Psy 5 Personality Psychology
interactions with, and adaptations to, the intrapsychic,
Sep 1, 2021
Introduction to Personality Psychology
-psychoanalytic approach of Sigmund Freud.
BRIEF HISTORY
*in 400bc Hippocrates a physician and a very acute
observer, claimed that diff personality types are caused
by the balance of body fluids.(still used today to describe
personality)
-Phlegmatic- a natural secretion, when with colds and
flu. With too much secretion it causes the person tends
to be vigor ( has no energy and looks weak and pale)
LAMBUTIN
-sanguine- people tends to be joyful and trilled this is
because of excess secretion of blood( red signifies
happiness) HAPPY
-melancholic- people who look sad, because of excess
secretion of black vile in the body. ( may experience
grief, sorrow and depression) SAD
-Choleric- people who are easily annoyed and irritated,
they experience annoyance, irritation and moodiness
because of excess secretion of yellow vile in the
body.ANGER
What is personality?
Latin word- persona( a mask worn by the actors to
portray their roles)
- refers to psychological qualities that contribute to an
individual’s enduring and distinctive patterns of feeling ,
thinking and behaving.
* enduring personality characteristics are qualities that
are least somewhat consistent to everyone.
* distinctive personality is what makes us unique from
other.
* contribute to mean that the psychologist search for
psychological factors that casually influence and thus at
least partially explain an individual’s distinctive and
enduring tendencies.
- feeling, thinking and behaving refers to all aspects of
persons.
-Personality is the set of psychological traits and
mechanisms within the individual that are organized and
relatively enduring and that influence his or her
physical, and social environments.
IMPORTANT ELEMENTS:
PERSONALITY IS THE SET OF PSYCHILOGICAL TRAITS
-a characteristic that describes ways in which people are
different from each other.
MECHANISM
-refers to traits but is more processes of personality.
(-MOST PSYCHOLOGICAL MECHANISM HAVE THREE
ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS : INPUTS, DECISION RULES AND
OUTPUTS.)
WITHIN THE INDIVIDUAL
-a personality carried by a person with herself over time
from one situation to next
THAT ARE ORGANUZED AND RELATIVELY ENDURING
- Personality is organized because mechanism and
individual traits are linked together.
HIS OR HER INTERACTION WITH
-very difficult to describe since the nature of person-
environment interaction is complex.
- interactions with situation include perceptions,
selections, evocations, and manipulations.
AND THAT INFLUENCE
-personality traits can have an effect on people’s lives.
THE ENVIRONMENT
-the physical environment , a place where we are in to.
This affects our personality as to where we live in.
- the social environment , has something to do with
people we always interact with us. This affect our
personality as to how they act.
- the intrapsychic (within the mind) environment,
memories, fantasies desire.
THREE LEVELS OF PERSONALITY ANALYSIS
A. Human nature (like all others)
First level of personality analysis describes human nature
in general. ( speaking, eating, walking)
 B. Individual and group differences (like some
others)
Second level of personality analysis pertains to individual
and group differences.( per strand, per race, pero
country.)
C. Individual uniqueness ( none like other)
No two individuals not even twins raised together or in
same culture, have the same.
WAYS IN STUDYING INDIVIDUAL’S UNIQUENESS
- Nomothetic research requires samples of
subjects to conduct research to differ one group
to the other. Typically applied to identify
universal human characteristics.
- Idiographic, a way of assessing the persons
uniqueness that makes a person different form
the other. A research that is used to conduct
case studies
SIX DOMAIN OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT HUMAN
NATURE
DISPOSITIONAL DOMAIN
-deals centrally with ways in which individuals differ
from one another. Their habitual concepts of self in
their physiological propensities.
BIOLOGICAL DOMAIN
-has somethinh to do with our biological foundation
of our development, DNA and chemical messenger
secreted by the body.
INTRAPSYCHIC DOMAIN
- Deals with mental mechanism of personality, it
has something to do with perception , ideas ,
motives and desires circulating in the mind of a
person, this drives our human activity.
COGNITIVE EXPERIENTIAL DOMAIN
-focuses on cognition and subjective experience , has
something to do with mental analysis, a process of
introspection( oldest method in studying
psychology ), tasked to self mental analysis.
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DOMAIN
-personality is not merely in the head or DNA, this has
something to do with the environment that you
have, personality is shaped my social and cultural
context that we live in.
ADJUSTMENT DOMAIN
-refers to how the personality plays a key role to how we
cope, adapt and adjust in life events.
Difference between behavior and traits
Traits can be inherited, such as physical, emotional and
mental.
While behavior is learned, it is shaped by culture and
society that we are surrounded with.
______END_____
Sep 6, 2021
Topic 2
Psychoanalytic of theory of Sigmund Freud
“where id is, there shall ego be”
- A Viennese neurologist in late 19th century who
developed a theory of personality and a system of
psychotherapy known as psychoanalysis. (implies
people are strongly influenced by unconscious
forces, including innate sexual and aggressive
drives.
- His skill as a scientist, physician and writer were
combined ideas with his observation and study to
produce a major theory of psychology , he
applied this to medical practice to cure mental
illness.
- Psychotherapy was newly created by him.
- He became a medical student, tho he wanted to
pursue law, after reading the book of Charles
Darwin, he was rapidly intrigued by it.
FREUD’s MODEL OF THE MIND
 Freud developed a number of hypothetical
models to show how the mind works to what he
called psych
1. Tapographic model of psyche- how mind is
organized
2. Structural model of the psyche- how
personality works
3. Psychogenetic model of development- how
personality develops.
LEVELS OF THE MIND(TOPHOGRAPHIC LEVEL) can be
compared to an iceberg ego,super ego and id.
Conscious- includes everything that we are aware of
Preconscious or subconscious- part of us that we can
access if prompted
Unconscious- reservoir of feelings, thoughts, urges and
memories that outside of our conscious awareness
Nonconscious- the water, by the way would represent
everything that we are not aware of, have not
experienced and has not been integrated into our
personalities.
STRUCTURAL MODEL OF PERSONALITY
 ID wants whatever feels good. (pleasure)
- Eros a drive for life, love, growth and self-
representation
- Thanatos a drive for aggression and death.
 EGO source of rationality, none other than the
self, decides which action are appropriate. This
has no moral sense but only practical sense.
 Superego moral part of us and develops due to
the moral and ethical restrains placed by our
caregivers.
- Has two sub-system:
Conscience an image of what is right and the
basis of guilt, as well as wthat deserves to be
punished.
Ego ideal is images of what is rewarded or
approved of this is the basis of pride.
Sept, 13, 2021
Topic 3
ANXIETY AND DEFENSE MECHANISM
 Anxiety is caused by conflict between the 3
components of personality. We deal with this
anxiety with defense mechanism.
- Usually experience this when ego was unable to
give what the Id desires and was unable to listen
to super ego.
- A psychological state and physiological state
characterized by somatic(body), emotional,
cognitive and behavioral components.
- Is an unpleasant inner state that people seek to
avoid. It acts as a signal to the ego that things are
not going right.
ANXIETY ARISES FROM # DIFF SCENARIOS:
 When id impulses are conflict with each other
 The id impulses conflict with superego values and
beliefs.
 When an external treat is exposed to ego
Id is selfish childish no ability to delay gratification.
Operates on pleasure principles.
Ego is moderator between the id and super ego which
seeks compromise to pacify both
Superego internalized society and paternal standard of
bad and good and what is wrong /right behavior.
FRUED IDENTIFIED # TYPES OF ANXIETY
 Neurotic anxiety is a unconscious worry that we
will lose control of the id’s urges, resulting in
punishment for inappropriate behavior.
 Reality anxiety- fear of real worl events. The
cause of this anxiety is usually easily identified.
Signs- seen symptoms- felt
 Moral anxiety- involves a fear of violating our
own moral principles.
DEFENSE MECHANISHM – to cope from reality and
unpleasant emotions, used by people to pretect
themselves from anxiety and to maintain self image
- Sometimes confused with coping strategies
- They use DM unconsciously .
The diagnostic and statistical manual of mental
disorders (DSM-IV) published by the American
psychiatric association.
In Vaillant’s categorization, defense form a
continuum related to their psychoanalytical
developmental level.
Lvl 1 pathological defenses (psychotic denial,
delusional projection).
Lvl 2 immature defenses(fantasy projection passive
aggressions, acting out)
Lvl3 neurotic defenses
Lvl 4 mature defenses
 Denial – can’t accept reality and refuse to admit
the truth.
 Displacement -Taking out frustration on other
things or people. having negative feelings and
would rage out your anger to others.
 Repression and suppression – process of pulling
thoughts into the unconscious and preventing
painful or dangerous thoughts from entering
consciousness, unconsciously forgetting
information that is too painful to recall.
Repression- kept coming back to the old memories
Suppression- letting go of memories .
 Dissociation – memories are not just lost in the
subcons( as in repression) but they splintered and
distorted, thus a person may remember what
happen but forget how it felt.
 Withdrawal involves the removal of oneself from
anything and everything that carries reminders of
painful or stressful thoughts and emotions. The
use of withdrawal means the end of one’s social
life.
 Reaction formation- converting of unconscious
wishes or impulses that are perceived to be
dangerous into their opposites, replacing feelings
that are socially or personally unacceptable with
emotions those that are acceptable. ( reduces
anxiety by doing the opposite of the negativity
that you have, being friendly to someone you
don’t like)
 Sublimation- refocusing of psychic energy(limited
acc to Freud) away from negative outlets to more
positive outlets, using exercise or physical activity
as a substitute for sexual energies/ anger.
- It is a DM that allows us to act out unacceptable
impulses by converting these behaviors into more
acceptable form.
- Freud believed that sublimation was a sign of
maturity that allows people to function normally
in socially acceptable.
 Rationalization- process of constructing a logical
justifications for a decision that was originally
arrived at through a diff mental process, making
logical excuses for illogical behavior.
- It is a defense mechanism that involves explaining
an unacceptable behavior or feeling in rational or
logical manner, avoiding the true reason.
 Turning against self- always blame your self , fat
more destructive than displacement, anger and
hatred was turned to themselves.
 Projection- attributed to others, one’s own
unacceptable or unwanted thoughts and or
emotion
 Projection reduces anxiety in the way that allows
the expression of the impulse or desire without
letting the ego recognize it. ( DM that takes our
own negative qualities and ascribes them to other
to reduce anxiety).
 Regression- reversion to an earlier stage of
development in the face of unacceptable
impulses, reverting to childlike behavior to get
your way or to get attention.
- Abandon coping strategies and revert childish
patterns
- Anna Freud called this DM regression.
 Compensation occurs when someone takes up
one behavior because one cannot accomplish
another behavior
 Fantasy- in a way to escape real problems.
Imagining the opposites of reality.
 Identification(introjection) – involves identifying
with someone else, taking on their personality
characteristics, in order to solve some emotional
difficulty and avoid anxiety. This was originally
Freud’s solution to Oedipus and Electra
complexes: identify with the same sex parents
and try to become like him or her.
 Undoing -the DM of undoing is based on the
notion that is possible to make amends, to
correct mistakes made. In essence, it involves
feeling guilty and trying to reverse or undo a
feeling by acting in some opposite or
compensatory manner.
 Intellectualization- it works to reduce anxiety by
thinking about events in a cold, clinical way. This
DM mechanism allows us to avoid thinking about
stressful emotional aspect of the situation and
instead focus only on the intellectual component.