practical b. Preference for variety/routine c. Independent/Conforming 5) Extraversion a. Sociable/Re