Personality- What is personality?o An individual’s characteristic way of behaving, thinking, and feeling.o Prior vs. anticipated events1. The Psychodynamic Approacha. Personality results from unconscious conflictsb. Personality develops in childhood and typically doesn’t changeA. Personality Structurea. The Idi. Primitive component (present at birth)ii. Sexual and Aggressive drivesiii. The pleasure principle (impulses, desires)iv. Unconsciousb. The Superegoi. The conscience (internalized standards)1. Largely from parents, also cultural rulesii. Restrains the Idiii. Somewhat consciousc. The Egoi. Resolves conflicts between the id and the superego1. The way the ego resolves such dilemmas is an important component of personalityii. The reality principle: realistically, what can I get?iii. Ego has three masters: id, superego, and external worldiv. Largely consciousB. Defense Mechanisma. Unconscious coping mechanisms that reduce anxiety generated by threates from unacceptable impulsesi. Id unacceptable impulses  anxietyb. 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 menC. 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 conflicta. 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 Daddyc. Failure to negotiate this conflict produces a person who is preoccupied with seduction, jealousy, competition, power and authority2. Fixation/: conflicts that persist beyond the stage in which they arisea. If we are deprived or overindulged during a stage, we can become fixated on the drive of that stageb. Oral fixation:i. Excessive eating drinkingc. Anal fixationi. Compulsive neatness b. Notes and caveats on the Freudian approachi. “after the fact” explanations  not empirically researched The Humanistic Existential ApproachA. Dklfjal;dB. Unconditional positive regard: receiving unqualified acceptance from significant othersa. Carl Rogers ***b. Conditions of worth- Acceptance from significant others is contingent upon one’s behaviori. Success  I am lovedii. Failure  I am scoldediii. People with these sorts of contingencies of worth tend to have lower self- esteem. c. Highlights importance of parental treatment in child’s personality developmenti. Hate the sin, love the sinnerC. Self-Actualizationa. The human motive toward realizing our inner potentialb. Maslow’s hierarchy of needsc. 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 growthIII. TraitsA. The search for core traitsa. 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 plannerb. 18000 trait words in the English languagei. but they can be organized hierarchicallyB. The Big Fivea. Conscientiousnessb. Agreeablenessc. Neuroticismd. Openness to experiencee. Extraversionf. People can judge extraversion and conscientiuousness accurately just from looking at someone across the roomg. People can judge openness and conscientiousness accurately by looking at your spaceC. Projective measurement techniquesa. Personality tests that examine unconscious processes by having people interpret ambiguous stimulib. Can sometimes predict behavior reliablyc. The Rorschach inkblot testd. The thematic apperception test (TAT)IV. Self-EsteemSelf- esteem: The extent to which an individual likes, values and accepts the selfA. Is high self-esteem good?a. The up-side of high self-esteemi. It feels greatii. It promotes appropriate persistence after failureb. There is a dark side to high self-esteemi. Inflated self-esteem can lead to aggressionii. EX: Bullies and terrorists tend to have high self esteemiii. 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 gameB. Implicit egotism: people’s unconscious self-esteem spills over into their evaluations of things associated with the selfa. Ex. People named Dennis or Denise are over-represented as dentistsb. We are more likely to marry people whose names begin with the sameletter as our own than with any one other letterc. Experimental work replicates these effectsi. We like people whose participant codes match our birthdays C. The self-enhancement motivea. People seek out and believe information that reflects well on themb. The “better than average” effecti. Almost all of us think we’re better than