Theories of Personality Review Notes PDF

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RGO 2018 Review Season [email protected]

THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Prepared and Screened by: Prof. Jose J. Pangngay, MS Psych, RPm

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION TO PERSONALITY THEORY I.

What Is Personality? - Latin word: persona = the mask people wear or the role they play in life. (But its more than just a façade) - a pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique characteristics that give both consistency and individuality to human behavior - Traits: it may be unique, common to some group, or shared by the entire species BUT the pattern is different for each individual (consistency & stability of behavior over time) - Characteristics: unique qualities of an individual that include such attributes as temperament, physique and intelligence

II. What is a Theory? A. Theory Defined - Set of related assumptions that allows scientists to use logical deductive reasoning to formulate testable hypotheses - Set: A single assumption can never fill all the requirements of a good theory - Related: Isolated assumptions can neither generate meaningful hypotheses nor possess internal consistency - Assumptions: not proven facts but accepted as if they were true - Logical Deductive Reasoning: to deduce a clearly stated hypothesis - Testable: must suggest the possibility that scientists B. Why Different Theories? - Theories are built not on proven facts but on assumptions (assumed to be true) that are subject to individual interpretations - Reflection of their personal background, their philosophical orientation, and the data they chose to observe - Its usefulness depends on its ability to generate research and to explain research data and other observations C. What Makes a Theory Useful? - It generates a number of hypotheses that can be investigated through research, thus yielding research data - Organizes research data into a meaningful structure and provides explanation for the results - Generates Research: o A useful theory will stimulate both descriptive research and hypothesis testing. o Descriptive research provides a framework for an evolving theory whereas hypothesis testing expands our knowledge of a scientific discipline. - Is Falsifiable: o It must generate research that can either confirm or disconfirm its major tenets. o A negative result will contradict the theory and force the theorist to either discard it or modify it o A theory that can explain everything explains nothing - Organizes Data: o It should be able to fit current research data into an intelligible framework and to integrate new

information into its structure.

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Guides Action: o practical tools that guide a road map for making day-to-day decisions. o Example: what kind of psychotherapy technique is going to be used to the client? Is Internally consistent: o includes operational definitions that define concepts in terms of specific operations to be carried out by the observer. (logically compatible) Is Parsimonious: o When two theories are equal on the first five criteria, the simpler one is preferred. (straightforward theories)

III. Dimensions for a Concept of Humanity - Determinism versus Free choice o Are people’s behaviors determined by forces over which they have no control or can people choose to be what they wish to be? - Pessimism versus Optimism o Are people doomed to live miserable or can they change and grow into psychologically healthy and fully functioning individual? - Causality versus Teleology o Causality holds that behavior is a function of the past experiences o Teleology is the explanation of behavior in terms of future goals or purposes - Conscious versus Unconscious determinants of behavior o Are they aware of what and why they are doing it? Or do unconscious forces impinge on them? - Biological versus Social Influences on personality o Are people creatures of biology? Or are they shaped largely by their social relationships? - Uniqueness versus similarities among people o Is the salient feature of people their individuality or is it their common characteristics?

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CHAPTER II PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY (PSYCHOANALYSIS) I.

Biography of Sigmund Freud - Sigmund (Sigmund) Freud - Born in the Czech Republic in 1856 and died (of cancer) in London in 1939, Freud spent nearly 80 years of his life in Vienna. - Freud was the first born of his father and mother, although his father already had 2 grown sons - He was the favorite of his mother over the 7 other siblings (he was not close to any of them) - His relationship with his father appears to be cold if not occasionally hostile - When he was 1 ½ year old, his mother gave birth to Julius (who died at 6 months) Freud developed hostility to his brother and unconsciously wished him dead. He had carried into adulthood the guilt, he thought he was the cause of his death - A physician who never intended to practice general medicine, Freud was intensely curious about human nature. - Early in his professional career, Freud believed that hysteria was a result of being seduced during childhood by a sexually mature person, often a parent or other relative. But in 1897, he abandoned his seduction theory and replaced it with his notion of the Oedipus complex. - Some scholars have contended that Freud's decision to abandon the seduction theory in favor of the Oedipus complex was a major error and influenced a generation of psychotherapists to interpret patients' reports of early sexual abuse as merely childhood fantasies. - He fell in love with Martha Bernays and marry her in 1886. They had 6 children. The youngest is Anna Freud who held a special place in his heart - He was mentored by Jean-Martin Charcot (hypnotic technique for treating hysteria) and Josef Breuer (catharsis) - He then gradually discovered free association technique - Studies of Hysteria: after its publication, Freud and Breuer had a professional disagreement and became estranged - Interpretation of Dreams: contains many of Freud’s own dreams. Soon after his publication his friendship with Fliess began to cool - Freud and Jung interpreted each other’s dreams that eventually led to the end of their relationship

II. Levels of Mental Life (Topographic Model) A. Unconscious - The unconscious consists of drives and instincts that are beyond awareness, yet they motivate many of our behaviors. - Unconscious drives can become conscious only in disguised or distorted form, such as dream images, slips of the tongue, or neurotic symptoms. - Unconscious processes originate from two sources: (1) repression, or the blocking out of anxiety-filled experiences and (2) phylogenetic endowment, or inherited experiences that lie beyond an individual's personal experience. (only as last resort in explaining behavior) - The unconscious mind of one person can communicate with the unconscious of another without either person being aware of the process - Unconscious forces constantly strive to become conscious B. Preconscious - Contains images that are not in awareness but that can become conscious either quite easily or with some level of difficulty. - Experiences that are forgotten are in the preconscious. - 2 sources: o Conscious perception: when the focus of attention shifts to another idea (usually free from anxiety) o Unconscious: ideas can slip past the vigilant censor and enter into the preconscious in a disguised form C. Conscious - Only level of mental life directly available to us, but it plays a relatively minor role in Freudian theory. - Conscious ideas stem from either the perception of external stimuli; that is, our perceptual conscious system, or from unconscious and preconscious images after they have evaded censorship.

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III. Provinces of the Mind (Structural Model) A. The Id (das Es) - completely unconscious - serves the pleasure principle and seeks constant and immediate satisfaction of instinctual needs - not altered by the passage of time or by experiences of the person. - It is illogical and entertain incompatible ideas - Primary process (basic drives) B. The Ego (das Ich) - secondary process, is governed by the reality principle; - partly conscious, preconscious and unconscious - responsible for reconciling the unrealistic demands of both the id and the superego with the demands of the real world. (decision-making branch) - It becomes anxious and would use defense mechanisms as protect itself - It has no energy of its own but borrows from id - Psychologically healthy people have a well-developed ego. C. The Superego (Uber Ich) - serves the idealistic principle, has two subsystems—the conscience and the ego-ideal - The conscience results from punishment for improper behavior (guilt), - whereas the ego-ideal stems from rewards for socially acceptable behavior (inferiority feelings – when the ego fails to meet the standards of perfection) - Neither the id nor the superego is in contact with reality - Development: Age 5 to 6 IV. Dynamics of Personality The term dynamics of personality refers to those forces that motivate people. The concept includes both instincts and anxiety. A. Drives (instinct or impulse) – a stimulus within an individual - They cannot be avoided through flight response - Every basic drive is characterized by: o Impetus – amt. of force it exerts o Source – region of the body in tension o Aim – seek pleasure by removing tension o Object – person or thing where the aim is satisfied - 2 primary instincts—sex (Eros) and aggression (Thanatos, or the destructive instinct). - Sex (libido) o Aim: to seek pleasure, through the erogenous zones = mouth, anus, and genitals. o Object: any person or thing that brings sexual pleasure. o For example, narcissism, love, sadism, and masochism all possess large components of the sexual drive even though they may appear to be nonsexual. o All infants possess primary narcissism, or self-centeredness, but the secondary narcissism (moderate degree of self-love) of adolescence and adulthood is not universal. o Sadism, which is the reception of sexual pleasure from inflicting pain on another, and o Masochism, which is the reception of sexual pleasure from painful experiences, satisfies both sexual and aggressive drives. o If carried to an extreme, sadism and masochism is considered a sexual perversion but in moderation is a common need - Aggression o The destructive instinct aims to return the person to an inorganic state, but it is ordinarily directed against other people and is called aggression. o It can take a number of form like teasing, gossip, sarcasm, humiliation, humor & enjoyment of other people’s suffering o Commandments such as “Love thy neighbor as thyself” is a way of inhibiting the strong drive to inflict pain to others. These are reaction formations B. Anxiety - Only the ego feels anxiety, but the id, superego, and outside world can each be a source of anxiety. - Neurotic anxiety is apprehension about an unknown danger and stems from the ego's relation with the id; - Moral anxiety is similar to guilt and results from the ego's relation with the superego; and - Realistic anxiety is similar to fear and is produced by the ego's relation with the real world.

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V. Defense Mechanisms A. Repression - Forcing unwanted, anxiety-loaded experiences into the unconscious. - It is the most basic of all defense mechanisms because it is an active process in each of the others. - Many repressed experiences remain unconscious for a lifetime but others become conscious in a disguised form or in an unaltered form B. Reaction Formation - Repression of one impulse and the pretentious expression of its exact opposite. C. Displacement - Redirecting of unacceptable urges and feelings onto people and objects in order to disguise or conceal their true nature. - Unlike, reaction formation, it does not exaggerate or overdo the disguised behavior D. Fixation - When psychic energy is blocked at one stage of development, making psychological change difficult. - Permanent attachment of the libido to an earlier stage of development - They are universal E. Regression - When a person reverts to earlier, more infantile modes of behavior - Usually, temporary F. Projection - Seeing in others those unacceptable feelings or behaviors that actually reside in one's own unconscious. - When carried to extreme, projection can become paranoia, which is characterized by delusions of persecution. G. Introjection - Incorporation of positive qualities of another person in order to reduce feelings of inadequacy. - Hero worship might be a good example. H. Sublimation - Contribute to the welfare of society - They involve elevating the aim of the sexual instinct to a higher level and are manifested in cultural accomplishments, such as art, music, and other socially beneficial activities. VI. Stages of Development Freud saw psychosexual development as proceeding from birth to maturity through four overlapping stages— the infantile stage, the latency stage, the genital stage and the psychologically mature stage. A. Infantile period - Encompasses the first 4 to 5 years of life and is divided into three subphases: o oral phase: pleasure through sucking Weaning is the principal source of frustration during this stage. o Emergence of teeth as a defense against environment is called oral sadistic o anal phase: satisfaction gained through aggressive behavior and excretory function (sadistic-anal) o occurs at about the second year of life, when toilet training is the child's chief source of frustration. o If parents use disciplinary training methods, a child may develop the anal triad of orderliness, stinginess, and obstinacy, all of which mark the anal character. o Phallic phase: boys and girls begin to have differing psychosexual development, which occurs around ages 3 or 4 years. o For both genders, suppression of masturbation is the principle source of frustration. o young children experience the Oedipus complex = having sexual feelings for one parent and hostile feelings for the other. o The male castration complex breaks up the male Oedipus complex and results in a well-formed male superego. o For girls, the castration complex, in the form of penis envy, precedes the female Oedipus complex, a situation that leads to only a gradual and incomplete shattering of the female Oedipus complex and a weaker, more flexible female superego. B. Latency Period - From about age 5 years until puberty—in which the sexual instinct is partially suppressed. - It is believed that this may have roots in our phylogenetic endowment C. Genital Period - Begins with puberty when adolescents experience a reawakening of the genital aim of Eros, and it continues throughout adulthood. D. Maturity - Freud hinted at a stage of psychological maturity in which the ego would be in control of the id and

superego and in which consciousness would play a more important role in behavior.

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VII. Applications of Psychoanalytic Theory A. Freud's Early Therapeutic Technique - Freud used a very aggressive technique whereby he strongly suggested to patients that they had been sexually seduced as children. - He later abandoned this technique, with a belief that he may have elicited memories of seduction from his patients and that he lacked clear evidence that these memories were real B. Freud's Later Therapeutic Technique - Goal: uncover repressed memories through the free association and dream analysis = to strengthen the ego - Transference: strong sexual or aggressive feelings, positive or negative, that patients develop towards the analyst during the course of treatment - Negative transference: form of hostility must be explained to the client to overcome resistance to treatment C. Dream Analysis - manifest content (conscious description) from the - latent content (unconscious meaning of the dream that lies hidden from the dreamer). - Nearly all dreams are wish-fulfillments, although the wish is usually unconscious and can be known only through dream interpretation. - Dreams that are not wish-fulfillments follow the principle of repetition compulsion and often occur after people have had a traumatic experience, now called a post-traumatic stress disorder. - To interpret dreams Freud used both dream symbols and the dreamer's associations to the dream content. D. Freudian Slips - slips of the tongue or pen, misreadings, incorrect hearings, misplacing of objects, and temporary forgetting of names or intentions are not chance accidents but reveal a person's unconscious intentions. VIII.

Critique of Freud Freud regarded himself as a scientist, but many critics consider his methods to be outdated, unscientific, and permeated with gender bias. On the six criteria of a useful theory, psychoanalysis, we rate its ability to generate research as high, its openness to falsification as very low, and its ability to organize data as average. We also rate psychoanalysis as average on its ability to guide action and to be parsimonious. Because it lacks operational definitions, we rate it low on internal consistency.

IX.

Concept of Humanity Freud's view of humanity was deterministic and pessimistic. He also emphasized causality over teleology, unconscious determinants over conscious processes, and biology over culture, but he took a middle position on the dimension of uniqueness versus similarities of people.

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CHAPTER III INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY I. -

Biography of Alfred Adler Born in 1870 in a Viennese suburb, a second son of middle-class Jewish parents. As a young child he was weak and sickly (he nearly died of pneumonia at the age of 5), a condition that contrasted sharply with his strong, healthy older brother, Sigmund. The death of his younger brother (infant) motivated him to become a physician He was interested in social relationships – siblings and peers Adler developed a strong rivalry with Sigmund—a rivalry that was similar to his later relationship with Freud. Like Freud, Adler was a physician, and in 1902, he became a charter member of the Wednesday Psychological Society However, personal and professional differences between Freud and Adler led to Adler's departure from the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society in 1911. Adler soon founded his own group, the Society for Individual Psychology. His strengths were his energetic oral presentations and his insightful ability to understand family dynamics. Adler married Raissa Epstein who was a feminist. They had 4 children During the last few years of his life, Adler lived in the United States and earned a reputation as a gifted public speaker. He died in 1937 in Scotland while on a lecture tour.

II. Introduction to Adlerian Theory - People are born with weak and inferior bodies → feelings of inferiority and dependence to other people →feelings of unity with others (social interest) A. Striving for Success or Superiority: The sole dynamic force behind all our actions - Transformation of drive: aggression → masculine protest → Striving for Superiority → Striving for success (personal superiority/success) - The Final Goal o The final goal of success or superiority toward which all people strive unifies personality and makes all behavior meaningful. o Its fictional and has no objective existence o Product of creative power (age 4 or 5): people’s ability to free shape their behavior and create their own personality o Reduces the pain of inferiority feelings and leads the person to either superiority or success o If children felt neglected or pampered their goals will remain unconscious o If children experience love and security, they set goals that are largely conscious and clearly understood o People are not always conscious of their final goal, even though they may be aware of their immediate subgoals. o When an individual’s final goal is known, all actions make sense and subgoals takes on new significance - The Striving Force as Compensation o the striving force is innate = feelings of inferiority → goal o...