Personality

 A person’s general style of

interacting with the world
 People differ from one another
in ways that are relatively
consistent over time and place

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Study of Personality -
Approaches

There are two main approaches to the study of

personality –
1. Trait Approach
2. Eclectic Approach

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Trait Approach
 The trait approach to personality is one of the major
theoretical areas in the study of personality. The trait
theory suggests that individual personalities are
composed broad dispositions. Consider how you would
describe the personality of a close friend. Chances are
that you would list a number of traits, such
as outgoing, kind and even-tempered. A trait can be
thought of as a relatively stable characteristic that
causes individuals to behave in certain ways.

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Trait Approach – Contd.
Unlike many other theories of personality, such as
psychoanalytic or humanistic theories, the trait approach
to personality is focused on differences between
individuals. The combination and interaction of various
traits combine to form a personality that is unique to
each individual. Trait theory is focused on identifying
and measuring these individual personality
characteristics.

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Types of trait theory
 Gordon Allport’s Trait Theory
 Cardinal traits
 Central traits
 Secondary traits
 Raymond Cattell’s Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire
 Eysenck’s Three Dimensions of Personality
 Introversion/Extraversion
 Neuroticism/Emotional Stability
 Psychoticism
 The Five-Factor Theory of Personality
 Extraversion
 Agreeableness
 Conscientiousness
 Neuroticism
 Openness

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Eclectic approach
 The Eclectic Theory of Personality
 The eclectic theorists hold to the fact that no one theory
of personality can encompass each and every person.
The mind is not like a mathematic formula that will react
in a certain way given a certain stimuli. The mind is
much more complex and cannot easily be understood.
Thus we have Theories of personalities instead of the
facts and empirical formulas of personality.

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Eclectic approach – Contd.
 The Eclectic theorist believe in a synergistic personality
theory. Synergism in the case of personality theory, is
the belief that no one theory is entirely correct. It takes
two or more theories to produce what one, by itself,
cannot produce. Since personality theory is not an exact
science it would seem ludicrous to narrow the field to
what one or even two theorist believe to be true.

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Types of Eclectic Theory
 Bob Cave believes that birth order is significant to the
developing personality.
 The Psychosexual and the Psychosocial stages are believed to
be significant to the person's emerging personality. A balance is
sought between the two.
 Love and acceptance are the cornerstone of personality
development. These supersede Maslow's safety needs as
foundational for development.
 Self-Actualization and the Psychospiritual model suggest that in
order to be self-actualized a person must explore their spiritual
nature and fill the void of worship.

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Personality Theories

 Psychoanalytic Approach:
Freudian Psychoanalysis and
Post-Freudian Theories
 Eric Erikson’s theory

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Psychoanalytic Approach
 Developed by Sigmund Freud
 Psychoanalysis is both an approach to
therapy and a theory of personality
 Emphasizes unconscious motivation - the
main causes of behavior lie buried in the
unconscious mind

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The Structure of
Personality
 THE ID — The Demanding Child
 Ruled by the pleasure principle
 THE EGO — The Traffic Cop
 Ruled by the reality principle
 THE SUPEREGO — The Judge
 Ruled by the moral principle

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Psychoanalytic
Divisions of the Mind
 Id - instinctual drives present at birth
 does not distinguish between reality and fantasy
 operates according to the pleasure principle
 Ego - develops out of the id in infancy
 understands reality and logic
 mediator between id and superego
 Superego
 internalization of society’s moral standards
 responsible for guilt

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Defense Mechanisms

 Unconscious mental processes employed

by the ego to reduce anxiety

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Defense Mechanisms

 Repression - keeping anxiety-producing

thoughts out of the conscious mind
 Reaction formation - replacing an
unacceptable wish with its opposite

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Defense Mechanisms

 Displacement - when a drive directed to

one activity by the id is redirected to a
more acceptable activity by the ego
 Sublimation - displacement to activities
that are valued by society

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Defense Mechanisms
 Projection - reducing anxiety by attributing
unacceptable impulses to someone else
 Rationalization - reasoning away anxiety-
producing thoughts
 Regression - retreating to a mode of
behavior characteristic of an earlier stage
of development

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Post-Freudian
Psychodynamic Theories
 Karen Horney’s focus on security
 Object relations theories
 Alfred Adler’s individual psychology
 Erik Erikson’s psychosocial development
 Carl Jung’s collective unconscious

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Erik Erikson: The Father of Psychosocial
Development

“Children love and want to be loved and they very much prefer the joy
of accomplishment to the triumph of hateful failure. Do not mistake a
child for his symptom”
-Erik Erikson
 Who is Erik Erikson?
 Born in Germany on June 15th 1902.
 He was an artist and a teacher in the late 1920s when he
met Anna Freud, an Austrian psychoanalyst. With Anna’s
encouragement, he began to study child psychoanalysis at
the Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute.
 He immigrated to the US in 1933 and taught at Yale and
Harvard University.
 It was at this point in his life that he became interested in
the influence of society and culture on child
development. To satisfy his curiosity, he studied groups
of American Indian Children to help formulate his
theories. Studying these children enabled him to correlate
personality growth with parental and societal values.

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Field of Research
 He studied groups of Aboriginal children to learn about
the influence of society and culture on child
development. From this, he developed a number of
theories, the most famous being his psychosocial
development.
 He believed that humans have to resolve different
conflicts as they progress through each stage of
development in the life cycle.
 Erikson’s theory consists of eight stages of development.
Each stage is characterized by a different conflict that
must be resolved by the individual. If a person is unable
to resolve a conflict at a particular stage, they will be
confront and struggle with it later in life.

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Erikson’s Psychosocial Development
Age Stage Psychosocial Crisis Psychosocial Environmental
(Years) Strength Influence

1 Infancy Trust vs. Mistrust Hope Maternal

2-3 Early childhood Autonomy vs. Shame Willpower Both parents or adult
and Doubt substitutes

4-5 Preschool Initiative vs. Guilt Purpose Parents, family and

friends

6-11 Middle Childhood Industry vs. Inferiority Competence School

12-18 Adolescence Identity vs. Role Fidelity Peers

confusion

18-35 Young adulthood Intimacy vs. Isolation Love Spouse, lover,

friends

35-65 Middle age Generativity vs. Care Family, society

Stagnation

Over 65 Old age Integrity vs. Despair Wisdom All humans

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Erikson’s Contributions
 He made major contributions in the area of child
development by studying groups of Native
American children and developed the concept of
identity crisis.
 He was concerned with the relationship between
society/culture and child development, which he
termed “psychosocial development”.
 This interest led him to develop the Eight Stages
of Development.
 In each stage, the individual encounters a
developmental crisis.
 In order to move on to the next stage, the
individual must resolve the crisis.

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Personality Assessment

The Objective and Projective

Measurement of Personality
 Development of Personality Testing

• Initial attempts to measure personality first emerged at

the turn of the 20th century.
- Theory-driven, not empirically derived,
pyschometric properties (e.g., reliability,
validity) were not established
• World War I ushered along the evolution of personality
tests
- importance of predicting adjustment of new
recruits to the military based on single
dimensions of personality and behavior
• Within two decades following WWI, tests evolved to
measure multiple dimensions of personality

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 Development of Personality Testing

• During the 1930’s and 1940’s personality

testing evolved further and diverged along
two measurement methodologies
- Projective tests
1. theory-driven
2. Designed to probe deeper
dimensions of personality

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 Development of Personality Testing

Empirically derived tests (Objective Measures)

1. measures designed using factor-analysis
2. measures created around pre-determined
criteria (criterion-referenced)

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Objective Personality
Measures
• Objective measures utilize highly
structured response formats
• Consist of unambiguous stimulus items
- Forced choice (e.g., true/false)
- Likert scale ratings
• Result in a quantitative score that can be
compared with normative score data

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 Objective Personality
Measures

• The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (mmpi)

1. The original MMPI inventory was published in

1953 by Starke Hathaway and J.C. McKinley
2. Designed to assess and diagnose mental
disorders in University of Minnesota Hospitals
- became one of the most widely distributed
and used measure of psychopathology both
domestically and internationally

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MMPI
3. Scale development: items for each scale were
chosen based on ability to statistically
discriminate between clinical subgroups &
control groups

4. Efforts to revise the inventory spanned a

decade or so; were structured to address
psychometric & practical flaws (e.g., need for
improved normative sample, need to update
items deemed inappropriate/outdated given
contemporary culture, need to devise a
version uniquely suited to assessing
adolescent population)

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MMPI
5. In 1989 development of the MMPI-2 was
completed (Bucher et al.) incorporating an
updated 2,600-person stratified normative
sample

6. This was shortly followed by the production of

the MMPI-A measure for adolescents

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MMPI

7. Contains 10 scales yielding complex profile

analyses that integrate the following clinical
dimension of pathology and personality:
Hypochondriasis, Depression, Hysteria,
Psychopathic Deviate, Masculinity-Femininity,
Paranoia, Psychasthenia, Schizophrenia,
Hypomania, and Social Introversion
• Scaled scores yield 2 or 3-point code type
descriptors that provide information regarding
symptoms/behaviors, personality characteristics,
and predictions/dispositions for the above-
mentioned profiles
• Contains built-in lie scales to assess response
patterns that pose a threat to internal validity
(e.g., defensive responding, exaggerated
responding, random responding)

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MMPI

8. Allows for a variety of administration and

scoring methods (e.g., computerized
administration, abbreviated forms, computer
scoring, mail-in scoring)

9. Amenable to the development and use of

coding indices that allow for specialized
interpretation of clusters of selected scales
(e.g., Goldberg Index, Megargee Classification
System for Criminal Offenders, The Welsh
Code, the Harris-Lingoes Content
Interpretation Approach)

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1. I love/loved my mother.
2. I like to wear brown shoes.
3. Everything tastes the same.
4. I often feel as if there is a tight band around
my head.
5. I like to read mechanics magazines.
6. Rules should be followed “to the letter of
the law.”
7. I would certainly enjoy beating criminals at
their own game.

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 THE ICE CREAM TEST

based on the mmpi…

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream from this
list of possible flavors?

1. Mint chip
2. Vanilla
3. Butter pecan
4. Coffee
5. Rocky Road
6. Strawberry

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Face validity – items make sense,
given what the test measures.

The MMPI and ice cream test have

low face validity because the items are
empirically derived, not rationally derived.

Empirically derived - subgroups of people are

given a test, only the items that differentiate
the groups are retained
for the final version.
Rationally derived – items with face validity
are chosen by the authors of the test.

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Objective Personality
Measures
• Sixteen Personality Factors Test
1. Raymond Cattell (1949, 1982)
2. Unique development: Cattell and colleagues surveyed
all English language words descriptive of personality
3. Followed up with factor analyses, yielding 16 first-
order factors of personality and four second-order
factors
4. Multiple forms, can be used as a component of the
Clinical Analysis Questionnaire to simultaneously
assess personality and pathology
5. 187 items rated on a 3-point Likert scale
6. Psychometric properties: large, stratified normative
sample, excellent reliability (internal consistency) and
validity (construct)

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Objective Personality
Measures

Also the NEO-PI Based on five factor model

Lew goldberg’s BIG FIVE adjective checklists -

Based on the whorfian hypothesis: that the values of any
society are determined by its lexicon. the most
important constructs in our society are those that
have the highest numbers of words to describe them.
- native american languages - 60 different words for green
- over 1000 shades of red tile in the back of the vatican
stained glass/mosaic school!
the most important personality aspects are encoded into
the lexicon.

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Objective Personality
Measures
• California Psychological Inventory (1987)
1. 462 true/false items grouped into 20 scales
2. Target population: adolescents and adults
3. Scores are used to interpret an examinee’s position
within a three-dimensional construct of personality
(interpersonal orientation, normative perspective,
and level of realization)
4. Very little psychometric data exists to validate this
measure, but recent factor analyses suggest that
the 20 scales of the CPI map onto four major
personality dimensions (i.e. extraversion, control,
flexibility, and consensuality)

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 Projective Measures of
Personality

• Utilize ambiguous, unstructured or semi-structured stimuli

(e.g., inkblots) to allow the examinee to project covert
personality characteristics into responses on test items
• Overall, little to no psychometric data have been
established on projective measures
- Despite a lack of empirical support, these measures
have provided the impetus for more in-depth theoretical
and applied research in the area of personality
- Can provide important qualitative information and
outcomes to be used in clinical practice with individual
clients

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 Projective Measures of
Personality
• Rorschach Inkblot Test
1. Developed by Hermann Rorschach, 1921
2. Consists of 5 black and white symmetrical
inkblots, 2 red and grey inkblots, and 3
multicolored inkblots
3. Examinees are presented each card and
asked to express and describe everything
they see in the images they are shown
4. Responses are coded and compared with
diagnostic patterns (e.g., emotionality,
movement, anxiety, etc.) for clinical
subgroups

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Projective Measures of
Personality
• Rorschach Inkblot Test (continued)
5. Psychometric properties: attempts have
been made to improve the psychometric
properties of this measure
• Holtzman technique: Utilizes 45 inkblots,
demonstrates moderate inter-scorer
reliability and predictive validity
• Exner scoring system: Standardized
scoring and interpretive system, has
increased the promise of improved
reliability and validity

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Rorschach Test

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Projective Measures of
Personality
• Thematic Apperception Test
- Developed by Henry Murray, 1943
- Examinees are presented a series of picture
cards (usually depicting human action and/or
interaction) and are asked to tell a brief story
about each card
- Responses are coded along dimensions
measuring constructs such as needs, emotions,
conflicts, attitudes, etc.
- Psychometric properties: little to no data exist
supporting the reliability or validity of this
measure

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Thematic Apperception Test

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 Projective Measures of
Personality (example)
• Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank
- Developed by Julian Rotter et al., 1947 and 1950
- Derived from the work of Ebbinghaus that had been
completed in the early 20th century
- Originally designed for use in the military, later
adapted for use with college students and adults
- Unique application: unlike the Rorschach and TAT,
this quasi-empirical measure was intended only to
screen for emotional maladjustment
- Semi-structured measure of 40 items (sentence
stems) that can be administered individually or in a
group setting
- Yields a total score that captures emotional
adjustment and the content of individual responses
for more subjective clinical interpretation

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Projective Measures of
Personality (example)
• Draw-A-Person Test
1. Karen Machover, 1949
2. Examinees are asked to draw two figures, which
are thought to represent projections of the
examinee’s impulses, desires, anxieties, etc.
• The first task requires the examinee to draw a
figure
• The second task requires the examinee to draw
a figure of the opposite sex
3. The examiner records key aspects of each drawing (e.g.,
order of body parts drawn, prominence or absence of
features, expression, etc.)
4. Psychometric properties: newer scoring procedures have
established preliminary data on reliability, but little to no
empirical evidence exists to validate this measure

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 Psychometrics of
Assessment
• Stratified, representative normative/norming samples
• Reliability: Consistency of assessement results
- internal consistency of test items
- Split-half
- Test-retest reliability
- Alternate forms
• Validity: Ability to appropriately draw conclusions or
generalize from results
- Construct validity
- Content validity
- Concurrent validity
- Predictive validity
- Discriminative validity

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