THE PSUnians 1979 However, heredity can never be considered as charting a fixed
 PSU PRESIDENT: DR. ELBERT M. GALAS
 9 Campuses of PSU System
Alaminos, Binmaley, San Carlos City,
Asingan, Infanta, Santa Maria,
Bayambang, Lingayen Urdaneta City.
 6 Independent College PSU Lingayen
1. College of Arts, Sciences and Letters
2. College of Business and Public Administration
3. College of Computing Sciences
4. College of Hospitality and Tourism Management
5. College of Teacher Education
6. College of Industrial Technology
 PSU STUDENT HANDBOOK: location of the duties and
responsibilities of PSUnians.
Chapter 3&3.1: The Developing Personality
 “Personality” originated from the Latin persona, which referred to a
theatrical mask worn by Roman actors in Greek dramas. These
ancient Roman actors wore a mask (persona) to project a role or
false appearance. This surface view of personality, of course, is not
an acceptable definition. When psychologists use the term
“personality,” they are referring to something more than the role
people play.
 Personality is a pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique
characteristics that give both consistency and individuality to a
person’s behavior (Roberts & Mroczek, 2008).
Traits contribute to individual differences in behavior, consistency of
behavior over time, and stability of behavior across situations.
Traits may be unique, common to some group, or shared
by the entire species, but their pattern is different for each individual.
Thus, each person, though like others in some ways, has a unique
personality.
Characteristics are unique qualities of an individual that include
such attributes as temperament, physique, and intelligence.
A person’s personality should be seen as on-going
development process. Every person has a different personality and set
of traits. That is to say, no two people, not even identical twins, have
exactly the same personalities.
Determinants of Personality
1. Heredity(Genetic Factor)
 Is human behavior shaped more by heredity or by environment?
 (“nature”) refers to genetically passing characteristics from
parents to children. An incredible number of personal features
are set at conception, when a sperm and an ovum (egg) unite.
 The hold that human beings enter the world with innate/ inborn
store of knowledge and understanding of reality.
These factors not only affect the physical features of a person,
but the intelligence level, attentiveness, temperament, various
inherited diseases and energy level, all get affected by them.
One of the earliest human debates in psychology which is still raging
today centers whether human capabilities are inborn or acquired
through experience. The biggest debate being the nature vs. nurture.
Heredity plays an important role in the nativist view. The
hold that human beings enter the world with innate/inborn store of
knowledge and understanding of reality.
The example of how heredity factors determine such a huge
and significant part of an individual’s personality can easily be
observed in children. Many children behave exactly how their parents
do. Similarly, twin siblings also have a lot of things in common.
and definite course of anyone’s personality. At the best, what anyone
inherits are the potentialities such as manual skills, intelligence and
sensory discriminations which appear more highly developed in some
family lines.
2. Environment (Surroundings/Social and Cultural Factor)
 Social factors also play a vital role in determining one’s
personality. The things that revolve and evolve around us on a
regular basis determine our personality. The society that we live
in, the cultural environment that we face daily, the community
we get interacted to, all are included in this factor.
Relationships, co-ordination, cooperation, interaction,
environment in the family, organizations, workplaces, communities,
societies all contribute in way or another as personality determinants.
The culture in which one lives in, that may involve
traditional practices, norms, customs, procedures, rules and
regulations, precedents and values, all are important determinants of
personality. Moreover, the creed, religion and believes are also very
important factors of personality determinants.
3. Situational Day-to-Day Events Repeated)
 The situational factors can be commonly observed when a
person behaves contrastingly and exhibits different traits and
characteristics.
For example, a person’s behavior will be totally different when he is
in his office, in front of his boss, when compared to his hangout with
old friends in a bar.
In this way, situational factors impact a personality in a
significant way. They often bring out the traits of a person that are not
commonly seen.
Major Perspectives on Personality
One of the primary functions of scientific theory is to describe
and explain how the world works. Psychologists attempt to explain
how human thought, emotion, motivation, and behavior work. Yet
human personality is so complex that many different perspectives
have developed on how to best explain it. These perspectives make
different assumptions and focus on different aspects of behavior.
1. Psycho-Dynamic Perspectives
 Beginning with Freud, psychoanalytic and then the more general
psychodynamic approaches It focuses on the importance of early
childhood experience and on relationships with parents as
guiding forces that shape personality development. Additionally,
this view sees the unconscious mind and motives as much more
powerful than the conscious awareness.
Psychoanalysis traditionally used dream interpretation to uncover
the unconscious thoughts, feelings, and impulses as a main form of
treatment of neurosis and mental illness.
After Freud, these theorists moved away from the
importance of sexuality and more toward social and cultural forces.
 From the “phallus” which means “penis”
 The focus of pleasure shifts to the genital area as the child
discovers self-manipulation is enjoyable.
1. Oedipus Complex is the rivalry between the son and the father
to get the attention of the mother.
2. Castration Anxiety - The fear the son that his penis will be cut
off by the father if his desires for the mother continues. This
effectively crushes the boy’s incestuous desire for their mothers,
which are then repressed to into the unconscious.
3. Penis Envy The lack of penis of the girls. Blaming the mother
for such “shortcoming”. Resulting to the girl’s desire for their
father.
4. Electra Complex The rivalry between the daughter and the
mother to get the attention of the father. Named after Electra, a
Greek character who conspired to kill her mother.
2. Humanistic Existential Perspectives
 The primary assumption of the humanistic (“positive
psychology”) approach is that people strive toward meaning,
growth, wellbeing, happiness, and psychological health. States
of positive emotion and happiness foster psychological health
and prosocial behavior.
Understanding these evolved positive aspects of human behavior
provides just as much insight into human nature as does
understanding the pathological aspects.
Existential theorists assume that not only are we driven by a
search for meaning, but also that negative experiences such as failure,
awareness of death, death of a loved one, and anxiety, are part of the
human condition and can foster psychological growth.
3. Dispositional (Trait) Perspectives
 Trait Theory, also known as Dispositional Theory, is an
approach to study human personality and behavior. It is the
measurement of steady patterns of habit in an individual’s
behavior, thoughts and emotions.
Dispositional theorists argue that the unique and long-term
tendencies to behave in particular ways are the essence of our
personality. These unique dispositions, such as extraversion or
anxiety, are called traits.
The field has converged on the understanding that there are five
main trait dimensions in human personality. Traits serve the function
of making certain behaviors more likely in some people.
Trait theorists focus on the measurement of ‘traits’, which lead to a
better understanding of human personality. Over a period of time,
traits become relatively stable, depending on the individual and his
social and environmental surroundings, which influence behavior.
4. Biological Evolutionary Perspectives
 Behavior, thought, feelings, and personality are influenced by
differences in basic genetic, epigenetic, and neurological
systems between individuals. The reason some people have
different traits, dispositions, and ways of thinking stems from
differences in their genotype and central nervous system (brain
structures and neurochemistry).
Because they are based on evolved brain systems, human thought,
behavior, and personality have been shaped by forces of evolution
(natural and sexual selection) over millions of years.
The body, brain, and environment co-exist and coevolve,
and so more than any other psychological perspective, this one
emphasizes that what we think, feel, and do is always an interaction
between nature (biological) and nurture (environment).
5. Learning Social Cognitive Perspectives
 If you want to understand behavior, then focus only on behavior,
not on hypothetical and unobservable internal states such as
thoughts, feelings, drives, or motives. All behaviors are learned
through association and/or its consequences (whether it is
reinforced or punished). To shape desired behavior, we have to
understand and then establish the conditions that bring about
those particular behaviors.
The cognitive perspective argues that how we think about
ourselves and other people, as well as the assumptions we make and
the strategies we use for solving problems, are the keys to
understanding differences between people. Whether we believe we
can do something successfully or not influences our behavior as well
as our personality. In short, what personality we have is shaped by
how we think and perceive the world.
Chapter 3.2-Major Perspective in Personality Development
Psychodynamic Perspective - Beginning with Freud, psychoanalytic
and then the more general psychodynamic approaches have focused
on the importance of early childhood experience and on relationships
with parents as guiding forces that shape personality development.
1. The Psychosexual Theory of Development (Sigmund Freud)
Personality involves negotiating the tensions between our
biological, sexual drives and the expectations and standards of the
society. Individuals go through five psychosexual stages.
Sexual or libidinal energies are focused on the different parts of the
body (Erogenous Zones) during each stage. Fixation occurs when
the need during each stage is not met.
 Freud’s theory of psychosexual development claims that as we
grow up, we pass through five critical phases.
 Our sex drive, which Freud called the libido, focuses in a
different erogenous zone at each phase. The phases are called:
oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital.
 If our experience during any of these phases was traumatic, we
might develop fixations later in life, such as neurosis,
dependencies, addictions, or depression.
Freud’s Psychosexual Stages
1. Oral Stage (From Birth to 12-18 Months)
 The mouth is the center of pleasure.
 Infants derives comfort from sucking, chewing and biting.
When needs are not met [i.e., early weaning] or are
overindulged [i.e., prolonged thumb sucking], personality and
behavioral problems occur. Oral fixation may be manifested by
gossiping and talking too much and overeating, smoking and
alcoholism.
a. Oral Phase, Age 0-1 - In the first year of our lives, we discover the
world through our oral senses. Our main pleasure comes from
sucking our mother’s breast or a bottle. The conflict that occurs now
is the weaning from our primary caregiver.
2. Anal Stage (Between 12-18 Months to 3 Years)
 The child’s greatest pleasure involves the anus or the
eliminative functions associated with it. The idea of toilet
training. If toilet training is too harsh or demanding, or begun
too early or too late, problems may occur.
Anal fixation results to:
 Being controlling, stingy, stubborn, and excessively
concerned with cleanliness and orderliness.
 Being messy, disorganized, extravagant and impulsive.
b. Anal Phase, Age 1-3: The primary focus of our libido at this age is
the control of the bladder and bowel movements. We have to learn
how to use the potty. Competent personality and a good and balanced
relationship with authority.
 Anal-retentive personality- becomes an over-controlling
and stingy adult, with disgust for his own body and a
tendency to obey authority.
 Anal-expulsive personality- becomes messy, disorganized,
inconsiderate of other people’s feelings, and rebellious
against authority.
 3. Phallic Stage (3 to 6 Years)
 From the “phallus” which means “penis”
 The focus of pleasure shifts to the genital area as the child
discovers self-manipulation is enjoyable.
 Oedipus Complex- Rivalry between the son and the father to get
the attention of the mother.
 Castration Anxiety- The fear the son that his penis will be cut off
by the father if his desires for the mother continues. This effectively
crushes the boy’s incestuous desire for their mothers, which are
then repressed to into the unconscious.
 Penis Envy- The lack of penis of the girls. Blaming the mother for
such “shortcoming”. Resulting to the girl’s desire for their father.
 Electra Complex- The rivalry between the daughter and the mother
to get the attention of the father. Named after Electra, a Greek
character who conspired to kill her mother.
c. Phallic Phase, Age 3-6: Our libido now turns to the genitals as we
discover the differences between the female and the male gender.
The boys' conflict in this phase occurs as a rivalry with their
father. Also called the “Oedipus Complex”. Ernst and Hans desire to
possess their mother and fantasize about getting rid of their father.
But they know that their father is stronger and fear being punished for
their desire. Freud called this “castration anxiety”. “penis envy”-
penis is the key to power and domination and also wants one.
4. Latency Stage [6 to 11 Years]
 Sexual desires and impulses from the phallic stage are
repressed during this stage.
 The child channels all his energies toward developing social,
intellectual, and moral skills. Focus on peer relationships and
school.
d. Latent Phase, Age 7-13: In this phase, our libido is suppressed as
our sexual energy is being sublimed into developing life skills. Our
superego strengthens and we strongly identify with social values,
same-sex heroes, and friends. There is no real conflict in this phase.
5. Genital Stage [11 Years to Adulthood]
 Puberty age. Individual’s sexual drives return and once again
focused on the genitals.
 However, the object of the sexual desire is the opposite sex,
and the needs are gratified through mature, genital love
relationships.
e. Genital Phase, Puberty to Death: Once we reach puberty our libido
starts to become active again and we develop an interest in sexual
partners. The needs of the “superego”’ to obey social norms.
Freud claimed that our mind operates in 3 spheres, which we
can imagine as a submarine. The unconscious level operates the Id.
The preconscious level operates the Superego. The conscious and
preconscious level operate our Ego.
Young children are driven by the Id and demand immediate
satisfaction. At around age seven, we begin to develop a Superego
and want to become good moral citizens and please others. The Ego
is formed with adolescence to balance the two forces.
Sigmund Shlomo Freud was an Austrian neurologist and the founder
of Psychoanalysis. Freud theorized that the unconscious would
remember and store all our experiences, later they pop up from time
to time through dreams and associative thoughts.
By revealing traumatic memories and desires through
conversation we can free ourselves from our neurosis and live a
healthier and fulfilled life. He recommended: “we should not strive to
eliminate our complexes but to get into accord with them: they are
legitimately what directs our conduct in the world.”
2. Psychosocial Theory of Development (Erik Erikson)
Focused on the individual’s social relations than sexual
motivations. Different challenges people face throughout their lives
have more to do with their relationships with other people and
societies demand.
Two major events at each stages of development:
 Development of individuals competencies
 Performing according to societal demands
 Struggle between the two leads to CRISIS.
Erikson's theory of psychosocial development identifies eight
stages in which a healthy individual should pass through from birth to
death. At each stages we encounter different needs, ask new questions
and meet people who influence our behavior and learning.
8 Stages of Development
1. Trust VS. Mistrust (Birth to 12-18 Months)
 Infants need sensitive, responsive care from the caregiver. Each
time the needs are adequately provided – whether these are food,
diaper change etc. – the infant develops a sense of trust and
security.
Hopeful and optimistic that his needs will be met by others
as well. If the care is inadequate, insensitive or inconsistent, the child
is likely to develop a sense of mistrust. He may withdraw from other
people for the belief that they cannot fulfill his needs. He may feel
insecure and unworthy of responsive care from others.
a. Basic Trust vs. Mistrust, Infancy (1-2 years) - As infants, we ask
ourselves if we can trust the world and we wonder if it's safe. We
learn that if we can trust someone now, we can also trust others in the
future. If we experience fear, we develop doubt and mistrust. The key
to our development is our mother.
2. Autonomy VS. Shame and Doubt (Early Childhood- Between
12-18 Months to 3 Years)
 Child assert his growing his growing independence and sense of
self.
If the adult’s set a balanced limit with the adequate
opportunities for the child to explore and do things on his own, then
the child develops a healthy sense of accomplishment, self-control
and self-esteem. If the child is overprotected, he may develop a sense
of doubt regarding his ability to do things on his own or shame over
his lack of control.
b. Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt, Early Childhood (2-4 years) -
In our early childhood, we experience ourselves and discover our
body. We ask: is it okay to be me? If we are allowed to discover
ourselves, then we develop self-confidence. If we are not, we can
develop shame and self-doubt. Both parents now play a major role.
3. Initiative VS. Guilt (Preschool Age, or Between 3 and 6 Years)
 Greater challenges due to the expansion of social world including
peers and other relationships outside the family.
Greater sense of responsibility for themselves – cleaning up
their toys and brushing their teeth. When the adult support such
initiative, the child develops a greater sense of purpose and
responsibility. Feelings of guilt and inadequacy about initiating
activities may develop, for fear that these may be met with
disapproval by their parents and teachers.
c. Initiative vs. Guilt, Preschool Age (4-5 years) - In preschool, we
take initiative, try out new things, and learn basic principles like how
round things roll. We ask: Is it okay for me to do what I do? If we are
encouraged, we can follow our interests. If we are held back or told
that what we do is silly, we can develop guilt. We are now learning
from the entire family.
4. Industry VS. Inferiority (Middle Childhood-Between 6 & 11
Years)
 School, learning and developing knowledge and skills. More
serious hobbies, extracurricular activities.
 +develops a sense of competence and motivation to learn and
improve himself further.
 -If the child’s effort are frequently met with criticism and failure,
then he is vulnerable to feeling inadequacy and inferiority.
d. Industry vs. Inferiority, School Age (5-12 years) - Now we
discover our own interests and realize that we are different from
others. We want to show that we can do things right. We ask if we
can make it in this world? If we receive recognition from our teachers
or peers, we become industrious, which is another word for hard-
working. If we get too much negative feedback, we start to feel
inferior and lose motivation. Our neighbors and schools now
influence us the most.
5. Identity VS. Identity Confusion (Adolescence- Between 11 &
20s)
 Central task of the adolescent is to establish an identity or a sense
of self in which her past, present and future are integrated. Main
question is “Who I am?”
 Identity crisis – characterized by the intense experimentation
with possible roles and alternative values and lifestyles.
 Moratorium. “time-out”-freely exploring various lifestyles, roles,
or career possibilities without having to make any premature
commitments.
 + Sense of fidelity or commitment to one’s value, vocation,
ideology, sexuality. - Identity confusion, or a sense of not
knowing who one is or where one headed.
e. Identity vs. Role Confusion, Adolescence (13–19 years) - During
adolescence, we learn that we have different social roles. We are
friends, students, children, and citizens. Many experience an identity
crises. If our parents now allow us to go out and explore, we can find
an identity. If they push us to conform to their views, we can face role
confusion and feel lost. Key to our learning are our peers and role
models.
6. Intimacy VS. Isolation (Young Adulthood, From the 20s to 40s)
 Considered sharing his unique self with other individual.
Intimacy in a mature heterosexual relationship characterized by
genitality, or self-sacrifice and compromise.
 + loving and committed relationship. - cannot commit at risk to
be lonely, isolated and withdraw.
f. Intimacy vs. Isolation, Early Adulthood (20-40 years) - As
young adults, we slowly understand who we are and we start to let go
of the relationships we had built earlier in order to fit in. We ask
ourselves if we can love? If we can make a long-term commitment,
we are confident and happy. If we cannot form intimate relationships,
we might end up feeling isolated and lonely. Our friends and partners
are now central to our development.
7. Generativity VS. Stagnation (Middle Adulthood, or 40s to the
60s)
 Most adults are preoccupied with raising a family, and /or
establishing themselves in their vocation or career.
 Adults develop a concern for the welfare of the future generation
or younger generations, and the need to pass on or leave a
“legacy” regarding what they have learned.
 Generativity take the form of parenting, mentoring, teaching or
engaging in sociocivic work.
 Stagnation may stem from the inability to establish intimacy in
the previous developmental stage.
 Without the experience of true mutuality and selfgiving in the
context of a personal relationship, an individual would find it
difficult to share himself with the bigger society.
 Midlife crisis – period of reassessing his life and the decisions he
has made.
g. Generativity vs. Stagnation - Adulthood (40-65 years) - When
we reach our forties, we become comfortable, use our leisure time
creatively and maybe begin contributing to society. Our concern is
Generativity. If we think that we are able to lead the next generation
into this world, we are happy. If we did not resolve some conflicts
earlier, we can become pessimistic and experience stagnation. People
at home and at work are now who influence us most.
8. Integrity VS. Despair (Late Adulthood - 60s And Beyond)
 Marked by gradual decline in physical and cognitive abilities.
 Psychosocially, this is the time when the elderly, confronted with
their morality, look back on their lives.
 When an individual feels that he has lives well, coped
satisfactorily with life’s struggle, he develops a sense of integrity
and wholeness, the virtue of wisdom, and the readiness to face
death.
 However, if a person looks back at his life and sees a series of
missed opportunities and failures, he will live his final years in
despair. Fear of death.
h. Ego Integrity vs. Despair, Maturity (65-death) - As we grow
older, we tend to slow down and begin to look back over our lives.
We ask: how have I done? If we think we did well, we develop
feelings of contentment and integrity. If not, we can experience
despair and become grumpy and bitter. Time to compare us with
mankind.
 Erik Erikson was a German-American psychologist who
together with his wife Joan, became known for his work on
psychosocial development. He was influenced by Sigmund and
Anna Freud and became famous for coining the phrase "identity
crisis." Although Erikson lacked even a bachelor's degree, he
served as a professor at Harvard and Yale.
Humanistic Perspective - The primary assumption of the humanistic
(currently known as “positive psychology”) approach is that people
strive toward meaning, growth, well -being, happiness, and
psychological health.
States of positive emotion and happiness foster psychological
health and pro -social behavior.
Abraham Maslow Hierarchy of Needs - believed that
people strive for a positive view of the self to realize their own
potentials fully. Believed these needs were innate but without a
supportive, nurturing environment, this essential striving for full
potential could not take place.
In other words, he believed we all strive to work at our fullest
potential. We all want to become “self-actualized” that is reaching
and using our full potential in our vocational and personal life
He believed a person must satisfy the needs at the lower levels before
moving on to tackle the ones at the top. For example, if you don’t
have enough to eat, or scared you may lose your house, you probably
won’t strive as much for personal accomplishment.
 This is very difficult to test. Also, some of the most creative people
have lived in poverty. Edgar Allen Poe for example.
 Self-actualization- desire to become the most that one can be
 Esteem- respect, self-esteem, status, recognition, strength,
freedom
 Love and belonging- friendship, intimacy, family, sense of
connection
 Safety needs- personal security, employment, resources,
health, property
 Physiological needs- air, water, food, shelter, sleep, clothing,
reproduction

Humanistic Perspectives
Hierarchy of Needs by Abraham Maslow - Maslow's Hierarchy of
Needs is a theory in psychology. It argues that there are five stages of
human needs that motivate our behavior.
Abraham Maslow proposed his theory in 1943 after studying
what he called exemplary people such as Albert Einstein or Eleanor
Roosevelt.
Stage 1 - First, there are physiological needs, such as the need to
breathe, eat, drink or sleep. The moment we got enough of that and
we feel awake and our bellies are full, we get motivated by the next
thing.
Stage 2 - Now we want safety. We try to earn money, build up
resources and look for shelter that protects us against dangers. Once
we are satisfied and feel safe, we have time to think about what we
want next.
Stage 3 - At stage three we seek love and belonging. We desire to be
close to family and friends, belong to a society or join a gang. But the
moment we feel completely part of a group we already wish to be a
little different than the rest.
Stage 4 - At stage four we look for esteem, self-confidence, and
respect from our peers. We want to be someone. If we have money,
we buy a fancy watch. If we have a brain, we write or think or work a
lot. Motivation to perform and compete is now at its highest.
Students, sportsmen, and inventors excel. Neil Armstrong even flew
to the moon.
Stage 5 - Only if we breathe and drink and eat and sleep enough and
we feel safe and part of a group and still special, only then we can
reach level five: self-actualization. Now we can relax, be creative,
accept facts for what they are, give back or do whatever we want. No
more pressure, unless of course there is trouble below.
Motivation Theory - need for achievement, affiliation and power. In
the early 1960s, McClelland built on Maslow’s work-described three
human motivators.
 Learned Needs Theory- McClelland (Arnold et al., 2005)
claimed that humans acquire, learn their motivators over time
 McClelland affirms that we all have three motivating drivers,
and it does not depend on our gender or age.
 One of these drives or needs will be dominant in our behavior.
 McClelland’s theory differs from Maslow’s and Alderfer’s,
which focus on satisfying existing needs rather than creating or
developing needs.
 This dominant motivator depends on our culture and life
experiences (but the three motivators are permanent).
 Prioritization and importance of these motivational needs
characterizes a person’s behavior.
Three Motivators
1. Achievement Motivation
 It is a need to accomplish and demonstrate competence or
mastery.
 It pertains to a person’s need for significant success, mastering
of skills, control or high standards.
 It is associated with a range of actions.
 Individuals seek achievement, attainment of challenging and
realistic goals, and advancement in the school or job.
 This need is influenced by internal drivers for action (intrinsic
motivation) and the pressure used by the prospects of others
(extrinsic motivation).
 Low need for achievement could mean that individuals want to
minimize risk of failure, and for this reason, people may choose
very easy or too difficult tasks, when they cannot avoid failure.
 In contrast, high need for achievement means that humans try to
choose optimal, sufficiently difficult tasks, because they want to
get the chance to reach their goals, but they have to work for it,
they need to develop themselves. Individual with high need for
achievement like to receive regular feedback on their progress
and achievements; and often like to work alone; seek challenges
and like high degree of independence.
 Sources of high need for achievement can be praise for success,
goal setting skills, one’s own competence and effort to achieve
something, and it does not depend only on luck; of course,
positive feelings and also independence in childhood.
 McClelland said that training, teaching can increase an
individual’s need for achievement. For this reason, some have
argued that need for achievement is not a need but a value.
2. Affiliation Motivation
 It is a need for love, belonging and relatedness.
 These people have a strong need for friendships and want to
belong within a social group, need to be liked and held in
popular regard.
 They are team players, and they may be less effective in
leadership positions.
 High-need-for-affiliation persons have support from those with
whom they have regular contact and mostly are involved in
warm interpersonal relationships.
 After or during stressful situation, individuals need much more
affiliation. In these situations, people come together and find
security in one another.
 There are times when individuals want to be with others and at
other times to be alone—affiliation motivation can become
increased or decreased.
 Individuals do not like high risk or uncertainty.
3. Power Motivation - It is a need for control over one’s own work or
the work of others.
Self-Determination Theory: 3 Basic Needs that drive our
behavior.
 Self-determination theory was developed by the two American
psychologists, Richard Ryan and Edward Deci, in the 1970s.
 Self-determination theory argues that we do what we do,
because we are motivated by three basic needs that drive our
behavior more than anything else.
1. Autonomy- We desire to have freedom of making our own choices
and not be forced to do something we don’t want.
2. Competence- We want to feel that we have the skills required to
do the work ourselves, and not confronted with tasks that we don’t
understand.
3. Connection- We want to experience a sense of belonging, of being
needed, and not useless or like an outsider.
 We can think of motivation ranging from “non-self-determined
to self-determined”. (quality: lower forms to higher forms)
Amotivation - It refers to the lack or absence of volitional drive to
engage in any activity
Extrinsic Motivation- is when someone feels motivated to do
something to gain a reward or avoid a punishment.
a. Externally Regulated. It occurs when an individual performs a
task or behavior to receive some type of external reward.
b. Introjected Regulation. It refers to performing an action due to
a sense of obligation rather than an internal desire or for
enjoyment.
c. Regulation through Identification. The person has identified
with the personal importance of a behavior and has thus
accepted its regulation as his or her own.
d. Integrated Regulation. Integration occurs when one has fully
taken in the reason for action, i.e., a person has examined the
cause and found it compatible with their own values and needs.
Intrinsic Motivation - It is defined as the doing of an activity for its
inherent satisfaction rather than for some separable consequence.
Dispositional Perspectives
Trait Theory-History of Personality Psychology
What is Trait? (Traits of Traits)
 It describes meaningful differences among individuals.
(Genetics, Culture and Personality)
 It must be stable and consistent. (Culture, Rules and Context of a
Situation)
 These are usually displayed as dimensions or spectrums with
extremes at both ends.
 It relies on language. Lexical Hypothesis Theory- there is a
behavior that is so prominent in human behavior throughout
time.
 These are objective behavior.
 These aren’t good or bad.
 These can be positive or negative depending on goals, values
and beliefs.
Trait Psychology (Organization of Traits into a central group of
terms or spectrums)
1. Gordon Allport - 4500 words that could be considered personality
traits. Nowadays, 18000 traits descriptive adjectives
Three Types of Traits
a. Cardinal Traits - These traits and behaviors rule how you
2.
approach things you’re passionate above.
 Punctual
 It is usually influenced by some desire to impress or to
be ready to get work.
 Machiavellian, Freudian, Christ-like
b. Central Traits - These traits are found to a certain degree in
almost every person.
 Honesty, agreeableness, or jealousy
c. Secondary Traits - These traits may apply to different situations
depending on the context of that situation.
2. Cattell - 1960s-4500 words to 171 traits to 16 most influential
traits
 16 most influential traits: Warmth, Reasoning, Emotional
Stability, Dominance, Liveliness, Rule-Consciousness, Social
Boldness, Sensitivity, Vigilance, Abstractedness, Privateness,
Apprehension, Openness to Change, Self-Reliance,
Perfectionism and Tension.
1. Eysenck- First personality traits (PEN)
a. Psychoticism- Whenever an individual engages in risky and
irresponsible behavior. People with high psychoticism are
usually more aggressive.
b. Extraversion- When an individual engages in a lot of social
activities. Extrovert is considered under aroused, and their
cortical arousal can be measured with skin conductance.
c. Neuroticism- When an individual’s mood and emotions
fluctuate more than normal.
 Our personality traits come from our genetics.
Learning (Social Cognitive) Perspective
If you want to understand behavior, then focus only on
behavior, not on hypothetical and unobservable internal states such as
thoughts, feelings, drives, or motives.
All behaviors are learned through association and/or its
consequences (whether it is reinforced or punished). To shape desired
behavior, we have to understand and then establish the conditions that
bring about those particular behaviors.
B. F. Skinner’s / Behavioral Analysis
 Emerged from Laboratory Studies of Animals and Humans
 Minimized Speculation
 Focused on Observable Behavior
 Avoided All Hypothetical Constructs
 Behavior Is Lawfully Determined
 Behavior Is Product of Environmental Stimuli
Precursors of Skinner’s Scientific Behaviorism
 E.L. Thorndike- Law of Effect
 John B. Watson
 Behavior can be studied objectively
 Consciousness and introspection must play no role in the
scientific study of behavior
 Goal of psychology is the prediction and control of behavior
 Best reached through study of stimulus-response connections
Scientific Behaviorism Philosophy of Science
 Scientific behaviorism allows for interpretation of behavior, not
an explanation of its causes.
 Characteristics of Science
 Cumulative
 An attitude that values empirical observation
 Science is a search for order and lawful relationships
Two Types of Conditioning
Classical Conditioning- which Skinner called respondent
conditioning. A response is drawn out of the organism by a specific,
identifiable stimulus. In classical conditioning, behavior is elicited
from the organism, whereas in operant conditioning, behavior is
emitted.
An elicited response is drawn from the organism, whereas an
emitted response is one that simply appears. Because responses do
not exist inside the organism and thus cannot be drawn out, Skinner
preferred the term “emitted.”
Emitted responses do not previously exist inside the organism; they
simply appear because of the organism’s individual history of
reinforcement or the species’ evolutionary history.
 A response is drawn out of the organism by a specific,
identifiable stimulus
 Behavior is elicited from the organism.
A neutral (conditioned) stimulus is paired with an unconditioned
stimulus a number of times until it is capable of bringing about a
previously unconditioned response
 Simplest of all forms of learning. An organism learns that one
event follows another.
 When the pairing of these two is repeated it creates a CS and
CR.
Stimulus Response
 Unconditioned Stimulus Unconditioned Response Skinner, born in 1904, was a professor of Psychology and
Neutral Stimulus No Response subscribed to Behaviorism. He argued that you can only study
Neutral Stimulus, Unconditioned Response behavior that is visible and that anything happening only within the
Unconditioned Stimulus mind is either a misconception or irrelevant to science.
Conditioned Stimulus Conditioned Response
He thought free will was an illusion because behavior is
Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning either random or a reaction to the environment. His work became the
 Classical conditioning is a way of learning where a stimulus that foundation for behavioral therapy, military drills, and animal
triggers a biological response is paired with a new stimulus that training.
then results in the same reaction.
 The most famous work in classical conditioning was done by
Ivan Pavlov in the 1890s.

3. Operant Conditioning - also called Skinnerian conditioning. A

behavior is made more likely to recur when it is immediately
reinforced.

The behavior the animal or individual in the learning situation has

everything to do with receiving the reinforcing reward. The behavior
is instrumental for the reward. The individual gets nothing until he
emits the proper response.

 Four Kinds: Primary Reward Conditioning, Escape

Conditioning, Avoidance Conditioning, Secondary Reward
Conditioning

Operant conditioning is based on the idea that we can increase or

decrease a certain behavior by adding a consequence. Operant
conditioning was first studied by Edward L. Thorndike and later
made famous by the work of B.F. Skinner.
Both reinforcement and punishment, can either be positive or
negative.
 If reinforcement is positive, we add something pleasant to
increase the likelihood of a behavior.
 If reinforcement is negative, we still want to increase the
desired behavior, this time by removing something
unpleasant.
 If punishment is positive, we add an unpleasant response to
decrease behavior.
 When punishment is negative, we also want to decrease
behavior, now by removing something pleasant.
 If we stop any sort of manipulation, the conditioned
behavior will eventually disappear again. This is called
extinction.

Skinner believed that organisms are doing what they do naturally

until they accidentally encounter a stimulus that creates conditioning,
which results in a change in behavior.

Conditioning happens in a three-term contingency, today

known as The ABCs of Behavior:
 A stands for Antecedent.
 B stands for Behavior and refers to the response.
 C stands for Consequence.

The strength of the response to the conditioning depends on the

schedule of reinforcement.