Personality Psychology

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Personality Psychology
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• Lecturer Cathal OSiochru
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• Socio-cultural Theories of Personality

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Socio-cultural Theory
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• What is Socio-cultural Theory?
• Development cannot be understood by a study of
  the individual. We must also examine the external
  social world in which that individual life has
  developed
• Vygotsky Zone of Proximal Development
• Bandura Social Learning Theory
• Horney - Something
• Adler Individual Psychology

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Alfred Adler 1870 - 1937
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• Influences on Adler
• His medical training
• His wife Raissa
• Carl Marx
• Sigmund Freud

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Inferiority Compensation
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Gender Compensation
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• Saw masculinity as signs of strength and
  femininity as signs of weakness.
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• Thus the attempt to overcome inferiority, in a
  sense the attempt to overcome weakness is seen as
  Masculine Protest.

• Adler did recognise that the linking of strength
  with gender was damaging for box sexes and
  society as a whole
• men trying to live up to this inflated role
• women - succumb to a self-image of inferiority

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Complexes
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• We are driven to strive for superiority
• If the struggle went wrong complexes would
  result 

Inferiority Complex Being overwhelmed by feelings
of inferiority and ceasing to struggle against
it. Superiority Complex Striving for superiority
without an interest in the wider community. This
theory incorporates political struggles such as
the struggle against inequality.
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Fictions
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• We create 'fictions', ways of seeing the world
  that help us interact with it.
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• Fictions are an individuals creative and
  subjective constructions. They remain
  unconscious.
• This rejects the unconscious burial of trauma, we
  either adapt them to our lifestyle or we simply
  ignore them.
• Things that don't fit in to our world view are
  ignored because they can't be understood.

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Examples of a fiction
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Fiction Healthy Reaction
Neurotic
Men cant control Their sexual appetites
Time Exists
A fiction is neither good nor bad only useful
for an individual. They have predictive power.
In most people they are constantly revised and
modified. The neurotic forget that fictions are
just tools and so cannot revise them.
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Fictional Finalism Lifestyle
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• Created at an early age, 5-8 yrs. Guiding
  self-ideal.
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• Combination of fictions and inferiority. Results
  in a 'world view' that guides the persons life
  from then on.
• A combination of complexes and neurotic fictions
  can result in a mistaken lifestyle.

Fact Healthy Reaction Pathology
The world is a dangerous place
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Social Interest
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• An inborn capacity of humans but must be fostered
  during childhood.
• The mother-child bond is the prototype for later
  action.
• The aim of this process was to foster a socially
  useful type, who confronts problems and solves
  them in a socially useful way.

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Social Interest II
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• Physical inferiority, pampering or neglect during
  childhood can lead to a mistaken lifestyle.
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• All problems stem from the challenges of living
  together. Ignoring social interest leads to
  problems.

• Lack of social interest leads to a mistaken
  lifestyle.
• ruling dominant type dominate others
• getting/leaning type greedy, parasitic
• avoidant type shirks responsibility

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Treatment
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• Therapy must treat the whole person and raise
  social interest through cooperation and
  collaboration.
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• No blame or criticism, as this just increases
  sense of inferiority.
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• Group/Family Therapy
• Birth order, first memories
• Behavioural mannerisms.
• Dream analysis
• Overcoming Safeguards

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Treatment II
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Overcoming Safeguards Neurotic symptom
safeguards the patient from the experience of the
inferiority feelings.
Distancing moving backward standing
still hesitation Constructing obstacles,
Experiencing anxiety Exclusion tendency
Excuses "yes,but.." "if only" Aggression
Depreciation Idealization Solicitude Accusation
and self-accusation
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Pros Cons
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• Cons
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• Birth order research is contradictory
• Terminology lacks clear definition
• Too optimistic, finds it hard to explain more
  negative aspects of human behaviour.

• Pros
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• Recognised the importance social variables
• First to propose the idea of group/family therapy
• Hugely influential on theories of personality
  with take a more positive view of humanity