What is Personality?

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What is Personality?

• An individuals typical patterns of thinking,
  feeling, and acting
• Theories
• Psychoanalytic
• Humanistic
• Social-Cognitive
• Trait

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Sigmund Freud and Psychoanalysis

• childhood sexual development, and unconscious
  motivations (Id), influence adult personality
• Unconscious mind sex and aggression
• Core tendency maximize instinctual
  gratification, while minimizing punishment and
  guilt

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Personality Structure

• Structure of the mind
• Id, Ego, Superego
• Levels of awareness
• Conscious, preconscious, unconscious

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• Defense mechanisms
• Repression
• Projection
• Displacement
• Reaction formation
• Regression
• Denial
• Sublimation

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Carl Jung 1875-1961Analytical Psychologypersona
l and collective unconscious (archetypes)snake
symbolism in Australian aboriginal bark painting,
Egyptian tomb painting, 15th century European
painting
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• Jung Archetypes innate universal psychic
  dispositions from which the basic themes of human
  life emerge a set of keys we all inherit to
  understand life and create culture
• mother, father, man, woman, etc
• Joseph Campbell, mythologist, identified Jungs
  archetypes in all of the myths and religions of
  the world
• George Lucas read Campbells books and
• translated the archetypal characters into his
• Star Wars films.
• Luke (hero) must sacrifice to save tribe,
  culture
• Leia (princess) must be rescued by hero reward
• Darth Vadar (evil) dark side of human nature
• tries to lure hero
• Wookie (threatening animal) danger of nature
• Hans Solo (joker) humor soothes us
• poking fun at ourselves keeps us honest
• Obi-wan Kenobi (wise sage) wisdom of elders
• R2D2, C3PO (technology can turn on us)

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• Jung - Other instincts are just as important as
  sex, aggression
• Anima (feminine side of males)
• Animus (masculine side of females)
• Similar to Asian concept of Yin/Yang
• Personal and Collective Unconscious
• Personal your own dark side repressed
  emotions and ideas (like Freud)
• Collective the dark side of humanity deeper
  unconscious, where archetypes live ingrained in
  human nature
• Easily explains why 7 deadly sins (pride,
  greed, envy, anger, lust, gluttony, sloth) are
  common ideas in all cultures (these sins were not
  Jungs idea)

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Behavioral Social-Cognitive Theories

• Personality traits are learned habits, shaped by
  an interaction between the individuals actions,
  cognitive expectations for responses, and actual
  feedback from others
• Julian Rotter Internal vs External Locus of
  Control master of my fate, or not? Related to
  achievement and learned helplessness

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Humanistic Perspective

• Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
• studied self-actualization processes of
  productive and healthy people (e.g., Lincoln)

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• Carl Rogers (1902-1987)
• self-actualization
• congruence between real and ideal self
• unconditional vs conditional positive regard
• genuineness
• acceptance
• empathy
• self-concept

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The Trait Perspective

• Much more "observable" and rational approach to
  personality
• Grounded in empirical research
• Goal is to describe more than explain personality
• Supports notion that characteristics are strongly
  influenced by genes
• Raymond Cattell Source vs Surface
• traits - p. 399

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• Trait
• a disposition to think, feel, and act a certain
  way
• Personality Inventory
• Hans and Sybil Eysenck use two primary
  personality factors as axes for describing
  personality variation

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• The BIG 5 Theory of Personality
• Traits are independent of one another

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Big Five Domains (5) and Facets (6 each domain)

• Extraversion
• Warmth
• Gregariousness
• Assertiveness
• Activity
• Excitement Seeking
• Positive Emotion
• Agreeableness
• Trust
• Straightforwardness
• Altruism
• Compliance
• Modesty
• Tendermindedness

• Openness to experience
• Fantasy
• Aesthetics
• Feelings
• Actions
• Ideas
• Values
• Conscientiousness
• Competence
• Order
• Dutifulness
• Achievement Striving
• Self-Discipline
• Deliberation

• Neuroticism
• Anxiety
• Hostility
• Depression
• Self-Consciousness
• Impulsiveness
• Vulnerability to Stress

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Recent research shows that some species of
animals demonstrate reliable personality traits
similar to the Big 5 factors
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• Traits not reliably measured until 8 yrs
• Traits very stable from age 30
• Degree of traits very similar across cultures
• N,E,O decline. A,C increase

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Assessment

• Interviews
• Halo effect
• Projective Tests
• Rorschach Inkblot Test
• Thematic Apperception Test
• Reliability, Validity
• Behavioral Assessment
• Personality Inventories
• NEO FFI
• Myers-Briggs
• MMPI

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Geert Hofstede Cultural Traits

• Individualism Collectivism (Western vs Asian)
• Power Distance (Middle East vs Western)
• Masculinity Femininity (Ireland, U.S. vs
  Sweden, Chile)
• Uncertainty Avoidance (South American vs Asian,
  U.S.)
• Long-term Short-term orientation (China, Hindu
  vs U.S.)