Personality

A person’s pattern of thinking,

feeling and acting.
 Types of Personalities
Type A Type B
• Feel time pressure. • Relaxed and easygoing.
• Easily angered. • But some people fit in
• Competitive and neither type.
ambitious.
• Work hard and play
hard.
• More prone to heart
disease than rest of
population.
Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality
Won our mind!!!!
• Fathered by Sigmund What’s on our minds!!!
Freud.
• Idea of the Libido moving
to different parts of our
body.
• Stages of Psycho-Sexual
Development
1. Oral
2. Anal
3. Phallic
4. Latent
5. Genital Sigmund Freud
Our Personality
• Conscious- things we
are aware of.

• Preconscious- things
we can be aware of if
we think of them.
• Unconscious- deep
hidden reservoir that
holds the true “us”.
All of our desires and
fears.
Freud’s Concept of Personality
(Psyche)
• Ego

• Superego

• Id
 Id
• Exists entirely in the
unconscious (so we are
never aware of it).
• Our hidden true
animalistic wants and
desires.
• Works on the
Pleasure Principle
• Avoid Pain and receive
Instant Gratification.
 Ego
If you want to be with someone. Your id says just take
them, but your ego does not want to end up in jail. So you
ask her out and just mac it hard.
• Develops after the Id
• Works on the Reality
Principle
• Negotiates between
the Id and the
environment.
• In our conscious and
unconscious minds.
• It is what everyone
sees as our
personality.
 Superego
• Develops last at
about the age of 5
• It is our conscience
(what we think the
difference is
between right and
wrong)
• The Ego often
mediates between
the superego and id.
Defense Mechanisms
• The ego has a pretty
important job…and
that is to protect you
from threatening
thoughts in our
unconscious.
• One way it protects
us is through defense
mechanisms.
• You are usually
unaware that they are
even occurring.
 Scenario
Quarterback of the high school football team, Brandon, is
dating Jasmine.
Jasmine dumps Brandon and starts dating Drew, president
of the chess club.

Brandon Jasmine
Drew
 Repression
• Pushing thoughts
into our unconscious.
• When asked about
Jasmine, Brandon
may say “Who?, I
have not thought
about her for
awhile.”
Denial
• Not accepting the
ego-threatening
truth.
• Brandon may act like
he is still together
with Jasmine. He
may hang out by her
locker and plan dates
with her.
 Displacement
• Redirecting one’s
feelings toward
another person or
object.
• Often displaced on
less threatening
things.
• Brandon may take
his anger on another
kid by bullying.
Projection
• Believing that the
feelings one has
toward someone else
are actually held by
the other person and
directed at oneself.
• Brandon insists that
Jasmine still cares
for him.
 Reaction Formation
• Expressing the
opposite of how one
truly feels.
• Cootie stage in
Freud’s Latent
Development.
• Brandon claims he
hates Jasmine.
Regression
• Returning to an
earlier, comforting
form of behavior.
• Brandon begins to
sleep with his
favorite childhood
stuffed animal,
Sajalicious.
 Rationalization
• Coming up with a
beneficial result of an
undesirable outcome.
• Brandon thinks he will
find a better
girlfriend. “Jasmine
was not all that
anyway!”
• I really did want to go
to ……..anyway, it was
too ……
Intellectualization
• Undertaking an
academic,
unemotional study of
a topic.
• Brandon starts doing
a research paper on
failed teenage
romances.
 Sublimation
• Channeling one’s
frustration toward a
different goal.
• Sometimes a healthy
defense mechanism.
• Brandon starts to
learn how to play the
guitar and writing
songs (or maybe
starts to body
build).
Criticisms of Freud
• He really only studied
wealthy woman in
Austria.
• His results are not
empirically verifiable
(really hard to test).
• No predictive power.
• Karen Horney said he
was sexist with the
“penis envy” and there
is an actual “womb
envy”.
 Neo-Freudians
Psychodynamic Theories
• Eric Erickson
• Carl Jung and his concept
of the “personal” and
“collective” unconscious.
• Alfred Adler and his ideas
of superiority and
inferiority.
• Adler also talked about
birth order and how it
played a part in
personality.
Psychoanalysis Today
• Couch sitting
• Transference is
likely to happen.
• The idea is to delve
into your
unconscious.
• Pull out Manifest
Content.
• Then talk about the
Latent Content.
 Getting into the Unconscious
• Hypnosis
• Dream Interpretation
• Free Association (having
them just randomly talk
to themselves…and then
interpreting the
conversation).
• Projective Tests (and
test that delves into
the unconscious).
• Examples are TAT and
Inkblot Tests.
 TAT Test
Thematic Apperception Test
• Giving the subject a picture that is
ambiguous (can have several meanings)
and ask them what is occurring.
• Their answers reveal the manifest
content.
• They can then discover the Latent
Content.
 Rorschach Inkblot Test
• The most widely used projective test
• A set of ten inkblots designed to
identify people’s feelings when they are
asked to interpret what they see in the
inkblots.
 Trait Theories of Personality
• They believe that we
can describe people’s
personalities by
specifying their main
characteristics
(traits).
• Traits like honestly,
laziness, ambition,
outgoing are thought
to be stable over the
course of your lives.
 Nomothetic Theories
Vinnie and The Situation from the Jersey
Shore provide some nice, • The same traits can be used to
introvert/extrovert examples. describe all people’s personalities.

• Introversion-Extroversion scale

• BIG FIVE personality traits:

1. Extraversion
2. Agreeableness
3. Conscientiousness
4. Openness to experience
5. Emotional Stability

Factor Analysis is used to see the

clusters and score these tests.
 Idiographic Theorists
• Using the same set of
traits to classify
everyone is impossible.
• Each person may have a
few traits that are
unique to them (selfish
may be important to
describe one person but
not another).
• Gordon Allport and his
cardinal dispositions
(also central and
secondary).
Trait Theory Criticism
• Do NOT take into
account the
importance of the
situation.
Somatotype Theory
• A biological Theory by
William Sheldon.
• Endomorphs (Fat) tend
to be friendly and
outgoing.
• Mesomorphs (muscular)
tend to be more
aggressive.
• Ectomorphs (thin) tend
to be more shy and
secretive.
• Study has not been
replicated.
 Behaviorist Theory of Personality
• The way most people
think of personality is
meaningless.
• Personality changes
according to the
environment
(reinforcers and
punishments).
• If you change
environment then you
change the
personality.
Humanistic Theory of Personality
• Do not believe in
Determinism (your
actions are dictated
by your past).
• They believe that
humans have free will
(our ability to choose
your own destiny).
• We are innately good
and as long as our
self-esteem and self-
concept are positive
we will be happy.
 Carl Rogers
• The object of humans is to
become self-actualized.
• We are like Acorns
• What do Acorns need to
grow?
• Water sun and soil.
Except to grow into healthy
humans we need:
• Genuineness
• Acceptance (Unconditional
Positive Regard)
• Empathy
Social-Cognitive Theories on
Personality
• Focus on how we
interact with our
culture and
environment
• Albert Bandura is
back!!!
• Reciprocal
Determinism (traits,
environment and
behavior all interact
and influence each
other.)
 Social-Cognitive Theories on
Personality
• Internal Locus of
Control
• External Locus of
Control
• External Locus of
Control can lead
to a state of
learned
helplessness.
Click Photos to see examples
of someone with internal/
external controls and learned
helplessness.
Assessing Personality
• Most common way is
self-report inventories.
• MMPI- Minnesota
Multiphasic Personality
Inventory
Test must be
• Reliable- does it yield
the same results over
time.
• Valid- does it measure
what it is supposed to
measure.
 Sample MMPI Questions
True/ False
• 1.I like mechanics magazines • 39.At times I feel like smashing things
2.I have a good appetite 40.Most any time I would rather sit and daydream than to do anything else
3.I wake up fresh & rested most mornings 41.I have had periods of days, weeks, or months when I couldn’t take care of things
4.I think I would like the work of a librarian because I couldn’t “get going”
42.My family does not like the work I have chosen ( or the work I intend to choose
5.I am easily awakened by noise for my life work)
6.I like to read newspaper articles on crime 43.My sleep is fitful and disturbed
7.My hands and feet are usually warm enough 44.Much of the time my head seems to hurt all over
8.My daily life is full of things that keep me interested 45.I do not always tell the truth
9.I am about as able to work as I ever was 46.My judgment is better than it ever was
10.There seems to be a lump in my throat much of the time 47.Once a week or oftener I feel suddenly hot all over without apparent cause
11.A person should try to understand his dreams and be guided by or take warning from them 48.When I am with people I am bothered by hearing very queer things
12.I enjoy detective or mystery stories 49.It would be better if almost all laws were thrown away
13.I work under a great deal of tension 50.My soul sometimes leaves my body
51.I am in just as good physical health as most of my friends
14.I have diarrhea once a month or more 52.I prefer to pass by school friends, or people I know but have not seen for a long
15.Once in a while I think of things too bad to talk about time, unless they speak to me first
16.I am sure I get a raw deal from life 53.A minister can cure disease by praying and putting his hand on your head
17.My father was a good man 54.I am liked by most people who know me
18.I am very seldom troubled by constipation 55.I am almost never bothered by pains over the heart or in my chest
19.When I take a new, I like to be tipped off on whom should be gotten next to 56.As a youngster I was suspended from school one or more times for cutting up
20.My sex life is satisfactory 57.I am a good mixer
21.At times I have very much wanted to leave home 58.Everything is turning out just like the prophets of the Bible said it would
22.At times I have fits of laughing & crying that I cannot control 59.I have often had to take orders from someone who did not know as much as I did
60.I do not read every editorial in the newspaper everyday
23.I am troubled by attacks of nausea and vomiting 61.I have not lived the right kind of life
24.No one seems to understand me 62.Parts of my body often have feeling like burning, tingling, crawling, or like “going
25.I would like to be a singer to sleep”
26.I feel that it is certainly best to keep my mouth shut when I’m in trouble 63.I have had no difficulty in starting or holding my bowel movement
27.Evil spirits possess me at times 64.I sometimes keep on at a thing until others lose their patience with me
28.When someone does me a wrong I feel I should pay him back if I can, just for the principle 65.I loved my father
of the thing. 66.I see things or animals or people around me that others do not see
29.I am bothered by acid stomach several times a week 67.I wish I could be as happy as others seem to be
30.At times I feel like swearing 68.I hardly ever feel pain in the back of the neck
69.I am very strongly attracted by members of my own sex
31.I have nightmares every few nights 70.I used to like drop-the-handkerchief
32.I find it hard to keep my mind on a task or job 71.I think a great many people exaggerate their misfortunes in order to gain the
33.I have had very peculiar and strange experiences sympathy and help of others
34.I have a cough most of the time 72.I am troubled by discomfort in the pit of my stomach every few days or oftener
35.If people had not had it in for me I would have been much more successful 73.I am an important person
36.I seldom worry about my heath 74.I have often wished I were a girl.  (Or if you are a girl) I have never been sorry that
37.I have never been in trouble because of my sex behavior I am a girl
38.During one period when I was a youngster I engaged in petty thievery 75.I get angry sometimes
Be careful of the Barnum Effect!!!
• People have the tendency
to see themselves in • Aries (March 21-April 19): Do some detective work so that you can better
understand those you love. Figure out what the other person is going through. Only

vague, stock descriptions

then will you find out how you can help.
Taurus (April 20-May 20): In your midst, there's a person intent on the worst-case

of personality.
scenario. He or she is a valuable ally today. You'll find humor in the exaggeration,
and your laughter is healing.

• Horoscopes, astrologers
Gemini (May 21-June 21): Go out of your way to add elements of absurdity to your
day. Your quality of life will be increased immeasurably.

and psychics all use this

Cancer (June 22-July 22): A strength exaggerated becomes a weakness. But does a
weakness exaggerated become a strength? Highlight a limitation and you'll find
you're better off for having this flaw.

concept. Leo (July 23-Aug. 22): People pay attention when you walk into the room today.
Make your exit with equal grace. Leave before they want you to and they'll want
more.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Show up in person. You have more than your fair share of
charisma today. Noting your winning presence, others will want to help you succeed.
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 23): You have a talent for making relationships work. You're full
of solutions, but it's important to know which problem is the most pressing. Pump
the other person for information.
Scorpio (Oct. 24-Nov. 21): There is a fine line between sharing and over-sharing. Give
others the sense of who you are. But do it briefly.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Relating to others has very little to do with what or
who you know. Most people are thinking about themselves and what you can do for
them. If you make them feel good about themselves, they'll like you.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): You're in danger of being too thrifty. Show some
disregard for the rules of frugal finance. As you spend, you'll widen the channel for
greater earning.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): It would benefit you to get involved in a group effort.
There is much you could contribute, and you have much to gain. You'll ask excellent
questions and learn all you need to know to fit in nicely.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20): You will be certain of your course. But that alone will not
be enough to make it go the way you want. Whatever happens, don't complain or
explain.