PERSONALITY

CHAPTER 15

What is personality?

An individuals unique
patterns of thoughts,
feelings, and behaviors
that persists over time
and across situations.

Classes of Personality
Theories
Psychodynamic

theories
Humanistic theories
Trait theories
Cognitive-social learning theories

Prentice Hall, 1999

Psychodynamic Theories

Sigmund

Freud is the founder

Neo-Freudians:

his students

Carl Jung, Karen Horney, Alfred Adler, Erik Erikson

Prentice Hall, 1999

Sigmund Freud

Psychoanalysis - Freuds theory of personality and method

of therapy

Freud focused on the unconscious

drives, desires, needs, and conflicts which we are unaware of

guide behavior

Freuds view of humanity is deterministic (little free will)

and pessimistic

A few facts about Freud

He was an extremely intelligent man

Early in his career, he thought cocaine could be a treatment to help

depressed patients - that didnt work out

He smoked so many cigars that he developed terrible cancer of the jaw

He sometimes fainted in front of his colleagues (esp. Carl Jung)

Tried to become famous through experiments with squid

Freuds Structure of Personality

Prentice Hall, 1999

Freuds 3 Personality
Structures

Id:

Ego:

The collection of unconscious urges and desires that

continually seek expression.

The part of the personality that mediates between the

demands of reality, the id, and superego.

Superego:

The social and parental standards the individual has

internalized (our conscience).
Prentice Hall, 1999

Id

Contains primitive drives & instincts

Functions entirely in unconscious

Libido:

A form of psychic energy; the energy generated by the sexual drive.

Pleasure principle:

The way the id seeks immediate gratification of an instinct. It wants to

maximize pleasure & minimize pain.

Superego

operates at all 3 levels of consciousness

contains the internalized values of family and

society

it is highly moralistic, like a strict parent

GUILT originates in the superego

used as punishment for bad behavior.

Prentice Hall, 1999

Ego

Operates at all three levels

Reality principle:

ego

strives to satisfy id needs within the

constraints of the real world and the
superego i.e. it mediates between the id
and the superego

The ego defends itself from id-superego struggles via various

defense mechanisms

Ego Defense Mechanisms

When the ego fails to satisfy both the id and the superego,
anxiety occurs. In order to avoid the discomfort of anxiety, the
ego distorts reality by the use of defense mechanisms.

Unhealthy personalities develop not only when we become too

dependent upon defense mechanisms, but also when the id or
superego is unusually strong or the ego unusually weak

Ego Defense Mechanisms

Repression
preventing

painful, dangerous, anxiety producing

thoughts from entering consciousness
Freud believed that repression underlies all the
other defense mechanisms
Denial
Refusing

realities.

to believe or even perceive painful

Ego Defense Mechanisms

Rationalization
substituting

socially acceptable reasons

Regression
Responding

to a threatening situation in a way

appropriate to an earlier age or level of
development

Displacement
substituting

a less threatening object for the

original object or impulse

Ego Defense Mechanisms

Sublimation

Intellectualization

Ignoring the emotional aspects of a painful experience by focusing on

abstract thoughts, words or ideas

Projection

the process of substituting a socially desirable goal for a socially

questionable goal

Transferring unacceptable motives or impulses to others

Reaction formation

Refusing to acknowledge unacceptable urges, thoughts or feelings by

exaggerating the opposite state

Psychosexual Stages of Development

In Freudian theory, there are five developmental periods during which

particular kinds of pleasures must be gratified if personality development
is to proceed normally

At each stage libido energy is focused on a different part of the body

(erogenous zone)

fixation: if too much or too little gratification of the libidinal drive is

provided at any stage, the personality becomes fixated at that stage
and development gets stuck at that stage

Freuds Psychosexual Stages

order is important, not exact
times

oral stage (birth - 18 months)

anal stage (18 months - 3.5 years)
phallic stage (3.5 - 6 years)
latency stage (6 years - puberty)
genital stage (puberty on)

Personalities are influenced by:

How conflicts have been resolved
At which stage we are fixated

Prentice Hall, 1999

Oral Stage

0-18 monthsinfant receives satisfaction through

sucking, eating, biting, etc. Erogenous zone is the
mouth.

Overindulgentgullible, dependent, and passive

Underindulgentaggressive, sadistic person

Oral fixated adults orient their life around their

mouth by overeating, alcoholism, smoking, talking
too much

Anal Stage

18 months-3 yearsthe child receives satisfaction by

having and retaining bowel movements. Erogenous
zone is the anus.

Fixation (if toilet training is too strict) results in

retentive or explosive personality

Anal-retentivehighly controlled, compulsively neat

Anal-explosivemessy, disorderly, rebellious, and

destructive

Phallic Stage

3-6 yearscenter of pleasure is the genitals, typically

a time of exploration of pleasure through masturbation
and playing doctor

Child resolves the Oedipus Complex

or the Electra complex

male child lusts after the mother, sees father as a competitor,

fears retaliation
female child is attracted to father and resents mother

Castration anxiety in males and penis envy in girls

Freuds Case Study of Little

Hans

Five year old Hans was afraid to leave his house

because of a fear that a horse would bite him. Freud
discovered that Hans was actually afraid of his erotic
feelings toward his mother and his aggressive wishes
towards his father. Freud diagnosed Hanss
unconscious anxiety as having been misdirected from
his parents and onto horses. Freud supported his
hypothesis with the following five points:

Little Hans

1.

Hans has said he wanted to sleep with his mother, coax

with or caress her, to be married to her and have
children just like daddy.

2.

Hans experienced castration anxiety. His parents warned

that if he continued to play with his widdler, it would
be cut off. He noticed that his sister had no widdler.

3.

Hans wanted his mother all to himself, was jealous of his

father and feared his mother would prefer his fathers
bigger widdler which was like a horse.

Little Hans

4. Hans was most afraid of horses with black muzzles

similar to his fathers black moustache. After Hans had
accidently knocked down a statue of a horse and
then seen a real horse fall down, he recognized his
own aggressive impulse that his father should fall down
and die. This obviously frightened him. Horses
became a symbolic substitute for his father whom he
both feared and hated.

Little Hans

5. Through psychoanalysis, the unconscious was made

conscious. Hanss fears were brought into the open
and he achieved insight.
Freud observed Hans was really a little Oedipus who
wanted to have his father out of the way - to get rid of
him - so that he might be alone with his handsome
mother and sleep with her.

Latency Stage

Age 6 to pubertychildren repress sexual thoughts and engage in

nonsexual activities such as developing social and intellectual skills

Child has resolved the Oedipus or Electra complex and continues to

identify with the same-sex parent. This identification process
facilitates the incorporation of parent values into the childs
superego.

This allows them to develop successful interactions with same-sex

peers and refine appropriate gender roles

Genital Stage

Adolescence ongenitals are again the erogenous

zones.
Individual seeks to fulfill his or her sexual desires
through mature romantic and sexual interest in
members of the opposite sex.
Unsuccessful outcomes lead to sexual relationships
based on lustful desires rather than respect and
commitment.

Criticism of Freuds
Psychoanalytic theory

Many individuals had concerns about Freuds focus

on sexuality as the key factor in personality
development

As a result of this criticism, the Neo-Freudians

began to develop their own theories concerning
personality development. We will examine a few
neo-Freudians and their views about personality.

Neo-Freudian: Carl Jung

Disagreed with Freud

the sexual instinct is not the main factor in

personality
the personality is not almost completely formed
in early childhood
Jung thought the unconscious was a source of
energy and strength, not just needs and desires
Jung had a more positive view of human nature:
people are rational and spiritual

Carl Jung
Personality

consists of three parts

Ego
the

rational, largely conscious system of personality, which

operates according to the reality principle

Personal

unconscious

all

of the thoughts and experiences that are accessible to the

conscious, as well as repressed memories and impulses

Collective

unconscious

contains

the universal experiences of humankind transmitted to

each individual

contains

Archetypes: a generic, idealized model of a person e.g.

heroes, Madonna mother

Jung classified people based on the flow of

their psychic energy

extraverts: energy is directed toward the

external world, are social and like working with
others (e.g. politicians)
whereas

introverts: psychic energy is focused more

inward on themselves and their own thoughts and
feelings (e.g. poets)

Prentice Hall, 1999

Jung also classified people based on how

they understand and relate to the world

rational: regulate their actions primarily by thinking or feeling

or

irrational: regulate their actions through the senses sensing or through

unconscious processes intuiting

Note: irrational here does not have any negative connotations (it does not mean
crazy). Its just how that person attempts to understand the world

Prentice Hall, 1999

Neo-Freudian: Alfred Adler - Superiority

Adler felt the primary struggle in personality development

was the overcoming of feelings of inferiority. He
contributed the notion of the inferiority complex to the
understanding of personality.

Personality development strives toward acceptance of self

and recognition of ones self worth

Birth order was also an area that Adler studied. He felt it

was an important part of personality development.
Though little empirical research supports his hypothesis,
anecdotal evidence persists and it continues to be studied
today.

Alfred Adler

Emphasized the unity of the personality rather than

the separate warring components of id, ego, and
superego

Maintained that the drive to overcome feelings of

inferiority acquired in childhood motivates most of
our behavior (infancy)

FYI he struggled to overcome his own childhood

illnesses and accidents

Claimed that people develop a style of life at an

early age a unique way in which the child and later
the adult will go about the struggle to achieve
superiority

Karen Horney - Security

Believed that personality could continue to develop and

change throughout life

Believed that many of womens psychological difficulties arise

from failure to live up to an idealized version of themselves

To be psychologically healthy, women, she claimed, (and men

for that matter) must learn to overcome irrational beliefs
about the need for perfection

Penis Envy was really Power Envy which was a result of social
status rather than biology

Horneys 3 Neurotic Trends:

1. moving towards people (submission),

being a people pleaser, logic is, if Im nice
to you, then you wont hurt me.

2. moving against people (aggression), if I

hurt you first, then you cant hurt me.

3. moving away from people (detachment),

by avoiding people the person reduces the
chance of being hurt

Differences Between Freud

and Jung
Freud
Stressed

the primacy of sexual instincts

Development is shaped in childhood

Jung
Stressed

peoples rational & spiritual

qualities
Development only comes to fruition
during middle adulthood

Differences Between Freud

and Adler
Freud
We

are controlled by our environment

View of individual: selfish; eternally in
conflict with society
Adler
We

can control our own fate

View of individual: striving for
perfection; develops socially
constructive goals

Differences Between Freud

and Horney
Freud
Personality

is shaped by sexual
(biological) development

Horney
Personality

is shaped by environmental &

social factors
Nonsexual factors play a larger role in
personality development