Theories of Personality Chapter Summaries PDF

Preview

Summary

Theories Set of related assumptions that allows scientists to use logical deductive reasoning to formulate testable hypothesis. Personality A pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique characteristics that give both consistency and individuality to a person’s behavior. (Feist) The unique, rel...

Description

Theories -

Set of related assumptions that allows scientists to use logical deductive reasoning to formulate testable hypothesis.

Personality -

A pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique characteristics that give both consistency and individuality to a person’s behavior. (Feist) The unique, relatively enduring internal and external aspects of a person’s character that influence behavior indifferent situations.(Schultz) “Persona” – theatrical mask worn by Roman actors in Greek dramas

Psychology of Science -

Empirical study of scientific thought and behavior.

Different Personal Background Childhood experiences Interpersonal Relationships Different Philosophical Orientations Unique ways of looking to the World Data chosen to observe is different Theorists’ personalities and their theories of personality

Carl Jung Alfred Adler Karen Horney

Erich Fromm Harry Stack Sullivan

Criteria for Evaluating Research -

Generates Research (Heuristic) Is falsifiable (Verifiable) Organizes Known Data (Comprehensiveness – diversity of concepts and principles) Guides Action (Practical or Functional Significance) Is Internally consistent Parsimonious – simple and easily understand

Dimensions -

Determinism Pessimism Causality Conscious Biological Uniqueness

vs vs vs vs vs vs

Free Choice Optimism Teleology Unconscious Social Similarity

-

Melanie Klein

Why different theories? -

Sigmund Freud

Erik Erikson

-

Psychoanalysis Levels of Mental Life (Conscious, Unconscious, Preconscious) Provinces of the Mind (Id, Ego, Superego) Psychosexual Stages (Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, Genital) Defense Mechanisms Analytical Psychology Levels of Psyche (Conscious, Personal Unconscious, Collective Unconscious) Archetypes Psychological Types Individual Psychology Striving for Success Social Interest Safeguarding Tendencies Psychoanalytic Social/ Feminine Psych Basic Anxiety and Basic Hostility Neurotics Needs Neurotic Trends Object Relations Theory Phantasies Psychic Defense Mechanisms Internalizations Humanistic Psychoanalysis Human Needs Freedom Character Orientations Personality Disorders Interpersonal Theory Tensions Dynamism Personifications Levels of Cognition Security Operations Post-Freudian/ Psychosocial Psychosocial Development

(Psychoanalysis)

Sex

Emphasized unconscious forces, biologically based drives of sex and aggression, and unavoidable conflicts in early childhood. These were considered the rulers and shapers of our personality.

-

Levels of Mental Life

-

Unconscious -

Contains all those drives, urges, or instincts that are beyond our awareness. Contains the major driving power behind all behavior Phylogenetic Endowment – inherited unconscious images

-

Contains all those elements that are not conscious but can become conscious either quite readily or with some difficulty

Preconscious Conscious -

Mental awareness at any given point in time

Provinces of the Mind

Id

-

Aggression -

Reservoir of instincts NO CONTACT with reality Pleasure Principle (tension reduction; increase pleasure) Primary Process (id satisfied the needs)

-

Rational master of Personality Reality Principle (manipulates environment in a practical and realistic manner) Secondary Process (powers of perception, recognition, judgment, and memory in satisfying needs)

Ego -

Superego -

“conscience” Moralistic and Idealistic Principle

Dynamics of Personality

Drives -

Constant motivational force “Trieb” or Instinct

The wish to die turned against objects other than the self

Anxiety – objectless fear; often we cannot point its source

Realistic Anxiety -

unpleasant, nonspecific feeling involving a danger fear of tangible dangers in the real world

Neurotic Anxiety -

-

Life Instinct (purpose of survival) Libido – sex drive Cathexis – when libido is attached or invested in objects Anticathexis - the process of balancing the drives of ID and the morals of superego; the inhibition of an impulse. Primary Narcissism - libido is invested exclusively on one’s ego Secondary Narcissism - It is when the libido is back to the ego and become preoccupied by personal appearance and self-adoration Sadism – inflicting pain on others Masochism – suffering from pain

-

unconscious fear of being punished for impulsively displaying ID-DOMINATED behavior ID vs EGO

Moral Anxiety -

Fear of one’s conscience EGO vs SUPEREGO

Defense Mechanisms Repression Denial Reaction Formation Projection Regression Rationalization Displacement Sublimation Introjection

Denial of existence of something that causes anxiety Denying the existence of an external threat or traumatic event. Inability to accept reality Expressing an opposite of the one truly driving the person Attributing a disturbing impulse to someone else Retreating to an earlier, less frustrating period of life. MOST COMMON Reinterpreting to make it acceptable or logical Shifting the impulse to an object that is available Diverting into socially acceptable behaviors Adoption of the ideas or attitudes of others

Dream Analysis Psychosexual Stages Oral (Birth to 1)

Anal (1 to 3)

-

Formation of ID E-Zone: Mouth Oral Incorporative – dependent Oral Sadistic – aggressive Oral behavior such as smoking and eating; passivity and gullibility (and the opposites). Formation of EGO E- Zone: Anus Early anal period, children receive satisfaction by destroying or losing objects. When children enter the late anal period, they sometimes take a friendly interest toward their feces, an interest that stems from the erotic pleasure of defecating. Anal Character – people who continue to receive erotic satisfaction by keeping and possessing objects and by arranging them in an excessively neat and orderly fashion Anal Triad: orderliness, stinginess, and obstinacy Formation of SUPEREGO E-Zone: Genitals Male Oedipus complex - desires to do away with his father and possess his mother in a sexual relationship Castration Anxiety - fear of losing the penis Female Oedipus complex - desire for sexual intercourse with the father and accompanying feelings of hostility for the mother Penis Envy - desire to have a penis Phallic Personality – linked to NARCISSISM Sex instinct is dormant

-

Adult Relationships

-

-

-

-

-

Phallic (3 to 6)

-

-

-

Latency (6 to puberty) Genitals (12 onwards) Techniques

Free Association -

Patient says whatever comes to mind “Daydreaming out loud” Catharsis – expression of emotions that is expected to lead to the reduction of disturbing symptoms Resistance – a blockage or refusal to disclose painful memories

-

Interpretation of dreams to uncover unconscious conflicts Manifest Content – actual events in dreams Latent Content – symbolic meaning

Other Terminologies Drive reduction

Eliminating or decreasing the discomfort and tension of a drive, which satisfies the underlying physiological need. To Freud, the major source of pleasure.

Eros

A synonym for the sexual instinct.

Overdetermination

A term referring to the numerous, complicated causes of most behavior.

Parapraxis

An apparent accident that is caused by unconscious mental processes, and therefore indicates one’s real feelings and beliefs; a “Freudian slip.”

Primal Scene

Observing one’s parents’ sexual intercourse.

Psychic determinism

The principle that nothing in the psyche happens by chance; all mental activity has a prior cause.

Wish-fulfillment

Forming a mental image of an object that will satisfy a need; a function of the id.

Condensation

The unconscious combination of various symbols or words into a single entity with several meanings.

Countertransference

An unconscious displacement of emotion or behavior, by the psychoanalyst, from some other person to the patient.

Day’s Residue

Memories of the preceding day that trigger a dream because they are related to important unconscious issues.

Dream-work

The unconscious process that converts latent dream-thoughts into manifest content.

Insight

An emotional and intellectual understanding of the causes and dynamics of one’s behavior, achieved by bringing unconscious material to consciousness.

Transference

An unconscious displacement of emotion or behavior, by the patient, from some other important person (such as a parent) to the psychoanalyst. Produces the attachment that makes positive therapeutic change possible, but may defeat the therapy if it becomes overly negative.

Transference Neurosis

A major intensification of transference, wherein the relationship to the analyst becomes even more important than the problems that originally brought the patient into psychoanalytic therapy.

Levels of the Psyche

Conscious -

-

(Analytical Psychology)

those that are sensed by the ego, whereas unconscious elements have no relationship with the ego ego as the center of consciousness, but not the core of personality

-

Animus -

Personal Unconscious -

It contains repressed infantile memories and impulses, forgotten events, and experiences originally perceived below the threshold of our consciousness Complexes – contents of personal unconscious. An emotionally toned conglomeration of associated ideas. Complexes may be partly conscious and may stem from both the personal and the collective unconscious

Has roots in the ancestral past of the entire species Humans’ innate tendency to react in a particular way whenever their experiences stimulate a biologically inherited response tendency

-

Ancient or archaic images that derive from the collective unconscious aka Primordial Images

Persona -

The side of personality that people show to the world “MASK” If we identify too closely with our persona, we remain unconscious of our individuality and are blocked from attaining self-realization To become psychologically healthy, we must strike a balance between the demands of society and what we truly are

Shadow -

-

-

Anima -

Feminine side of men Few men become well acquainted with their anima because this task requires great courage and is even more difficult than becoming acquainted with their shadow

Archetype of wisdom and meaning, symbolizes humans’ preexisting knowledge of the mysteries of life A man or woman dominated by the wise old man archetype may gather a large following of disciples by using verbiage that sounds profound but that really makes little sense because the collective unconscious cannot directly impart its wisdom to an individual

Hero -

Archetype is represented in mythology and legends as a powerful person, sometimes part god, who fights against great odds to conquer or vanquish evil in the form of dragons, monsters, serpents, or demons

-

the archetype of archetypes pulls together the other archetypes and unites them in the process of selfrealization Mandala - a circle within a square, a square within a circle, or any other concentric figure. It represents the strivings of the collective unconscious for unity, balance, and wholeness. People who are overpowered by their unconscious are often pathological, with one-sided personalities The self includes both the conscious and unconscious mind, and it unites the opposing elements of psyche—male and female, good and evil, light and dark forces

Self -

The archetype of darkness and repression, represents those qualities we do not wish to acknowledge but attempt to hide from ourselves and others We must continually strive to know our shadow and that this quest is our first test of courage People who never realize their shadow may, nevertheless, come under its power and lead tragic lives, constantly running into “bad luck” and reaping harvests of defeat and discouragement for themselves

The great mother, therefore, represents two opposing forces—fertility and nourishment on the one hand and power and destruction on the other Fertility and power combine to form the concept of rebirth Rebirth is represented by such processes as reincarnation, baptism, resurrection, and individuation or self-realization

Wise Old Man

Archetypes -

Masculine side of women The animus is symbolic of thinking and reasoning If a woman is dominated by her animus, no logical or emotional appeal can shake her from her prefabricated beliefs

Great Mother

Collective Unconscious -

The process of gaining acquaintance with his anima was the second test of courage Anima is originated from early men’s experiences with women—mothers, sisters, and lovers—that combined to form a generalized picture of woman The anima influences the feeling side in man and is the explanation for certain irrational moods and feelings

-

Dynamics of Personality -

Causality (past events) and Teleology (future events) Progression (forward flow of psychic energy) and Regression (backward flow)

Psychological Types

Stages of Development

Attitudes - a predisposition to act or react in a characteristic direction Introversion

Childhood (Dominant Function)

-

the turning inward of psychic energy with an orientation toward the subjective Introverts are tuned in to their inner world with all its biases, fantasies, dreams, and individualized perceptions

Extraversion -

the attitude distinguished by the turning outward of psychic energy so that a person is oriented toward the objective Extraverts are more influenced by their surroundings

Functions Thinking - Logical intellectual activity that produces a chain of ideas -

Extraverted Thinking - people rely heavily on concrete thoughts Introverted Thinking - people react to external stimuli, but their interpretation of an event is colored more by the internal meaning they bring with them than by the objective facts themselves

Feeling - the process of evaluating an idea or event. “Valuing” -

Extraverted Feeling - people use objective data to make evaluations. Guided by external values and widely accepted standards of judgment Introverted Feeling - people base their value judgments primarily on subjective perceptions

Sensing - receives physical stimuli and transmits them to perceptual consciousness -

Extraverted Sensing - people perceive external stimuli objectively, in much the same way that these stimuli exist in reality Introverted Sensing - people are largely influenced by their subjective sensations of sight, sound, taste, touch, and so forth

Intuiting - involves perception beyond the workings of consciousness -

Extraverted Intuitive - oriented toward facts in the external world Introverted Intuitive - guided by unconscious perception of facts that are basically subjective and have little or no resemblance to external reality

-

Anarchic Phase - is characterized by chaotic and sporadic consciousness Monarchic Phase - is characterized by the development of the ego and by the beginning of logical and verbal thinking Dualistic Phase - ego is divided into the objective and subjective.

Youth (Auxiliary Stage) -

a period of increased activity, maturing sexuality, growing consciousness, and recognition that the problem-free era of childhood is gone forever Conservative Principle – the desire to lie in the past

Middle Life (Tertiary Stage) -

-

Adopting an introverted attitude If middle-aged people retain the social and moral values of their early life, they become rigid and fanatical in trying to hold on to their physical attractiveness and agility involves a mature religious orientation, especially a belief in some sort of life after death people often experience Metanoia (change of mind)

Old Age (Inferior Function) -

a time for psychological rebirth acquisition of wisdom ultimate goal of life is death

Self-Realization or Individuation -

the process of becoming an individual or whole person the process of integrating the opposite poles into a single homogeneous individual Self-realization is extremely rare and is achieved only by people who are able to assimilate their unconscious into their total personality

Psychic Energy

Opposition Principle - conflict between opposing processes or tendencies is necessary to generate psychic energy.

Equivalence Principle - The continuing redistribution of energy within a personality; if the energy expended on certain conditions or activities weakens or disappears, that energy is transferred elsewhere in the personality.

Entropy Principle - A tendency toward balance or equilibrium within the personality;

(Individual Psychology)

the ideal is an equal distribution of psychic energy over all structures of the personality.

Methods of Investigation

Word Association Test -

-

His original purpose in using the word association test was to demonstrate the validity of Freud’s hypothesis that the unconscious operates as an autonomous process the basic purpose of the test in Jungian psychology today is to uncover feelingtoned complexes The word association test is based on the principle that complexes create measurable emotional responses

Dream Analysis -

uncover elements from the personal and collective unconscious and to integrate them into consciousness in order to facilitate the process of selfrealization Big Dreams – have special meaning for all people Typical Dreams – common to most people Earliest dreams remembered - These dreams can be traced back to about age 3 or 4 and contain mythological and symbolic images and motifs that could not have reasonably been experienced by the individual child]

Active Imagination -

The purpose of active imagination is to reveal archetypal images emerging from the unconscious

Psychotherapy 1st - Confession of a pathogenic secret; Catharsis 2nd - Involves interpretation, explanation, and elucidation 3rd – The education of patients as social be ings 4th – Transformation - the therapist must first be transformed into a healthy human being, preferably by undergoing psychotherapy The ultimate purpose of Jungian therapy is to help neurotic patients become healthy and to encourage healthy people to work independently toward self-realization

In Adler’s view, each person is primarily a social being. Our personalities are shaped by our unique social environments and interactions, not by our efforts to satisfy biological needs. Although sex was of primary importance to Freud as a determining factor in personality, Adler minimized the role of sex. To Adler, the conscious, not the unconscious, was at the core of personali...