Personality Psychology Flashcards
3/10/19 (75 cards)
1
Q
Personality
A
is “the reasonably stable patterns of emotions, motives and behaviour that distinguish people from one another” (Prigatano, 1992) and characterise a person’s adaptation to life
2
Q
There are 2 core aspects to personality
A
- Consistency
2. Distinctiveness
3
Q
2 core aspects
A
- Personality can explain the stability of a person’s behaviour over time and situations (consistency)
- Personality can explain the behavioural differences among people reacting to the same situation (distinctiveness)
4
Q
5 key questions embedded in the study of Personality
A
- Do you think...? ∙ Your personality is due to your genes? ∙ The environment you were raised in? ∙ The environment you are in now? ∙ Neither? ∙ All?
∙ You have little choice about what your personality is?
∙ Or
∙ You have full choice over what personality you have?
5
Q
- How might theories differ?
A
- Free will vs Determinism debate
- Continuum (Sapprington, 1990) - Determinism (Determinists: behaviour is shaped by factors outside the control of the person) — Free will (Free will: we control our own destinies)
6
Q
Do you think?
A
Your personality is visible to others? or is it hidden?…maybe sometimes?
7
Q
- How might theories differ?
A
- Objective vs Subjective aspects of personality
- only focus on what can be seen?
- take into account feelings that cannot be seen?
8
Q
Does your personality…
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- Vary from time to time, place to place?
- Stay the same regardless of where you are and who you are with, and across time?
9
Q
- How might theories differ?
A
- The person versus the situation
- To what extent are people consistent in their behaviour across situations and time?
- Personality influences behaviour?
- Situation influences behaviour?
10
Q
Is your personality…?
A
- The same as anyone else’s?
- Individual to you?
11
Q
- Theories of personality
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- Human nature and individuality
- Murray’s dictum:
∙ In some ways each person is like all other persons.
∙ In some ways each person is like some other persons.
∙ In some ways each person is like no other person (Kluckholm & Murray, 1953, Runyan, 1983 In Liebert & Speigler 1994-8)
12
Q
Does knowing your personality mean anything?
A
Can it predict your behaviour?
13
Q
- How might theories differ?
A
- Prediction, Control, and Understanding Goals of Personality Psychology
- Prediction - being able to accurately anticipate a person’s behaviour
- Control - influencing a person’s behaviour.
- Understanding - comprehending the process of personality
14
Q
4 main approaches/strategies
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- Psychoanalytic (Freud): Does your childhood influence your personality?
- Dispositional (Allport, Eysenck, Cattell, Costa & McCrae): Do you have personality traits? Are they inherited?
- Behavioural / learning (Skinner, Bandura, Mischel): Do you learn your personality? From who / what?
- Humanistic (Rogers and Maslow). Cognitive (Kelly): Do you have choice about your personality?
15
Q
A personality theory is…
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a “system of related ideas used to explain the development, structure and functioning of personality” (Weitan, 1998)
16
Q
Evaluating theories of personality
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- Empirical validity: To what degree is the theory supported by evidence derived from observations.
- Parsimony: Is it the simplest explanation possible?
- Comprehensiveness: How much breadth of phenomena does the theory cover?
- Internal consistency: Are its propositions and assumptions consistent and fit together in a coherent, larger explanation?
- Testability: How well and easily is the theory supported or refuted?
- Usefulness: Do methods of personality assessment and techniques of inducing change provide a measure of the practical usefulness of the personality theory.
- Acceptability: The theory must be accepted by other scientists to be influential.
∙ Criteria not accepted: - Correctness: Theories are not ‘facts’ - they cannot be right or wrong only useful
- Implicit theories of personality: Your own thoughts are not enough.
17
Q
Early bio theories of personality; is our personality inherited?; early views on the bio perspective
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► Personality is inherited in our genes ► Personality types ► Early theorists: ∙ Hippocrates ∙ Galen ∙ Kretchsmer ∙ Sheldon
18
Q
Hippocrates (ca 460-377 BC)
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- 4 personality types: ► Choleric ∙ quick tempered ► Sanguine ∙ warm, cheerful, confident ► Phlegmatic ∙ sluggish, calm, cool ► Melancholic ∙ gloomy, pensive
19
Q
Galen (AD120): Personality depended on balance of 4 humours in the body
A
- A choleric disposition (quick tempered) - yellow bile
- A sanguine disposition (cheerful) – blood
- A phlegmatic disposition (calm, sluggish) - phlegm
- A melancholic disposition (gloomy) - black bile
20
Q
Into the 1900s: is your body type related to your personality type? Personality and body type
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2 models
21
Q
Physique and personality - Kretchsmer
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- Ernst Kretchsmer (1921): 3 main types of physique:
► Aesthenic - fragile, narrowly built physique
► Athletic - muscular type
► Pyknic - plump physique
► (4.) Dysplastic
22
Q
Physique and personality (mental disorders)
A
► Aesthenic - fragile, narrow - schizophrenia
► Athletic - muscular - thought disorders
► Pyknic - plump - manic depression aka bipolar
► Dysplastic - other body types - ?
23
Q
Physique and personality - Sheldon (1942)
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His 3 body types: → Endomorphy (plump) → Mesomorphy (muscular) → Ectomorphy (frail) ✳︎ Somatyping - used a rating system - 1-7 (1 = not very, 7 = very) ✳︎ Typical somatypes: Brant (1988) - ∙ Endo males: 4 ∙ Meso males: 4 ∙ Ecto males: 3 ∙ Endo females: 5 ∙ Meso females: 3 ∙ Ecto females: 3
24
Q
Which personality type are you?
A
→ Visceratonia: relexed, easy-going, love creature comforts
→ Somatonia: courageous, bold, energetic, assertive, risk-taker
→ Cerebrotonia: apprehensive, inhibited, secretive, restrained
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Temperament types: VISCEROTONIA
- Relaxed posture and movement
- Love of physical comfort
- Sociable and warm
- Emotional evenness
- Tolerance, complacent
- Love of polite ceremony
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Temperament types: SOMATOTONIA
- Assertive posture and movement
- Love of physical adventure
- Competitive and aggressive
- Bold and direct manner
- Need for physical exertion
- Indifference to pain
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Temperament types: CEREBROTONIA
- Restrained movement
- Love of privacy
- Social avoidance
- Emotional restraint
- Apprehensive
- Hypersensitive to pain
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Body type and personality
- Endomorphic - sociable, relaxed, affectionate, even-tempered → visceratonia
- Mesomorphic - energetic, competitive, aggressive, bold → somatonia
- Ectomorphic - inhibited, apprehensive, intellectual, introverted, self-conscious → cerebrotonia
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Evidence in support of Sheldon
- Sheldon studied 200 males but flawed
| - Glueck and Glueck (1950, 1956): Delinquent boys are more likely to be mesomorphs
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Other biological theories today
```
► Acceptance of genetic influence on personality
► Differences between people in terms of:
∙ brain wave activity
∙ hormone levels
∙ heart rate responsiveness
► Eysenck: CNS determines personality
► Personality types and heart disease
► Blood types and personality
```
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PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORIES OF PERSONALITY: Sigmund Freud (1856-1939); Psychoanalysis
- Psychoanalysis is a theory/approach of personality
| - A name given to procedures relating to personality change or treatment
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Development of Freud's theory (1890s)
- Physical problems/emotional disturbances
- Hysteria
- Josef Breuer
- Talking/Catharsis
- Psychoanalysis/free association
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Freud's theory
- Attempts to explain personality (behaviour, motives & emotions) by focusing on:
►the influence of early childhood
►unconscious motives and conflict
►how people cope with their sexual and aggressive urges
→ 3 forces determine behaviour
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Unconscious motives: 1. Levels of awareness/organisation
- The conscious level: what we are currently aware of
- The preconscious level: things not in our current awareness but which we can be conscious of if we focus on them
- The unconscious level:
∙ contains our sexual and aggressive drives
∙ not aware of them and can’t be brought into conscious by focusing on them
∙ a strong influence on our behaviour
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Slips of the tongue/Freudian slips
- These may express hidden wishes
✳︎ the unconscious breaks into the conscious
- e.g. Ladies and gentlemen I declare this meeting closed (instead of open)
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Dreams and their interpretations
Dreams are also thought to show a person’s inner thoughts or real intentions (a disguised wish fulfillment)
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Dreams - the royal road to the unconscious
- Manifest content - what we remember
- Latent content – the hidden meaning
- e.g. Breaking arms = breaking vows
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Dream symbols
- Dream interpretation - making sense of manifest content by translating it into underlying wish fulfillment
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A nightmare
when the ‘repressed wish’ breaks through
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Freud's theory is deterministic
- All behaviour is determined by forces within the person
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Unconscious motives: 2. Dynamic
- Psychic energy:
► the source of human motivation is Psychic energy
► limited amount
►used for psychological functioning
Cathexis:
► this investment of psychic energy is known as cathexis
► not permanent, direct energy to different activities
► pleasure / tension
→ Energy flows among the 3 personality structures
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Unconscious motives: 3. The structure of personality
- The ID
- The EGO
- The SUPEREGO
= Behaviour is the result of interactions among these 3 structures
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The ID
```
►represents physiological drives
►present from birth
►demands instant gratification
►ignores laws and social conventions
►fully unconscious
→ It operates according to the PLEASURE PRINCIPLE
```
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The EGO
►1st year of life
►Stands for reason and good sense
►Tries to delay gratification of ID by planning e.g. hunger
►What is practical and possible, socially acceptable, avoids trouble
→ It is guided by the REALITY PRINCIPLE
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The ID and the EGO
- If the mind is dominated by the Id & Pleasure Principle the person is impulsive, unorganised and doesn’t obey logic.
- Need the Ego & Reality Principle to gain control and organise behaviour
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The SUPEREGO
►3 – 5 years
►moral guardian and conscience
►incorporates high standards for behaviour through IDENTIFICATION
►right and wrong are internalised – live up to it
→ functions according to the MORAL PRINCIPLE
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Unconscious motives: 4. Conflict
- Behaviour is the result of INTERNAL CONFLICTS between the id, ego and superego
- Everyday conflicts e.g.
- Conflicts due to sex/aggressive impulses = major consequences due to frustration
- Conflicts – frustration – tension - ANXIETY
48
Anxiety and defence mechanisms
- Anxiety may arise due to:
✳︎ ego worrying that the id will become out of control and do something ‘bad’
✳︎ the superego becoming out of control leading to excessive guilt about a real or imagined situation
- Because of anxiety we develop...DEFENCE MECHANISMS
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Defence mechanisms
- Defence mechanisms are mainly unconscious reactions that protect a person from unpleasant emotions such as anxiety and guilt
- Ok if not used excessively
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Repression
Forget things that cause anxiety
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Regression
Revert to immature patterns of behaviour
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Denial
Refuse to accept the true nature of the situation
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Displacement
Transfer ideas and feelings from their original source to a less threatening object
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Sublimation
Channelling of impulses into behaviour that benefits society
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Reaction formation
Behave in a way that is the exact opposite of one’s true feelings
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Rationalisation
Create false but plausible excuses to justify unacceptable behaviour
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Projection
Attribute thoughts that make us feel guilty on to others, as if the actions come from them
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Fixation
Get stuck at an immature stage
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Identification
Identify with more powerful people to boost self-esteem
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Does your childhood influence your personality?
- Stages of psychosexual development
- Personality develops through a fixed sequence of psychosexual stages
- Personality is the result of sexual impulses and their gratification at these stages.
- How sexual and aggressive urges influence our behaviour
61
Stages of psychosexual development
- DRIVES: Inborn psychic forces producing states of excitement/ tension
- EROS (Life instinct): Basic instinct to preserve and perpetuate life, fuelled by psychic energy called LIBIDO (sexual impulse)
- THANATOS (Death instinct): Basic aggressive drive/death instinct
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Libido/Erogenous Zones
- Libido is expressed through sexual feelings in different parts of the body: erogenous zones (areas of the body that are sensitive to sexual sensation)
- Development involves transfer of libido from 1 zone to another
- For transfer to occur certain tasks have to be done
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How development takes place
1. Erogenous zone becomes sensitive to erotic stimulation
2. Libido is directed to the zone
3. To move to next stage the libido must be freed from the erogenous zone of the stage it is in
4. For libido to be freed involves tasks/conflicts at each stage
5. How task/conflict at each stage is resolved shapes personality.
64
Freud's Psychosexual Stages of Development
1. Oral (0-2)
2. Anal (2-3)
3. Phallic (3-7)
4. Latency (7-11)
5. Genital (11-adult)
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The 5 stages
- Oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital
- Each stage has various tasks
- How these are handled shapes personality
- Insufficient or excessive gratification in any stage = FIXATION in that stage and development of traits characteristic of that stage
- Fixation = failure to move forward from one stage to another
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1. The Oral Stage
- From birth – first year of life
- Pleasure is obtained through oral activities (sucking and eating)
- Sucking = oral eroticism
- Biting = oral sadism (aggressive drive)
- Conflict centres around WEANING
- The more difficult it is for a child to be weaned the more likely to be fixated at this stage.
- Impact on adult personality and behaviour
- Fixation at oral stage results in the oral character either: frustrated or over-indulged
►Frustrated:
✳︎ exaggerated desires for ‘oral activities’ e.g. smoking, overeating/eating disorders, alcohol abuse, nail biting, excessive talking, suck thumb,
✳︎ pessimistic, greedy, aggressive, sarcastic, wants to be ‘fed’ with events
►Over indulged:
✳︎ optimistic, clinging, want to be centre of attention, dependent interpersonal relationships
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2. The Anal Stage
- 2 –3 years, when bowels come under voluntary control
- Pleasure from contraction and relaxation of muscles that control bowels
- Pleasure from expulsion of faeces = anal sadistic
- Pleasure from retaining faeces = anal erotic phase
- Task/conflict: TOILET TRAINING
- Pleasure v self-control (parent’s & society’s demands)
- A child who has difficulty developing control and meeting parent’s demands will develop anal characteristics.
- If demands are difficult, children will resist and develop one of two anal traits
- 2 types of anal traits:
►Anal retentive:
✳︎ if as a child, held on and resisted, didn’t want to make a mess
then as adult
✳︎ excessive use of self-control, perfectionism, a strong need for order, exaggerated neatness and cleanliness. Upset by mess
►Anal expulsive:
✳︎ If as a child, let it out at ‘wrong’ time,
as adult
✳︎ let it all hang out, careless, messy, wasteful, disorderly
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3. The Phallic Stage
- 4-5 years
- Libido moves to the phallic region
- Child gets pleasure from self-stimulation
- Conflict over:
1. masturbation
2. through ideas of wanting to possess the opposite sex parent
- The Oedipus and Electra complexes
- Resolved by age 5/6 years
- Repression and identification with same sex parent.
- Fear of castration and loss of mother’s love
- If hostility remains = fixation at this stage = phallic character:
∙ reckless
∙ self-assured,
∙ vain,
∙ excessively proud,
∙ fear of intimacy
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Oedipus complex
- characterised by boy’s attachment to his mother
- resentful of father and hostile to him
- fears father will retaliate
- results in Castration anxiety
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Electra complex
- characterised by girl’s attachment to her father
- girl’s may have penis envy
- blame mother for anatomical deficiency
- resents mother
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4. Latency Period
- Libido is dormant
| - Schooling and same sex friends
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5. The Genital Stage
- Libido is again focused on the genitals but rather than being autoerotic (i.e. masturbation) it is heterosexual
- Task = intercourse with opposite sex person
- Incest taboo
- Mature stage = heterosexual sex
- Pregenital fixations
- Eros: drive to preserve and perpetuate life
- Incomplete sexual development
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Case studies:
- An intensive study of an individual client.
- Freud based his theory on what he heard in those case studies:
►Rat man
►Anna O
►Dora
►Little Hans - 5 year old with a phobia of horses - horse symbolises father - fear of castration (as a punishment for the incestuous desires towards mother) - fear = expression of Oedipus complex - phobia = resolved once father assured him he had no intention in cutting it off = reduced castration anxiety - plus he came to identify with his father
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Strengths of Freud's theory
- Unconscious forces can influence behaviour
- The importance of childhood
- The importance of primitive influences
- Innovation of methods of psychotherapy (e.g. catharsis)
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Criticisms
- Overemphasis on sexuality
- The lack of substance of ‘psychic structures’
- Lack of testability
- Inaccuracies of development theory
- Inadequate evidence (data not representative and therapist bias)
- Sexism
