Chapter 15- Personality

							                                         Chapter 15- Personality
Day 1

Personality and the Four Perspectives
Personality refers to your characteristic _________________________________________
Four Basic Perspectives on Personality:
      1.
      2.
      3.
      4.

The Psychoanalytic Perspective
Mostly based on the ideas of _______________________
Freud argued that personality was mostly influenced by ___________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
2 most basic motives were sex and aggression.

Psychoanalysis: specifically refers to Freud’s theory on unconscious motivations influence on our
personality and to the techniques used to _____________________________________________ which
may be causing a psychological disorder.
From this viewpoint, only through ______________________________________________ can you
overcome psychological problems like depression, anxiety, etc.

Methods for Tapping Into the Unconscious
1. Hypnosis: _____________________________________________________. Under hypnosis
patients would talk freely about the onset of their symptoms and their lives which allowed Freud access
to “unconscious conflicts.”
       Freud eventually turned away from hypnosis since not all patients reacted to it.
 2. Dreams: considered the “______________________________________________.”
       Manifest content (dream sequence) was a censored expression of the dreamer’s unconscious
       wishes called ________________________________________________________.
3. Free Association: technique in which ___________________________________________ without
censoring themselves no matter how trivial or embarrassing the flow of thoughts is.
       To Freud nothing you did or said was ever accidental; _____________________________
       __________________________________________________________.
4. Freudian Slips: slips of the tongue or actions which may illustrate unconscious motives/feelings.
Ex: Accidentally calling your wife “mom”
       Man sending a post card to his wife while on vacation which reads: “Wish you were her.”

Unconscious vs. Preconscious
Unconscious:
      According to Freud is a reservoir of mostly _______________________________________ and
      memories we are unaware of.
      _________________________________- information processing of which we are unaware
Preconscious: information that is not conscious, but is retrievable into conscious awareness.
      Ex: __________________________, best friend’s last name, etc.

Structure of Our Personality According to Freud
To Freud, Personality is like an _________________________.
Only can see very small part of it (conscious) while most of it is unseen (unconscious)

Parts of Personality According to Freud
1. Id: largest part of your personality that is unconscious, ___________________________
______________________________________________________.
      Seeks immediate gratification and operates according to the _________________________.

2. Superego: part of personality that develops around the age of 4 to 5.
     _______________________________________________________________________.              .
     Provides standards for judgment and future aspirations; pushes you towards perfection.

3. Ego: the largely conscious part of your personality that ______________________________
_________________________________________________.
     Operates according to the ___________________________ satisfying the id’s desires in ways
     that will _________________________ bring pleasure rather than pain.

Personality Development
According to Freud, personality developed during the life’s first few years. He believed that _______
_______________________________________________ which were often related to conflicts in
psychosexual development.
Psychosexual Stages: _________________________________________ during which according to
Freud, the id’s pleasure seeking energies are focused on distinct erogenous zones.

Conflict During the Phallic Stage
The Oedipus Complex: ____________________________________and feelings of jealousy and
hatred towards their father
Fear of punishment from their father leads to _________________________ and eventual repression
of feelings towards mother and identification with rival parent (father).
Electra Complex: similar process some psychoanalysts feel ______________________ towards their
fathers and mothers.

Personality Development and Conflict
Identification: process by which ______________________________ values into their developing
superegos.
Fixation: refers to a lingering focus of pleasure seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage.
_______________________________________________________________
       –Ex: _______________________________, etc.

Personality and Dealing with Anxiety
The ego has to deal with a variety of forms of anxiety based on unconscious conflicts and the
conflicting desires of id and superego. _____________________________________________:
Defense Mechanisms: ____________________________________________. Involves unconsciously
distorting reality to make itself feel better.

Examples of Defense Mechanisms
1. Repression: ___________ anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness.
     –Ex: Child Sexual Abuse is “forgotten.”
2. Regression: when an individual retreats to an ___________________________________, where
some psychic energy remains fixated.
       –Ex: When stressed someone may smoke or drink more (oral fixation).
3. Reaction Formation: when the ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their
___________________________. People will express opposite of their anxiety arousing feelings.
       Ex: Those with Unacceptable homosexual impulses may become gay bashers.
4. Projection: when people disguise their own threatening impulses by _____________________
       Ex: Husband who is cheating may constantly accuse wife of the behavior.
5. Rationalization: ________________________________________ in place of the real, more
threatening, unconscious reasons for one’s actions.
       Ex: Justifying Cheating on Taxes by saying the government would use $ to create nuclear
       weapons.
6. Displacement: shifting one’s sexual or aggressive impulses to a more acceptable or less
threatening object or person…redirect anger at “________________________.”
       Ex: Angry at boss or supervisor and you take it out by yelling at spouse.
7. Sublimation: when people rechannel their unacceptable impulses into _____________________
       Ex: Playing football to rechannel aggressive impulses.
*8. Intellectualization: separating oneself from emotional impact of a situation by focusing on
problem in _______________________________________________.
       Ex: A wife who learns her husband is dying tries to learn all she can about the disease,
       prognosis, treatment options. Look at it in scientific way to avoid emotion.
*9. ______________: when person denies threatening behavior or events are taking place.
       Ex: Person who is in a horrible accident states emphatically “I will walk again!”
 *10. Undoing: idea that if you have unacceptable impulses/behavior you can undo or
______________________________________________________.
       Ex: After cheating on wife, husband buys her jewelry.

Psychoanalytic Personality Tests: Assessing the Unconscious
Projective Tests: ____________________________________________ which is designed to get at
one’s inner/unconscious dynamics when you interpret it.

Types of Projective Tests
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): test where people express their inner feelings and interests
through the _________________________________________________________.

Rorschach Inkblot Test: _______________________________________, looks to identify people’s
inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of blots.

Neo- Freudians
Supporters of Freud
Had 2 major differences with Freud
       1. They placed more emphasis on the _________________________
       2. Doubted the role of ___________________________________
Alfred Adler: emphasized the importance of ___________________________ in childhood rather than
sexual tensions to explain personality development.
Proposed idea of __________________________: feeling of inferiority during childhood which causes
individuals to overcompensate and either have significant ________________________
_________________________________________________
Carl Jung: Came up with several important Psychoanalytic ideas including:
       1. Collective Unconscious: idea that humans have a shared reservoir of memory
       ____________________________________________________
       2. Complex: unconscious impulses that lie behind an individuals mysterious behavior. At core
       of complex was idea known as Archetype: ____________________________________.
       Example of Archetypes:
             –A. Anima/Animus: feelings towards opposite gender

Criticism of Psychoanalysis?
Development is not just in _________________________
Overestimated ___________________________________
Might have created _________________________________ in patients
Day 2-Personality and the Trait, Humanistic, and Social Cognitive Perspectives

The Trait Perspective
The father of the trait perspective of personality is _________________________.
The trait perspective looks to DESCRIBE personality in terms of fundamental _______________:
pattern of behavior or disposition to feel or act as assessed by self-reported inventories or peer reports.

Myers –Briggs Type Indicator
___________________________which ask patients for preferences
Example- Feeling or Thinking Type
Used in the _________________________ world

Method used For Measuring Personality for Trait Perspective
Personality Inventory: a questionnaire that is usually true/false in which people respond to items
designed to gauge a ________________________________and behaviors; used to assess selected
personality traits.

Example of Personality Inventory
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory: _________________________ personality test.
Purpose was to identify emotional disorders but is also now used for screening purposes for
_____________________________.
Test is an example of being ______________________________: having pool of test questions that
________________________________. (Ex: Certain questions Depressed vs. Normal were likely to
answer differently)

Self Reports
______________________________ method
Simply asking ____________________- and family about you

Dimensions of Personality
Through factor analysis, the Ensencks identified dimensions of personality were as
_________________ (keep to yourself)/ ________________(outgoing) and _______________


Big 5 Research Explores These Questions
1. How Stable are these Traits?
      In adulthood quite ___________________
2. How heritable are they?
      About _____________________
3. How well do they apply to other cultures?
      Reasonably well
4. Do the Big Five traits predict other personal attributes?
      _______________________
      Highly conscientious people tend to also be morning people

Evaluating the Trait Perspective
Person-Situation Controversy
     Traits exist. ___________________. And our difference matter
     Averages in traits are consistent
Consistency of Expressive Style
     Traits ( level of expressiveness) can remain __________________
     But in most situations a person’s __________________________ will come through

The Humanistic Perspective
The two founders of the Humanistic Perspective are _______________________ and ___________.
The _______________________________ focuses on the growth potential of healthy people. They
focus on the power of free will and how people view themselves as a whole in _________________.

Maslow’s Main Idea
1. ___________________________: ultimate goal in hierarchy of needs; meet one’s potential.

Carl Rogers’ Person Centered Approach
Believed all humans had potential for growth; just need climate that has:
      –_____________________ (truthful/sincere)
      –______________________ (unconditional positive regard)
      –_______________________ (try to understand others)
Unconditional Positive Regard: attitude of __________________________ towards another person.

Humanistic Perspective’s Central Concept to Understanding Personality
________________________: all thoughts and feelings about ourselves: “Who am I?”
Related terms to understand Self Concept:
      –____________________: feelings of self-worth.
      –__________________________: a readiness to perceive oneself favorably

Criticism of Humanist Perspective
Maslow’s concepts are __________________ and might just be his own values.
Too much focus on ___________________l.
Ignores human capacity for ________________________.

Astrology and Palm Readings
1996-_______________________________on psychic hotlines
 __________________________, horoscopes and handwriting analysis DO NOT WORK

How do they do it?
    –1. People are ___________________ in many ways – “ I sense you’re nursing a grudge against
    someone”
    –2.The Barnum Effect-ppl have a strong tendency to believe that traits apply specifically to them
    especially if these traits are ____________________ and stated in a general way
    –3. They read our _________________________, nonverbal gestures and reactions to what we
    say
    –4. John Edwards- “Throws many things at the wall, sees what sticks and goes with it”

Social –Cognitive Approach
Father of Social Cognitive Perspective is ______________________________.
Social Cognitive Perspective: emphasizes the importance of external events (society) and how we
interpret them (cognition).
      –
      –

Personality is Made Up of Interlocking Forces
Reciprocal Determinism: is the idea that _________________________________________
personality influences the environment.
Same environment can have completely different effects on different people because of how they
_______________________________________________________
      –You choose your environment and it then shapes you

Social Cognitive Perspective Focuses on Personal Control
______________________: sense of controlling the environment rather than feeling helpless.
Study Personal Control in 2 ways:
      –1. _____________________ ppls feelings of control with their behaviors and achievements
      –2. ___________________- raise and lower ppls sense of control and rate the effects

Locus of Control
Achievement is highest when people have:
_______________________________________: idea that one control’s their own destiny.

External Locus of Control Can Lead to Learned Helplessness
External Locus of Control: perception that chance or outside forces beyond one’s ________________
determines one’s fate.
Learned Helplessness: ________________________ and passive resignation an animal or human
learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events.
Ex: Dog being uncontrollably shocked for period; will not later escape when time arrives.

Optimism
Do you view yourself as optimistic or pessimistic?
Optimistic ppl are __________________________________ and happy
Excessive optimism can be ___________________

Evaluating the Social Cognitive Perspective
_________________________ approach by current psychologists since it takes aspects from learning
and cognition.
Criticized by some because it fails to consider possible ______________________ and focuses too
much on environment not enough on inner traits.

Exploring the Self
Possible Selves
       –__________________ we have for ourselves
````–Dreams led to achievements
Spotlight Effect
````–PPl are _______________________ of us than we think
Self Esteem-
```–PPl who __________________________ about themselves are better off
```–Low Self Esteem comes in a variety of forms

Self Serving Bias
       –Our readiness to perceive ourselves ___________________________
             People accept more credit for goods things more than bad things
             Most ppl see themselves as _______________________________
Survey Question: Who is most likely to go to heaven? Who beats out Princess Diana, Gandhi, MLK
Jr., and Mother Theresa?

If Self Serving Bias prevails why do ppl put themselves down?
       1. Strategy for ___________________________
       2. Prepare for possible failure
       3. Pertains to “______________-” self

Individualism vs. Collectivism
Individualism
      –giving priority to one’s __________________________ over group goals and defining one’s
      identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications
Collectivism
      –giving priority to the goals of one’s _____________________ (often one’s extended family or
      work group) and defining one’s identity accordingly