PSYCH CHAPTER 13 Personality Theories Theories of personality Personality way in which each individual thinks acts and feels throughout life Character value judgments made about a person s morals or ethical behavior Temperament enduring characteristics with which a person is born that form the basis upon which larger personality is built Based on one s biology Genetic influences Prenatal influences Personality a combination of temperaments and personal history of family culture and the time during which they grew up Perspectives of personality Psychodynamic perspective Sigmund Freud Focuses on the roll of the unconscious mind in the development of personality and biological causes of personality differences Behaviorist perspective Focuses on the effect of the environment on behavior and includes aspects of social cognitive theory States that interactions with others and personal thought processes also influence learning and personality Humanistic Perspective Reaction against psychoanalytic and behaviorist perspectives Focuses on the roll of each person s conscious life experiences and choices in personality development Trait Perspective More concerned with end result and the characteristics of the personality The Unconscious Mind unconscious minds become aware of Freud believed the mind was divided into three parts the preconscious conscious and Conscious mind current awareness Preconscious mind contains memories information and events of which one can easily Unconscious mind part of the mind that remains hidden at all times surfacing only in symbolic form in dreams and in behavior people engage in without knowing why they have done so Even when a person makes a conscious effort to bring a memory out of the unconscious mind it will not appear directly Freud believed the unconscious mind is the most important factor in human behavior and personality Freud s Division of the Personality Id if it feels good do it First and most primitive part of the personality present in the infant Completely unconscious pleasure seeking amoral part of the personality that exists at birth seek out pleasurable sensations with no regards for the consequences Contains biological drives hunger thirst self preservation and sex in babies the need to Pleasure Principal need for satisfaction the desire for immediate gratification of needs Ego The Executive Director Second part of the personality that has to deal with reality Mostly conscious and far more rational logical and cunning than the id Works on the reality principal the need to satisfy the demands of the id only in ways that will not lead to negative consequences The ego sometimes the denies the id its desires because the consequences would be painful or too unpleasant If it feels good do it but only if you can get away with it Superego the moral watchdog The moral center of personality Develops as a pre school aged child learns the rules customs and expectations of society Contains the conscience part of personality that makes people feel guilt and have a sense of right from wrong How the three parts of personality work together The id makes the demands Superego puts restrictions on how the demands are met Ego has to find a way to quiet the id but satisfy the superego When the id or superego is not satisfied the ego receives a lot of anxiety Constant state of conflict is how Freud believes personality works Psychological defense mechanisms ways of dealing with anxiety through unconsciously distorting one s perception of reality Stages of Personality Development Freud believed personality development occurs in a series of psychosexual stages determined by the developing sexuality of a child At each stage a erogenous zone area of the body that produces pleasurable feelings can become the source of conflicts Conflicts not fully resolved can result in fixation being stuck in stage of development Oral stage first 18 months Erogenous zone is the mouth Conflict that can arise is over weaning Weaning that occurs to soon or late can result in too little or too much satisfaction of the child s oral needs This results in activities associated with an orally fixated adult personality overeating drinking too much chain smoking talking too much nail biting gum chewing being too dependent and optimistic when needs are over met or aggressive and pessimistic when needs are under met Anal Stage 18 to 36 months Child becomes a toddler and erogenous zone moves to anus Children get pleasure from withholding and releasing feces Main conflict is toilet training A child who is rebels translates as an adult as an anal expulsive personality someone who sees messiness as a statement of personal control and is somewhat destructive and hostile Some children refuse to go at all no mess no punishment This translates in adulthood to anal retentive personality where stingy stubborn and excessively neat Phallic Stage 3 6 years Erogenous zone shifts to the genitals Awakening of sexual curiosity Castration anxiety when boys realize girls have no penis and fear of losing theirs while girls develop penis envy as they don t have one Oedipus complex Freud believed boys developed attraction to their mothers and jealousy of their fathers By the end of the stage the boys will suppress feelings for mother and identify with father to combat anxiety Electra Complex girls develop affections for father and mother is rival The identification is the development of the superego moral values of the same sex parent If a child doesn t have a same sex parent or if the opposite sex parent encourages sexual attraction fixation occurs leading to immature sexual attitudes as an adult promiscuous sexual behavior and be vain Men with this fixation are momma s boys who never grow up while women look for older father figures to marry Latency Stage 6 years to puberty Stage of hidden or latent sexual feelings Children grow and develop physically intellectually and socially but not sexually Boys only play with boys and girls only play with girls Genital stage puberty onwards Sexual feelings once repressed are no longer ignored Body changes Sexual urges are allowed in consciousness but no longer with parents as the target Now it is focuses on other adolescents celebrities and objects of adoration Entry into adult social and sexual behavior Neo Freudians People who broke away from freud s ideas and altering the focus of psychoanalysis the workings of the unconscious mind and the development of personality to the
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