Chapter 11

We all possess characteristics in how we think and feel, a personality that make us
ultimately separate us from everyone else making us unique. How we come to
acquire such personalities however is a bit more complex.

Theorist Sigmund Freud’s take on personality comes from a psychodynamic

perspective in that it encompasses a variety of drives that ultimately influence our
personality construction. Freud furthers his theory by explaining how our traits can
manifest as conscious and unconscious, and referenced an iceberg in how much of
our personalities are outwardly present (the tip) versus those that are more
internalized (submerged.

Freud continues this concept of internal-external traits through set of balanced

forces within us: the id, ego, and superego. Through these forces, decision-making
and behavior are delegated through a balancing of morality, urges, and logic. Freud
believed that through our rationality and principles of right and wrong, we are able
to unconsciously deal with anxiety through our ego in the form of defense
mechanisms, unconscious protective behaviors used to reduce anxiety. Examples of
defense mechanisms can range from projecting feelings or behaviors onto others
unassociated to flat out denying the situation at hand, pushing it deep into the
chambers of our unconscious. Furthermore, Freud describes our psychosexual
stages of development to explain our pleasure-seeking urges through set periods
in our childhood that we experience in the process of sexual maturation. These
stages include the oral stage of the mouth, anal stage of bowels, phallic stage of
the phallus, the latency period of non-sexual pursuits, and the genital stage of
sexual awakening.

Building off of Freud’s theories, a following of theorists took his concepts, modified,
and elaborated on them creating new theories regarding personality. Colleague of
Freud, Alfred Adler, founded the branch of individual psychology that focuses on
drives that compensate for feelings of inferiority or inferiority complex. Adler
explains that through social tasks such as occupation or friendship, motives behind
behavior are more social in contrast to the sexual or aggressive drives described by
 Freud. Psychoanalyst Erik Erikson furthers Adler’s idea on social relationship
building in his theory on psychosocial stages of development. In this, Erikson
describes a set of stages involving conflict, something all too apparent in decision-
making. A psychiatrist named Carl Jung however, disagreed with Freud’s concept of
sexual drive, developing a theory of his own of analytical psychology. In this, Jung
furthered the concepts of conscious and unconscious however in a mystical
perspective. Similarly to Jung, Freudian psychoanalyst Karne Horney believed that
each individual had potential for self-realization and that the focus should be on the
future rather than the past or childhood.

Despite the ranging factors regarding psychodynamic personality, that is but one
approach in viewing personality. From a behavioral perspective innate or inborn
personality traits are discredited instead, behaviorists view personality as
something shaped through reinforcement and consequence. Similarly researcher
Albert Bandera describes in his social-cognitive theory that personality traits are
something learned. The concept of reciprocal determinism in which cognitive
processes, behavior, and context, describes how all factors interact together
simultaneously. Bandura further explains how observation is a key behavior in
learning in that we either choose to imitate or learn from the reinforcement or
punishment received by others. Furthermore, our self-efficacy, or confidence level,
determines how we initially approach these goals in the first place. Julian Rotter
furthers the ideology of cognitive factor affects towards learning in theory of locus
of control. In this Rotter explains how referencing our beliefs can ultimately
achieve control and power over our own lives. Rotter believed that our convictions
were between a balance of our internal locus of control (what we can control) and
external locus of control (what we cannot control). Walter Mischel, a student of
Rotter, found fault in previous literature due to the inconsistencies in behavior.
Through this, Walter deduces that behavior is consistent in similar situations. He
furthered this theory in a study with preschool children and marshmallows. The
results indicated that the children repeatedly maintained relatively consistent
behavior proving his statement that behaviors remain consistent in situations
regardless personality.

Despite the intrinsic qualities, some argued the psychoanalytic and behaviorist
perspective failed to recognize innate capacity for self-change. Humanistic theorist
Carl Rogers did not disagree with these previous ideologies but felt there should be
a more primary focus on the self-concept, our thoughts and feelings about us. By
simply asking, “who am I” one is proved a more introspective look regarding our
thoughts and desires. Roger further divides the self into the ideal self of what we
want to be and the real self of who we actually are and explains that a consistency
between the both is needed to achieve self understanding.

It is already apparent that the environment we grow up in has an undeniable affect

in identity construction however, how does this explain how we are all so unique in
personality? Psychologists favoring the biological approaches explain that our it is
by our physiological dispositions that make us truly unique. Through heritability
not only do we acquire these traits but are able to pass them to future generations
as well. However it is important to keep in mind the power of influence our
upbringings provide as well particularly what beliefs, customs, traditions, or
cultures our societies may offer.

Of course as personality is major subject of research in the field of psychology,

means of measure and observation have been developed to give us a better look at
not only the traits we may possess but also how they reflect upon our personalities
as a whole. Surveys and tests such as the MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic
Personality Inventory) can help highlight what traits in our personality are more
prevalent than others while projective tests such as the TAT (Thematic
Apperception Test) can shed light in how these traits directly influence behavior.