Self and Personality

Unit - 2 Psychology
 CONTENTS

Self Personality Theories of Assessment of

Personality Personality
 Self and Personality

Facts that Matter

• Self and personality refer to the characteristic ways in which we define our existence. They also
refer to the ways in which our experiences are organised and show up in our behaviour.
• We also know that different people behave in different ways in a given situation, but the behaviour of a
particular person from one situation to another generally remains fairly stable. Such a relatively
stable pattern of behaviour represents the“personality” of that person.
• Thus,different persons seem to possess different personalities. These personalities are reflected in
the diverse behaviour of persons.
• Both these concepts, i.e. self and personality are intimately related.
• Self, in fact,lies at the core of personality.

• This chapter will introduce you to some basic aspects of self and personality. You will also learn some
important theoretical approaches to self and personality,and certain methods of personality
assessment.
01
Self
 Concept of Self

SELF

A newly born childhas The structure of self is

no idea of its self. As modifiable in the light of our
a child grows older, own experiences and the
the idea of self experiences we have of other
emerges and its Parents, friends,teachers and other significant
persons playa vital role in shaping a child’s people.
formation begins.
ideas about self. Our interaction with other
people, our experiences, and the meaning
we give to them, serve as the basis of our
self.
 Personal Identity

The attributes they have used for identification tell us about

their personal as well as social or cultural identities. Personal
identity refers to those attributes of a person that make her/him
different from others. When a person describes herself/himself
by telling her/his name (e.g., I am Sanjana or Karim), or her/his
qualities or characteristics.
 Social Identity

Social Identity refers to those aspects of a person that link her/him

to a social or cultural group or are derived from it. When
someone says that s/he is a Hindu or a Muslim, a Brahmin or
an adivasi or a North Indian or a South Indian, or something
like these, s/he is trying to indicate her/his social identity.
 Self as “Object” &
“Subject”

Self When you say, “I know who I am”,

the self is being described as a
as ‘knower’ as well as something that
Object can be ‘known’. As asubject (actor)
the self actively engages in the
process of knowing itself. As an object
Self (consequence) the self gets
as observed and comes to be known.
This dual status of self should always
Subject be kept in mind
 Type of Self

The Personal Self

The personal self leads toan orientation in
which one feels primarily concerned with

S oneself. We have talkedabove how our

biological needs lead to thedevelopment of a
‘biological self’.

O W The Social Self

Emphasis comes to be laid onthose aspects of life that

relate only to the concerned person, such as personal

T freedom, personal responsibility, personal achievement, or

personal comforts. Thes ocial self emerges in relation with
others and emphasises such aspects of life as cooperation,
unity, affiliation, sacrifice,support or sharing.

The Familial Self

This self values family and social relationships. Hence, itis also
referred to as familial or relational self.
 COGNITIVE AND BEHAVIOURAL
ASPECTS OF SELF

Psychologists from all parts of the world have shown interest in the study of
self.These studies have brought out many aspects of our behaviour related to self.

Self Concept - The way we perceive ourselves and the ideas we hold about our competencies and
attributes is also called
self-concept. At avery general level, this view of oneself is,overall, either positive or negative.

Self Esteem - Self-esteem is an important aspect of ourself. As persons we always make some judgment
about our own value or worth.This value judgment of a person about herself/himself is called self-esteem.
Somepeople have high self-esteem, where as others may have low self-esteem.
 COGNITIVE AND BEHAVIOURAL
ASPECTS OF SELF

Self-efficacy - Self-efficacy is another important aspectof our self. People differ in the extent
towhich they believe they themselves controltheir life outcomes or the outcomes arecontrolled by luck
or fate or othersituational factors, e.g. passing anexamination. A person who believes thats/he has
the ability or behaviours requiredby a particular situation demonstrateshigh self-efficacy.
The notion of self-efficacy is based on Bandura’s social learning theory.Bandura’s initial studies
showed that children and adults learned behaviour by observing and imitating others. People’s
expectations of mastery or achievement and their convictions about their own effectiveness also
determine the types of behaviour in which they would engage, as also the amount of risk they would
undertake. A strong sense of self-efficacy allows people to select, influence, and even construct the
circumstances of their own life. People with a strong sense of self-efficacy also feel less fearful
 COGNITIVE AND BEHAVIOURAL
ASPECTS OF SELF

Self-regulation -Self-regulation refers to our ability toorganise and monitor our own
behaviour.People, who are able to change theirbehaviour according to the demands of theexternal
environment, are high on self-monitoring.

Self Control - Learning todelay or defer the gratification of needs iscalled self-control. Self-control plays
akey role in the fulfilment of long-termgoals. Indian cultural tradition providesus with certain effective
mechanisms (e.g.,fasting in vrata or roza andnon-attachment with worldly things) fordeveloping self-
control.
 COGNITIVE AND BEHAVIOURAL
ASPECTS OF SELF

Methods of Self Control

A number of psychological techniquesof self-control have also been suggested.

1.Observation of own behaviour is one of them. This provides us with necessary information
that may be used to change,modify, or strengthen certain aspects of self.

2. Self-instruction is another important technique. We often instruct ourselves to do something

and behave the way we want to. Such instructions are quite effective inself-regulation.

3.Self-reinforcement is the third technique. This involves rewarding behaviours that have
pleasant outcomes.
 CULTURE AND SELF

Several aspects of self seem to be linked to the

characteristic features of the culture in which an individual
lives. Analysis of self carried out in the Indian cultural
context reveals a number of important features that are
distinct from those found in the Western cultural context.
 Indian Concept of “Self”

 Shifting nature of boundary between

self and other (individual self and social
self).

 Does not clear dichotomies.

 Collectivistic culture: Self is generally

not separated from one’s own group;
rather both remain in a state of
harmonious co-existence.
 Western Concept of “Self”

 Boundary is relatively fixed.

 Holds clear dichotomies between self

and other, man and nature,
subjective and objective.

 Individualistic Culture: Self and the

group exist as two different entities
with clearly defined boundaries;
individual members of the group
maintain their individuality.
 02
Personality
 The Word “Personality”

Derived from persona (Latin), the mask used by actors in

Roman theatre for changing their facial make-up.
 Personality

“Personality refers to unique and relatively stable qualities

that characterized an individual’s behaviour across different
situation over a period of time.”

Once we are able to characterize someone’s personality, we can predict how that
person will probably behave in a variety of circumstances.

An understanding of personality allows us to deal with people in realistic and

acceptable ways.
 Features of Personality

1. Personality has both physical and psychological components.

2. Its expression in terms of behaviour is fairly unique in a given

individual.

3. Its main features do not easily change with time.

4. It is dynamic in the sense that some of its features may change due
to internal or external situational demands; adaptive to situations.
Some Personality
related Terms
 03
Theories of Personality
 Theories of Personality

A number of approaches and theories have been developed to understand

and explain behavioural differences among individuals, and behavioural
consistencies within an individual. These theories are based on different
models of human behaviour. Each throws light on some, but not all, aspects of
personality.

Theories are :-
i. Type approach
ii. Trait Approach
iii. Interactional Approach
iv. Psychodynamic approach
v. Behaviour approach
vi. Cultural Approach
vii. Humanistic approach
 Type Approach

A personality types are used to represent and communicate a set of expected

behaviours based on similarities. Efforts to categorise people into personality types
have been made since ancient times.

1.Hippocrates a Greek Physician)

(i) Proposed a typology of personality based on fluid or humour present in human body.
(ii) Classified people into four types (i.e., sanguine, phlegmatic, melancholic and choleric);
characterised by specific behavioural features.
 Type Approach
2. In India, Charak Samhita a Treatise on Ayurveda.

(i) Classifies people into the categories of vata, pitta and kapha on the basis of three
humoural elements called tridosha.
(ii)Each refers to a type of temperament, called prakriti (basic nature) of a person.

3. Another concept of Typology of personality based on the trigunas, i.e. , sattva, rajas, and
tamas.

— Sattva guna-cleaniness, truthfulness, dutifulness, detachment, discipline.

— Rajas guna-intensive activity, desire for sense gratification, dissatisfaction,envy,
materialism.
— Tamas guna-anger, arrogance, depression, laziness, helplessness
All the three gunas are present in every person in different degrees—the dominance of .
any guna leads to a particular type of behaviour.
 Type Approach
4. Within psychology, the personality types given by
Sheldon are fairly well-known.

Using body built and temperament as the main basis for

classification:

(i) Endomorphic (fat, soft and round)—relaxed and

sociable.
(ii) Mesomorphic (strong musculature, rectangular, strong
body build)—energetic and courageous.
(iii) Ectomorphic (thin, long, fragile)—brainy, artistic and
introverted.

This had Limited use in predicting behaviour—simple and

similar to stereotypes.
 Type Approach

5. Carl Jung has proposed another important typology :

Grouped people into two types, widely recognized.

(i) Introverts: People who prefer to be alone, tend to avoid others, withdraw themselves in the face of
emotional conflicts, and are shy.
(ii) Extraverts: Sociable, outgoing, drawn to occupations that allow dealing directly with people, and
react to stress by trying to lose themselves among people and social activity.
 Type Approach
6. In recent years, Friedman andRosenman have classified individuals into :

(i) Type-A (susceptible to hypertension and coronary heart disease): Highly motivated, impatience, feel
short of time, be in a great hurry, and feel like being always burdened with work. Such people find it
difficult to slow down and relax,
(ii) Type-B The absence of Type-A traits.

Moris continued this research and identified:

(iii) Type-C (prone to cancer): Co-operative, unassertive patient, suppress negative emotion, show
compliance to authority.
(iv) Type-D (prone to depression).
Personality typologies are usually too simplistic as human behaviour is highly complex and variable.
Assigning people to a particular personality type is difficult. People do not fit into such simple
categorization schemes so neatly.
 Trait Approach

A trait is considered as a relatively enduring attribute or quality on which one

individual differ another.

They are:
 Relatively Stable over Time
 Generally consistent across situations.
 Their strengths and combination vary across individuals leading to
individual differences in personality.
 Trait Approach
Allport's Trait Theory
Gordon Allport is considered the pioneer of trait Approach.

• He proposed that individuals possess a number of traits, are dynamic in nature.

• They determine behaviour in such a manner that an individual approaches different
situations with similar plans.
• The traits integrate stimuli and responses which otherwise look dissimilar.
• Allport argued that the words people use to describe sthemselves and others provide
a basis forunderstanding human personality.
• He analysed the words of English language to look for traits which describe a person
• Allport, based on this, categorised traits into cardinal, central, and secondary.
• The way an individual reacts to a situation depends on his/her traits.
• People sharing the same traits might express them in different ways.
 Trait Approach
 Cardinal Traits: highly generalized disposition, indicates the goal around .
which a person’s entire life revolves, e.g., Hitler’s Nazism.
 Central Traits: less pervasive in effect, but still quite generalized disposition.
e.g., sincere.These traits (e.g., warm, sincere,diligent, etc.) are often
used in writing atestimonial or job recommendationfor a person.
 Secondary traits are least generalized characteristics of a person, Traits
such as ‘likes mangoes’ or ‘prefers ethnic clothes’ areexamples of
secondary traits.
 Trait Approach
Cattell: Personality Factors

Raymond Cattell believed that there is a common structure on which people differ
from each other. This structure could be determined empirically.
He tried to identify the primary traits from a huge array of descriptive adjectives found
in language. He applied a statistical technique, called factor analysis.

1. There are a Source or Primary Traits (16 in number ): These are stable, building blocks of
personality , are described in terms of opposing tendencies.
2. And Surface Traits: result out of the interaction of source traits.

He Developed Sixteen Personality Factor (16PF) Questionnaire for the assessment of

personality.
 Trait Approach
Cattell: Personality Factors

Raymond Cattell believed that there is a common structure on which people differ
from each other. This structure could be determined empirically.
He tried to identify the primary traits from a huge array of descriptive adjectives found
in language. He applied a statistical technique, called factor analysis.

1. There are a Source or Primary Traits (16 in number ): These are stable, building blocks of
personality , are described in terms of opposing tendencies.
2. And Surface Traits: result out of the interaction of source traits.

He Developed Sixteen Personality Factor (16PF) Questionnaire for the assessment of

personality.
Cattell's Factor Analysis
16 PF
 Trait Approach
Eysenck’s Theory

H.J. Eysenck proposed that personality could be reduced into two broad
dimensions. These are biologically and genetically based. Each dimension assumes a
number of specific traits.
1)Neuroticism vs. emotional stability : It refers to the degree to which people have
control over their feelings. At one extreme of the dimension, we find people who are
neurotic. They are anxious, moody, touchy, restless and quickly lose control. At the
other extreme lie people who are calm, even-tempered, reliable and remain undercontrol.

2)Extraversion vs. introversion : It refers to the degree to which people are socially
outgoing or socially withdrawn. At one extreme are those who are active,
gregarious(person who is fond of company), impulsive and thrill-seeking. At the other
extreme are people who are passive, quiet, cautious and reserved.
In a later work Eysenck proposed a third dimension, called Psychoticism vs. Sociability,
which is considered to interact
 Trait Approach
Eysenck’s Theory

In a later work Eysenck proposed a third dimension, called Psychoticism vs. Sociability,
which is considered to interact with the other two dimensions mentioned above.
A person who scores high on psychoticism dimension tends to be hostile, egocentric,
and antisocial.

Eysenck Personality Questionnaire is the test which is used for studying these dimensions
of personality
Trait Approach
 Difference between
Type &Trait Approach
Type Approach Trait Approach

The type approaches attempts to comprehend human
personality by examining certain broad patterns in the
observed behavioural characteristics of individuals. Each
behavioural pattern refers to one type in which
individuals are placed in terms of the similarity of their
behavioural characteristics with that pattern.
In contrast, the trait approach focuses on the specific
psychological attributes along which individuals tend to
differ inconsistent and stable ways. Eg.,one person may
be less shy, where as another may be more; or one person
maybe less friendly, whereas another may be more. Here
“shyness” and “friendliness”represent traits along which
individuals can be rated in terms of the degree of
presence or absence of the concerned behavioural
quality or a trait.

The “Interactional Approach” holds that situational characteristics play an important role in
determining our behaviour. People may behave as dependent or independent not because of their
internal personality trait, but because of external rewards or threats available in a particular situation.
 Psychodynamic Approach

A Highly popular approach to study personality, by Sigmund Freud.

He used ‘Free Association’ the technique ( a method in which a person is asked to

openly share his thoughts, feelings and ideas that comes to his/her mind)

Dream and error analysis to understand the functioning of mind and help analyse
thoughts by expression.
 Psychodynamic Approach

A Freud’s theory considers the sources and consequences of emotional conflicts and
the way people deal with these.
In doing so, it visualises the human mind in terms of three levels of consciousness.
• Conscious: Thoughts, feelings, actions people are aware of.

• Preconscious: The mental activity people are aware of only if they pay attention to it
closely.

• Unconscious: This includes mental activity people are unaware of. These are instinctive,
animalistic drives concealed and repressed away from conscious mind because they may
lead to psychological conflicts.

Freud used therapy of Psychoanalysis to bring the repressed, unconscious materials to

consciousness.
 Psychodynamic Approach

A According to this theory there are 3 structural elements of Personality- Id, Ego and
Superego.

Id – It is source of a person’s instinctual energy. Deals with immediate gratification of

primitive needs- sexual desires, aggressive impulses does not care for moral values, society
or any individuals. Id is energised by two instinctive forces- life instinct & death instinct.

The life force that energises the Id is called libido, which seeks immediate gratification.

Ego- It grows out of Id only but seeks to satisfy an individual’s instinctual needs in
accordance with reality. Works by reality principle. Ego often directs the Id towards more
appropriates ways of behaving, which are socially acceptable.

Eg: A boy sees some one having an ice-cream. His Id may want him to snatch it and eat it.
But Ego guides him to ask permission and then take it, which is socially more acceptable
behaviour.
 Psychodynamic Approach

A Highly popular approach to study personality, by Sigmund Freud.

He used ‘Free Association’ the technique ( a method in which a person is asked to

openly share his thoughts, feelings and ideas that comes to his/her mind)

Dream and error analysis to understand the functioning of mind and help analyse
thoughts by expression.

Psycho-analysis is a therapeutic procedure, the basic goal which is to bring

repressed unconscious material to consciousness, thereby helping people to live in
a more self-aware and integrated manner.
 Psychodynamic Approach

1. Levels of Consciousness

• Conscious: Thoughts, feelings, actions people are aware of.

• Preconscious: The mental activity people are aware of only if they pay attention
to it closely.

• Unconscious: This includes mental activity people are unaware of. These are
instinctive, animalistic drives concealed and repressed away from conscious mind
because they may lead to psychological conflicts.

• Freud used therapy of Psychoanalysis to bring the repressed, unconscious

materials to consciousness.
 Psychodynamic Approach

2. Structure of Personality
According to this theory there are 3 structural elements of Personality- Id, Ego and Superego.

• Id:
 The Source of a person’s instinctual energy it deals with immediate gratification of needs,
works on sexual desires and aggressive impulses.
 Works on the pleasure principle, which assumes that people seek pleasure and try to avoid
pain.
 Demanding, unrealistic and does not care for moral values, society, or other individuals.
 Energised by instinctual forces, life instinct(Sexual Insticts) and death instinct.
 The instinctual life force thatenergises the id is called libido.
 Psychodynamic Approach

• Ego:
 Seeks to satisfy an individual’s instinctual needs in accordance with reality.
 Works on the reality principle, and directs the id towards more appropriate ways of
behaving.
 Patient and reasonable. And does not work on immediate gratification of needs.

• Superego:
 Works on the Moral branch of mental functioning-“The Moral Principle”
 Tells the id and ego whether gratification in a particular instance is ethical or not.
 Controls the id .
 According to Freud personality is Biological determined. It is instinctive. Life instinct
and death instinct determine behaviour.
 Life instinct is dominant in human behaviour.
 Psychodynamic Approach

3. Defence Mechanisms

Human behaviours reflect an attempt to deal with or escape from anxiety. People
avoid anxiety by distorting reality. Freud described defence mechanism of 5 types:
1. Repression
2.Projection
3. Denial
4. Reaction Formation
5.Rationalization
Psychodynamic Approach
 Psychodynamic Approach

Freud used the analogy of an iceberg to

describe the three levels of the mind.

On the surface is consciousness, which

consists of those thoughts that are the focus
of our attention now, and this is seen as the
tip of the iceberg.

The preconscious consists of all which can be

retrieved from memory.
 Psychodynamic Approach

3. Defence Mechanisms

i. Repression: Anxiety provoking behaviours or thoughts are totally dismissed by

the unconscious mind. When people repress any desire at times they totally
become unaware of that desire. E,g When someone does something which
expresses that desire in a situation, they say, ‘ I do not know why I did this.’

ii. Projection: In projection, people attribute their own traits to others. E.g People
who have aggressive tendencies may see other people also acting aggressive
towards them. i.e projecting their own behaviour.
 Psychodynamic Approach

3. Defence Mechanisms

iii. Denial: Person in this trait totally refuses to accept reality.

e.g. A person with AIDs refuses to accept or deny his illness.

iv. Reaction formation: This person to defend against anxiety adopts a behaviour
totally opposite to the instinctive feeling.
e.g Many people acquire religious practices to channelize their strong wrong doings.

v. Rationalization: Trying to rationalize their unreasonable feelings and behaviours

making them seem reasonable and acceptable.
e.g. When a student after doing poorly in exams buys new pens to rationalize reason
of bad performance and tells himself that he will do well with these new pen.
 Psychodynamic Approach

3. Defence Mechanisms

iii. Denial: Person in this trait totally refuses to accept reality.

e.g. A person with AIDs refuses to accept or deny his illness.

iv. Reaction formation: This person to defend against anxiety adopts a behaviour
totally opposite to the instinctive feeling.
e.g Many people acquire religious practices to channelize their strong wrong doings.

v. Rationalization: Trying to rationalize their unreasonable feelings and behaviours

making them seem reasonable and acceptable.
e.g. When a student after doing poorly in exams buys new pens to rationalize reason
of bad performance and tells himself that he will do well with these new pen.
 Psychodynamic Approach

4. Stages of Personality Development

Freud Approach: Freud claims that core aspects of personality are formed at an early
stage and remain stable throughout life. He has proposed a 5 stage theory.

• Oral stage: Newborn’s instincts are focused on the mouth. The baby seeks pleasure
in food that reduces his hunger, thumb sucking, biting, and babbling through his
mouth.

• Anal stage: It is found that around ages of 2 or 3 child learns to respond to some of
the needs of society and learns to control the bodily functions of urination and
defecation. If left to themselves, most children at this age experience pleasure by
focusing on their anal area and in moving their bowls.
 Psychodynamic Approach

4. Stages of Personality Development

• Phallic stage: This stage focuses on genitals. At age of 4 to 5, children begin to realise the
difference between males and females. During this stage male children may feel Oedipus
complex, And female child experiences Electra complex .

Oedipus Complex (Male) -Love for mother, hostility towards the father, and fear of
punishment or castration by the fatherThe Child accepts his father’s relationship with his
mother and models his own behaviour after his father.

Electra Complex (Female)-Attaches her love to the father and tries to symbolically marry him
and raise a family and Identifies with her mother and copies her behaviour as a means of
getting (or sharing in) her father’s affection.
 Psychodynamic Approach

4. Stages of Personality Development

• Latency Stage: From age of 7 to puberty, child continues to grow physically. Sexual
urges are relatively inactive.
Much of their energy is channelled in social or achievement activities.

• Genital Stage: During this stage, individual develops maturity in psychosexual

development. People learn to deal with opposite gender in a socially mature way.

However, if the (personality development) journey is marked through excessive stress

or over-indulgence, it may cause fixation to that stage or regression to an earlier stage
of development.
 Psychodynamic Approach

Fixation
Failure of a child to pass successfully through a stage leads to fixation to that stage. The
child’s development gets arrested at an earlier stage.

Regression
Regression occurs when a person’s resolution of problems at any stage of development is
less than adequate. People display behaviours typing of a less mature stage of
development.
Psychodynamic Approach
 Psychodynamic Approach

Post Freudian Approaches: A number of theorists developed their ideas following

Freud.

(i) Less prominent role to sexual and aggressive tendencies of the Id.
(ii) Expansion of the concept ego.
(iii) Emphasis on human qualities of creativity, competence, and problem-solving.
 Psychodynamic Approach

1. Carl Jung: Aims and Aspirations

Aims and Aspirations are the source of energy

(i) Saw human being as guided by aims and aspirations.

(ii) Analytical Psychology; personality consists of competing forces and structures within the
individual (that must be balanced) rather than between the individual and the demand of
society, or between the individual and reality.

(iii) Collective unconscious consisting of archetypes or primordial images; not individually

acquired, but are inherited—found in myths, dreams and arts of all mankind.

(iv) The self-strive for unity and oneness; for achieving which, a person must become
increasingly aware of the wisdom available in one’s personal and collective unconscious, and
must learn to live harmony with it..
 Psychodynamic Approach

2. Karen Horney: Optimism

(i) Optimistic view of human life with emphasis on human growth and self
actualisation.

(ii) Challenge to Freud’s treatment of women as inferior—each sex has attributes to be

admire by the other, and neither sex can be viewed as superior or inferior; countered
that women were more likely to be affected by social and cultural factors than by
biological factors.

(iii) Psychological disorders were caused by disturbed interpersonal relationship during

childhood.

(iv) When parent’s behaviour toward a child is indifferent, discouraging and erratic, the
child feels insecure and a feeling called basic anxiety results—deep resentment toward
 Psychodynamic Approach

3. Alfred Adler: Lifestyle and Social Interest

Lifestyle and Social Interest source of energy-attainment of personal goals.

(i) Individual Psychology: human behaviour is purposeful and goal directed.

(ii) Each one of us has the capacity to choose and create.

(iii) Personal goals, goals that provide us with security and help us in overcoming the
feelings of inadequacy, are the sources of our motivation.

(iv) Every individual suffers from the feeling of inadequacy and guilt, i.e., inferiority
complex, which arise from childhood.
 Psychodynamic Approach

4. Erich Fromm: The Human Concerns

(i) Social orientation viewed human beings as social beings who could be understood
in terms of their relationship with others.

(ii) Character traits (personality) develop from our experiences with their individuals.

(iii) Psychological qualities such as growth from our experiences of potentials resulted
from A desire for freedom. And striving for justice and truth.

(iv) People’s dominant character traits in a given work as forces in shaping the social
processes and the culture itself
 Psychodynamic Approach

5. Erik Erikson: Search for Identity

(i) Rational, conscious ego processes in personality development.

(ii) Development is viewed as a lifelong process, and ego identity is granted a central
place in this process.

(iii) Identity crisis at the adolescent age—young people must generate for themselves a
central perspective and a direction that can give them a meaningful sense of unity and
purpose.
 Psychodynamic Approach

• Criticism to Psychodynamic Theories

1. The theories are largely based on case studies; they lack a rigorous scientific basis.

2. They use small and a typical individual as samples for advancing generalisations.

3. The concepts are not properly defined, and it is difficult to submit them to scientific
testing.

4. Freud has used males as the prototype of all human personality development and
overlooked female experiences and perspectives.
 Behaviorial Approach

1. Focus on learning of stimulus—response connection and their reinforcement.

2. Personality is the response of an individual as sample for advancing generalization.

3. The concepts are not properly defined, and it is difficult to submit them to scientific
testing.

4. Freud has used males as the prototype of all human personality development and
overlooked females experiences and perspective.
 Cultural Approach

1. Considers personality as an adaptation of individuals or group to the demand of

their ecology and culture.

2. A group’s economic maintenance system plays a vital role in the origin of cultural
and behavioural variations.

3. The climatic conditions, the nature of terrain of the habitat and the availability of
food determine people’s settlement patterns, social structures, division of labour, and
other features such as child-rearing practices. Economic maintenance system.

4. These elements constitute a child’s overall learning environment—skills, abilities,

behavioural styles, and value priorities are viewed as strongly linked to these features.
 Humanistic Approach

This approach is mainly built on the theories of Carl Roger and Abraham Maslow.

Roger proposed the idea of a fully functional person. Fulfillment is the motivational force for
personality development. People try to express their capabilities, talents and potentials to the
fullest extent.

He observed that each person has a concept of True self and an Ideal self about him.
Correspondence between the two leads to a happier and contented person in congruence with
himself.

When there is discrepancy and these two spheres don’t overlap each other at all it leads to
unhappiness and dissatisfaction.

As per Roger’s principle people have a tendency to maximize self concept through self
actualization. And personality development is a journey towards that.
Humanistic Approach
 Humanistic Approach

According to Roger,

Characteristics of Healthy Person are :-

1. Healthy become aware of themselves, their feelings, and their limits; accept themselves, and
what they make of their own responsibility; have ‘the courage to be’.

2. They experience the ‘here-and-now’; are not trapped.

3. They do not live in the past or dwell in the future through anxious expectation and distorted
defences.
 Humanistic Approach

Abraham Maslow

1. Attainment of self-actualisation, a state in which people have reached their own fullest
potential.

2. Optimistic and positive view of man who has the potentialities for love, joy and to do
creative work.

3. Human beings are considered free to shape their lives and to self-actualisation.

4. Self-actualisation becomes possible by analysing the motivations that govern our life.
 04
Assessment of Personality
 Assessment of Personity

A formal effort aimed at understanding personality of an individual is termed as personality

assessment.

Assessment refers to the procedures used to evaluate or differentiate people on the basis of
certain characteristics.

The goal of assessment is to understand and predict behaviour with minimum error and
maximum accuracy.

Besides promoting our understanding, assessment is also useful for diagnosis, training,
placement, counselling, and other purposes.
 Self-Report Measures:

• It was Allport who suggested that the best method to assess a person is by asking her/him
about herself himself.
• Fairly structured measures, based on theory that require subjects to give verbal responses
using some kind of rating scale.
• The method requires the subject to objectively report her/his own feeling with respect to
various items. Responses are accepted at face value, scored in quantative terms and interpreted
on basis of norms for the test.
• eg. MMPI, EPQ, 16 PF —> Direct technique.
 Self-Report Measures:

Uses of Self-report test:

• Career guidance, vocational exploration and occupational testing for students/adults.

• To assess specific dimensions of personality type ( e.g. authoritarianism, locus of control,
optimism)

Limitations of Self-report tests:

• Social desirability: this is a tendency on part of a student to endorse/select responses basis

socially desirable behaviour.
• Acquiescence: It is a tendency of the subject of saying Yes to items irrespective of the
content, which makes it less reliable for an effective outcome.
• Hesitant to open: This being a direct method where assessment is based on the information
directly obtained from the subject, hence he knows that he is been assessed for personality
and gets self-conscious and hesitates to share his private feelings. Hence these tests should
be performed under careful supervision of an expert or a trained person.
 Projective Techniques

This technique is an indirect method, used to uncover and assess the large part of the
behaviour which is governed by unconscious motives, as direct ( self-report) methods cannot
assess this.
Methods include: Reporting association with stimuli- words, inkblots, story writing around
pictures, some require sentence completion, expression through drawings.

Features of this technique:

• The stimuli are relatively or fully unstructured and poorly defined.

• The subject is not told about the purpose of assessment and method of scoring and
interpretation.
• The person is informed that there is no correct or incorrect answer.
• Each response is considered to reveal a significant aspect of personality.
• Scoring and interpretation are lengthy and sometime subjective.
 Projective Techniques

Examples of Projective tests:

1. Rorschach Inkblot Test:

This test was developed by Harmann Rorschach. The tests consists of
10 inkblots ( 5 black and white, 2 red and remaining of pastel colours)
printed in the centre of a cardboard of 7” to 10”.
1st Phase- Performance proper: Subjects are shown the cards and are
asked to tell what they see in each.
2nd Phase- Inquiry: A detailed report of responses is prepared by
asking the subject to tell on where, how and on what basis was a
particular response made.
Use of the test requires extensive training to make fine judgement and
interpretation.
 Projective Techniques
Examples of Projective tests:

2. The Thematic Appreciation Test (TAT): developed by Morgan and

Murray. Little more structured that the Inkblot test. It consists of 30
black and white picture cards and 1 blank card. Each card depicts
one or more people in a variety of situations. 20 cards to 5 cards
are used for performing assessment.

Method: One card is presented at a time, asking the subject to tell

a story describing the situation presented in the picture:
What led up to the situation
What is happening at the moment
What will happen in future
What are the characters thinking and feeling
• A standard procedure is followed for scoring the TAT responses.
An Indian adaptation done by: Uma Chaudhary.
 Projective Techniques

Examples of Projective tests:

3. Rozensweig’s Picture-Frustration study ( P-F Study): was developed by Rozenweig to assess

how people express aggression in a frustrating situation.

The test consists cartoon like pictures depicting situations where one person is frustrating
other.

The subject is asked to describe: What the frustrated person will say or do?

Analysis is based on: the Type and Direction of aggression ( towards onself or environment or
evading the situation).
It is examined whether the focus is on frustrating object or protecting the frustrated person, or
on constructive solution.
 Projective Techniques

Examples of Projective tests:

4. Sentence Completion Test:

This test makes use of number of incomplete sentences. The starting of the sentence is
presented and the subject has to provide an ending of the sentence. The type of ending helps
assess the unconscious attitude, motivation and conflicts.

e.g.
My father………………….
My greatest fear is……………..
The best thing about my mother is……………..
I am proud of………………
 Projective Techniques

Examples of Projective tests:

5. Draw-a-Person test:

In this test subject is provided with a pencil, eraser and sheet and asked to draw a picture of a
person.

After the completion of the drawing, subject is asked to draw a picture of a person of opposite
gender. Subject is asked to make a story about the person as if he/she was a character of a
movie/novel. Some examples of the interpretation as follows:
• Omission of facial features suggests that the person tries to evade a highly conflict-ridden
interpersonal relationship.
• Graphic emphasis on the neck suggests lack of control over impulses.
• Disproportionately large size of the head suggests organic brain disease or preoccupation
with headaches.
 Behavioural Analysis:

This analysis can provide us with a meaningful information about his/her personality.

An observer’s report contains data obtained from:

1. Interview

2. Observation

3. Ratings

4. Nomination

5. Situational tests
 Observation

Behavioural observation is another method which is very commonly used for the
assessment of personality.

Although all of us watch people and form impressions about their personality, use of
observation for personality assessment is a sophisticated procedure that cannot be
carried out by untrained people.
It requires careful training of the observer, and a fairly detailed guideline about analysis of
behaviours in order to assess the personality of a given person.

For example,a clinical psychologist may like to observe her/his client’s interaction with
family members and home visitors. With carefully designed observation, the clinical
psychologist may gain considerable insight into a client’s personality.
 Observation

Use of Observation for a personality assessment is a sophisticated procedure that cannot be

carried out by untrained people. It requires careful training of the observer and fairly detailed
guideline to carry out analysis to use observations to assess personality.

In spite of the widespread use of this method, it has following limitations:

a) Professional training required for collection of useful data and is quite demanding and time
consuming.
b) Maturity of the observer is a precondition. Else personal biases can alter the assessment.
c) Mere presence of the observer may contaminate the results.
 Behavioural Ratings

Behavioural ratings are frequently used for personality assessment of individuals in an

educational or industrial settings.

Behavioural ratings are generally taken from the people who know the assesse intimately and
have interacted over a period of time. In order to use ratings the traits should be clearly
defined in terms of carefully stated behavioural anchors.

Limitations of Behavioural Rating method:

a) Raters generally display biases that colour their judgements of different traits. For example
most of are greatly influenced by a single favourable/unfavourable trait which colours the
overall judgment on all the traits. This is called ‘Halo effect.’
b) Raters have a tendency to place individuals in the middle of the scale (middle category
bias) or in the extreme positions (called extreme response bias).
 Nomination

In this method people in a group who know each other for a long period are asked to
nominate another person from the group with whom they would like to work/play/do some
activity.

Then they are asked to state the reason why they would have nominated that person.
 Situational tests:

A variety of situational tests have been devised for the assessment of personality.

Most commonly used test is –Situational Stress test.

It provides us information on how a person behaves under stressful conditions. In performing

this test the person is given a task under stressful environment, where others are instructed
not to provide any support and act non-cooperative. This is kind of role playing.

The subject is observed and a report is prepared. Situations can be videotaped and observed
for assessment later.
 Thank you
for listening