Personality What is personality o An individual s characteristic way of behaving thinking and feeling o Prior vs anticipated events 1 The Psychodynamic Approach a Personality results from unconscious conflicts b Personality develops in childhood and typically doesn t change A Personality Structure a The Id i Primitive component present at birth ii Sexual and Aggressive drives iii The pleasure principle impulses desires iv Unconscious b The Superego i The conscience internalized standards 1 Largely from parents also cultural rules ii Restrains the Id iii Somewhat conscious c The Ego i Resolves conflicts between the id and the superego 1 The way the ego resolves such dilemmas is an important component of personality ii The reality principle realistically what can I get iii Ego has three masters id superego and external world iv Largely conscious B Defense Mechanism a Unconscious coping mechanisms that reduce anxiety generated by threates from unacceptable impulses i Id unacceptable impulses anxiety b Rationalization come up with a reasonable explanation for unacceptable feelings and behaviors c Reaction formation unconsciously replace threatening inner fantasies with an exaggerated version of the opposite i Homophobic straight men are more aroused by gay sex videos than nonhomophobic straight men C Displacement shifting unacceptable wishes and drives to a neutral or less threatening alternative D Sublimation channeling unacceptable drives into socially acceptable culturally enhancing activities 1 Oedipus conflict a Around age 4 or 5 boys become concerned that Mommy also has positive feelings for Daddy i So they want to kill Daddy b This urge is unacceptable so the conflict is resolved by identifying with Daddy c Failure to negotiate this conflict produces a person who is preoccupied with seduction jealousy competition power and authority 2 Fixation conflicts that persist beyond the stage in which they arise a If we are deprived or overindulged during a stage we can become fixated on the drive of that stage b Oral fixation i Excessive eating drinking c Anal fixation i Compulsive neatness b Notes and caveats on the Freudian approach i after the fact explanations not empirically researched The Humanistic Existential Approach A Dklfjal d B Unconditional positive regard receiving unqualified acceptance from significant others a Carl Rogers b Conditions of worth Acceptance from significant others is contingent upon one s behavior i Success I am loved ii Failure I am scolded iii People with these sorts of contingencies of worth tend to have lower self esteem c Highlights importance of parental treatment in child s personality development i Hate the sin love the sinner C Self Actualization a The human motive toward realizing our inner potential b Maslow s hierarchy of needs c With self actualization people are fully alive and find meaning in life Defense mechanisms may provide security and prevent anxiety but they may stifle the potential for personal growth III Traits A The search for core traits a Trait a relatively stable disposition to behave in a particular and consistent way i Orderliness I organize my books I keep my room picked up and I have a clear agenda in my planner b 18000 trait words in the English language i but they can be organized hierarchically B The Big Five a Conscientiousness b Agreeableness c Neuroticism d Openness to experience e Extraversion f People can judge extraversion and conscientiuousness accurately just from looking at someone across the room g People can judge openness and conscientiousness accurately by looking at your space C Projective measurement techniques a Personality tests that examine unconscious processes by having people interpret ambiguous stimuli b Can sometimes predict behavior reliably c The Rorschach inkblot test d The thematic apperception test TAT IV Self Esteem Self esteem The extent to which an individual likes values and accepts the self A Is high self esteem good a The up side of high self esteem i It feels great ii It promotes appropriate persistence after failure b There is a dark side to high self esteem i Inflated self esteem can lead to aggression ii EX Bullies and terrorists tend to have high self esteem iii Indiscriminate praise is dangerous Has the self esteem movement produced too many narcissists Generation Me narcissism scores are increasing Narcicissts are less committed to their relationships and treat love as a game B Implicit egotism people s unconscious self esteem spills over into their evaluations of things associated with the self a Ex People named Dennis or Denise are over represented as dentists b We are more likely to marry people whose names begin with the same letter as our own than with any one other letter c Experimental work replicates these effects i We like people whose participant codes match our birthdays C The self enhancement motive a People seek out and believe information that reflects well on them b The better than average effect i Almost all of us think we re better than average