APSS298

Applied Psychology

L5: Personality

Dr Hannah Tai
PolyU 2022
 Overview

A. What is Personality
B. Theories of Personality
C. Assessments of personality
Distinctive and relatively stable pattern
of thoughts, motives, emotions, and behaviours
that characterize a person throughout their life.

Disposition made up of interaction

temperament & environment.

is inborn, enduring
B. Theories of Personality
 Major theoretical approaches to the
development of personality

Psychodynamic – Biological / Genetic Behavioral & Social-

Tension resolution – Genes determine Cognitive – Personality
shapes personality personality as learned responses

Cultural – Personality Humanistic – Personality

is largely determined is shaped by success to
by culture self-actualized, or lack
thereof
1. Psychodynamic/
Psychoanalytic
Approach

Sigmund Freud
 • explains personality in
terms of conscious and
unconscious forces,
Psychodynamic such as unconscious
Sigmund Freud desires and beliefs.

• sexual drive
• aggressive drive
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Freud’s Model of the Mind

Personality
Structure
• Id
• Ego
• Superego
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Personality structure - 3 components

▫ Id
 inborn, unconscious portion of personality;
houses most basic drives and stores repressed
memories
 acts according to the pleasure principle
 Acts on impulse and pushes for immediate
gratification, experience here and now
 Without the concern of consequences
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Personality structure - 3 components

▫ Superego
 Mind’s storehouse of values and moral
attitudes learned from parents and society;
conscience
 acts according to the idealistic principle
 “should” and “should not”: insists on doing
what is right and moral
 Works against the Id & induces guilt for its
instinctual needs
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Personality structure - 3 components

▫ Ego
 Conscious, rational part of personality
 acts according to the reality principle
 Tries to satisfy the needs of the Id & the
demands of the Superego / to balance the
demands of the two
 Uses defense mechanism to protect itself
 If it fails, mental disorder may be triggered

UReply
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Defense mechanisms Video

▫ A largely unconscious mental strategy
employed to reduce the experience of
conflict or anxiety
 To deal with the conflict between the id’s
impulse and the superego’s demand
▫ Ego uses these mechanisms to protect
itself from anxiety, because
▫ Proper use of defense mechanisms is
healthy
 Abuse may lead harm to one’s mental
health
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Defense mechanisms
• Repression
• e.g. A child who had a frightening
childhood experience that one cannot
remember
• Denial
• e.g. smokers refuse to recognize
the hazards of smoking
• Rationalization
• e.g. “everyone does it”
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Defense mechanisms - Reaction formation

▫ Guard against an unacceptable impulse by
expressing in an opposite way, usually in a
more socially acceptable behavior
▫ Developing attitudes & behaviors opposed to
disturbing desires
▫ e.g. Deliberately befriend with a person
whom you actually dislike
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Defense mechanisms - Displacement

▪ Shifting your reaction from the real source of your
distress to a safer individual or object
▪ scapegoating
▪ e.g. A man who was scolded by his boss and
redirected his anger to his wife/children/pets or
hitting the wall afterwards
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Defense mechanisms -
Regression

▫ Going back to an earlier phase of

development
▫ A reversion to immature patterns of
behavior, e.g. hide, throw things, wet
their pants
▫ e.g. a teenager sucks his thumb/ an adult
has a temper tantrum when he doesn’t
get his way
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Defense mechanisms - Sublimation

▫ The only constructive and
healthy self-defense
mechanism
▫ Diverting impulses to a socially
approved thoughts or actions
▫ Channeling anxiety / instincts
into socially acceptable
activities
▫ e.g. focusing sexual energy into
art, music, sports, etc
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Defense mechanisms -
Projection

▫ Attributes the unacceptable internal

thoughts, feelings and behaviors to
other people or to the environment UReply
▫ ‘Blaming’
▫ Suppressed in own sub-consciousness
▫ e.g. Someone may have prejudices
towards certain group may say others
do/ a boy likes a girl but say another boy
likes that girl
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Personality development
▫ Personality is shaped in the first 2 years of life
 Freud concluded that personality disorders
were caused by unsatisfied or over-satisfied
childhood needs
▫ 5 psychosexual stages
 Each stage is associating pleasure with
stimulations of specific bodily areas
 Lack of satisfaction or over-satisfaction leads to
fixation at the stage
 Fixation: occurs when psychosexual
development is arrested at an immature stage
 Unresolved needs at a certain stage strongly
influence one’s personality
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1. Oral Stage (0-2 years)

▫ Pleasure is associated with the mouth e.g.

suckling, crying
▫ Fixation may affect personality or behaviors:
Overeating, Smoking, alcoholism,
talkativeness, verbally hostile to others
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• 2. Anal Stage (2 to 3 years)

▫ Pleasure comes from
stimulating parts of the body
asscoiated with eliminition;
anus
▫ Anal fixation can result in
 Stingy, stubborn, too
generous, excessively neat
behavior, messy
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• 3. Phallic Stage (3 to 6 years)

▫ Pleasure comes from immature sexual
expression; the genitals, e.g. playing with sex
organs
▫ Failed to resolve: selfishness, impulsiveness,
lack of genuine feeling of others

• 4. Latency Stage (6 to puberty)

▫ Sexual urges are repressed & transformed into
socially acceptable activities
▫ Fixation: failure in dealing
with social demands
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• 5. Genital Stage (puberty - adulthood)

▫ Sexual urges emerge again
▫ The ego must mediate between sexual drives
& social prohibitions
▫ Maturation in sexual interests
▫ Resolution:
 Proper development of relationships
 Solidifying personal identities
 Preparation for career

• The sequence of psychosexual stages is

invariable/ the same
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Criticisms of psychosexual stages

• Ignore the influence of external
factors e.g. socialization of boys and
girls
• Ignore the influence of genetic
programming
• Most psychologists nowadays reject
the assumptions of psychosexual
development because of lacking
scientific support
 "Neo" Freudians
• Followers of Freud who developed their
owncompeting theories of psychoanalysis
• Emphasize childhood development but
underplay role of sexuality

Car/Jung Erik Erikson

Personal and Alfred Adler Social
collective Inferiority a n d relationships
unconscious, Karen Horney across the
compensation, Basic anxiety
archetypes lifespan
birth-order and neurotic
theory personalities
2. Biological Approach
 Biological Perspective: Heredity & Traits
Twin studies reveal the importance of genes and environmental influences for traits,
phenotypes, and disorders.
Video
3. Behavioral & Social-
Cognitive Approach
 Situations & Social Learning

vs.

Peers Family

• Variations in behaviour across situations

• In the view of behavioral learning term, people do not
have traits; they simply show certain behaviour
patterns in some situations and not others due to
reinforcement, punishment, or being ignored.
Social-cognitive Learning Theory
Video
• Reciprocal Determinism

• A continual interaction between your particular

qualities and the situations you are in
• Temperaments, beliefs, & habits → how you respond to
others in different situations
• Situation → influences your behaviour and beliefs,
rewarding or extinguishing some behaviours

• Two-way interaction between aspects of the

environment and aspects of the individual in the
shaping of personality traits
4. Cultural Approach
 Culture, Values, & Traits

• Culture
• A program of shared rules that govern the behaviors
of members of a community or society and a set of
values, beliefs, and attitudes shared by most
members of that community
• Individualist Cultures
• The self is regarded as autonomous, and individual
goals and wishes are prized above duty and relations
with others
• Independent, competitive, achieving
 Culture, Values, & Traits

• Collectivist Cultures
• The self is regarded as embedded in relationships,
and harmony with one’s group is prized above
individual goals and wishes
• Respectful, gentle, polite
➢Cultures may affect which personality traits we value,
how and whether we express emotions, how much we
value having relationships or maintaining freedom, &
how freely we express angry or aggressive feelings
5. Humanistic Approach
 Humanistic Approach
• Emphasizes personal growth, resilience, & the achievement
of human potential
• Maslow’s view
• Focused on the +ve aspect of life
• E.g. joy, happiness, love, peak experiences (i.e. rare
moments of rapture caused by attainment of
excellence or the experience of beauty)
• Personality = qualities of the self-actualized person
• Personality development could be viewed as a gradual
progression toward self-actualization
• Self-actualization
• Striving for a life that is meaningful, challenging, &
satisfying
 Humanistic Approach
• Maslow’s Theory of Personality
• Self-actualization theory
• Hierarchy of needs
• The Healthy Personality

Video
Humanistic Approach
• Carl Rogers was
a humanistic psychologist who
agreed with the main assumptions
of Abraham Maslow, but added that
for a person to "grow", they need an
environment that provides them
with:
• genuineness (openness and self-
disclosure),
• acceptance (being seen with
unconditional positive regard)
• empathy (being listened to and
understood).
Rogers believed that every person
could achieve their goals, wishes, and
desires in life. When they did self-
actualization took place.
Carl Rogers:
Unconditional Positive Regard
Childhood need for positive regard
Condition of worth – giving children positive regard
only if they act or think in certain ways
People are loved and respected for what they truly
are
There’s no need for certain experience to be denied
or distorted
People who experiences unconditional positive
regard can become a fully functioning person
 BeYoutiful
You are beautiful the way you are
 • Self-report
C. Assessments of Inventories
Personality • Projective Tests
Personality A) Objective tests
Assessment Standardized questionnaires ;
typically include scales on which
people are asked to rate themselves;
personality “profile”

• Minnesota Multiphasic Personality

Inventory (MMPI)

• 16 Personality Factors (16PF)

• NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI)

• Eysenck Personality Questionnaire

(EPQ)

• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

Ureply Multiple Qs

Personality
Unit 13Flipped
 The Big Five Model UReply

Figure 12.1 The five-factor model of personality

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWpRKJPCI7M
 The “Big Five” traits: The Five-Factor Theory
Abbreviated as “OCEAN”
• Openness to experience: curiosity vs close-mindedness
接受及新事物/意見；創意;靈動；好奇

High – e.g. Dimension Low – e.g.

Creative, flexible, imaginative, O: Openness to experiences Conventional, rigid, down-to-
curious, artistic earth

70
The “Big Five” traits: The Five-Factor Theory
Abbreviated as “OCEAN”
• Conscientiousness: dependable vs impulsive
認真、盡責、可靠、整齊

High – e.g. Dimension Low – e.g.

Disciplined, organized, C: Conscientiousness Inefficient, lazy, unreliable,

dependable, diligent aimless

71
The “Big Five” traits: The Five-Factor Theory
Abbreviated as “OCEAN”
• Extraversion: sociable vs shy
外向；喜歡群體；健談

High – e.g. Dimension Low – e.g.

Outgoing, assertive, E: Reserved, quiet, lonely,
sociable, upbeat Extraversion pessimistic

72
The “Big Five” traits: The Five-Factor Theory
Abbreviated as “OCEAN”
• Agreeableness: warmth vs cold
親切：友善；遷就；取悅
High – e.g. Dimension Low – e.g.
Sympathetic, affectionate, A: Hostile, ruthless,
trusting, cooperative, Agreeableness suspicious, complicated
straightforward

73
The “Big Five” traits: The Five-Factor Theory
Abbreviated as “OCEAN”
• Neuroticism: anxious vs calm
過度緊張；極度敏感；情緒化

High – e.g. Dimension Low – e.g.

Emotional, hostile, self- N: Calm, even-tempered,

conscious, apprehensive Neuroticism unemotional

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OCEAN Higher
marks

Openness to experience

Conscientiousness

Extroversion

Agreeableness

Neuroticism
Personality Test

•Self-understanding
•Strengths and weaknesses
•Appreciation and Improvement

We need people with different personalities to

build a more colourful and better world
 Dove
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpaOjMXyJGk
Harrower-
Erickson’s
Multiple-
Choice
Rorschach
Test
(HEMCRT)

78
 Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

• One of the most popular

personality assessment tool in
business
• Based on Jung’s typological
theory of personality on 2 of the
dimensions:
▪ Sensation Vs. Intuition
▪ Thinking Vs. Feeling
• And 2 other dimensions in:
▪ Extraversion Vs. Introversion
▪ Judging Vs. Perceiving
• Controversial in terms of reliability
despite popularity

Get your own MBTI Profile:

http://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test
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B) Projective Tests
• Personality assessment instruments based on
Freud’s concept of projection
• Rorschach inkblot technique
• Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
• Use to probe the innermost feelings, motives,
conflicts, and desires
▫ Assumption: personality is unconscious
 Therefore you do not really understand your
personality
 People will project their hidden motives and
conflicts onto images
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Projective tests
• Rorschach’s Inkblot tests: requiring people to
describe what they see in a series of ten inkblots
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 85

Projective Tests
• Thematic
Apperception Test:
requiring people to
make up stories
that explain
ambiguous
pictures
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Thematic Apperception Test

• “Story-telling” approach
▫ What caused the event shown? (past focus)
▫ What is happening at the moment? (present focus)
▫ What are the characters thinking? (present focus)
▫ What are the outcomes of the story? (future focus)
• The respondent perceives the elements in the
picture and then fills in personal interpretations and
explanations
• Collects data of unconscious needs, attitudes &
reaction patterns
 Summary
A. What is Personality
B. Theories of Personality
1. Psychodynamic
2. Biological
3. Behavioral & Social-Cognitive
4. Cultural
5. Humanistic
C. Assessments of personality
1. Objective Tests (self-report inventories)
2. Projective Tests
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Group Discussion
UReply

1. Comparison between the two tests: Which

one would you prefer? Why?
2. What are the strengths and weaknesses of
the two tests: IPIP-NEO and HEMCRT?
97
 98

Projective Tests
• Criticisms
▫ Too much reliance on Freud’s
concepts of repression and
projection
▫ Not scientific
 ? Reliability
 ? Validity
 99

Big Five Traits

◼ Evidence seems to suggest universality
of the 5 dimensions
• Personality dimensions are generally
applicable across cultures
• It works in more than 50 cultures in
Europe, Asia, Africa, and the America
 100

Significance of the Big Five model

• Strong scientific validity and reliability
▫ List of traits categorized using
rigorous statistical methods
• Strong predictive power
▫ Certain psychological disorders are
strongly associated with certain traits
▫ e.g. high neuroticism & low
agreeableness predict personality
disorders
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Criticisms of the Big Five model

• Limited range of traits
▫ Some traits have been excluded, e.g. honesty,
controlling, humorous
• Questions regarding universality
▫ The categories may be labeled & interpreted
differently in other cultures
• Lack of explanation on personality development
▫ Only describes the traits
▫ No underlying theories to explain how the traits are
developed
▫ No explanations on individual differences of
personality
Upon completion of this lecture,
you should be able to …

1 2 3
Understand Familiarize yourself Appreciate various
different theories with different determinants to
of personality and personality personality from
how they arrive at assessments, heredity to culture,
various accounts of which provide and how these
personality various typologies determinants
development for summarizing interplay with each
one’s personality other