Unit – 3

PERSONALITY
 Introduction to Personality

 Branch of Applied Psychology directly concerned with

differences in human behavior between individuals, and
with the consistencies of behavior with an individual.
 Stable and changing relationships between the
characteristics
 The origin of the characteristics.
 The interaction of a person with other people
 The characteristic ways in which a person thinks about
himself.
 Ethical or moral characteristics of a person.
 Definition of Personality

 Acc. to Gordon Allport “ Personality is the dynamic

organization within the individual of those
psychophysical systems that determine his characteristics,
behavior and thought.
 Dynamic organization – refer to the idea that the
characteristics of the personality interact with and modify
each other.
 Psychophysical – personality contains both mental and
physical elements.
 Determine – refers to the idea that personality is
considered to be a cause of behavior.
 Personality traits

Trait approach - trait refers to any characteristic in

which one individual differs from another in a
relatively permanent and consistent way.
Traits are concerned with
 Determining the basic characteristics that provide a
meaningful description of personality.
 Finding someway to measure them.
 Factor analysis helps in arriving at a meaningful
group of basic traits.
 Personality types
 Complex analysis of the ratings and objective
measurements.
 Introvert – tends to withdraw himself, in times
of emotional stress and conflict.
 Extrovert – under stress seeks company of
others.
 Ambivert- combination of both intro and extro.
 Adjustment – refers to the process of
accommodating oneself to circumstances.
 Personality types
 Defense mechanism- device which a person
uses unconsciously and automatically to
protect himself.
 The pattern of enduring characteristics that
differentiates a person – the patterns of
behaviors that make each individual unique.
 Approaches to Personality
Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory
 Much of the human behavior is motivated by
unconscious.
 Unconscious forces acts as determinants of personality.
 Unconscious – a part of the personality of which a person
is not aware, and which is a potential determinant of
behavior.
 Acc. to personality consists of 3 components – id, ego
and superego.
 Id- the raw,unorganised inborn part of personality, whose
sole purpose is to reduce tension, created by primitive
drives related to hunger, thirst, aggression and irrational
impulses. It operates on the pleasure principle.
 Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory
 Ego – the part of the personality that provides a buffer between
the id and the outside world.
 The ego operates on the reality principle.
 It makes decisions, controls action, and allows thinking and
problem solving of a higher order than the id’s capabilities
permit.
 Superego – represents the social right and wrong as taught and
modeled by the individuals caretakers
 The superego has two components the conscience and ego-
ideal . The conscience prevents us from behaving in a morally
improper way by making us feel guilty.
 Ego – ideal - represents the “perfect person”, motivated us to
do what is morally right.
 Superego helps us control impulses coming form id,making our
behavior less selfish and more virtuous.
Personality Structure

Ego Conscious mind  Freud’s idea

Unconscious
mind
of the mind’s
Superego
structure
Id
 Personality Development
• Key Features
– Consists of stages
– Focused on particular biological functions
– If children are unable to gratify themselves sufficiently during a
particular stage or receive too much of it:
• Fixation will occur
Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory- Ego Defense Mechanism
Defense Mechanism Explanation
Repression Unacceptable or unpleasant impulses are
pushed back into the unconscious.
Regression People behave as if they were at earlier
stage of development.
Displacement The expression of an unwanted feeling or
thought is directed from a more
threatening ,powerful person to a weaker
one.
Rationalization People distort reality in order to justify
something that has happened.
Projection People attribute unwanted impulses and
feelings to someone else.
Sublimation People divert unwanted impulses into
socially approved thoughts, feeling or
behaviors.
Reaction formation Unconscious impulses are expressed as
their opposite in consciousness.
 Neo – Freudian theory
 Psycho analysts who were trained in traditional
Freudian theory but who later rejected some of its
major points.
 They paid greater attention to social factors and the
effects of society and culture on personality
development.
 Acc. to Carl Jung - suggested that people had collective
unconscious – a set of influences we inherit from our
own particular ancestors, the whole human race .
 Collective unconscious is shared by everyone- such as
love of mother, belief in a supreme being, and even
behavior as specific as fear of snakes .
 Neo-Freudians

 Alfred Adler
 importance of childhood social tension
 Karen Horney
 sought to balance Freud’s masculine biases
 Carl Jung
 emphasized the collective unconscious
 concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory
traces from our species’ history
 Neo – Freudian theory
 Collective unconscious contains archetypes –
universals symbolic representation of a
particular person,object,or experience .
 Archetypes play an important role in
determining attitudes, values etc.
 Socio-Cognitive Approach
 Emphasizes the influence of a person’s cognitions –
thoughts, feelings, expectations, and values in
determining personality.
 Bandura emphasizes on Self – efficacy – belief in
one’s own personal capabilities.
 Self- efficacy underlies people’s faith in their ability
to carry out a particular behavior or produce a desired
outcome.
 People with high self-efficacy have higher aspiration
and greater persistence in working to attain goals,
and thus ultimately achieve their goal
Social-Cognitive Perspective

 Social-Cognitive Perspective
 views behavior as influenced by the
interaction between persons and
their social context
 Reciprocal Determinism
 the interacting influences between
personality and environmental
factors
Social-Cognitive Perspective
Social-Cognitive Perspective

 Personal Control
 our sense of controlling our environments
rather than feeling helpless.
 External Locus of Control
 the perception that chance or outside forces
beyond one’s personal control determine
one’s fate.
Social-Cognitive Perspective

 Internal Locus of Control

 the perception that one controls one’s own
fate
 Learned Helplessness
 the hopelessness and passive resignation an
animal or human learns when unable to
avoid repeated aversive events.
Social-Cognitive Perspective
 Learned Helplessness

Uncontrollable
bad events

Perceived
lack of control

Generalized
helpless behavior
Social-Cognitive Perspective

 Positive Psychology
 the scientific study of optimal human
functioning.
 aims to discover and promote conditions
that enable individuals and communities to
thrive.
 Socio-Cognitive Approach

 Self – esteem is the component of personality that

encompasses our positive and negative self –
evaluation.
 Low self - esteem can lead to cycle of failures. Raise
in their anxiety level, making every thing increasingly
difficult and leading to unsuccessful.
 High self – esteem is positive aspect of the
personality. An individual is content with his success.
 Humanistic approach: the uniqueness of you
 Acc. to Carl Rogers – the theory that people are
basically good and tend to grow to higher levels of
functioning.
 People have a need for positive regard that reflects a
universal requirement to be loved and respected.
 Self- concept or self – impression – actual
experiences.
 Unconditional positive regard- an attitude of
acceptance and respect on the part of an observer, no
matter what the other person says or does.
 Self – actualization – state of self - fulfillment
In which people realize their highest potential.
Humanistic Perspective

 Abraham
Maslow (1908-
1970)
 studied self-
actualization
processes of
productive and
healthy people
(e.g., Lincoln)
 Humanistic Perspective

 Self-Actualization
 the ultimate psychological need that arises
after basic physical and psychological needs
are met and self-esteem is achieved
 the motivation to fulfill one’s potential
 Humanistic Perspective

 Carl Rogers (1902-1987)

 focused on growth and fulfillment of
individuals
 genuineness
 acceptance
 empathy
 Humanistic Perspective

 Unconditional Positive Regard

 an attitude of total acceptance toward
another person
 Self-Concept
 all our thoughts and feelings about
ourselves, in an answer to the question,
“Who am I?”
 Trait and Type Approach
Trait theory – a model of personality that seeks to identify the
basic traits necessary to describe personality.
Trait – enduring dimensions of personality characteristics
along which people differ.
Gordon Allport – identified three basic categories of trait
a. Cardinal trait – a single characteristic that directs most of a
person’s activities.
b. Central traits – honesty and sociability are the characteristics
of an individual.
c. Secondary traits – characteristics that affect individual
behavior in fewer situations and are less influential than the
other 2 traits.
 Trait and Type Approach
Acc to Cattell , Eysenck – focused on factor analysis and
identified 2 types of traits
a. Source trait – represent basic dimensions of personality i.e.
character
b. Surface traits - represent outlook of the individual.
Eysenck identified –
a. extroversion- sociable, lively, active, assertive,
b. psychoticism- anxious, depressed, guilt feelings, low self-
esteem, tense.
c. neuroticism - aggressiveness, ego-centric, impersonal ,
impulsive.
Type approach – type A behavior and Type B behavior
 The Trait Perspective
UNSTABLE
Moody
Anxious
Touchy
Restless  Hans and Sybil Eysenck
Rigid
Sober
Aggressive
Excitableuse two primary
Pessimistic
Reserved
Changeable
personality factors as
Impulsive
Unsociable
Quiet
axes for describing
Optimistic
melancholic choleric Active
INTROVERTED EXTRAVERTED personality variation
Passive phlegmatic sanguine
Sociable
Careful Outgoing
Thoughtful Talkative
Peaceful Responsive
Controlled Easygoing
Reliable Lively
Even-tempered Carefree
Calm Leadership
STABLE
 Assessment of Personality
1.Self report measures- a method of gathering
data about people by asking them questions
about a sample of their behavior. Minnesota
Multiphasic Personality - a test used to identify
people with psychological difficulties as well as
to predict such behavior as job performance.
2. Questionnaires
3. Rating scales – device to measure and interpret
the results on the pattern of responses.
 The Trait Perspective

 Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

(MMPI)
 the most widely researched and clinically used of
all personality tests
 originally developed to identify emotional
disorders (still considered its most appropriate
use)
 now used for many other screening purposes
 The Trait Perspective

 Empirically Derived Test

 a test developed by testing a pool of items
and then selecting those that discriminate
between groups
 such as the MMPI
 The Trait Perspective

 Minnesota
Clinically
Hypochondriasis 1 significant
(concern with body symptoms) range
Depression
(pessimism, hopelessness)2 After Multiphasic
treatment
Personality
Hysteria
(uses symptoms to solve problems) 3 (no scores Before
in the clinically treatment
Psychopathic deviancy 4
Inventory
(disregard for social standards) significant range) (anxious,
Masculinity/femininity 5 depressed,
and
(MMPI) test
(interests like those of other sex)
displaying
Paranoia
(delusions, suspiciousness) 6 deviant

profile
behaviors)
Psychasthenia
(anxious, guilt feelings) 7
Schizophrenia
(withdrawn, bizarre thoughts) 8
Hypomania
(overactive, excited, impulsive) 9
Social introversion 10
(shy, inhibited)
0 30 40 50 60 70 80

T-score
 The Trait Perspective
The “Big Five” Personality Factors
Trait Dimension Description
Emotional Stability Calm versus anxious
Secure versus insecure
Self-satisfied versus self-pitying
Extraversion Sociable versus retiring
Fun-loving versus sober
Affectionate versus reserved
Openness Imaginative versus practical
Preference for variety versus
preference for routine
Independent versus conforming
Extraversion Soft-hearted versus ruthless
Trusting versus suspicious
Helpful versus uncooperative
Conscientiousness Organized versus disorganized
Careful versus careless
Disciplined versus impulsive
 Assessing the Unconscious

 Projective Test
 a personality test, such as the Rorschach or TAT,
that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to
trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics
 Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
 a projective test in which people express their
inner feelings and interests through the stories
they make up about ambiguous scenes
Assessing the Unconscious--
TAT
Assessing the Unconscious

 Rorschach Inkblot Test

 the most widely used projective test
 a set of 10 inkblots designed by Hermann
Rorschach
 seeks to identify people’s inner feelings by
analyzing their interpretations of the blots
Assessing the Unconscious--
Rorschach
 Projective Tests
• Psychological tests that use ambiguous or
unstructured stimuli; person needs to describe
the stimuli or make up stories about them
– Rorschach Technique: Developed by Swiss psychologist
Hermann Rorschach; contains 10 standardized inkblots
(the “inkblot” test)
– Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): Developed by
Henry Murray, personality theorist; projective device
consisting of 20 drawings (black and white cards) of
various situations; people must make up stories about
the drawings
Fig. 14.10 Inkblots similar to those used on the Rorschach. What do you see?
 Behavioral Assessment
• Direct measures of an individual’s behavior
used to describe characteristics indicative of
personality.
 WHAT IS STRESS?
 Stress is your mind and body’s response or
reaction to a real or imagined threat, event or
change.
 The threat, event or change are commonly
called stressors. Stressors can be internal
(thoughts, beliefs, attitudes or external (loss,
tragedy, change).
 EUSTRESS

Eustress or positive stress occurs when your

level of stress is high enough to motivate you
to move into action to get things
accomplished.
 DISTRESS
Distress or negative stress occurs when your
level of stress is either too high or too low and
your body and/or mind begin to respond
negatively to the stressors.
 STUDENT STRESS RATING SCALE
The following are events that occur in the life of a college student. Place a check in the left-hand column for each of
those events that has happened to you during the last 12 months.
___ Death of a close family member - 100 points
____ Jail term - 80 points
____ Final year or first year in college - 63 points
____ Pregnancy (to you or caused by your) - 60 points
____ Severe personal illness or injury - 53 points
____ Marriage - 50 points
____ Any interpersonal problems - 45 points
____ Financial difficulties - 40 points
____ Death of a close friend - 40 points
____ Arguments with your roommate (more than every other day) - 40 points
____ Major disagreements with your family - 40 points’
____ Major change in personal habits - 30 points
____ Change in living environment - 30 points
____ Beginning or ending a job - 30 points
____Problems with your boss or professor - 25 points
____ Outstanding personal achievement - 25 points
____ Failure in some course - 25 points
____ Final exams - 20 points
____ Increased or decreased dating - 20 points
____ Changes in working conditions - 20 points
____ Change in your major
____ Change in your sleeping habits - 18 points
____ Several-day vacation - 15 points
____ Change in eating habits - 15 points
____ Family reunion - 15 points
____ Change in recreational activities - 15 points
____ Minor illness or injury - 15 points
____ Minor violations of the law - 11 points

Score: _________________
 INTERPRETING YOUR SCORE
 Less than 150 points : relatively low stress level in
 relation to life events
 150 - 300 points : borderline range
 Greater than 300 points : high stress in relation to life
 events

 Note: From Girdano, D.A., Everly, G. S., Jr., & Dusek, D. E. (1990).
Controlling stress and tension (3rd edition), ENnglewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice Hall.
 I’M IN CONTROL - DISTRESS RELIEF STRATEGIES
Feeling good about yourselves can be an effective buffer against stress. Eliminate unnecessary worries.
Most worries are either passed on to us by another or conjured up in our imagination.
GET PHYSICAL
1. Relax neck and shoulders
2. Take a stretch
3. Get a massage
4. Exercise

GET MENTAL
5. Count to 10
6. Control your thoughts
7. Fantasize
8. Congratulate yourself
9. Ignore the problem if appropriate, after evaluation
10. Perform self maintenance
11. Talk to a counselor

GET SPIRITUAL
12. Meditate
13. Pray
14. Remember your purpose

USE YOUR BODY AND MIND TOGETHER

15. Take a break
16. Get hug therapy
17. Try progressive relaxation
18. Try yoga
19. Try aroma therapy
20. Laugh
DEVELOP NEW SKILLS
21. Prioritize daily tasks
22. Learn something
23. Practice a hobby
 Symptoms of Stress
Psychological Physiological

• Anxiety Stress • High blood pressure

• Depression • Muscle tension
• Low self-esteem • Headaches
• Sleeplessness • Ulcers, skin
• Frustration diseases
Behavioral • Impaired immune
• Family problems
• Burnout systems
• Excessive smoking
• Musculoskeletal
• Substance abuse disorders
• Accident proneness • Heart disease
• Appetite disorders • Cancer
• Violence
 Extreme products of Stress
Burn out- 1. Burnout is psychological term that refers to long-term
exhaustion and diminished interest in work.
2. Employees suffering from burnout become less energetic and
less interested in their jobs.
3. They are emotionally exhausted, apathetic, depressed, irritable
and bored.
4. They tend to find fault with all respects of their work
environment including co-workers and react negatively to the
suggestions of others.
5. The quality of their work deteriorates but not necessarily the
quantity.
Causes of Burnout: 1. Increased Absenteeism and Inefficiency at
Work
2. Emotional Exhaustion:
3.Lowered Immunity to Illness
 Extreme products of Stress
Work Place trauma – 1. occurs following a major threat to one’s
security. The event could be natural disaster.
2.Work place trauma is the integration of the employees ‘self-
concept and beliefs in their capabilities.
3.Attitudinal clues to workplace trauma include severe
moodiness, concentration difficulties, and alienation, in
addition to the more distinctive behaviors of tardiness,
Common source are
1. Sudden job loss -
2. Work place violence- These violent, anger-based acts can
include unprovoked fights, destruction of property or use of
weapons to harm others.
 Job –related causes of Stress
Factors intrinsic to the job: 1. work overload,
2. time pressure and deadlines,
3. having to make too many decisions,
4. fatigue from the physical strain of the work environment,
5. excessive travel,
6. long working hours,
7. cope with changes at work and the expenses (monetary and career) of making
mistakes.
Role in the organization: 1. the behavior of an individual in the organization is
inconsistent, he will be in a state of role conflict which produces stress.
2. Role theory also indicates that role ambiguity stemming from lack of
necessary information leads to stress.
Relationships at work: the nature of relationship which one has with people
working in the same organization. Selye (1956) suggested that learning to live
with other people is one of the most stressful aspects of life. There are three
critical relationships at work – those with supervisors, those with
subordinates, and those with colleagues/ co-workers – which can produce
stress.
 Job related causes of Stress
Career uncertainty: 1. Issues such as job security,
2.fear of job loss, obsolescence, under promotion,
3.status incongruities and frustration of having reached career stagnation
can create pressure and strain.
4.Satisfaction with salary and promotional opportunities has been found to
be associated with increased self-esteem and job commitment in
management population.
Organizational structure and climate:1. Factors like restrictions on behavior,
2.office politics,
3.lack of effective consultation and no participation in decision making
process can contribute to stress.
Home / Work interface: Finally, factors external to work environment or
extra-organizational factors can also contribute to the personal stress
which affects the physical and mental well-being of individual at work.
The various factors apart from work that cause stress in an individual are:
family relations, economic problems, conflict of company with family
demands, etc.
 Source of Stress: Frustration
Frustration
Unpleasant tension, anxiety, and heightened sympathetic activity
resulting from a blocked goal. Negative emotional state that occurs
when one is prevented from reaching desired goals
Ex. How might you feel if you did not get the job you wanted?
– External Frustration: Based on external conditions that
impede progress toward a goal
– Personal Frustration: Caused by personal characteristics that
impede progress toward a goal

© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

All rights reserved.
 Sources of Stress: Conflict

© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

All rights reserved.
 Stress and Job Performance
1. Stress can be either helpful or harmful to job performance,
depending on its level. When there is no stress, job
challenges are absent and performance tends to be low.
2. As stress increases, performance tends to increase, because
stress helps a person call up recources to meet job
requirements.
3. If stress becomes too great, it turns into a destructive force.
Performance beging to decline at some point because
excess stress interferes with performance.
4. An employee loses the ability to cope; she or he becomes
unable to make decisions and exhibits erratic bahavior.
5. If stress increases to a breaking point, performance
becomes zero; the employee has beakdown, becomes too ill
to work, is fired, quits or refuses to come to work to face
the stress.
 Stress Vulnerability
Stress Threshold
Worker vulnerability to stress
is a function of both internal
and external stressors. One
internal factor is an employee’s
stress threshold. Some people
have a low threshold and the
stress of even relatively small
changes or disruptions in their
work routines causes a
reduction in performance.
Others have a high threshold
staying cool, calm and
productive longer under the
same conditions.
Perceived Control
• The second internal factor
affecting employee stress is the
amount of perceived control
they have over their work and
working conditions. Empoyees
who have a substantial degree
of independence, autonomy
and freedom to make decisions
seem to handle work pressures
better.
 Type A and Type B People

Type A People Type B People

• They are aggresive and • They appear more relaxed

competitive, set high
standarts are impatient
with themselves and others
and thrive under constant
time pressures.
and easygoing. They accept
situations and work withing
them rather than fight them
competitively. Type B
people are especially
relaxed regarding time
pressures, so they are less
prone to have problems
associated with stress.