Personality

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Personality
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Defining Personality

• An individuals unique and enduring pattern of
  thinking, feeling, and behaving across a variety
  of situations
• You are honest, dependable, anxious, excitable?

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• What factors determine an individuals unique
  personality?

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The Psychoanalytic Approach
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Psychoanalysis

• Freuds theory that an individual's personality
  is reflective of their unconscious thoughts and
  experiences

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Unconscious

• The part of our brain processes that we are
  unaware of and have no control over

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• Whats in the Unconscious Mind?

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• ID
• SUPEREGO
• EGO

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ID

• The most basic of all human instincts and desires
  live in the unconscious mind. Primitive,
  uncontrolled thoughts of sex, aggression, hunger.
  

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• The ID works on the pleasure principle of
  immediate gratification, without any
  consideration to consequences.

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• The ID houses our repressed thoughts, passions,
  desires, wishes, feelings, etc. All of the things
  that wed like to do if there were no
  consequences, yet dont act upon, lie dormant in
  the ID.

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SUPEREGO

• Part of the unconscious mind that focuses on the
  real world, and focuses solely on how you should
  behave
• The superego internalizes ideals, standards,
  laws, rules and morals and norms to govern a
  persons behavior

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The SUPEREGO v. The ID
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EGO

• The semi-conscious part of your personality that
  operates on the reality principle
• The EGO mediates behavior choices between the
  wants and desires of the ID, and the morals and
  norms of the SUPEREGO

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• The ID, SUPEREGO, EGO Conflict

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• How do we access the Unconscious Mind?

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• Freud believed that to really understand a
  patients true personality, he needed to access
  the unconscious mind, or at least interpret its
  disguised, conscious manifestations

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Free Association

• Freuds method of exploring the unconscious mind,
  in which a person relaxes and says whatever comes
  to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing

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Dream Interpretation

• Manifest Content the actual content of dreams
• Latent Content the interpretation of a dream

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The Freudian Slip

• Slips of speech when the ID passes through
  unfiltered. Insights into your real thoughts and
  feelings?
• "As I was telling my husb" before abruptly
  breaking off and correcting herself "As I was
  telling President Bush. Condoleezza Rice, 2006
• For seven and a half years Ive worked alongside
  President Reagan. Weve had triumphs. Made some
  mistakes. Weve had some sexuhsetbacks.
  George H. Bush, 1988

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Thematic Appreciation Test (TAT)

• Subjects are shown pictures and then asked to
  make up stories abut them. Researchers claim
  that the subjects will project their own
  feelings, goals, desires, etc. onto the picture,
  and their resulting story will reveal their
  inner, unconscious mind.

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Hypnosis

• With the conscious mind resting, the still active
  unconscious mind wont have a filter to stop it
  from revealing its personality

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Projective TestThe Rorschach Inkblot Test

• A set of 10 inkblots, without any discernable
  patterns or images, are presented to a patient.
  Subjects simply identify what they think the
  inkblot looks like, and researchers interpret
  those identifications as personality
  characteristics.

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Rorschach Inkblot Test
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              Plate X

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• What does this all mean?

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• Black ink. A roughly triangular shape, point
  down, suggesting a broad, fox like face with
  prominent ears. Naughty bits a pair of breasts
  (rounded projections at top of blot) a vertical
  female figure, her torso partly visible through a
  gauzy dress (along center line). The first blot
  is easy. How fast you answer is taken as an
  indication of how well you cope with new
  situations. The best reaction is to give one of
  the most common responses immediately. Good
  answers are bat, butterfly, moth, and (in center
  of blot) a female figure. Mask, jack-o'-lantern,
  and animal face are common responses too, but in
  some interpretation schemes they suggest
  paranoia. A bad response is any that says
  something untoward about the central female
  figure. "She" is often judged to be a projection
  of your own self-image. Avoid the obvious comment
  that the figure has two breasts but no head. If
  you don't give more than one answer for Plate I,
  many psychologists will drop a hint--tell you to
  look closer.

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• Black and red ink. Two dark-gray splotches
  suggesting dancing figures. Red splotches at top
  of each figure and at bottom center. Naughty
  bits penis (upper center, black ink) vagina
  (the red area at bottom center). It is
  important to see this blot as two human figures
  usually females or clowns. If you don't, it's
  seen as a sign that you have trouble relating to
  people. You may give other responses as well,
  such as cave entrance (the triangular white space
  between the two figures) and butterfly (the red
  "vagina," bottom center). Should you mention
  the penis and vagina? Not necessarily. Every
  Rorsehach plate has at least one obvious
  representation of sexual anatomy. You're not
  expected to mention them all. In some
  interpretation schemes, mentioning more than four
  sex images in the ten plates is diagnostic of
  schizophrenia. The trouble is, subjects who took
  Psychology 101 often assume they should detail
  every possible sex response, so allowances must
  be made. Most Rorschach workers believe the sex
  images should play a part in the interpretation
  of responses even when not mentioned. You may not
  say that the lower red area looks like a vagina,
  but psychologists assume that what you do say
  will show how you feel about women. Nix on
  "crab" stick with "butterfly."

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• Black and red ink. Two obvious .figures (black
  ink) facing each other. Butterfly-shaped red blot
  between the figures an elongated red blot behind
  each figure's head. Naughty bits penises and
  breasts (at anatomically appropriate positions
  for each figure). This is the blot that
  supposedly can determine sexual preference. Most
  people see the two human figures. Both figures
  have prominent "breasts" and an equally prominent
  "penis." If you don't volunteer the gender of the
  figures, you'll be asked to specify it. By the
  traditional interpretation, seeing the figures as
  male is a heterosexual response (for test
  subjects of both sexes). Describing the figures
  as female or acknowledging the androgynous nature
  of the blot is supposed to be a homosexual
  response. Does it work? Not really--many
  straights describe the figures as women, and not
  all gays give a gay response. A 1971 study at
  Mount Sinai Hospital in New York showed the
  traditionally heterosexual response (two male
  figures) to be declining in popularity. The
  splotches of red ink are usually perceived
  separately. Common responses are "bow-tie" or
  "ribbon" (inner red area) and a stomach and
  esophagus (outer red areas).

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• Black ink. A roughly triangular blot, point up,
  with the two lower comer regions resembling boots
  or pet. Naughty bits two penises (on either side
  of blot, near top of triangle) vagina (on center
  line near top of blot). Plate IV is the "father
  card." At first glance it is a difficult blot to
  see as a single image. The "boots" are fairly
  conspicuous between them is the apparent head of
  a dog or Chinese dragon. Many subjects see the
  blot as an animal skin. After a few seconds,
  though, most can see it as a standing figure seen
  from below.The boots become the feet, enlarged
  because of the unusual perspective. The arms and
  head, at the top, are smaller. Common
  descriptions are bear, gorilla, or man in a heavy
  coat. Bad descriptions are monster or attacking
  bear or gorilla-Rorschach theorists equate your
  description of the figure with your perception of
  your father or male authority figures.

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• Black ink. A simple, bat like shape. Naughty
  bits two penises (the "ears" or "antennae").
  Rorschach himself thought this was the easiest
  blot to interpret. It is a bat or a butterfly,
  period. You don't want to mention anything else.
  Seeing the projections on the ends of the bat
  wings as crocodile heads signifies hostility.
  Seeing the paired butterfly antennae or feet as
  scissors or pliers signifies a castration
  complex. Schizophrenics sometimes see moving
  people in this blot. Many psychologists take
  particular note of the number of responses given
  to this plate. If you mention more images here
  than in either Plate IV or VI, it is suggestive
  of schizophrenia.

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• Black ink. An irregular shape like that of an
  animal-skin rug. Naughty bits penis (center line
  at top) vagina (below penis). Plate VI is the
  most difficult blot. The best-rendered penis of
  all the blots is at top, but few subjects mention
  it. The rest of the blot doesn't look like much
  of anything. Some hold that the value of this
  blot is to have the subject grope for images and
  possibly reveal subconscious attitudes about
  sexuality. Basically, the secret of this plate
  is to turn it. A good response is to say it looks
  like an animal hide (about the only reasonable
  response when held right side up), then turn it
  on its side and say it looks like a boat or
  surfaced submarine with reflection, and then turn
  it upside down and say it looks like a mushroom
  cloud, a pair of theater masks, or caricatures of
  men with long noses and goatees.

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• Black ink. A U-shaped blot, each side of the U
  resembling a female figure in a narrow-waisted
  dress. Naughty bits a vagina (on center line at
  bottom of U). This blot is supposed to reveal
  how you really feel about your mother. Virtually
  everyone sees two girls or women. Deprecating
  descriptions of the figures "witches,"
  "gossips," "girls fighting," "spinsters" indicate
  poor maternal relations. Seeing the blot as
  thunderclouds instead of female figures suggests
  anxiety to some psychologists seeing it as a
  walnut kernel may mean a vulgar fixation. There
  is an entirely different side to this blot, but
  you're not supposed to see it. The white space
  between the girls or women can be interpreted as
  an oil lamp or similar object. It is claimed that
  only schizophrenics usually see the lamp.

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• Pink, blue, gray, and orange ink. An almost
  circular array of interconnected forms--a gray
  triangle (point up) at top, a pair of blue
  rectangles in the center, a pink and orange
  splotch at bottom, and two pink "animal" shapes
  forming the right and left sides of the circle.
  Naughty bits a vagina (pink-orange area at
  bottom). The first full-color card is easy. It
  is important that you see the four-legged
  animals- lions, pigs, bears, etc. -on the sides
  of the blot. They're one of the most common
  responses on the test, and you're assumed to be a
  mental defective if you don't see them. Other
  good responses are tree (gray triangle at top),
  butterfly (pink and orange area at bottom), and
  rib cage or anatomy chart (skeletal pattern in
  center between blue rectangles and gray
  triangles). The entire configuration can be seen
  as a heraldic design (good answer) or a Christmas
  tree with ornaments (reaching). Children tend to
  like this blot and say a lot about it-the bright
  colors and animal shapes make it more interesting
  than your basic penis/vagina number (II, IV, or
  VI).

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• Green, orange, and pink ink. A very irregular
  upright rectangle. Orange at top, protruding
  green areas at center, pink at bottom. Naughty
  bits a vagina (center line at bottom). There
  aren't many good answers here. If you're going to
  throw up your hands (figuratively see warning
  about emotional outbursts above) and plead a
  mental block, this is the place to do it. The
  colors clash, apparently by Rorschach's design.
  Good answers are a fire with smoke, an explosion
  (but paranoids are claimed more apt to note the
  pale green mushroom cloud on the center line at
  top), a map, anatomy, or a flower. If you turn
  the card ninety degrees, you can make out a man's
  head in the pink areas at bottom. (The man is
  identified as Mark Twain, Santa Claus, or Teddy
  Roosevelt.) A bad response is to describe the
  orange areas at top as monsters or men
  fighting---a sign of poor social development. As
  with Plate V, the psychologist may be counting
  the number of responses you give to this blot for
  comparison with the preceding and succeeding
  blots. You want to give fewer responses to this
  blot.

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              Plate X

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• Pink, blue, gray, green, yellow, and orange ink.
  A loose assortment of brightly colored shapes,
  the most chaotic of the plates. Naughty bits
  penis and testes (top center, gray ink). The
  unspoken purpose of this last blot is to test
  your organizational ability. Plate X is full of
  colorful odds and ends easy to identify---blue
  spiders, gray crabs, paired orange maple seeds,
  green caterpillars, a light-green rabbit's head,
  yellow and orange fried eggs--and you're expected
  to list them. But the psychologist will also be
  looking for a comprehensive answer, something
  that shows you grok the whole Gestalt. There are
  two good holistic answers sea life and a view
  through a microscope. Some subjects see two
  reddish faces at top center, separated by the
  orange maple key. If you describe them as blowing
  bubbles or smoking pipes, it may be interpreted
  as evidence of an oral fixation. Seeing the gray
  "testes" and "penis" as two animals eating a
  stick or tree indicates castration anxiety.

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• What are defense mechanisms?

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• The EGO is the executive portion of your
  unconscious that weighs all of the options and
  makes a behavior choice. The EGO is constantly
  under pressure and stress to make the right
  choice.
• When you feel stressed, have self-doubts,
  worries.thats and expression of the EGO.

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• In order to alleviate and avoid anxiety, the EGO
  has a number of defense mechanisms that is uses
  to redirect or alleviate stress.

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• Defense Mechanisms

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Repression

• Banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings and
  memories from conscious awareness. Instead of
  dealing with the stress, forget the issue
  altogether.

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• Repression is when someone almost drowns as a
  child and can't remember the event -- but he
  still has a fear of open water.
• Repression is forgetting the last five minutes
  leading up to a car crash, or not being able to
  recall the face of a mugger.

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Regression

• occurs when we revert to comfort behaviors to
  ease the stress away.

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• A child may begin to suck their thumb again or
  wet the bed when they feel scared or threatened.
  Teenagers may giggle uncontrollably when
  introduced into a social situation involving the
  opposite sex. A freshman college student may need
  to bring an old toy from home.

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Reaction Formation

• The correct choice of behavior is not socially
  acceptable, so the EGO chooses a behavior that is
  exactly opposite in order to cover up for some
  perceived inadequacy.

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• An individual who cant accept their
  homosexuality may become overly macho and a gay
  basher. A women who has had an abortion may
  become a pro-life protester.

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Projection

• Disguising stressful character flaws by
  attributing them to others.

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• You didnt fail the group project because you
  were lazy, your group members didnt do good
  research, they didnt put together a good
  product, they werent dedicated.
• Its not your fault you cheated on your spouse.
  They worked late, they had a lot of male friends,
  they became distant.

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Rationalization

• Offers self-justifying explanations for our
  behaviors we offer excuses for our behaviors

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• What Im doing is okay because everyone else is
  doing it
• I could have done better but I really didnt
  care
• Im a recovering alcoholic, but just one drink
  on the holiday is ok.
• I really didnt want to go to that school
  anyway, it was too expensive, too far away.

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Displacement

• Diverting or shifting sexual or aggressive
  impulses towards a more acceptable (or less
  threatening) object or person, instead of dealing
  with the issue straightforwardly

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• When you strike out in a baseball game, you cant
  yell at the umpire, so instead you kick a trash
  can or punch the water cooler. You cant yell at
  your incompetent boss, but you can go home and
  kick the dog and yell at your wife.

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Denial

• Denial is not forgetting. It involves not
  accepting the truth and continue living on as if
  the stress isnt there.

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• Bill and Sally broke up, though Bill cant accept
  it. He continues to call Sally, waits by her
  locker at the end of school, and plans for the
  prom in Spring. Youre in debt and almost
  bankrupt, but you still buy the fancy shoes and
  go out for fine dinners.

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Sublimation

• An individual satisfies the ID through a socially
  acceptable behavior.

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• When someone who has a book fetish works as a
  librarian. A sex addict may take up a painting
  class with nude models. Someone with anger
  issues takes up boxing.

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• What are the stages of a developing personality?

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• Freud believed that a persons personality forms
  during lifes first few years, in a series of
  psychosexual stages

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• During each of the stages, the IDs
  pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct
  pleasure-sensitive area of the body (erogenous
  zones)

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• Failure to achieve a proper resolution through
  the development of the superego, however, will
  make the child fixated in the present stage. This
  is believed to be the cause of many personality
  and behavioral disorders.

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• Stage 1 ORAL (0-18 mos.)
• Stage 2 ANAL (18-36)
• Stage 3 PHALLIC (3-6 years)
• Stage 4 LATENCY (6-Puberty)
• Stage 5 GENITAL (Puberty on)

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Oral Stage (0 -18 mos.)

• The ID is satisfied through the mouth, with
  actions such as suckling (as a sign of mothers
  love), gumming, biting, and swallowing.
• Improper satisfaction leads to oral fixations,
  such as chewing on nails and pencils, overeating,
  gum chewing, smoking.

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Anal Stage (18 mos. 3 yrs.)

• The ID is satisfied through the anus, in terms of
  bowel movements (potty training). A child learns
  for the first time that they have control over
  something.
• If parents are too harsh, the child may become
  anal retentive (overly clean, overly organized,
  controlling)
• If parents are too lenient, the child may become
  anal expulsive (disorganized, sloppy, reckless,
  careless)

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Phallic Stage (3 - 5)

• The ID is satisfied through the genitals as
  children discover their bodies, and the opposite
  sex.
• Boys will naturally be attracted to girls,
  especially their mothers. Unless they resolve
  what is a proper attraction, they may develop an
  Oedipus Complex. This means they constantly
  compete with their fathers for their mothers
  attention, and may fear that their fathers want
  to castrate them (castration anxiety).

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• Girls will be naturally attracted to their
  fathers, and if they dont resolve their
  attractions, they may develop an Electra Complex
  (competing with their mothers for their fathers
  attention).
• Girls may also realize that they were born
  without a penis, and want one because they see
  that men have more power and control (penis envy).

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Latency Stage (5 - Puberty)

• Children enter school, make new friends, play
  sports and other activities, and the ID is
  dormant. Social relationships are formed,
  academics and other social activities become the
  focus.

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Genital Stage (Puberty - ?)

• The ID is once again satisfied through the
  genitals. Sexual relationships dominate social
  interactions. There are no inherent fixations in
  this stage, just the manifestations of disorders
  from earlier fixations. Girls date guys just like
  dad, or guys masturbate excessively (phallic
  stage). Guys are afraid to date for fear of
  leaving home (oral stage), girls are preoccupied
  with careers and competition (anal stage) instead
  of dating.

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• The Expression of Personality

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• The trait perspective is interested solely on
  classifying personalities into groups based on
  specific patterns of behavior. It labels
  personality types based on common characteristics
  of those types.

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• A type is a behavior title accompanied by a
  list of traits and outward behavioral expressions
  common amongst people of that type
• IE. Some personalities are happy types, and
  they smile a lot, walk with a bounce in their
  step, are polite,, optimistic, etc.

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• Type A Personality people tend to feel a sense
  of pressure and are easily angered. Competitive
  and ambitious. Work and play hard.
• Type B Personality people tend to be relaxed
  and easygoing.

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Type A Type B
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• Personality Inventories A questionnaire on
  which people respond to items designed to gauge a
  wide range of feelings and behaviors used to
  assess selected personality traits and then
  classify a type of personality

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The Big Five

• Many personality tests are based on five basic
  personality types
• Each type is broken down into six different
  traits
• When you answer a personality questionnaire, you
  are answering questions based on these thirty
  traits

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• Type 1 Emotional Stability
• Are you
• Calm vs. Anxious
• Secure vs. Insecure
• Self-Satisfied vs. Self-Pitying

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• Type 2 Extraversion
• Are you
• Sociable vs. Retiring
• Fun-Loving vs. Sober
• Affectionate vs. Reserved

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• Type 3 Openness
• Are you
• Imaginative vs. Practical
• Variety vs. Routine
• Independent vs. Conforming

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• Type 4 Agreeableness
• Are you
• Soft-hearted vs. Ruthless
• Trusting vs. Suspicious
• Helpful vs. Uncooperative

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• Type 5 Conscientiousness
• Are you
• Organized vs. Disorganized
• Careful vs. Careless
• Disciplined vs. Impulsive

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• Does the environment influence personality?

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• Internal locus of control means that we control
  our own destiny and behaviors. Confident,
  self-assured.
• External locus of control means that our
  personalities and behaviors are shaped by outside
  forces. Luck, blame others, the victim.

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• Albert Bandura behaviors and personalities are
  influenced by the interaction between persons and
  their social context and the environment

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• The interaction between the environment and an
  individual is called reciprocal determination

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Self-Efficacy

• A person's belief in their own competence.
• Based on an individuals personality and
  perception of control.
• People will be more inclined to take on a task if
  they believe they can succeed. People generally
  avoid tasks where their self-efficacy is low, but
  will engage in tasks where their self-efficacy is
  high.

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