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CHAPTER 6: PERSONALITY (Dispositional Theory
Biological dispositions…
CHAPTER 6: PERSONALITY
Definition
- Qualities that bring continuity to one's behavior in diff situations & times = Consistency
- Characteristics that make who we are = Individual differences
- Shaped by biological, situational & mental processes = sociocultural & developmental context
- Nature: biological inheritance
- Nature: Early childhood experiences
- Culture: Individualism VS Collectivism
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Two views of personality
Dispositional Theories
- Descriptive approach: Dispositions
- Relatively stable personality pattern
- Temperaments, traits, personality types
Process Theories
- Internal personality processes
- motivation, emotion, perception, learning, unconscious processes
Process Theories
Different forces in development of personality
Result of both internal mental processes & social interactions
- psychodynamic, humanistic, existential, cognitive theories
Freud's Psychodynamic Theories
- Emphasis on motivation & mental disorder
- Personality forms during 1st few years of life, rooted in unresolved conflicts of early childhood
Model of Mind- Structure of personality
(Elements of unconscious psyche interact = produce motives for behavior & thought processes)
- Id:
- Primitive, Unconscious portion of personality = houses basic motives, drives, instinctive desires (eros, thanatos)
- Ruled by pleasure principle
- Aim: Immediate gratification
- Ego:
- Conscious, rational part of personality = keeps peace between superego & id
- Reality principle
- Safety, compromise, delayed gratification
- Superego:
- Mind's storehouse of values (moral attitudes learned from parents & society)
- Moral principle
- conscious, preconscious, unconscious level
- Perfection
Defense Mechanisms
- Largely unconscious mental strategy employed = reduce experience of conflict or anxiety
3 parts of personality
- Ego strength: ability of ego to balance forces effectively
- Healthy personality: when compromise exists bet parts
- Dysfunction: when id, ego & superego in excessive conflict
- Rationalization:
- When give socially acceptable reasons for actions believe to be unacceptable (e.g. feel stressed by academic pressures - decide to cheat = rationalize by 'I've never cheated before)
- Denial
- Avoid difficult situation by denying (e.g. I dont have problem)
- Reaction Formation
- Act exactly in opposite to unconscious desires (e.g. act super nice to boss when dislike him)
- Displacement
- Shifting reaction from real source of distress to safer individual/ object (e.g. displace anger at someone else aft getting scolded by boss)
- Regression
- Regress to earlier developmental stage (e.g. under stress, throw tantrums, wet pants)
- Sublimation
- Seek more acceptable outlets for bottled up sexual energies or unacceptable impulses (e.g. go for gym when angry)
- Projection
- Direct outward certain personal attitudes or values cannot be fully accepted (e.g. in r/s but feeling attracted to someone so accuses partner of cheating)
- misattribute own unconscious desires & dears onto other people/ objects
- Repression
- unconscious process of excluding unacceptable thoughts & feelings from awareness & memory
Development of Personality
- Influence of early experience
- At each psycho-sexual stages, child focuses libido on particular bodily location
- result of various ways in which sexual instinct is satisfied during stages
Psychosexual stages
- Oral (0-1 yrs): Pleasure associated with mouth (suckling, crying, spewing) - weaning
- Anal (1-3 yrs): Pleasure centers on control of waste elimination. - Toilet training
- Phallic (3-6 yrs): Pleasure centers on genitals - oedipus/ electra complex- struggle with feelings of competition & inadequacy with same-sex parent
- Latency (6-12 yrs): Development continues but sexual impulses are dormant; tend to spend more time with same-sex groups - no key conflicts
- Genital (>12 yrs): Feeling adult-like sexual urges & conflicts
- At each stage, has certain needs & demands - may result in fixation = affect adult personality
- thwarted needs = frustration
. - overrindulged needs = resistance to progress beyond stage
Psychic Determinism:
- All behavior is determined by Inner Mental States
- Unconscious memories, desires, conflicts
- Nothing happens by chance or accident
Unconscious Drives & Instincts (key to personality)
People are driven fundamentally by unconscious, animalistic, instinctual urges
- Eros: Sex drive, expressed directly thru sexual activity or indirectly thru releases- jokes, work, creative pursuits
- Liibido: Drive of sensual pleasure experience; produced by eros
- Thanatos: Drive of aggressive & destructive behaviors
Humanistic Theories
- Emphasis on human potential & mental health
- Positive needs to adapt, grow, thrive
- Mental disorders stem from unhealthy situations
- Does not recognise power of unconscious
Maslow's healthy personality
- Self-actualization (Master motive)
Personality drives by needs to adapt, learn & grow, not by unconscious conflicts & defenses against anxiety
- Focus on goals beyond own basic needs (e.g creative, full of good humor, given to spontaneity)
- free free to fulfill potentialities
- uniqueness of individuals- subjective experience of reality
- Self doubts = losing sight of free will + not recognise own potential for change & growth
Carl Rogers' Fully Functioning Person
- Healthy, self-actualizing individual = Self-concept- positive & Congruent with reality
- Self-concept: Relatively stable set of perception abt self
- Self-esteem: Feelings abt one's own overall worth
- Unconditional positive regard
- Receiving msg of worth from others, even when make mistakes
- critical to distinguish behavior from overall worth, acknowledge even when make mistakes
- Genuineness
- Honest feedback from others (w empathy) = help accept mistake & work thru to grow
- honest & empathetic feedback important for growth & congruence
- Consistency
- Our tendency is to skew incoming info - reduce inconsistency & keep intact +ve self-esteem
Social-cognitive Theories
- Emphasis on learning through social situations
- Social: social rewards & punishments
- Cognitive: Role of though processes in behavior
- Overemphasize rational info processing & overlook emotion & unconscious processes as impt components of personality
Bandura's Observational learning
- Personality is collection of learned behavior patterns
- Reciprocal Determinism
- Process of cognition, behavior & environment mutually influence each other
Rotter's Locus of control theory
- Both trait theory & process theory = focus on single but impt dimension of personality
- Locus of control: sense of whether control over life is internal or external
- Internal: Cause of behavior w/in person (self)
- External: w/in situation (fate)
Carl Jung
(Extension of unconscious - neo-freudian theorists)
- Spirituality is fundamental human motive, coequal with sexuality
- Archetypes: Collective memories tie tgt countless generations -> Give ancient images
- Two part unconscious: Personal & collective (similar to id)
- Aminus & Anima: Represent masculine & feminine sides
- Shadow: Destructive & aggressive tendencies (thanatos)