unit ii chapter 9 notes

Chapter 9: What is Personality: p333 Focus QuestionsHow do psychologist and personality Theorist define personality?

Personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his or her characteristics behavior and thought.

What elements do personality theories have in common?

Personality theories are concerned with four aspects of human behavior. They make the following assumptions:

1) There is some core of personality common to all human beings.

2) These common tendencies and characteristics of human beings are channeled in various directions by the process of development.

3) The core of personality, as modified by development, makes each person a unique individual, displaying a unique pattern of the peripheral traits that are generally known as personality.

4) Identifying and defining inner human qualities can help to explain the peripheral traits.

FOUR COMPONENTS OF PERSONALITY THEORY

1) Almost every theory is based on some fundamental view of the basic quality of human nature. It assumes that there is a core of personality composed of tendencies and traits that are common to all human beings.

Different theories take different views of this common core, but almost all acknowledge that it exists and is a force in shaping personality.

2) Each theory that acknowledges a common core of personality maintains that the tendencies and traits are channeled in various directions for different individuals by the process of development—all the experiences that we encounter throughout our lives.

Thus, various theories agree that personality is the product of both nature(genetic) and nurture(experiences)

3) Every theory that that acknowledges a common core of personality is concerned with what are called peripheral traits—that is, all the distinctive ways in which people relate to the environment. The peripheral traits are viewed as the inevitable result of the way individual development has acted on the common core of personality.

4) Finally, almost every theory is concerned with the task of identifying and defining the inner processes by which the peripheral traits are laid down and maintained.

DEFINITIONS

Core of personality

The tendencies and traits common to all human beings.

Peripheral traits The distinctive ways in which people relate to their social environment.

Personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his or her characteristics behavior and thought.

Here dynamic refers to the idea that personality is ongoing and always changing, although some changes may be gradual and slow. Personality is about individuals each whom are unique.

Psychophysical systems refers to the interaction between mind and body, and “character behavior and thought” states more specifically what constitutes the individuality that each of us displays.

Crazy Joe’s Psych 101 Notes II Prof. T.R. Tharney: PSY101 Chapter 9: pp. 1

Chapter 9: Psychodynamic Views: Freud and those who followed, p335Focus QuestionsWhat was Freud’s basic view of personality and how it develops?

Freud’s psychoanalytic theory assumes that the core of personality is conflict—springing from a basic pleasure seeking energy call the libido. This theory was the first of what are now called psychodynamic theories.

A key idea in Freud’s theory of personality is that all humans posses a basic energy called the libido that is directed at satisfying needs, maximizing pleasure, and minimizing pain. Many of the acts that bring pleasure, however, cause conflict as well, which Freud saw as the core of personality.

What major contributions did Freud make to the study of personality?

Freud was the first to develop a comprehensive theory of personality. Freud’s views have had a profound influence on many later Psychodynamic theorists, referred to as psychodynamic theorists.

What aspects of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory were changed by psychodynamic theorist who came after him?

The following are among Freud’s successors who made major modifications to his theory.

a) Jung with his analytical psychology, rejected Freud’s emphasis on sexuality, introduced the concept of the collective unconscious with its archetypes, and coined the terms introvert and extrovert.

b) Adler, with his Individual psychology, rejected Freud’s emphasis on sexuality and instead emphasized striving for superiority and social interest.

c) Horney, with her social psychoanalytic theory, rejected Freud’s emphasis on sexuality and his views on women and introduced the concept of basic anxiety.

d) Erickson put forth his theory of psychosocial development.

e) Fromm emphasized social and cultural influences on personality.

Freud’s Psychoanalytic TheoryPsychoanalytic Theory holds that the human mind has three parts, or forces:

1) the unconscious mind, which includes the id, with its pleasure principle;

2) the conscious ego, with its reality principle;

3) And the often unconscious superego, with its morality principle.

The primitive id contains the persons’ instinctive drives towards sensuality and aggression.

Freud believed that human psychosexual development takes place in five stages: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital.


The superego is acquired as a result of the Oedipus complex, which all children are assumed to undergo between ages 3 and 6.

The central problem in mental disorders, according to classical psychoanalytic theory is anxiety.

Id, Ego, and SuperegoFreud conceived of the human personality and mind as having three major components, which he called the id, the ego, and the superego.

INTRAPSYCHIC SYSTEM

Principle

1. Id

A basic and primitive part of the mind that is the origin of survival motives and sexual desires, as well as motives for self-destruction and aggression.

Impulses originate in biological needs, and they arouse the id to a state of excitement and tension.

The Pleasure Principle: the demand of the unconscious id for gratification of desires.

Primary Process1The primary process works to resolve tension created by the pleasure principle. Rather than act on dangerous or unacceptable urges, the id forms a mental image of a desired object to substitute for an urge in order to diffuse tension and anxiety.

Impulses:

Eros: Driven by the Libido, orientated toward self-preservation

Thanatos: directed toward self-destruction that is often turned outward and is the force behind aggression.

2. Ego

The Conscious part of the mind that includes our knowledge, skills, beliefs, and conscious motives.

Primary function is to obtain objects that will gratify the id.

The Reality Principle: the principle by which the conscious ego operates as it tries to mediate and balance the demands of the unconscious id and the realities of the environment.

Secondary Process2the secondary process discharges the tension between the ego and the id that is caused by unmet urges or needs. The secondary process functions through the ego’s action of looking for an object in the real world that matches the mental image created by the id’s primary process.

Is the real us as we think of ourselves, including knowledge, skills, beliefs, and conscious motives

3. Super Ego

The often unconscious part of the mind that includes the conscience and the ego ideal

The morality Principle: the principle by which the superego tries to govern the ego in accord with the conscience and the ego ideal

The superego is acquired as a result of the Oedipus complex, which all children are assumed to undergo between ages 3 and 6.

Ego ideal: a sense of “right”

Conscience: a sense of “Wrong”

The Internal BattleThe three parts of the mind are often in conflict, and Freud regarded this Intrapsychic conflict as the essence of human personality. One result of the conflict is anxiety, which is produced in the ego. When ever the demands of the id are dangerous or the disapprovals of the superego are intense.

Anxiety arouses the ego to fight the impulses or thoughts that have created it. In one way or another—by using repression and the other defense mechanisms (see chapter 12 notes), by turning the mind’s attention elsewhere, by gratifying some other impulse of the id—the ego defends itself against the threat posed by the id or the superego and minimizes the anxiety.

1 Definition found at http://psychology.about.com2 Definition found at http://psychology.about.comCrazy Joe’s Psych 101 Notes II Prof. T.R. Tharney: PSY101 Chapter 9: pp. 3

Psychosexual DevelopmentFreud believed that human psychosexual development takes place in five stages: oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital.

Freud’s Psychosexual Stages of DevelopmentStages Time of development

1. Oral Birth to about 18mo.

Impulses to be gratified focus on the mouth and tongue; expressed in activities such as sucking and eating.

Fixation can result in an adult’s engaging excessively in oral activities, such as eating, smoking, drinking, or talking, and being overly dependent on others.

2. Anal 18mo to 3yrs.

Impulses to be gratified focus on the anal region; expressed in activities such as eliminating or refraining from it.

Fixation can result in an adult’s being exceedingly stubborn, overly concerned with cleanliness, and meticulously orderly and concerned with minute details (the latter is probably closest to what people mean when they refer to someone as anal)

3. Phallic About 3yrs to 5yrsImpulses to be gratified focus on the genitals.

This is the period for resolving the Oedipus complex; fixations may affect sexual orientation

4. Latency

About 6yrs to 12yrsSexual impulses become dormant.

5. Genital

Puberty

Sexual impulses begin to reawaken with entrance into puberty and express themselves in adult form.


Jung verses Freud: Sexuality Isn’t EverythingJung with his analytical psychology, rejected Freud’s emphasis on sexuality, introduced the concept of the collective unconscious with its archetypes, and coined the terms introvert and extrovert.

Carl Gustav JungSwiss psychiatrist Carl Jung began his studies of human motivation in the early 1900s and created the school of psychoanalysis known as analytical psychology. A contemporary of Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, Jung at first collaborated closely with Freud but eventually moved on to pursue his own theories, including the exploration of personality types. According to Jung, there are two basic personality types, extroverted and introverted, which alternate equally in the completely normal individual. Jung also believed that the unconscious mind is formed by the personal unconscious (the repressed feelings and thoughts developed during an individual’s life) and the collective unconscious (those feelings, thoughts, and memories shared by all humanity).

Jung

Analytic psychology The term for Jung’s approach to psychoanalytic theory.

Collective unconscious

A set of inherited mental structures that Jung thought were universal and the result of accumulated human experiences across time.

Archetypes Jung’s term for the inherited mental elements in the collective unconscious.

Introverts Individuals who prefer to love with their own thoughts and avoid social interactions.

Extroverts Individuals who are highly interested in other people and the social world around them


Adler, Horney, and Erickson: Social Influences

Adler’s Individual psychology Adler, with his Individual psychology, rejected Freud’s emphasis on sexuality and instead emphasized striving for superiority and social interest.

Alfred AdlerAustrian psychologist and psychiatrist Alfred Adler studied under Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, before developing his own theories about human behavior. Adler’s best-known theories stress that individuals are mainly motivated by feelings of inferiority, which he called an inferiority complex.

Alfred Adler (1870-1937), Austrian psychologist and psychiatrist, born in Vienna, and educated at Vienna University. After leaving the university he studied and was associated with Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis. In 1911 Adler left the orthodox psychoanalytic school to found a neo-Freudian school of psychoanalysis. After 1926 he was a visiting professor at Columbia University, and in 1935 he and his family moved to the United States.

In his analysis of individual development, Adler stressed the sense of inferiority, rather than sexual drives, as the motivating force in human life. According to Adler, conscious or subconscious feelings of inferiority (to which he gave the name inferiority complex), combined with compensatory defense mechanisms, are the basic causes of psychopathological behavior. The function of the psychoanalyst, furthermore, is to discover and rationalize such feelings and break down the compensatory, neurotic will for power that they engender in the patient. Adler's works include The Theory and Practice of Individual Psychology (1918) and The Pattern of Life (1930).

Adler

Individual psychology

The term used for Adler’s approach to psychodynamic theory.

Rejected Freud’s focus on sexuality.

Emphasized the innate tendency to be cooperative and psychologically tuned in to other people.

Adler believed that individuals encounter problems in life because they developed inappropriate goals and patterns of living that block the realization of their social interest.

Theory remains largely unsupported.


Horney’s Social Psychoanalytic TheoryHorney, with her social psychoanalytic theory, rejected Freud’s emphasis on sexuality and his views on women and introduced the concept of basic anxiety.

Karen HorneyGerman-American psychiatrist Karen Horney helped establish the American Institute for Psychoanalysis before becoming a professor at New York Medical College in 1942. She developed the neo-Freudian approach to psychoanalysis, and believed that neuroses are caused not only by instinctual drives, but also by experiences in society.

Karen Horney (1885-1952), German American psychiatrist, born in Hamburg, and educated at the universities of Freiburg and Berlin. She was an instructor at the Institute for Psychoanalysis in Berlin from 1920 to 1932, when she immigrated to the United States. After serving as associate director of the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis for two years, she taught at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute from 1934 to 1941. She became dean of the American Institute for Psychoanalysis, which she helped to found, in 1941 and a professor at New York Medical College in 1942.

Horney founded a neo-Freudian school of psychoanalysis based on the conclusion that neuroses are the result of emotional conflicts arising from childhood experiences and later disturbances in interpersonal relationships. Horney believed that such disturbances are conditioned to a large extent by the society in which an individual lives rather than solely by the instinctual drives postulated by Freud. Among her writings are The Neurotic Personality of Our Time (1936), New Ways in Psychoanalysis (1939), Self-Analysis (1942), Our Inner Conflicts (1945), and Neurosis and Human Growth (1950).

Horney

Social Psychoanalytic Theory

The term used for Horney’s approach to psychodynamic theory.

Horney broke with the Freudian tradition of emphasizing sexuality. Her view was, like Jung and Adler, was essentially optimistic.

Horney believed humans to be capable of growth and self-realization. This trend can be blocked, however, if as a child an individual acquires a sense of basic anxiety.

Basic Anxiety A feeling of being isolated and helpless in a potentially hostile world.


Erickson’s Psychosocial TheoryErickson put forth his theory of psychosocial development.

Erik EriksonGerman-born American psychoanalyst Erik Erikson proposed a theory of human development that stressed the interaction between psychological and social forces. Unlike Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, Erikson viewed development as lifelong.

Erik Erikson (1902-1994), American psychoanalyst, who made major contributions to the field of psychology with his work on child development and on the identity crisis.

Erikson was born in Frankfurt, Germany. He was an artist and teacher in the late 1920s when he met the Austrian psychoanalyst Anna Freud. With her encouragement, he began studying at the Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute, where he specialized in child psychoanalysis. In 1933 he immigrated to the United States, first joining the faculty of the Harvard Medical School and then moving to Yale University. During this period Erikson became interested in the influence of culture and society on child development. He studied groups of Native American children to help formulate his theories. These studies enabled him to correlate personality growth with parental and societal values. His first book, Childhood and Society (1950), became a classic in the field. As he continued his clinical work with young people, Erikson developed the concept of the “identity crisis,” an inevitable conflict that accompanies the growth of a sense of identity in late adolescence. Among his other books are Young Man Luther (1958); Insight and Responsibility (1964); Identity (1968); Gandhi's Truth (1969), which won a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award; and Vital Involvement in Old Age (1986).

Erikson

Psychosocial Theory

Erickson’s twofold process in which individuals’ psychological development proceeds hand in hand with the social interactions they experienced as they go through life.

Erickson based his conclusions on observations of people he treated, some in childhood, and others at various stages of adulthood.


Erickson’s Psychosocial StagesErickson viewed the life cycle of development from cradle to grave as having eight stages. Each stage brings new social experiences and new crises—which, if surmounted successfully, lead to continuous, steadily enriched personality growth.

Erickson’s Psychosocial stages

Stages Crisis Favorable Outcome Unfavorable OutcomeChildhood

1) 1st year of life Trust vs. Mistrust

Faith in the environment and future events

Suspicion, fear of future events

2) 2nd year Autonomy vs. Doubt

A sense of self-control and adequacy

Feelings of shame and self-doubt

3) 3rd through 5th years

Initiative vs. Guilt

Ability to be a “self-starter,” to initiate one’s own activities.

A sense of guilt and inadequacy to be on one’s own

4) 6th year to puberty

Industry vs.

Inferiority

Ability to learn how things work, to understand and organize.

A sense of inferiority at understanding and organizing.

Transition years

5) Adolescence Identity vs. confusion

Seeing oneself as a unique and integrated person.

Confusion over who and what one really is.

Adulthood

6) Early adulthood

Intimacy vs.

isolation

Ability to make commitments to others, to love.

Inability to form affectionate relationship.

7) Middle ageGenerativity vs. self-adsorption

Concern for family and society in general.

Concern only for self—one’s own well-being and prosperity.

8) Aging years Integrity vs. despair

A sense of integrity and fulfillment; willingness to face death.

Dissatisfaction with life; despair over prospect of death.


Fromm’s Social Psychoanalytic TheoryFromm emphasized social and cultural influences on personality.

Erich Fromm

German-born psychoanalyst Erich Fromm believed that psychological problems often result when an individual feels isolated from society.

Erich Fromm (1900-1980), American

psychoanalyst, best known for his application of

psychoanalytic theory to social and cultural

problems. He was born in Frankfurt am Main,

Germany, and educated at the universities of

Heidelberg and Munich and at the Psychoanalytic

Institute in Berlin. He immigrated to the United

States in 1934 and subsequently became a citizen.

Fromm was recognized as an important leader of contemporary psychoanalytic

thought (see Psychoanalysis). According to his views, specific personality types are

related to specific socioeconomic patterns. He broke away from biologically oriented

theories to see humans as products of their culture. He also felt that attempts should

be made to create harmony between the drives of the individual and the society in

which the individual lives. Fromm's many publications include Escape from Freedom

(1941), Man for Himself (1947), The Forgotten Language (1951), The Sane Society

(1955), The Art of Loving (1956), Sigmund Freud's Mission (1956), Beyond the Chains

of Illusion (1962), The Heart of Man (1964), and The Anatomy of Human

Destructiveness (1973).

Fromm


The term for Jung’s approach to psychoanalytic theory.

Fromm’s Five Basic Needs

1) Relatedness

This need stems from the fact that human beings have lost the union with nature that other animals possess. It must be satisfied by human relationships based on productive love (which implies mutual care, responsibility, respect, and understanding)

2) Transcendence The need to rise above one’s animal nature and to become creative.

3) Rootedness The need for a feeling of belonging, best satisfied by feelings of affiliation with all humanity.

4) IdentityThe need to have a sense of personal identity, to be unique. It can be satisfied through creativity or through identification with another person or group.

5) A frame of orientation

The need for a stable and consistent way of perceiving the world and understanding its events.


Summary of Freud and his successors who made major modifications to his theory

PYSCHOLOGIST APPROACH THEORY

Sigmund Freud

Psychoanalytic Theory

Psychoanalytic Theory holds that the human mind has three parts, or forces: 1) the unconscious mind, which includes the id, with its pleasure principle; 2) the conscious ego, with its reality principle; And 3) the often unconscious superego, with its morality principle.

Freud’s successors

APPROACH TO PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY

MODIFICATIONS TO PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY

Carl Jung

Analytical PsychologyThe term used for Jung’s approach to psychoanalytic theory

Jung with his analytical psychology, rejected Freud’s emphasis on sexuality, introduced the concept of the collective unconscious with its archetypes, and coined the terms introvert and extrovert

Alfred Adler

Individual Psychology

The term used for Adler’s approach to psychodynamic theory

Adler, with his Individual psychology, rejected Freud’s emphasis on sexuality and instead emphasized striving for superiority and social interest.

Karen Horney

Social Psychoanalytic Theory.The term used for Horney’s approach to psychodynamic theory.

Horney, with her social psychoanalytic theory, rejected Freud’s emphasis on sexuality and his views on women and introduced the concept of basic anxiety

Erik Erickson

Psychosocial DevelopmentErickson’s twofold process in which individuals’ psychological development proceeds hand in hand with the social interactions they experienced as they go through life.

Erickson put forth his theory of psychosocial development

Erich Fromm

Social Psychoanalytic TheorySuggest that personality problems are caused by conflicts between basic human needs and the demands of society.

Fromm emphasized social and cultural influences on personality


Chapter 9: Psychodynamic Views: DEFINITIONS

Psychodynamic theorists

Those theorists, including psychoanalytic theorist, who are concerned with understanding and analyzing the inner functioning and processes that yield personality and behavior.

libidoA basic energy source in all humans that is directed at maximizing pleasure and surviving.

Unconscious mind the part mind composed mainly of repressed motives and thoughts

Id

A basic and primitive part of the mind that is the origin of survival motives and sexual desires, as well as motives for self-destruction and aggression.

(Tharney) the oldest structure of the personality; innate and physiologically based; provides the psychic energy for all three parts of the system; knows only the inner world of subjective experiences; operates on the basis of the Pleasure Principle be means of reflex action and/or primary process

The Pleasure Principle

The demand of the unconscious id for gratification of desires.

Ego

The Conscious part of the mind that includes our knowledge, skills, beliefs, and conscious motives.

(Tharney) the second structure of the personality to develop; represents rational thought, memory, etc,: attempts to conform to the Id’s mental images into objective reality; operates on the basis of the Reality Principle by means of secondary process

The Reality PrincipleThe principle by which the conscious ego operates as it tries to mediate and balance the demands of the unconscious id and the realities of the environment.

Super Ego

The often unconscious part of the mind that includes the conscience and the ego ideal.

(Tharney) the third structure of the personality to develop; acquired by means of the process of learning; represents the internalization of society’s values, morals and standards; it’s Ego ideal rewards appropriate behaviors and it’s conscience punishes inappropriate or unacceptable behavior; operates on the basis of the Perfection (morality) Principle.

The morality Principle

the principle by which the superego tries to govern the ego in accord with the conscience and the ego ideal

Oedipus complexThe conflict between mingled love and hate for the same-sex parent experienced by boys and girls between the ages of 3 and 6.

Psychosexual development

Freud’s view that child development revolves around sexual desires in one form or another—particularly as in his oral, anal, and phallic stages.

Analytic psychology The term for Jung’s approach to psychoanalytic theory.

Collective unconscious

A set of inherited mental structures that Jung thought were universal and the result of accumulated human experiences across time.

Archetypes Jung’s term for the inherited mental elements in the collective unconscious.

Introverts Individuals who prefer to love with their own thoughts and avoid social interactions.

Extroverts Individuals who are highly interested in other people and the social world around them

Individual psychology The term used for Adler’s approach to psychodynamic theory


The term used for Horney’s approach to psychodynamic theory.

Basic Anxiety The feeling of being isolated and helpless in a potentially hostile world.

Psychosocial Development

Erickson’s twofold process in which individuals’ psychological development proceeds hand in hand with the social interactions they experienced as they go through life


Chapter 9: Positive growth: Humanistic theories of personality: p343Focus QuestionsAccording to humanistic psychology, what lies at the core of personality?

Humanistic theories hold that human nature is basically good and that the core of personality is the desire to perfect our skill and find peace and happiness.

Roger’s humanistic theory stresses the self-image, or phenomenological self, in conjunction with unconditional positive regard and avoidance of conditions of worth.

What is unconditional positive regard and how is it important?To be happy and to develop normally, we must grow up in a family and social environment that treat us with what Rogers calls unconditional positive regard. That is, we must be valued and trusted for ourselves and accepted unconditionally as worthwhile human beings. Out opinions and behaviors must be respected.

We must be accepted and loved for who we are, even when we do things of which others disapprove.

What is self-actualization?Self-actualization is a humanistic view that people will pursue the highest and most idealistic aims unless their development is thwarted by a malevolent social environment.

Rogers and Self-WorthBoth the humanistic and existential perspectives view abnormal behavior as resulting from a person’s failure to find meaning in life and fulfill his or her potential. The humanistic school of psychology, as represented in the work of American psychologist Carl Rogers, views mental health and personal growth as the natural conditions of human life. In Rogers’s view, every person possesses a drive toward self-actualization, the fulfillment of one’s greatest potential. Mental illness develops when circumstances in a person’s environment block this drive. The existential perspective sees emotional disturbances as the result of a person’s failure to act authentically—that is, to behave in accordance with one’s own goals and values, rather than the goals and values of others.

BIO Carl RogersIn the 1940s and 1950s American psychologist Carl Rogers developed a form of psychotherapy known as person-centered therapy. This approach emphasizes that each person has the capacity for self-understanding and self-healing. The therapist tries to demonstrate empathy and true caring for clients, allowing them to reveal their true feelings without fear of being judged.


Maslow and Self-Actualization

Abraham Harold MaslowAmerican psychologist Abraham Maslow was a member of

the humanistic school of psychology. Maslow proposed a theory of motivation based on a categorization of needs, suggesting that an individual progresses from satisfying basic needs such as those for food and sex to satisfying the highest need for what he called self-actualization, or the fulfilment of one's potential. Maslow believed that self-actualization could only be attained once basic needs had been met.

Hierarchy of Needs In 1954 American psychologist Abraham Maslow proposed that all people are motivated to fulfill a hierarchical pyramid of needs. At the bottom of Maslow’s pyramid are needs essential to survival, such as the needs for food, water, and sleep. The need for safety follows these physiological needs. According to Maslow, higher-level needs become important to us only after our more basic needs are satisfied. These higher needs include the need for love and belongingness, the need for esteem, and the need for self-actualization (in Maslow’s theory, a state in which

people realize their greatest potential).

BIO of Abraham Maslow (1908-70), American psychologist and leading exponent of humanistic psychology. Born in Brooklyn, New York, and educated at the City College of New York and the University of Wisconsin, Maslow spent most of his teaching career at Brandeis University. Judging orthodox behaviorism and psychoanalysis to be too rigidly theoretical and concerned with illness, he developed a theory of motivation describing the process by which an individual progresses from basic needs such as food and sex to the highest needs of what he called self-actualization—the fulfillment of one's greatest human potential. Humanistic psychotherapy, usually in the form of group therapy, seeks to help the individual progress through these stages. Maslow's writings include Toward a Psychology of Being (1962) and Farther Reaches of Human Nature (1971).

DEFINITIONS

Phenomenological self

The self-image that represents the way we perceive ourselves as functioning human beings.

Unconditional positive regard

Total acceptance of individuals for who and what they are, even if one disagrees with their actions.

Conditions of worth

Conditions that make being considered a worthwhile human being contingent on behaving in certain ways.

Self-actualization

a humanistic view that people will pursue the highest and most idealistic aims unless their development is thwarted by a malevolent social environment


Chapter 9: Further Perspectives on Personality: p346 Focus QuestionsIn Skinner’s operant conditioning view, what does personality consist of?

The operant conditioning approach of B.F. Skinner rejects the idea of personality in favor of positive and negative reinforcement and punishment as predictors of behavior. Skinner viewed reinforcement history as a better way of looking at what others call personality.

In Bandura’s social cognitive view, what factors influence personality and behavior?

Along with observational learning, social learning theories now stress reciprocal interaction, a concept developed by Arthur Bandura.

Bandura’s social cognitive theory of human agency stresses the role we ourselves play in our development and successful functioning in the world around us. Central to his conceptualization of human agency are self-efficacy and perceived self-efficacy.

In the view of evolutionary psychologist, how has natural selection influenced human personality?

Evolutionary psychology looks at commonalities in people across cultures and views personality characteristics that humans share as adaptations to problems with survival or reproduction in our distant past.

Two proposals by evolutionary psychologist such as Buss are as follows:

a) Females are attracted to particular males more because of the males resources;Males are attracted to particular female more because of the females fertility.

b) Males are more inclined to become jealous over their partners sexual infidelity;Females are more inclined to become jealous over their partner’s emotional infidelity.

Skinner and Operant Conditioning Skinner maintained that we can understand behavior and what others call personality only by applying the operant conditioning principle to understanding what a person does.

Rejecting the belief that humans possess free will, Skinner argued that we learn to be a particular kind of person in the same way that we learn anything else in life—through positive or negative reinforcement and punishment or, in his terms, reinforcement history.

External circumstances and consequences, not some inner-self, ultimately define personality. In effect, we could predict a persons behavior if we knew which of this person’s actions had been rewarded by society and which ones had been punished.

B. F. Skinner American psychologist B. F. Skinner became famous for his pioneering research on learning and behavior. During his 60-year career, Skinner discovered important principles of operant conditioning, a type of learning that involves reinforcement and punishment. A strict behaviorist, Skinner believed that operant conditioning could explain even the most complex of human behaviors


Bandura and Human Agency Albert Bandura, a prominent social learning and social cognitive theorist, developed the concept of reciprocal interaction, in which human are regarded as highly active processors of information who are continually interacting with the social environment.

The environment affects us, but the opposite is true as well. For example, losing a game may cause your friend to behave in a hostile manner—and eventually lead you to respond the same way, causing friction in the friendship. But your friend would create a far different environment if she were a “good sport” and lost graciously.

What this implies is that we are not just passive responders—we can choose how we want to affect the world around us. We have a “uniquely human capacity” for self-direction (Bandura 1974).

After his early research on observational learning and its role in behavior and personality, Bandura turned to developing his theory of self-efficacy, which refers essentially to what you are actually capable of doing in specific contexts or, more generally, who may you become as a person.

This stands in contrast to perceived self-efficacy—that is, what you think you can do or become. To Bandura, your set of beliefs about what you can do and the extent to which you see yourself as having control over your life are by far the most central and persuasive aspects of personality.

Self-efficacy theory has generated considerable research over the years, and Bandura has extended his theory to many realms of human endeavor and consolidated it within the term Human Agency. In his words, “To be an agent is to intentionally make things happen by ones actions….the core features of agency enable people to play a part in their self development, adaptation, and self renewal with changing times” (Bandura 2001).

Buss and the Evolution of Personality

Mate Attraction and Selection

JealousyTheorist core core of personality Unfavorable Outcome

Humanistic theories Tendency toward Positive growth Pg 347Classical Psychoanalytic theory

Core is conflict

Strict Behaviorist Theories


DEFINITIONS

Reinforcement History

Reciprocal Interaction A concept suggesting that humans are highly active processors of information who are continually interacting with the environment.

Self-Efficacy What a person is actually capable of doing in specific context or of becoming as a person.

Perceived Self-Efficacy What a person thinks she or he can do or become.


Chapter 9: Personality Assessment and its limits: p351Focus QuestionsWhat is “Big Five” personality theory?

Big five theory attempts to describe personality in terms of five general factors; it also proposes universals in personality structure and development.

Two of the factors, extraversion-introversion and emotional stability, originated in the work of Hans Eyesenck.

What are objective personality tests?

What are projective personality tests?

Objective Test

The Minnesota Mulitphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2)

The Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF)

The NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO-PI-R)

Projective and Other Test

The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

The Rorschach Inkblot Test

Non-standardized Tests

Limitations of Psychological Testing


unit ii chapter 9 notes

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