UNIT 6 Psychology of Personality.wsufreshman

Wolita sodo university freshman psychology ppt

1. UNIIT 6 PSYCHOLOGY OF  PERSONALITY The word personality is derived from the word ‘ persona ‘, which has Greek and Latin roots and refers to the theatrical masks worn by Greek actors. psychologists generally view personality as the unique pattern of enduring thoughts, feelings, and actions that characterize a person. Personality encompasses the behaviors that make each of us unique and that differentiate us from others. It is also personality that leads us to act consistently in different situations and over extended periods of time. 1

2. Theories of Personality There are several ways in which the characteristic/behavior of human beings can be explained. The specific questions psychologists ask and the methods they use to investigate personality often depend on the types of personality theories they take. Some of the theories of personality are: psychodynamic/psychoanalytic, trait, and humanistic . 2

3. 1. Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory The psychoanalytic theory was formulated by the Austrian physician and Psychologist named Sigmund Freud . According to Freud, personality is formed within ourselves , arising from basic inborn needs , drives , and characteristics . Emphasizes on to the hidden emotional content of our everyday actions, and to the ways in which the individual is driven by powerful sexual and aggressive impulses . 3

4. The assumptions of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory can be generalized in the following two areas: A. Determinants of Personality Psychic determinism - much of our behavior is not freely chosen ; rather it is determined by the nature and strength of intra-psychic forces called id, ego, and superego Unconscious motivation - the intra-psychic forces are largely operating unconsciously . The basic and true motives of our actions are largely unknown to us. 4

5. Early childhood experiences determine later personality - One’s personality is almost complete by the age of six or seven years. Thus, whatever one does or behave as an adult, it is the reflection of one’s experience at early years of life, what is known to be “ the child is the father of the man ”. B) Nature of Mankind - A human being by nature is selfish, irrational, and destructive of him/herself and others. Human beings have two basic instincts: Life instincts (Eros ) - are largely sexual impulses, though they include all positive biological desires, and Death Instincts ( Thanatos )- are largely aggressive impulses. 5

6. Structure of Personality The psychoanalytic theory includes a theory of personality structure. In Freud's view, personality has three parts which serves a different function and develops at different times:- The id, the ego, and the superego. According to Freud, the way these three parts of personality interact with one another determines the personality of an individual. 6

7. Id :- If It Feels Good, Do It The first and most primitive part of the personality in the infant is the id . The id is a completely unconscious amoral part of the personality that exists at birth, containing all of the basic biological drives; hunger, thirst, sex, aggression . Operates according to the pleasure principle , in which the goal is to maximize satisfaction and reduce tension or pain . It refers to the innate (inborn) psychic energy, which is irrational and unsocial. for example. When these drives are active, the person will feel an increase in not only physical tension but also in psychological tension that Freud called libido , the instinctual energy that may come into conflict with the demands a society‘s standards for behavior. 7

8. When libidinal energy is high, it is unpleasant for the person, so the goal is to reduce libido by fulfilling the drive; Eat when hungry, drink when thirsty, and satisfy the sex when the need for pleasure is present. Freud called this need for satisfaction. The pleasure principle , which can be defined as the desire for immediate satisfaction of needs with no regard for the consequences . The pleasure principle can be summed up simply as ― if it feels good, do it 8

9. Ego : The Executive Director- According to Freud, to deal with reality, the second part of personality develops called the ego . The ego, from the Latin word for ―I‖, is mostly conscious and is far more rational, logical and cunning than the id . The ego works on the reality principle , which is the need to satisfy the demands of the id and reduce libido only in ways that will not lead to negative consequences. The agency that delays the immediate pleasure and considers reality is the ego . This means that sometimes the ego decides to deny the id its drives because the consequence would be painful or too unpleasant. Mediates Id and Superego . 9

10. Superego: The Moral Watchdog- Freud called the third and final part of the personality, the moral center of personality, the superego . The superego (also Latin, meaning ―over the self‖) develops as a preschool-aged child learns the rules, customs, and expectations of society. operates under perfection/morality principle . Superego worry about society. There are two parts to the superego: the ego ideal and the conscience. The ego-idea l is the sum of all the ideal or correct and acceptable behavior that the child has learned about from parents and others in the society. It tell us what is right and proper standards The conscience is part of the personality that tell us what is bad or wrong 10

11. For Freud, our personality is the outcome of the continual battle for dominance among the id, the ego, and the superego . This constant conflict between them is managed by psychological defense mechanisms . Defense mechanisms are unconscious tactics that either prevent threatening material from surfacing or disguise it when it does. Some of the psychological defense mechanisms are discussed below. Repression is a defense mechanism that involves hiding or banishing threatening thoughts, feelings, and memories into the unconscious mind. Example: an Ethiopian husband who is defeated by his wife will not remember/ talk it out again. - A woman fails to recall that she was raped. 11

12. Denial: is refusal to recognize or acknowledge a threatening situation. It refers to not accepting reality or denying its occurrence. Example; Mr. Geremew is an alcoholic who denies/ doesn‘t accept being an alcoholic. - don’t accepting the death of our relatives. - a person diagnosed his HIV status and found to be HIV positive and may say It must be a mistake. Regression : involves reverting to immature behaviors that have relieved anxiety in the past. Retreating (move back) to earlier stage of development which is childish or primitive one. Example: a girl/a boy who has just entered school may go back to sucking her/his thump or wetting the bed. – a student might get grade “D” and start to cry. - Adult coping strategies such as smoking or drinking, those are oral character at which we are fixated. 12

13. Rationalization : giving socially acceptable reasons for one's inappropriate behavior. It refers to distorting reality by using reason. Example: make bad grades but states the reason as being knowledge rather than grade oriented; and grades only showing superficial learning. - After asking a girl for love if she didn’t accept, giving reason as he don’t want her or he says that she was ugly anyways. Displacement : involves expressing feelings toward a person who is less threatening than the person who is the true target of those feelings. Example: Hating your boss but taking it out on family members. - If your boss makes you anger, you may hit the table or the door. - A child who quarreled with his mother hits his little sister. Projection : the defense mechanism that involves attributing one's undesirable feelings to other people. Example: a paranoid person uses projection to justify isolation and anger. -The unfaithful husband is extremely jealous of his wife, and always suspecting she might be unfaithful. 13

14. Reaction formation : a defense mechanism that involves a tendency to act in a manner opposite to one's true feelings . Doing or thinking the opposite. Example: a person who acts conservation but focuses on violence in their behavior. A person with sexual longing (craving) end up becoming an active proponent of a demonstration against sex provoking movies. Sublimation : defense mechanism that involves expressing sexual or aggressive behavior through indirect, socially acceptable outlets. Example: an aggressive person who loves playing football. - A person with strong feeling of aggression becomes a soldier or boxer. Introjection : - shifting wanted motives of others to our own. E.g. if our brother or friend is celebrity (famous person) considering us like him. 14

15. Psychosexual development/stages The basic assumptions underlying psychosexual theory are: Human beings are pleasure seeking Pleasure obtained by using the body is sex Because sex involves using any part of the body for pleasure, and sexual interest and activity exists long before the maturation of sex organs during adolescence But the way sexual interest is satisfied changes with age. At different ages different parts of the body (erogenous zones) become active sources of pleasure. The shift in the dominant source of pleasure with increasing age is called psychosexual development. The person may over-satisfy or under-satisfy pleasure needs. This is called fixation Fixation is behavior reflecting an earlier stage of development due to an unresolved conflict . 15

16. Freud’s concept of sex is very broad. In his view, sex includes not just sexual intercourse but practically anything that produces bodily pleasure . Sexual feeling may be included in activities such as sucking/kissing for pleasure , the wish to show one’s body or looking at bodies of others , masturbation , anal expulsion or retention and acts of cruelty . In case of child sexual activities Freud had two major reasons for considering as sexual. Children seem to get pleasure from it because children enjoy sucking even when they are not hungry. Later these activities emerge in adult sexual activities. Freud proposed that in a course of development children pass through series of psychosexual stage in which gratification shifts from one zone to the other. Erogenous zone : - it is parts of the body that have strong pleasure when it is touched. 16

17. According to Freud any crises or conflict that occurred and left unresolved at the first three stages of psychosexual development would give rise to fixation . FIVE STAGES OF PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT at each stage of development; we experience pleasure in one part of the body more than in another . 1. The Oral stage (birth -18 months) It is the first Freudian stage of development, occurring during the first 18 month of life. The infant pleasure centers around the mouth and infants gain pleasure through chewing, sucking, biting, etc. This action reduces tension in the infant. Fixation at this stage occurs if the child is either frustrated or overly stimulated in his/her oral activities. Over indulgence or over gratification during oral stage leads to behaviors like optimism, gullibility, manipulative, compulsive eaters, smokers, etc. Under indulgence or deprivation at this stage also leads to behaviors like aggression, sadism, pessimism, suspicious, dependency, passivity, finger biting, pen chewing etc ..during later age. 17

18. 2. The Anal stage ( 18 months to 3 years) At this stage the pleasure center or libidinal energy attached to the anal cavity or anus . A child gets gratification by toilet practice . The anal stage can be divided in to the anal expulsion and the anal retentive sub phase. In the first sub phase the child gains pleasure from expelling the body’s waste products. In the second sub phases gratification is obtained from withholding the body’s waste products (i.e. letting go Vs holding on). Over gratification during this stage result in fixations such as dirtiness, over generosity, and messiness result during later personality. If the child is under gratified characters may arise, such as selfishness, stinginess, cruelty, orderliness, meticulousness and neatness. 18

19. 3. The Phallic stage ( 3-6 years) The name came from the Latin word ‘phallus’ which means ‘penis’ Children at this stage gain pleasure by touching their genital ( penis in males and clitoris in females). In Freud view the phallic stage has especial importance in personality development because during this period the Oedipus complex appears. This name comes from Greek mythology, in which Oedipus, the son of the king of Thebes, unwittingly killed his father and married his mother. The Oedipus complex is the Freudian concept that the young child develops an intense desire to replace the parent of the same sex and enjoy the affections of the opposite sex parents . At this stage the young male experiences sexual feeling towards his mother (Oedipus complex) and his father is a rival for mother affection. 19

20. And the child realizes that he is at a great disadvantage in competing with his father and fear that his father will discover his desires and castrates him, he then experience Castration anxiety . To avoid this dread, castration anxiety, the child eventually represses his feeling towards the mother and identified with the father. On the other hand, the girl turns her affection and attention to her father. When she realizes that she doesn’t have a penis , she blames her mother for this situation. This gives raise to what is called “penis envy” which is a desire to poses the male organ. In this case the attraction creates a conflict known as Electra complex. Repressing these feelings and identifying with the mother resolve this conflict. Feminine sex roles are then imitated from the mother. A fixation at this stage could result in sexual deviancies (both overindulging and avoidance) and weak or confused sexual identity according to psychoanalysts. 20

21. 4. The Latency stage ( 6-12 years) The latency period is mostly characterized by the time when sexual drives are relatively dormant and clam. The libido (sexual energy) is submerged and doesn’t center up on any bodily area. At this stage sexual energy is directed towards school work, the same sex friendship and the development of social, physical, motor and intellectual skills. 5. The Genital stage (12 + years) It is a times of sexual reawakening. Hormonal changes stimulate the reappearance of the libido (sexual energy). Source of sexual pleasure now become outside of the family. The young adolescent male turns his attention to a girlfriend while the young adolescent female seeks a boyfriend. Matured and adult sexuality starts. 21

22. The trait theory of personality Psychologists who take the trait approach see personality as a combination of stable internal characteristics that people display consistently over time and across situations . A consistent, long-lasting tendency in behavior, such as shyness, hostility, or talkativeness , is known as a trait. In contrast, a state is a temporary activation of a particular behavior . For example, Being quiet in a library is a state; being quiet habitually is a trait. Trait theorists seek to measure the relative strength of the many personality characteristics that they believe are present in everyone . 22

23. The basic assumption of the trait point of view is that people possess broad predispositions to respond in particular ways. Trait theorists do not assume that some people have a trait and others do not ; rather, they possess that all people possesses certain traits , but the degree to which a given trait applies to a specific person varies and can be quantified . For example, you might be relatively friendly , whereas other person might be relatively unfriendly . 23

24. The trait approach to personality makes three main assumptions: 1. Personality traits are relatively stable , and therefore predictable, over time . So a gentle person tends to stay the same way across time. 2. Personality traits are relatively stable across situations , and they can explain why people act in predictable ways in many different situations. A person who is competitive at work will probably also be competitive on the tennis court or at a party . 3. People differ in how much of a particular personality trait they possess ; no two people are exactly alike on all traits. The result is an endless variety of unique personalities . 24

25. The Big Five/ five-factor model The five trait dimensions can be remembered by using the acronym OCEAN , in which each of the letters is the first letter of one of the five dimensions of personality. What Are the Big Five Dimensions of Personality? Openness :   can best be described as a person‘s willingness to try new things and be open to new experiences . People who try to maintain the status quo and who don‘t like to change things would score less on openness. Conscientiousness: refers to a person‘s organization and motivation, with people who score high in the dimension being those who are careful about being in places on time and careful with belongings as well. include high levels of thoughtfulness, with good impulse control and goal-directed behaviors. Someone scoring low on this dimension, for example, might always be late to important social events or borrow belongings and fail to return them or return in poor coordination . 25

26. Extraversion:  is a term first used by Carl Jung, who believed that all people could be divided into two personality types: extraverts and introverts . Extraverts are outgoing and sociable , whereas introverts are more solitary and dislike being the center of attention. This trait includes characteristics such as excitability, sociability, talkativeness, assertiveness and high amounts of emotional expressiveness. Agreeableness:  refers to the basic emotional style of a person, who may be easygoing, friendly and pleasant (at the high end of the scale) or grumpy, crabby and hard to get along with (at the low end). Neuroticism:  refers to emotional instability or stability. People who are excessively worried, overanxious and moody would score high on this dimension, whereas those who are more even-tempered and calm could score low. 26

27. Humanistic theory of personality Humanistic approaches to personality emphasize people‘s inherent goodness and their tendency to move toward higher levels of functioning , instead of seeing people as controlled by the unconscious, unseen forces (psychodynamic approaches), and a set of stable traits (trait approaches) . It is this conscious, self-motivated ability to change and improve, along with people‘s unique creative impulses , that humanistic theorists argue make up the core of personality. 27

28. Humanists such as Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow wanted psychology to focus on the things that make people uniquely human , such as subjective emotions and the freedom to choose one‘s destiny . As Maslow‘s theory discussed in Chapter Five, in this chapter the discussion of the humanistic view of personality will focus on the theory of Carl Rogers. 28

29. Carl Rogers and Self-Concept Like Maslow, Rogers believed that human beings are always striving to fulfill their innate capacities and capabilities and to become everything that their genetic potential will allow them to become . This striving for fulfillment is called self-actualizing tendency. An important tool in human self-actualization is the development of an image of oneself or the self-concept . The self-concept is based on what people are told by others and how the sense of self is reflected in the words and actions of important people in one‘s life , such as parents, siblings, coworkers, friends, and teachers. 29

30. Real and Ideal Self - Two important components of the self-concept are the real self ( one‘s actual perception of characteristics, traits, and abilities that form the basis of the striving for self-actualization ) and the ideal self ( the perception of what one should be or would like to be ). The ideal self primarily comes from those important, significant others in one‘s life, most often the parents . Rogers believed that when the real self and the ideal self are very close or similar to each other, people feel competent and capable , but when there is a mismatch between the real and ideal selves , anxiety and neurotic behavior can be the result. 30

31. When one has a realistic view of the real self , and the ideal self is attainable , there usually isn‘t a problem of a mismatch . It is when a person‘s view of self is distorted or the ideal self is impossible to attain that problems arise. Once again, it is primarily how the important people (who can be either good or bad influences) in a person‘s life react to the person that determines the degree of agreement between real and ideal selves . 31

32. Conditional and Unconditional Positive Regard Rogers defined positive regard as warmth, affection, love, and respect that comes from the significant others (parents, admired adults, friends, and teachers) in people‘s experience . Positive is vital to people‘s ability to cope with stress and to strive to achieve self-actualization . Rogers believed that unconditioned positive regard , or love, affection and respect with no strings attached , is necessary for people to be able to explore fully all that they can achieve and become. Unfortunately, some parents, spouses, and friends give conditional positive regard , which is love, affection, respect and warmth that depend, or seem to depend, on doing what those people want . 32

33. Here is an example: as a freshman Tirhas was thinking about becoming a math teacher or a computer programmer. Chaletu , also a freshman, already knew that she was going to be a doctor. While Tirhas ’ parents had told her that what she wanted to become was up to her and that they would love her no matter what she will be. Chaltu’s parents had made it very clear to her as a small child that they expected her to become a doctor. She was under the very impression that if she tried to choose any other career, she will lose her parents’ love and respect. Tirhas ’ parents were giving her unconditional positive regard , but Chaltu’s parents were giving her conditional positive regard. Chaltu was not as free as Tirhas to explore potential abilities. 33

34. For Rogers, a person who is in the process of self-actualizing, activity exploring potentials and abilities and experiencing a match between real and ideal selves is a fully functioning person. Fully functioning people are in touch with their feelings and abilities and can trust their innermost urges and intuitions . To become a fully functioning , a person needs unconditional positive regard . In Rogers's view, Chaltu would not have been a fully functioning person . 34

35. Although self-actualization and to be fully functioning ‘ are highly related concepts, there are some subtle differences. Self-actualization is a goal that people are always striving to reach, according to Maslow. In Rogers's view, only a person who is fully functioning is capable of reaching the goal of self-actualization. To be fully functioning is a necessary step in the process of self-actualization. Maslow (1987) listed several people that he considered to be self-actualized people: Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi, and Eleanor Roosevelt, for example. These were people that Maslow found to have the self-actualized qualities of being creative, autonomous and unprejudiced . We may add Nelson Mandela of South Africa to this list. 35