PERSONALITY

DEVELOPMENT
 PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT

The behaviors that make people different

from one another are those behaviors that
psychologists consider to be at the root of
personality.
Personality is what makes a person a unique
person and it is recognizable soon after
birth.
 Personality

Personality: Refers to the relatively enduring

characteristics that differentiate one person from
another and that lead people to act in a consistent
and predictable manner, both in different
situations and over extended periods of time.
It is a distinctive and relatively stable pattern of
behaviors, thoughts, motives, and emotions that
characterizes an individual.
 Personality

Personality development is the development of the

organised pattern of behaviours and attitudes that
makes a person distinctive.
 This development occurs due to ongoing interaction
of temperament, character and environment.
 Personality theory

Psychoanalytic: Unconscious
motivations.
Trait: Specific dimensions of personality.
Humanistic: Inner capacity for growth.
Social-Cognitive: Influence of
environment.
 Sigmund Freud pioneered personality psychology!

What is the structure and development of personality,

according to Sigmund Freud and his successors
(i.e.,psychoanalysts)?
According to psychoanalysts, much of behaviour is
caused by parts of personality which are found in the
unconscious and of which we are unaware.
Freud’s 3 levels of awareness/consciousness:
 the conscious mind;
 the preconscious mind; and
 the unconscious mind.
 Psychoanalysis:
Freud’s Theory of Personality
Three levels of consciousness:
 Conscious mind:
mind
things we are
focusing on.
 Preconscious mind:
mind
things are are not
currently aware of
but which we could
focus on.
 Unconscious mind:
mind
that which we are
unaware of.
 Psychoanalysis:
Freud’s Theory of Personality
Freud’s theory suggest that personality is
composed of the id,
id the ego,
ego and the superego.
superego
id: the unorganized, inborn part of personality
whose purpose is to immediately reduce
tensions relating to hunger, sex, aggression,
and other primitive impulses.
ego: restrains instinctual energy in order to
maintain the safety of the individual and to
help the person to be a member of society.
superego: the rights and wrongs of society and
consists of the conscience and the ego-ideal.
 Freud and Personality Structure
Id - energy constantly striving to satisfy basic drives
Pleasure Principle

Ego - seeks to gratify the Id in realistic ways

Reality Principle
Super
Ego
Ego Super Ego
- voice of conscience
that focuses on how
Id we ought to behave
 Freud’s Theory:
“the ID”
The id uses the most primitive of thinking process.
The id operates on the Pleasure Principle.
Principle
 Seeks pleasure and avoids pain: “I want what I want NOW!”
NOW!
The id operates completely at an unconscious level.
 No direct contact with reality.
The id has 2 major instincts:
 Eros:
Eros life instinct = motivates people to focus on pleasure-
seeking tendencies (e.g., sexual urges).
 Thanatos:
Thanatos death instinct = motivates people to use aggressive
urges to destroy.
 Freud’s Theory:
“the Ego”

The ego consists of a conscious faculty for

perceiving and dealing intelligently with
reality.
The ego acts as a mediator between the id
and the superego.
The ego is partly conscious.
Deals with the demands of reality.
Makes rational decisions.
 Freud’s Theory:
“the Ego”

The ego serves the ID:

The rational part of personality that maintains
contact with reality.
 Governed by ‘Reality Principle’
 “What consequences are there to my behavior?”
The ego is the Executive of the personality
 The ego controls higher mental processes.
 Reasoning, problem solving.
 The ego uses these higher mental processes to help satisfy the urges
of the ID.
 Freud’s Theory:
“the Superego”

Superego:
Superego the moral part of personality.
 Internalized rules of parents and society.

Superego consists of two parts:

Conscience:
Conscience “notions of right/wrong.”
Ego Ideal:
Ideal “how we ideally like to be.”
Superego: constrains us from gratifying every impulse
(e.g., murder) because they are immoral, and not
because we might get caught.
Superego partly conscious, partly
Superego:
unconscious.
 Freud: superego, id, and ego

According to Freud, an
individual’s feelings, thoughts, and
behaviors are the result of the
interaction of the id, the
superego, and the ego. ego
 Freud’s Theory of Personality:

The id, the ego, and the superego are

continually in conflict with one another.
This conflict generates anxiety.
anxiety
If the ego did not effectively handle the
resulting anxiety, people would be so
overwhelmed with anxiety that they would not
be able to carry on with the tasks of everyday
living.
The ego tries to control anxiety (i.e., to reduce
anxiety) through the use of ego defense
mechanisms.
mechanisms
 Ego Defense Mechanisms
Definition:
Definition An defense mechanism is a psychology
tendency that the ego uses to help prevent people from
becoming overwhelmed by any conflict (and resulting
anxiety) among the id, the ego, and the superego.
Defense mechanisms operate at an unconscious
level:
level
 We are not aware of them during the time that we are
actually using them.
 However, we may later become aware of their
previous operation and use.
 Freud’s Theory:
Defense Mechanisms
Repression:
Repression pushing unacceptable and anxiety-
producing thoughts into the unconscious;
involves intentional forgetting but not
consciously done; repressed material can be
memories or unacceptable impulses.
 A rape victim cannot recall the details of the attack.
Regression:
Regression acting in ways characteristic of
earlier life stages/earlier stage of personality.
 A young adult, anxious on a trip to his parents/ home, sits
in the corner reading comic books, as he often did in grade
school.
 Freud’s Theory:
Defense Mechanisms
Reaction formation:
formation replacing an anxiety-
producing feeling with its exact opposite,
typically going overboard; repressed thoughts
appear as mirror opposites.
 A man who is anxious about his interest in gay men begins
dating women several times a week.
Rationalization: creating false but believable
excuses to justify inappropriate behavior; real
motive for behavior is not accepted by ego.
 A student cheats on an exam, explaining that cheating is
legitimate on an unfair examination.
 Freud’s Theory:
Defense Mechanisms
Denial:
Denial claiming and believing that something
which is actually true is false.
 A person disbelieves that she is age, asserting that “I
am not getting older.”
Displacement:
Displacement redirecting emotional feelings
(e.g., anger) to a substitute target; involves
directing unacceptable impulses onto a less
threatening object/person.
 A husband, angry at the way his boss treated him,
screams at his children.
 Instead of telling your professor what you really
think of her, you tailgate and harass a slow driver on
your way home from school.
 Freud’s Theory:
Defense Mechanisms
Projection:
Projection attributing one’s own unacceptable
feelings or beliefs to others; perceiving the
external world in terms of one’s own personal
conflicts.
 An employee at a store, tempted to steal some
merchandise, suspects that other employees are stealing.
Sublimation:
Sublimation substitute socially acceptable
behavior for unacceptable impulses.
 Playing video games instead of getting in a fight.
 Freud:
Stages of Personality Development

Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality

suggests that personality develops through a
series of stages,
stages each of which is associated
with a major biological function.
 .

More specifically, Freud theorized that as

people age, they pass through several
systematic stages of psychosexual
development in their personality.
 Psychosexual Stages of Development are
Source of Unconscious Conflicts.
The stages of personality development involve
critical events that occur in every child’s life.
At each level, there is a conflict between pleasure
and reality.
reality
 The resolution of this conflict determines
personality.
At any stage, “a fixation” can occur:
occur
 If needs are either under-gratified or over-gratified,
we become fixated at a particular stage.
stage
Each stage also involves an erogenous zone.
zone
 Parts of the body that involve sexual pleasure.
 Freud and Personality Development
“personality
“personality forms
forms during
during the
the first
first few
few years
years of
of life,
life,
rooted
rooted in
in unresolved
unresolved conflicts
conflicts of of early
early childhood”
childhood”

Psychosexual Stages
Oral (0-18 mos) - centered on the mouth
Anal (18-36 mos) - focus on bowel/bladder elim.
Phallic (3-6 yrs) - focus on genitals/“Oedipus Complex”
(Identification & Gender Identity)
Latency (6-puberty) - sexuality is dormant
Genital (puberty on) - sexual feelings toward others

Strong conflict can fixate an individual at Stages 1,2 or 3

Freud’s Stages of Personality Development:
 Oral stage:
stage the oral state is the first period, occurring
during the first year of life.
 Anal stage:
stage next comes the anal stage, lasting from
approximately age 1 to age 3.
 Phallic stage:
stage the phallic stages follows, with interest
focusing on the genitals.
 Latency period:
period then follows the latency period lasting
until puberty.
 Genital stage:
stage after puberty, people move into the
genital stage, a period of mature sexuality.
 (1) Oral stage of development:

Time period: Birth to 18 months:

 Erogenous zone is mouth.
mouth
 Gratification through sucking and swallowing.
Oral fixation has two possible outcomes.
 Oral receptive personality:
personality
 Preoccupied with eating/drinking.
 Reduce tension through oral activity.
 eating, drinking, smoking, biting nails
 Passive and needy; sensitive to rejection.
 Oral aggressive personality:
personality
 Hostile and verbally abusive to others.
 (2) Anal stage of development:

Time period: 1 1/2 to 3 years of age.

Erogenous zone is the anus.
Conflict surrounds toilet training.
Anal fixation has two possible outcomes.
 Anal retentive personality.
personality
 Stingy, compulsive orderliness,
stubborn, perfectionistic.
 Anal expulsive personality.
personality
 Lack of self control, messy, careless.
 (3) Phallic stage of development:
 Time period: 3 to 6 years.
 Erogenous zone is the genitals: self-stimulation of the
genitals produces pleasure.
 At age 5 or 6, near the end of the phallic stage, children
experience the Oedipal conflict (boys)/the Electra
conflict (girls)--a process through which they learn to
identify with the same gender parent by acting as much
like that parent as possible.
 Oedipus complex (boys) vs Electra complex (girls)
 Child is sexually attracted to the other sex parent and wishes
to replace the same sex parent.
 (3) Phallic stage of development:

Oedipus complex (little boys):

Castration anxiety:
Son believes father knows about his
desire for mom.
Fears dad will castrate him.
Represses his desire and defensively
identifies with dad.
 (3) Phallic stage (continued):

Electra complex (little girls):

Penis envy:
 Daughter is initially attached to mom.
 Shift of attachment occurs when she realizes she lacks a
penis.
 She desires dad whom she sees as a means to obtain a
penis substitute (a child).
child)
 Represses her desire for dad.
 incorporates the values of her mother
 accepts her inherent “inferiority” in society
 (4) Latency Period:

During the latency period, little girls and little boys

try to socialize only with members of their own
gender.
Freud posits that children do this so as to help
minimize the awareness of “sexuality.”
Thus, they continue the process of sexual repression
that began in the previous stage (for those who
successfully made it through the Oedipal
Complex/Electra Complex).
 (5) Genital Stage:

When adolescence begin puberty, they enter the 5th

stage of psychosexual development.
They develop secondary sexual characteristics (e.g.,
pubic hair).
The onset of the physical sexual characteristics “re-
awakens” people sexual urges, and thus they are no
longer able to successfully repress their sexual
desires, impulses, and urges.
They begin searching for a marital mate, with whom
they can share sex and intimacy.
 Summary of Freud (on personality):

Freud’s psychoanalytic theory has provoked a number of

criticisms.
• a lack of supportive scientific data;
• the theory’s inadequacy in making predictions; and
• its limitations owing to the restricted population on
which it is based.
Still, the theory remains popular.
• For instance, the neo-Freudian psychoanalytic
theorists built upon Freud’s work, although they
placed greater emphasis on the role of the ego and
paid greater attention to social factors in determining
behavior.
 Summary: Freud and Personality

Freud’s Ideas as Scientific Theory

Theories must explain observations
and offer testable hypotheses

Few Objective Observations Few Hypotheses

(Freud’s theories based on his recollections &

interpretations of patients’ free associations,
dreams & slips o’ the tongue)

Does Not PREDICT Behavior or Traits

 4 Types of Personality Theories:

(1). Psychodynamic approaches

to personality.
(2). Humanistic approaches
to personality.
(3). Trait approaches to personality.
(4). Social Cognitive approaches
to personality.
 (1) Psychodynamic Personality Theories:

Source of information about personality:

personality
• Obtained from expert analyst from people in therapy.
Cause of behavior, thoughts, and feelings:
feelings
• unconscious internal conflict associated with
childhood experiences.
• Also, unconscious conflicts between pleasure-seeking
impulses and social restraints.
Outlook on humans:
humans
• negative.
Comprehensiveness of theory:
theory
• very comprehensive.
 Psychodynamic (Psychoanalytic) Theories:

Many are called Neo-Freudians.

Neo-Freudians
All place less emphasis on sex.
Carl Jung:
Jung
Personal vs. Collective Unconscious.
Unconscious
Balance between introversion and extroversion.
extroversion
Alfred Adler:
Adler
Striving for superiority = motivation to master
environment.
Notion of an Inferiority Complex.
Complex
Karen Horney:
Horney
Personality is Cultural rather than biological.
biological
 (2) Humanistic Personality Theories:
Source of information about personality:
personality
• obtained from self-reports from the general
population and people in therapy.
Cause of behavior, thoughts, and feelings:
feelings
• self concepts,
• self-actualizing tendencies.
• conscious feelings about oneself (based on one’s
previous experiences).
Outlook on humans:
humans
• positive.
Comprehensiveness of theory:
theory
• fairly comprehensive.
 The Humanistic Perspective

Maslow’s Roger’s
Self-Actualizing Person-Centered
Person Perspective

“Healthy” rather than “Sick”

Individual as greater than the sum of test scores
 Humanistic Personality Theories:
Maslow and Rogers
Humanistic approach (Third Force):
 Rejected Freud’s pessimistic view of personality.
 Rejected Behaviorist’s mechanistic view.
 More optimistic/positive about human nature.
 Humans are free and basically good.
 Humans are inner-directed.
 Everyone has the potential for healthy growth.
 Health growth involves Self actualization:
 “Be all you can be.”
 Given the right environmental conditions,
we can reach our full potential.
Roger’s Person-Centered Perspective
People are basically good
with actualizing tendencies.

Given the right environmental

conditions, we will develop
to our full potentials

Genuineness, Acceptance, Empathy

Self Concept:
Concept central feature
of personality (+ or -)
 Humanistic Personality Theories:
Carl Rogers
Self-concept:
Self-concept our image or perception of ourselves (Real
Self versus Ideal Self).
Self)
We have a need for positive regard/
regard approval from others.
 Conditions of worth or conditional positive regard.
 The conditions under which other people will
approve of us.
 We change our behavior to obtain approval.
 What we need is: Unconditional positive regard.
regard
Anxiety signifies that we are not being true to our ideal self.
Well-adjusted persons: self-concept & experience.
Poorly adjusted person: self-concept & experience.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of human motives: one must
satisfy lower needs before one satisfies higher needs.
 Humanistic Personality Theories:
Abraham Maslow
Self-actualization is the culmination of
a lifetime of inner-directed growth and
improvement:
• Challenging ourselves to the fullest.
• Can you identify a self-actualized individual?
• Characteristics of the self-actualized person:
person
 Creative and open to new experiences.
 Committed to a cause or a higher goal.
 Trusting and caring of others, yet not dependent.
 Have the courage to act on their convictions.
 (3) Trait Personality Theories:
Source of information about personality:
personality
• obtained from observation of behavior and
questionnaire responses from the general population
as well as from people in therapy.
Cause of behavior, thoughts, and feelings:
feelings
• stable internal characteristics;
• some emphasize genetic basis.
Outlook on humans:
humans
• neutral - neither positive nor negative.
Comprehensiveness of theory:
theory
• not very comprehensive.
 (3) Trait Personality Theories (cont):

Trait approaches have tried to identify

the most basic and relatively enduring
dimensions along which people differ from
one another--dimensions known as traits.

How many trait dimensions are there?

How can we measure these trait dimensions?
Where do these trait dimensions originate?
 (3) Trait Personality Theories (cont):
Allport
Allport:
Allport Most important personality traits are
those that reflect our values.
Allport suggested that there are 3 kinds of
traits:
• cardinal:
cardinal a single personality trait that directs most of a
person’s activities (e.g., greed, lust, kindness).
• central:
central a set of major characteristics that make up the
core of a person’s personality.
• secondary:
secondary less important personality traits that do not
affect behavior as much as central and cardinal traits do.
 (3) Trait Personality Theories (cont):
Cattell’s Theory of Personality:
Cattell’s Trait Theory:
 Distinguished 3 types of traits:
 Dynamic.
 Ability.
 Temperament.
Also:
 Surface Traits: Less important to personality.
 Source Traits: More important basic underlying
traits.
Cattell identified 16 basic traits.
• He developed the 16PF to measure these traits.
 (3) Trait Personality Theories (cont):
Recently personality theorists have begun to
converge on the view that there are 5 basic
personality dimensions:
 1: emotional stability versus neuroticism:
 calm, secure, self-satisfied VS anxious, insecure, self-pitying.

 2: extraversion versus introversion:

 sociable, fun-loving, affectionate VS retiring, sober, reserved.

 3: openness versus close-mindedness:

 imaginative, independent VS practical, conforming.

 4: agreeableness versus disagreeableness:

 kind, trusting, helpful VS ruthless, suspicious, uncooperative.

 5: conscientiousness versus undependable:

 organized, careful, disciplined VS disorganized, careless,
impulsive.
 Five Factor Model of Traits
The Big Five
• Calm/Anxious
Emotional Stability
• Secure/Insecure

• Sociable/Retiring
Extraversion
• Fun Loving/Sober

• Imaginative/Practical
Openness
• Independent/Conforming
• Soft-Hearted/Ruthless
Agreeableness
• Trusting/Suspicious
• Organized/Disorganized
Conscientiousness
• Careful/Careless
 Trait Theories of Personality:
Summary
Traits:
Traits
Characteristics or typical ways of acting:
 Consistency:
across situations, over time.

 Distinctiveness:
each personality is unique.
Explain why individuals behave in certain ways.
How many traits are there, and what are they?
Not easy to answer; little consensus.
 Assessing Personality Traits
How can we assess traits?
(aim to simplify a person’s behavior patterns)

Personality Inventories
MMPI:
• most widely used personality inventory.
• assess psychological disorders
(not normal traits).
• empirically derived - test items selected based
upon how well they discriminate between
groups of traits.
 Do traits exist?
The Trait-Situation Debate
Walter Mischel (1968) argued that:
 Behavior is not consistent across time or situation.
 If no consistency, not much point in arguing for “personality.”
 Thus, “personality” is an illusion.
Situationism:
 Mischel believed that behavior is influenced more by the
situation than any internal “trait.”
Person x situation interactionism:
Both (a) internal traits and (b) the situation we are in are
important determinants of behavior.
 (4) Social-Cognitive (Learning) Approaches to
Personality Theories:

Source of information about personality:

personality
Obtained from experiments, observations of
behavior, and questionnaire responses from the
general population.
Cause of behavior, thoughts, and feelings:
feelings
•reciprocalinfluence between people (cognitions and
behavior) and their environmental situations, colored
by their perceptions of control.
Outlook on humans:
humans
•neutral: neither positive nor negative.
Comprehensiveness of theory:
theory
•not very comprehensive.
Social-Cognitive-Learning Perspective

Behavior learned through

conditioning and observation

What we think about our situation

affects our behavior

Interaction of
Environment and Intellect
 Social-Cognitive Personality Theories:
Social Learning Theory

Bandura: Theoretical origins in behaviorism.

Emphasizes the role of learning in personality.
 Classical Conditioning.
 Operant Conditioning .
 Modeling.
Instead of studying what’s going on inside the person
(traits), study what is going on outside the person
(environment).
How does the environment shape personality?
 Social-Cognitive Personality Theories:
Social Learning Theory
Bandura also emphasized the importance of
cognition in personality development.
People develop a sense of self-efficacy:
self-efficacy
 Our beliefs about our ability to achieve goals.
 Individuals with higher self-efficacy:
 accept greater challenges.
 try harder to meet challenges.
Bandura also discusses the notion of Reciprocal
Determinism:
Determinism
 The individual and the environment continually influence
one another.
Social-Cognitive Personality Theories:
Reciprocal Determination

Personal/
Cognitive
Factors

Environment
Behavior
Factors

Internal World + External World = Us

Social-Cognitive Personality Theories:
Reciprocal Determination
 Social-Cognitive Personality Theories:
Personal Control

Internal Locus of Control:

You pretty much control your own destiny

External Locus of Control:

Luck, fate and/or powerful others control your destiny.

Methods of Study:
• Correlate feelings of control with behavior.
• Experiment by raising/lowering people’s sense of
control and noting the consequences and effects.
 Social-Cognitive Personality Theories:
Outcomes of Personal Control

Learned Helplessness:
Uncontrollable Perceived Generalized
bad events lack of control helpless behavior

Important Issues:
• Nursing Homes
• Prisons
•Colleges
Comparison of Personality Theories
 Personality Assessment
Personality assessment involves
the techniques for systematically
gathering information about a person
in order to understand and predict
behavior.
Goal of personality assessment:
assessment
to obtain reliable, valid measures of
individual differences that will permit
the accurate prediction of behavior.
 How do we measure “Personality”?

(1) Interview:
Interview
 Ask the person about themselves.
 Obtain information that reveals personality.
(2) Behavioral Observation:
Observation
 Watch the individual’s behavior in an actual or simulated
situation.
Personality Tests:
Tests
 (3) Objective tests (questionnaire tests).
 (4) Projective tests.
 How do we measure personality?
(2) Behavioral assessment

Behavioral assessment is
based on the principles of learning
theory.
Behavioral assessment
employs direct measurement of
behavior to determine the
characteristics related to
personality.
 How do we measure personality?
(3) Objective Test Assessment

Objective personality tests (self-report

questionnaires) present the test taker with a
number of specific items to which she is
asked to respond, either on paper or on a
computer screen.
Self-report measures ask people about a
sample range of their behaviors.
These reports are used to infer the presence
of particular personality characteristics.
 How do we measure personality?
(3) Objective Test Assessment

Examples of objective personality measures:

the MMPI (the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality
Inventory).
 the 16 PF (the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire).
 the NEO-PI (the NEO Personality Inventory).

The most commonly used self-report

measure is the Minnesota Multiphasic
Personality Inventory (MMPI-2),
(MMPI-2) designed to
differentiate people with specific sorts of
psychological difficulties from normal
individuals.
 Minnesota Multiphasic Personality
Inventory (MMPI-2)
Most widely used personality instrument.
 Used in clinical and employment settings.
 MMPI-2 Has several different scales (multiphasic).
MMPI sample items:
 ‘I usually feel that life is worthwhile and interesting’ (FALSE)
= Depression.
 ‘I seem to hear things that other people can’t hear’ (TRUE) =
Schizophrenia.
Measures aspects of personality that, if extreme, suggest
a problem:
 Extreme suspiciousness may indicate paranoia.
 How do we measure personality?
(4) Projective Test Assessment

A projective personality test is one in which the

subject is given an ambiguous stimulus and asked to
respond spontaneously.
 pictures or inkblots.
 No clear answer.
The ambiguous stimulus allows test takers to
project their own needs, dreams, feelings into
their response.
The observer’s responses to the stimulus are
then used to infer information about the
observer’s personality.
 How do we measure personality?
(4) Projective Test Assessment (continued)

All projective tests are based on the projective

hypothesis which states that the individual's
response to an ambiguous stimulus represents a
projection of his or her own inner, often
unconscious, feelings and needs.
Indirect method of personality assessment:
Based on psychoanalytic assumptions:
assumptions
 Personality is mostly unconscious.
 People are unaware of contents of unconscious.
 How do we measure personality?
(4) Projective Test Assessment (continued):

The 2 most frequently used

projective tests are:
• the Rorschach:
Rorschach reactions to
inkblots are employed to classify
personality types.
• the Thematic Apperception Test
(TAT):
(TAT) stories about ambiguous
pictures are used to draw
inferences about the storyteller’s
personality.
 Rorschach Inkblot Test
Most popular projective technique.
Respond to inkblot: “What could this be?”
THE END