Personality Theories

What is Personality?
 People differ from  People seem to show some
consistency in behavior
each other in

meaningful ways

Personality is defined as distinctive and

relatively enduring ways of thinking,
feeling, and acting
Personality

 Personality refers to a person’s

unique and relatively stable pattern
of thoughts, feelings, and actions
 Personality is an interaction
between biology and environment
 Genetic studies suggest heritability of personality
 Other studies suggest learned components of personality
PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY

 Constructing a coherent picture of

the INDIVIDUAL and his or her major
psychological processes
 Investigating individual differences -
how people are unique
 Investigating HUMAN NATURE - how
people are alike
Definition

“Personality is the dynamic organization

within the individual of those
psychophysical system that determines
his unique adjustment to the
environment”. ALLPORT
Philosophical assumptions

  Freedom versus Determinism

 Heredity versus Environment 
 Active versus Reactive
 Uniqueness versus Universality
 Optimistic versus Pessimistic
Five Theories of Personality
1. Trait

2. Psychoanalytic

3. Behaviorist

4. Humanistic

5. Socio-Cognitive
 Personality Traits
 Traits are relatively stable and consistent
personal characteristics
 Trait personality theories suggest that a
person can be described on the basis of
some number of personality traits
 Allport identified some 4,500 traits
 Cattel used factor analysis to identify 30-35
basic traits

Allport
 The First Trait Theory
UNSTABLE
Moody Touchy
Anxious Restless  Two Factor Trait
Rigid
Sober
Aggressive
Excitable Theory of
Pessimistic
Reserved
Changeable
Impulsive
Personality
Unsociable Optimistic
Quiet Active
melancholic choleric
INTROVERTED EXTRAVERTED
Passive phlegmatic sanguine
Sociable
Careful Outgoing
Thoughtful Talkative
Peaceful Responsive
Controlled Easygoing
Reliable Lively
Even-tempered Carefree
Calm Leadership
STABLE
 CARDINAL TRAIT
 Central Traits
 Secondary Traits
EYSENCK’S THEORY

 Introversion/Extraversion
 Neuroticism/Emotional Stability:
 Psychoticism:
“BIG FIVE” THEORY
 LEWIS GOLDBERG
O- OPENNESS
C- CONSCIOUSNESS
E - EXTRAVERSION

A- AGREEABLENESS
N- NEUROTICISM
Overview of the Big “5”
 Evaluating Trait Theory
 Trait theory, especially the Big 5 model, is
able to describe personality
 Cross-cultural human studies find good
agreement for the Big 5 model in many cultures
 Appear to be highly correlated not only in
adulthood, but also in childhood and even late
preschoolers
 Three dimensions (extraversion, neuroticism and
agreeableness) have cross-species generality
Problems with trait theory include:
 Lack of explanation as to WHY traits
develop
 Issue of explaining transient versus long-
lasting traits
 Psychoanalytic Theory
 SIGMUND FREUD
 Attempts to explain personality on the basis of
unconscious mental forces
 Levels of consciousness: We are unaware of
some aspects of our mental states
 multiple structures-- some of which are
unconscious
 Anxiety--- our personality develops defense
mechanisms to protect against anxiety
 Freudian Theory

 Levels of consciousness
 Conscious
 Preconscious
 Unconscious
Structures of Personality
 Id
 Ego
 Superego
 Conscience
 Ego ideals
 ANXIETY
 REALISTIC

 MORAL

 NEUROTIC

 The ego deals with the problem through:

 coping strategies

 defense mechanisms
 Psycho sexual stages

ORAL STAGE
UP TO 18 MONTHS PLEASURE FROM MOUTH

ANAL STAGE
18 MONTH- 2/3 YR ANUS

PHALLIC STAGE
3-7 YR GENITLIA
 LATENT STAGE
7-PUBERTY FOCUS ON LEARNING

GENITAL STAGE
BEGINS AT PUBERTY RESURGENCE OF SEX DRIVE
Psychoanalytic
Neo-Freudian
 Alfred Adler

 Humans are motivated by social interest

 Takes social context into account
• First Born
• Second Born
• Youngest
• Only Child
Psychoanalytic
Neo-Freudian

 Carl Jung
A collective unconscious is
represented by universal archetypes
Two forms of unconscious mind
Personal unconscious
Collective unconscious
Behaviorist Theories

  B. F. Skinner

 EXTERNAL STIMULI

 INTERACTION

 REINFORCEMENT

 3 TERM CONTINGENCY MODEL

STIMULUS– RESPONSE- CONSEQUENCE

Humanistic Theory

 Reject psychoanalytic notions

Each person as basically good
people carry a perception of themselves
and of the world
The goal for a humanist is to
develop/promote a positive self-concept
Humanistic Perspectives
 Carl Rogers
Self-consistency
Congruence
Inconsistency evokes anxiety and threat
People with low self-esteem generally have
poor congruence between their self-
concepts and life experiences.
The Basic ideas

 Focus on the here and now

 Humanistic theory is reality based

 The individual, posses an inherent worth. 

 The goal of life should always be to achieve personal growth and

understanding. ( self knowledge and improvement)
Humanistic Perspectives
 Abraham Maslow emphasized the
basic goodness of human nature
and a natural tendency toward
self-actualization.
Personality assessment
 Interviews
 Questionnaires
 Rating scale
 Projective Techniques
Assessing Traits: An Example
 Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

 the most widely researched and clinically used of all

personality tests

 developed to identify emotional disorders

 MMPI: examples
“Nothing in the newspaper
interests me except the comics.”

“I get angry sometimes.”

 Assessing the Unconscious
Projective Tests
 Used to assess personality (e.g., Rorschach
or TAT tests)
 Ambiguous stimuli
Assessing the Unconscious --
Rorschach

Rorschach Inkblot
Test

Rorschach
Assessing the Unconscious--
Rorschach
Assessing the Unconscious--TAT
FACINATING FACTS ABOUT
PERSONALITY
 Birth Order Can Influence Your Personality

 Your Personality Is Relatively Stable throughout

Life

 Personality Traits Are Linked to Certain Illnesses

 Animals Have Distinctive Personalities

 Current Research Suggests that there are Five

Core Personality Traits

 Personality Influences Personal Preferences

 People Can Accurately Judge Your Personality
Based on Your Facebook Profile.

 Numerous Factors Can Contribute to Personality

Disorders

 Cardinal Traits Are Rare

 Your Pet May Reveal Information About Your

Personality