Personality

1
Personality

• Chapter 12

2
Overview

• What is personality?
• Approaches
• Trait approach
• Psychodynamic Approach
• Humanistic Approach
• Cognitive-Behavioral Approach
• How do we assess personality?

3
What is Personality?

• Relatively stable and distinctive patterns of
  behavior that characterize an individual and his
  or her reactions to the environment

4
What is Personality?

• Three basic assumptions
• 1) PTs relatively stable and therefore
  predictable
• 2) PTs are relatively stable across situations
• 3) People differ in how much of a particular
  trait they possess no two people exactly alike
  on all traits

5
Part I The Trait Approach

• Factor Analysis
• Mathematical procedure used to analyze
  correlations among a large number of variables
• Goal is simplification Terms that go together
  likely reflect some general personality
  characteristics
• Cattell
• Eysenck
• Big Five
• Interpersonal Circle
• Allport

6
Cattells 16 Factors

• First to conduct factor analysis early 1960s
• Identified 16 factors
• E.g., Reserved -- Outgoing, Trusting --
  Suspicious
• 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire
• These factors are source traits
• Means that they represent the underlying causes
  of behavior

7
Eysencks Three Dimensions

• Resulted in three clear dimensions
• Major complaint Cattells factors ? overlapping
• Used type FA produces non-overlapping factors

8
Eysencks Three Dimensions
9
Big Five Model

• Believes that personality is organized around
  only five basic factors
• Openness to Experience
• Conscientious ness
• Extraversion
• Agreeableness
• Neuroticism

10
Five Factor Model
11
Interpersonal Circle

• Identifies two main dimensions
• Agency Communion
• AKA Control Affiliation
• All interpersonal traits form a circle
• Closer two traits are, more highly correlated
  they are

12
Warm Dominant
Hostile Dominant
Warm Submissive
Hostile Submissive
13
Allports Theory

• Cardinal Trait
• Dominant trait that characterizes nearly all of a
  persons behavior
• Central Trait
• Prominent, general dispositions found in anyone
• Secondary traits
• Dispositions that surface in some situations but
  not others

14
Part II Freuds Theory

• Structure Mind
• View of Personality
• Psychosexual Stages
• Criticisms
• Neoanalytic/Object Relations Approaches

15
Freuds Psychodynamic Appraoch

• Structure of the mind has 3 levels of awareness
• Conscious
• Contents of current awareness
• Preconscious
• Inactive but accessible thoughts and memories
• Unconscious
• All memories, urges, conflicts beyond awareness

16
Freuds View of Personality

• Personality is influenced by three forces
• Id
• Governed by inborn instinctual drives, especially
  those related to sex and aggression
• Obeys the pleasure principle
• Superego
• Motivates people to act in an ideal fashion,
  according to moral customs of parents and culture
• Obeys the idealistic principle
• Ego
• Induces people to act with reason and
  deliberation, and to conform to the requirements
  of the outside world
• Obeys the reality principle

17
Preconcious mind
18
Defense Mechanisms
19
Psychosexual Development

• Freud proposed children pass through a series of
  psychosexual stages
• During these stages, IDs pleasure-seeking
  tendencies are focused on specific
  pleasure-sensitive areas
• Can become fixated at a stage
• Excessive gratification or excessive frustration

20
Psychosexual Stages
21
Summary Psychodynamic Concepts

• Psychodynamic theory suggests
• 1) Unconscious forces can influence behavior
• 2) Internal conflict often plays a key role in
  generating psychological distress
• 3) Early childhood experiences can influence
  adult personality

22
Criticisms of Psychodynamic Formulations

• Poor Testability
• Inadequate evidence
• science fiction versus science
• Sexism

23
Neoanalytic Object Relations Theories

• Some disagreed with Freuds thinking
• Did not give enough emphasis to social and
  cultural factors
• Believed he stressed infantile sexuality too much
• Too much emphasis on childhood as determinant of
  adult personality

24
Neoanalytic Object Relations Theories

• After 1939, new psychodynamic emphasis called
  object relations
• Focus on images or mental representations that
  people form of themselves or other people based
  on early experiences with caregivers
• These become working models through which later
  social interactions are viewed
• Attachment theory!!!

25
Part III Humanistic Perspective

• Humanistic psychologists speak of growth and
  potential
• Gestalt people are more than a sum of
  predictable parts.
• Each person is a unique and individual whole
• Key figure Carl Rogers

26
Carl Rogers

• The Self
• An organized, consistent set of perceptions of
  and beliefs about
• oneself
• Mental picture of yourself
• Once our self-concept is established, we have a
  need to maintain it

27
Humanistic Perspective

• Because we have a need to maintain our self
  concept, we have two kinds of needs
• Self-Consistency
• An absence of conflict among self perceptions
• Congruence
• Consistency between self-perceptions and
  experience
• Any experience inconsistent with our self concept
  evokes threat and anxiety

28
Carl Rogers

• Need for positive regard
• Acceptance, sympathy, love from others
• Essential for healthy development
• Unconditional positive regard
• Communicates that the child is inherently worthy
  of love
• Conditional positive regard
• Depends on how child behaviors. Love and
  acceptance only given when child behaves as
  parents want

29
Carl Rogers

• Need for positive self-regard
• People need positive regard from themselves as
  well
• Lack of unconditional positive regard from others
  teaching people they are worthy of approval and
  love only sometimes
• Conditions of worth
• Dictate when we approve or disapprove of ourselves

30
Carl Rogers

• Our self-concept gradually stabilizes
• Were very loyal to our self-concept which
  produces two effects
• Self Fulfilling Prophecy
• Person tends to behave in ways that are
  consistent with self-concept
• Resistance to information that contradicts their
  self concept

31
Criticisms of Humanistic Approach

• Adopts too positive a view of human nature
• Concepts are vague
• Difficult to test scientifically
• Inadequate evdience
• Rely too much on reports of personal experiences
• Take what people say at face value

32
Part IV Cognitive Behavioral Approaches

• Summary view
• Bandura
• Rotter

33
Cognitive Behavioral Approaches

• Explain personality in terms of learning
• Behavioral
• Emphasizes the actual experiences delivered by
  the environment
• Cognitive
• Emphasizes how interpretations and expectations
  about events play significant role in determining
  what we learn

34
Bandura

• Social Learning Theory
• Bandura believes personality
• largely shaped through learning
• Contends conditioning is not a mechanical process
  in which people are passive participants

35
Bandura- Reciprocal Determinism

• Reciprocal Determinism
• Internal mental events, external environmental
  events, and overt behavior all influence one
  another
• Humans neither masters own destiny nor hapless
  victims truth lies between

36
Reciprocal Determinism
Behavior
Environment
Personal/Cognitive factors (expectations,
beliefs, self-efficacy)
37
Bandura - Observational Learning

• Observational Learning
• Occurs when an organisms responding is
  influenced by the observation of others, who are
  called models
• Peoples characteristic patterns of behavior are
  shaped by the models that theyre exposed to

38
Characteristics of Models

• More likely to imitate people like and respect
• Imitation more likely when see similarity between
  self and model (same sex role models)
• Children learn to be assertive, self-sufficient,
  dependable, etc., by observing others behaving in
  these ways

39
Bandura Self-Efficacy

• Self-efficacy
• Ones belief about ones ability to perform
  behaviors that should lead to expected outcomes
• How to foster self-efficacy?
• Parenting Styles
• Four determinants

40
Four Determinants of Self-Efficacy
Performance Experiences
Observational Learning
Observation of the behaviors and consequences
of similar models in similar situations
Previous success and failure experiences on
similar tasks
Self-efficacy beliefs
Verbal persuasion
Emotional Arousal
Arousal that can be interpreted as enthusiasm or
anxiety
Encouraging or discouraging messages from others
41
Rotter

• Expectancy Theory
• Likelihood engage in a behavior depends on two
  factors
• (1)Expectancies
• (2)Positive Reinforcers

42
Rotter - Locus of Control

• How much control people feel they exert over
  environment
• Internal Locus of Control
• Life outcomes are largely under personal control
  and depend on own behavior
• External Locus of Control
• Expect events to be determined by external forces
  over which have no control (e.g., luck)

43
Rotter Locus of Control

• Compared to Externals, Internals show
• More resistance to social influence
• More likely engage in health promoting behaviors
  (e.g., exercise, healthy diet)
• Higher self esteem
• Cope with stress in active and problem focused
  manner
• Tend to have higher academic performance

44
Criticisms of Cognitive-Behavioral Approach

• Neglect individual as whole
• Concentrates on responses in specific situations
• Ignores biological/genetic factors
• Miss considering importance of motivational
  factors controlled by biological processes

45
Part V Assessing Personality

• Self Report Questionnaires
• Projective Tests

46
Self-Report Questionnaires

• Self Report Questionnaires
• Provide a list of statements and require
  participants to respond to each, such as marking
  T or F
• Responses scored objectively
• Scores compared to norms (thousands of other test
  takers)
• Often called the objective or structured method
  of personality assessment

47
MMPI - 2

• Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
• Inferences about typical ways of behaving and
  thinking
• Designed to aid in diagnosis / assessment of
  psychological disorders
• Developed empirically
• Originally developed 1943

48
MMPI - 2

• 567 item T/F self report questionnaire
• E.g., I never have trouble falling asleep
• I certainly feel worthless sometimes
• Intended for use with adults over 18 years
• MMPI A for adolescents

49
MMPI - 2

• Two main kinds of scales
• Validity Scales
• Information concerning persons approach to
  testing
• Clinical Scales
• 10 clinical scales

50
MMPI 2 Validity Scales
51
MMPI 2 Clinical Scales
52
Projective Tests

• Projective Hypothesis
• When people attempt to understand vague stimuli,
  their interpretation reflects their needs,
  feelings, experiences, thought processes, etc.
• What see in stimulus thought to reflect personal
  qualities or characteristics

53
Rorschach Inkblot Test

• Early 1900s
• Dropped ink onto piece of paper and folded it
• Five black and gray
• Two black, gray and red
• Three pastel colors of various shades
• 10 cards are presented to person with minimal
  structure

54
Sample of Inkblot
55
Rorschach Inkblot Test

• What might this be
• Examiner is vague
• Responses are scored a variety of dimensions
  including location and content
• Rorschach scoring is difficult and complex

56
Criticisms of Rorschach

• Lacks universal approach to administration,
  scoring, interpretation
• Evaluations of data are subjective
• Results unstable over time?
• Is unscientific
• Is inadequate by traditional standards

57
TAT

• Thermatic Apperception Test
• 1935
• 30 pictures and one blank card
• Specific cards for males and females
• Some cards appropriate for all

58
Sample TAT card
59
TAT

• What led up to the story, what is happening, what
  characters are thinking and feeling and what
  outcome will be
• Storyteller typically identifies with one person
  in the drama. The wishes, conflicts of this
  person may reflect those of the story teller
• Look for recurrent themes
• As per Rorschach, some problems with standardized
  administration and scoring