What is personality Enduring patterns of behavior actions feelings thoughts interactions that are relatively consistent over time and across circumstances o Textbook Unique characteristics that account for our enduring patterns of inner experience and outward Personality is largely defined in the context of how we behavior relate to others o Is personality a social construct o Harry Stack Sullivan Personality cannot be separated from the interpersonal world in which the person lives Basic Questions in Personality What is personality o o o What are the basic elements How is personality shaped What are the basic forces When does it happen Are we born with it o Are there certain important periods Personality Theories Formal attempts to describe and explain Answer questions like what how when etc Like all theories they are propositions not facts Theories like the people who create them are bound in time and culture Major Theories Covered 1 Psychodynamic Theories Includes all the theories in psychology that see human functioning based upon the interaction of drives and forces within the person particularly unconscious and between the different structures of the personality Sigmund Freud o Was a practicing neurologist in the late 19th century Europe o Seeing patients with hysterical physical symptoms So the theory shaped by his observations of these particular problems Also by the cultural context time and place o Postulated unconscious as explanatory mechanism Theory of The Unconscious o Three types of mental processes 1 Conscious Immediate awareness Rational goal directed 2 Preconscious 3 Unconscious Can be accessed fairly readily Out of awareness Irrational Motivated Unconscious o Purposeful exclusion of information or material from conscious awareness Because it is threatening to the stability and integrity of the self o Self protective function o But what is the source of conflict that requires the unconscious to do its work This is where Freud comes up with the Drive Model Freud s Drive Model o Theory of instincts psychic energies o Instincts or drives as inborn psychic energies Arising from basic biological needs o Freud believed there were Two Instincts 1 Life Instincts Libido Eros Survival and reproduction 2 Death Aggression Instincts Thanatos the aim of all life is death o How is this energy dealt with Freud s Structural Model o Three systems that make up the structure of personality 1 Id Contains a human s basic instinctual drives Id is the only component of personality that is present from birth Original System Completely instinctive o in contact with bodily needs Reservoir of libidinal energy Operates according to pleasure principle o Maximize pleasure need gratification o Minimize pain need frustration Primary process thinking o Unconscious irrational wishful primitive 2 Ego Develops out of id Restrains id impulses in accordance with demands of external world Operates according to reality principle o Need fulfillment can be realistically accomplished Secondary Process thinking o Logical rational goal oriented realistic 3 Superego Internalized standards and ideals morals of culture Two Aspects Ego Ideal model of best self and Conscience allows feelings of guilt Person can t be all superego because it is harsh demanding unrealistic and unforgiving o Personality dynamics is reflected in the relative distribution of psychic energy among the three systems o Ego and Superego both restrain Id o Superego is non rational so ego must use most of the energy to balance the forces o Ego balances Id and Superego so neither one takes over personality Ego is the executive striking balance o Reasonable rational Good Psychological Health Strong Ego If balance is threatened anxiety results o Neurotic Anxiety Defense Mechanisms Unconscious processes generated by ego to protect from anxiety and distress All defense mechanisms have 2 characteristics 1 Operate unconsciously 2 Involve the denial or distortion of reality so as to make it less threatening Present in normal and abnormal functioning Freud s Developmental Model Learning to deal with libidinal energy is a major developmental task Focused on different biological functioning and tasks as child grows Erogenous zones from Eros o Part of body that is source of pleasure Different zones at different stages Psychosexual Stages of Development o Oral 0 18 months o Anal 2 3 years o Phallic 3 6 years o Latency 6 puberty o Genital puberty and beyond Stage resolution is important in personality development Fixations Unresolved stage conflicts persisting beyond the Regression Reverting to conflicts of earlier stage under period stress Evaluating Freud Observant narrative of human development and experience Elaborate thoughtful theory Intuitive appeal in some ways Remember the context Victorian Europe Observations of patients with hysteria Freudian Theory Contributions and Criticisms Recognition of the unconscious o Criticism Assumption of primacy of unconscious insufficient attention to conscious experience and The first to stress the importance of early childhood awareness experience o Criticism Exclusive focus on childhood Recognition that we are biological creatures o Criticism Little emphasis on social context Recognition of basic needs and instincts o Criticism Excessive focus on sex instincts Attempts to explain both normal development and psychopathology o Criticism Pathology oriented o Criticism contd Non parsimonious Comprehensive and rich theory o Criticism Little scientific support Contemporary Psychodynamic Theory More ego less Id Less exclusive focus on childhood Less unconscious conflict Less sex and aggression More emphasis on culture social influences Examples Adler Homey Jung 2 Humanistic Theories This approach emphasizes an individual s inherent drive towards self actualization and creativity American movement Counter reaction to Freud Emphasis on basic good positive nature of humanity self determinism Theories developed on observations of healthy people Focus on strivings for fulfillment and self improvement and capacity for positive contributions to society American optimism vs European existentialism Criticized psychology for studying pathology weakness Abraham Maslow and abnormality o What can psychologies based on abnormality tell us about normal healthy creative process Maslow Psychology has voluntarily restricted itself to only half of its rightful jurisdiction and thats the darker meaner half o What about joy love