Unit 6 - notes PDF

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Unit 6: Personality: Theory, Research, and Assessment

Key Terms and Concepts Characterize each of the following key terms and concepts in your own words. Develop or find examples where possible. A firm understanding of these terms, along with the Study Questions for this unit, will help you to answer the questions on the graded unit quiz.

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archetypes (p. 558) - emotionally charged images and thought forms that have universal meaning behaviourism (p. 561) - theoretical orientation based on the premise that scientific psychology should study only observable behavior collective unconscious (p. 558) - storehouse of latent memory traces inherited from people’s ancestral past collectivism (p. 583) - involves putting group goals ahead of personal goals and defining one’s identity in terms of the group one belongs to compensation (p. 559) - involves efforts to overcome imagined or real inferiorities by developing one’s ability conscious (p. 552) - consists of whatever one is aware of a particular point in time defence mechanisms (p. 554) - largely unconscious reactions that protect a person from unpleasant emotions such as anxiety and guilt displacement (p. 554) - diverting emotional feelings (usually anger) from their original source to a substitute target ego (p. 552) - the decision-making component of personality that operates according to the reality principle extraverts (p. 558) - tend to be interested in the external world of people and things

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factor analysis (p. 548) - correlations among many variables are analyzed to identify closely related clusters of variables fixation (p. 556) - failure to move forward from one stage to another as expected hierarchy of needs (p. 570) - systematic arrangement of needs, according to priority, in which basic needs must be met before less basic needs are aroused hindsight bias (p. 590) - the tendency to mould one’s interpretation of the past to fit how events actually turned out humanism (p. 566) - theoretical orientation that emphasizes the unique qualities of humans, especially their freedom and their potential for personal growth id (p. 551) - is the primitive, instinctive components of personality that operates according to the pleasure principle identification (p. 555) - bolstering self-esteem by forming an imaginary or real alliance with some person or group incongruence (p. 567) - degree of disparity between one’s self-concept and one’s actual experience individualism (p. 583) - involves putting personal goals ahead of group goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group memberships introverts (p. 558) - tend to be preoccupied with the internal world of their own thoughts, feelings and experiences model (p. 564) - person whose behavior is observed by another mortality salience (p. 581) - the degree to which subjects’ mortality is prominent in their minds narcissism (p. 577)

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- personality trait marked by an inflated sense of importance, need for attention and admiration, sense of entitlement, and a tendency to exploit others need for self-actualization (p. 570) - need to fulfill one’s potential; it is the highest need in Maslow’s motivational hierarchy observational learning (p. 564) - occurs when an organism’s responding is influenced by the observation of others, who are called models Oedipal complex (p. 557) - Children manifest erotically tinged desires for their oppositesex parent, accompanied by feelings of hostility toward their same-sex parent personal unconscious (p. 558) - houses material that is not within one’s conscious awareness because it has been repressed or forgotten personality (p. 548) - refers to an individual’s unique constellation of consistent behavioral traits personality trait (p. 548) - durable disposition to behave in a particular way in a variety of situations phenomenological approach (p. 566) - which assumes that one has to appreciate individuals’ personal, subjective experiences to truly understand their behavior pleasure principle (p. 551) - demands immediate gratification of its urges preconscious (p. 552) - contains material just beneath the surface of awareness that can easily be retrieved projection (p. 554) - attributing one’s own thoughts, feelings, or motives to another projective tests (p. 588) - Ask participants to respond to vague, ambiguous stimuli in ways that may reveal the subjects’ needs, feelings, and personality traits psychodynamic theories (p. 551)

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- include all of the diverse theories descended from the work of Sigmund Freud, which focuses on unconscious mental forces psychosexual stages (p. 556) - are developmental periods with a characteristic sexual focus that leave their mark on adult personality rationalization (p. 554) - which is creating false but plausible excuses to justify unacceptable behavior reaction formation (p. 554) - behaving in a way that’s exactly the opposite of one’s true feelings reality principle (p. 552) - which seeks to delay gratification of the id’s urges until appropriate outlets and situations can be found reciprocal determinism (p. 563) - idea that internal mental events, external environmental events and overt behavior all influence one another regression (p. 555) - reversion to immature patterns of behavior repression (p. 554) - is keeping distressing thoughts and feelings buried in the subconscious self-actualizing persons (p. 571) - people with exceptionally healthy personalities, marked by continued personal growth self-concept (p. 566) - collection of beliefs about one’s own nature, unique qualities and typical behavior self-efficacy (p. 564) - refers to one’s beliefs about one’s ability to perform behaviors that should lead to expected outcomes self-enhancement (p. 584) - involves focusing on positive feedback from others, exaggerating one’s strengths, and seeing oneself as above average self-report inventories (p. 586) - personality tests that ask individuals to answer a series of questions about their characteristic behavior

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striving for superiority (p. 559) - universal drive to adapt, improve oneself, and master life’s challenges sublimation (p. 555) - occurs when unconscious, unacceptable impulses are channelled into socially acceptable, perhaps even admirable, behaviors superego (p. 552) - moral component of personality that incorporates social standards about what represents right and wrong terror management theory (p. 580) - concerns the psychological consequences of the “juxtaposition of a biologically rooted desire for life with the awarenss of the inevitability of death” unconscious (p. 552) - contains thoughts, memories, and desires that are well below the surface of conscious awareness but that nonetheless exert great influence on behavior

Key People Be sure you know the significance of the following people in the study and development of psychology.

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Alfred Adler - Grew up in Vienna, Jewish, sickly child, overshadowed by exceptionally bright older brother - Freud’s buddy – believed Feud overemphasized sexuality - Individual psychology - Foremost source of human motivation is striving for superiority - Striving for superiority – universal drive to adapt, improve oneself, and master life’s challenges - Noted that young children feel weak and helpless in comparison to more competent and older children/adults – this inferiority feelings motivate them to acquire new skills and talent s - Compensation – involves efforts to overcome imagined or real inferiorities by developing one’s abilities - Compensation is entirely normal

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- However, inferiority feelings can become excessive – resulting in inferiority complex – exaggerated feelings of weakness or inadequacy - Thought that either parental pampering or parental neglect could cause inferiority complex - He agreed with Freud the importance of early childhood experiences, although he focused on different aspects of parentchild relationships - Explained personality disorders by noting excessive inferiority feelings can pervert the normal process of striving for superiority - People engage in overcompensation – to conceal, even from themselves, their feelings of inferiority - Instead of working to master life’s challenges – work to achieve status, gain power over others, acquire the trappings of success (fancy clothes, impressive cars) - Flaunt success to cover up underlying inferiority complex – unconscious self-deception – worry about ones appearances than reality - Studies on birth order – no correlations Albert Bandura - Modern theorist reshaped theoretical landscape of behaviorism - Behavioral therapy and determinants of aggression - Cognitive flavor to behaviorism - Humans are obviously conscious, thinking, feeling beings - Ignoring cognitive processes – Skinner ignored most distinctive and important feature of human behavior - Social learnings theory - Social cognitive theory - Agrees with fundamental thrust of behaviourism – believes personality is largely shaped through learning - He contends that conditioning is not a mechanical process in which people are passive participants - People are self-organizing, proactive, self-reflecting, and selfregulating – not just reactive organisms shaped by external events - People routinely attempt to influence their lives and their outcomes

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- Important role of forward-directed planning – people set goals, anticipate consequences of actions, select and create courses of action likely to promote desired outcomes and avoid detrimental ones - Reciprocal determinism – idea that internal mental events, external environments and overt behavior all influence one another - To some extent, people shape their environment - Observational learning – occurs when an organism’s responding is influenced by the observation of others, who are called models - People’s characteristic patterns of behavior are shaped by models that they’re exposed to - Model – person whose behavior is observed by another - Response tendencies are product of imitation - Self-Efficacy – refers to one’s belief about one’s ability to perform behaviours that should lead to expected outcomes - Self-efficacy high – confident that they can execute responses necessary to earn reinforces - Self-efficacy low – necessary responds may be beyond abilities David Buss - Argued hat the Big 5 traits emerge as fundamental dimensions of personality because humans have evolved special sensitivity to variations in the ability to bond with others (extraversion), willingness to cooperate and collaborate (agreeableness), tendency to be reliable and ethical (conscientiousness), capacity to be innovate problem solver (openness to experience) and the ability to handle stress (low neuroticism) - Argues that the Big 5 reflect the most salient features of others’ adaptive behavior over the course of evolutionary history Raymond Cattell - Statistical procedure of factor analysis to reduce a huge list of personality traits complied by Gordon Allport to just 16 basic dimensions of personality - Factor analysis – correlations among many variables are analyzed to identify closely related clusters of variables

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- If the measurement of a number of variables (personality traits) correlate highly with one another, assumption is that a single factor is influencing all of them - Used to identify these hidden factors - In factor analyses of personality traits – these hidden factors are viewed as very basic, higher-order traits that determine less basic, more specific traits - Individual’s personality can be described completely by measuring just 16 traits Norman Endler - Well known advocate of an interactional approach to personality - Along with David Magnusson - Personality traits interact with situational factors to produce behavior - In order to accurately predict how someone will behave – not only need to know someone about that person’s standing on relevant personality traits but also need information about the nature of the situational context he or she is facing - Neither factor alone will allow you to accurately predict individual’s behavior Hans Eysenck - Views personality structure as a hierarchy of traits – which many superficial traits are derived from a handful of fundamental higher-order traits - All aspects of personality emerge from just three high-order traits: extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism - Extraversion – involves being sociable, assertive, active, and lively - Neuroticism – involves being anxious, tense, moody and low in self-esteem - Psychoticism – involves being egocentric, impulsive, cold and antisocial - Each of these traits is represented in the theory as bipolar dimensions, with the endpoints for each dimension as follows  Extraversion-introversion  Stability-neuroticism (instability)

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 Psychoticism-self-control - Personality is determined to a large extent by a person’s genes - Theorizes that some people can be conditioned more readily that others because of differences in their physiological functioning - These variations in “condition-ability” assumed to influence the personality traits that people acquire through conditioning process - Special interest in explaining variations in extraversionintroversion – trait dimension first described by Carl Jung - Proposed that introverts tend to have higher levels of physiological arousal or perhaps higher “arousability” which makes them more easily conditioned than extraverts - People who condition easily acquire more conditioned inhibitions than others - These inhibitions make them more bashful, tentative, and uneasy in social situations - Social discomfort leads them to turn inwards – they become introverted Sigmund Freud - Born 1856 in Czech Republic - Middle class Jewish home in Vienna, Austria - Theory of psychoanalysis - Treated psychological problems – neurology and psychological cases – irrational fears, obsessions, anxieties - Psychoanalysis – required lengthy verbal interactions with patients during with Freud probed deeply into their lives - Psychoanalysis received dome controversy – method departed from critical scientific tenets such as objectivity and testability of the theory - Psychoanalytic theory attempts to explain personality, motivation and psychological disorders by focusing on the influence of early childhood experiences, on unconscious motives and conflicts and on methods people use to cope with their sexual and aggressive urges - Most Freud contemporaries were uncomfortable with this theory because 1. Individuals are not master’s of their own mind

2. People are not master’s of their own destinies 3. By emphasizing great importance of how people cope with their sexual urges, offended those who held conservative, Victorian values of this time - Divided personality structure into three components 1. Id – primitive, instinctive component of personality that operates according to the pleasure principle 2. Ego – the decision-making component of personality that operates according to the reality principle 3. Superego – moral component of personality that incorporates social standards about what represents right and wrong - Three levels of awareness 1. Conscious – consists of whatever one is aware of at a particular point of time 2. Preconscious – contains materials just beneath the surface of awareness that can easily be retrieved 3. Unconscious – contains thoughts, memories, and desires that are well below the surface of conscious awareness but that nonetheless exert great influence on behavior Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual Development STAGE

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Oral

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Anal

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Phallic

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Mouth (sucking, biting) Anus (expelling or retaining feces) Genitals (masturbation)

Latency

6-12

Genital

Puberty onward

None (sexual repressed) Genitals (being sexually intimate)

KEY TASKS AND EXPERIENCES Weaning (from breast or bottle) Toilet training Identifying with adult role models; Oedipal crisis Expanding social contacts Establishing intimate relationships; contribute to society through

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Carl Jung - Friendship with Freud – relationship ruptured in 1913 – variety of theoretical disagreements - Analytical psychology – differentiate from Freuds psychoanalytic theory - Emphasized the conscious determinants of personality - Unconscious consists of two layers 1. Personal unconscious – houses material that is not within one’s conscious awareness because it has been repressed or forgotten 2. Collective unconscious – storehouse of latent memory traces inherited from people’s ancestral past - Archetypes – emotionally charged images and thought forms that have universal meanings - First to describe 1. Introverts – preoccupied with the internal world of their own thought, feelings, and experiences 2. Extraverts – tend to be interested in the external world of people and things Abraham Maslow - Created influential theory of motivation and provided crucial leadership for the fledgling humanistic movement - Like Rogers, argued that psychology should take an optimistic view of human nature instead of dwelling on the causes of disorders Hierarchy of Needs - Hierarchy of needs – systemic arrangement of needs, according to priority, in which basic needs must be met before less basic needs are aroused - Most basic is at the base of the pyramid – physiological and security needs - When person manages to satisfy a level of needs reasonably well (complete satisfaction not necessary) – this satisfaction activates needs at the next level

- Like Rogers – Maslow argued that humans have an innate drive towards personal growth – evolution toward a higher state of being - Described needs in the uppermost reaches of his hierarchy as growth needs – include needs for knowledge, understanding, order and aesthetic beauty - Need for self actualization – need to fulfill one’s potential; it is the highest need in Maslow’s motivational hierarchy - People will be frustrated if they are unable to fully utilize their talents of pursue their true interests

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The Heathy Personality - Set out to discover the nature of a healthy personality - Identified people of exceptional mental health so that he could investigate their characteristics - Self-actualizing persons – people with exceptionally healthy personalities, marked by continued personal growth - Self-actualizers – accurately tuned into reality and they’re at peace with themselves – open and spontaneous, retain fresh appreciation of the world around them - Sensitive to other’s needs and enjoy rewarding interpersonal relations - Not as dependent on others for approval or uncomfortable with solitude - Thrive on their work and enjoy their sense of humor - They have “peak experiences” – profound emotional highs – more often than others - He found that they strike a nice balance between many polarities in personality - They can be both mature and childlike, both rational and intuitive, both conforming and rebellious Walter Mischel - Colleague of Bandrua’s - Social learning theory - Chief contribution to personality theory has been to focus attention on the extent to which situational factors govern behavior

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- People make responses that they think will lead to reinforcement in the situation at hand - Version of socia...