Chapter 12 Personality 1 What is Personality a Whatever makes for consistency in our behavior b Whatever is responsible for individual differences in our behavior Unconscious conflicts between pleasure seeking impulses and Their conscious feelings about themselves in light of their 2 Three Perspectives on Personality b Humanistic a Psychoanalytic social restraints experiences and needs c Trait 3 Psychoanalytic Perspective a Three guiding premises Their genetically influenced traits People are often unaware of the motives ii Repression i Unconscious Motivations behind their behavior conscious awareness by the use of defense mechanisms psychosexual conflicts in infancy and childhood iii Early Childhood Development Unacceptable motives and impulses are kept out of Adult personality is shaped by how we resolve 4 Freud s Personality Structures a The Id i A reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that strives to satisfy basic sexual aggressive and survival needs libido ii Operates on the pleasure principle b The Ego c The Superego i Balances the demands of the Id the Superego and reality ii Operates in the reality principle i Represents internalized ideals for how one ought to behave ii Strives for perfection a Defense mechanisms protect the ego and reduce anxiety by unconsciously 5 Defense Mechanisms distorting reality b Freud identified a number of defense mechanisms such as i Repression ii Regression iii Reaction Formation iv Projection v Rationalization vi Displacement 6 Freud s Psychosexual Stage thoughts and feelings are blocked from the consciousness retreating to an earlier stage of development act the opposite of whatever you re ashamed of project your own issues onto somebody else come up with a good way to justify something bad redirect impulses to a safer outlet a Oral 0 18 Months b Anal 18 36 Months i Pleasure focused around mouth sucking biting chewing ii If fixated at this stage adult personality would be Orally Fixed excessive smoking eating nail biting sarcasm i Pleasure is centered around bowel and bladder elimination ii If fixated at this stage adult personality could be 1 Anally retentive orderly thrifty stubborn if parents were strict during this stage 2 Anally expulsive messy generous lots of dirty humor if parents were not as strict during this stage i Pleasure centered around the genitals ii If fixated at this stage adult personality would be self centered reckless c Phallic 3 6 Years 7 Evaluating Freud s Theory Victorian Era a Based on observations of a small number of Viennese patients during the b Research supports SOME of Freud s ideas i Much of our behavior is unconsciously guided ii There is truth to some of Freud s defense mechanisms c Research doesn t support MOST of Freud s ideas i Personality development is a lifelong process not confined in childhood ii Personality isn t linked to difficulties with psychosexual activites like weaning and toilet training 8 The Humanistic Perspective a Focused on how healthy people strive to fulfill their potential b Focused on people s conscious thoughts about themselves les of a focus on behavior or unconscious forces c Abraham Maslow Carl Rogers 9 Maslow s Hierarchy of Needs 10 Carl Rogers View a Self actualization esteem belongingness and love safety physiological a People can think of themselves in two ways i Actual Self Ideal Self ii b Self actualization c Others reactions to you are important how a person currently thinks and feels about themselves the kind of person you would ideally like to be is the process by which you become the ideal self i Conditional Positive Regard 1 When other peoples love requires you to meet certain expectations it is difficult to become your ideal self ii Unconditional Positive Regard 1 When others love you unconditionally you re free to pursue self actualization 11 Trait Perspective a Describes personality I terms of traits such as 12 Factor Analytic Approach a Looks to see which traits tend to correlate together into a cluster b Clusters are formed not only on the basis of statistical analysis but any preexisting theory 13 Trait Personality Scales a Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory MMPI b Big Five Personality Factors i Neuroticism High Anxious Insecure Low Calm Secure Extraversion High Sociable fun loving Low Introverted Openness Creative Curious Low Uncreative conventional Agreeableness Conscientiousness High reliable c Big five traits are roughly 50 inheritable i Neuroticism and agreeableness are 41 inheritable ii Openness is 61 inheritable d Upbringing birth order shapes personality too i First borns tend to be more conscientious than later borns ii Later borns tend to be more open than first borns 14 Does Personality Change a Yes but it s more likely to change before the age of 30 than after this age b From late teens to age 30 people tend to become i Less extraverted ii Less open to experience iii More conscientious and more agreeable iv Less neurotic women only c After age 30 people tend to continue to become i More agreeable ii More open to experience men only
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