1. 13.8 to 13.9 - The third force: humanism and personality
1.1. 13.8 - Carl Rogers and the humanistic perspective
1.1.1. Behaviorism was developed as response to negativity of psychoanalysis and deterministic nature of behaviorism, is based on those aspects of personality that make us uniquely human: subjective feelings and freedom of choice
1.1.2. Rogers and Maslow both believed in self-actualization tendency: the striving to fulfill one's innate capacities and capabilities
1.1.2.1. According to Rogers, only a fully functioning person can reach the goal of self-actualization
1.1.2.1.1. Fully functioning person: a person who is in touch with and trusting of the deepest, innermost urges and feelings
1.1.2.2. According to Maslow, self actualization is a goal that people are continously striving to reach
1.1.3. Rogers proposed that self-actualization depends on proper development of the self-concept (a match between the real and ideal self) and is facilitated through unconditional positive regard
1.1.3.1. Self concept: the image of oneself that develops from interactions with important significant people in one's life, includes real and ideal self
1.1.3.1.1. Real self: one's actual perception of characteristics and abilities
1.1.3.1.2. Ideal self: the perception of what one would like to be
1.1.3.2. Unconditional positive regard: positive regard given without strings attached
1.2. 13.9 - Current thoughts on the humanistic perspective
1.2.1. Some aspects of humanistic theory are not easy to evaluate through research
1.2.2. Some argue it paints a too good picture of personality, not being able to explain darker aspects of personality
1.2.3. Despite challenges, humanistic theory approaches have been effective in therapy and the theory has also led to therapies promoting self-growth
2. 13.10 to 13.12 - Trait theories
2.1. 13.10 - Allport and Cattell: Early attempts to list and describe traits
2.1.1. Trait theories attempt to describe personality in terms of actual traits rather than explaining it
2.1.2. Trait: a consistent, enduring way of thinking, feeling or behaving
2.1.3. Allport: first developed about 200 traits which he believed to be a part of the nervous system
2.1.4. Catell: Reduced number of traits to come up with between 16-23 source traits, also believed in surface traits
2.2. 13.11 - Modern trait theories: the big five
2.2.1. Several separate researchers have arrived at 5 trait dimensions across cultures
2.2.2. Openness: willingness to try new things
2.2.3. Conscientiousness: referring to organization and motivation
2.2.4. Agreeableness: how easy it is to get along with someone
2.2.5. Neuroticism: Emotional stability/instability
2.2.6. Good support for ability of traits to predict a variety of life outcomes
2.3. 13.12 - Current thoughts on the trait perspective
2.3.1. Some researchers believe the expression of some traits will differ based on situation or context. This is called the trait-situation interaction
2.3.2. Traits are influential but not absolute determinants of behavior
3. 13.13 to 13.15 - Personality: Genetics, neuroscience and culture
3.1. 13.13 - The biology of personality: behavioral genetics
3.1.1. Behavioral genetics is a field of study of the relationship between heredity and personality
3.1.2. Twin studies and adoption studies both help to investigate the impact of genetics vs environment in personality
3.1.3. Genetic nurture: the genetics of a child's parent, even if not inherited, can impact the family and child's environment
3.2. 13.14 - The biology of personality: neuroscience
3.2.1. Phrenology: an early theory of personality traits based on the shape of a persons skull
3.2.2. Personality neuroscience is a growing area of research, and brain structure differences associated with aspects of the big 5 have been identified using both structural and functional neuroimaging methods
3.3. 13.15 - Current thoughts on the heritability and neuroscience of personality
3.3.1. Twin and adoption studies have found support for a genetic influence on many personality traits
3.3.2. Cross cultural research has found support for 5 factor model
4. 13.16 to 13.17 - Assessment of personality
4.1. 13.16 - Interviews, behavioral assessments, and personality inventories
4.1.1. Interviews are used primarily by psychoanalysts and humanists and can include structured or unstructured interviews. Disadvantages of interviews can include the halo effect and bias of the interpretation on the part of the interviewer
4.1.2. Behavioral assessments are primarily used by behaviorists and include direct observation of behavior, rating scales of specific behavior, and frequency counts of behavior. Behavioral assessments have the disadvantage of the observer effect, which causes an observed person's behavior to change, and observer bias on the part of the person doing the assessment
4.1.3. Personality inventories are typically developed by trait theorists and provide a detailed description of certain personality traits. The NEO-PI-3 is based on the 5 factor model, whereas the MMPI-2-RF is designed to detect abnormal personality
4.1.3.1. They include validity scales to prevent minimization or exaggeration of symptoms, but such measures are not perfect
4.2. 13.17 - Projective tests
4.2.1. Projective tests are based on the defense mechanism of projection and are used by psychoanalysts.
4.2.1.1. Include the Rorschach inkblot test and the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
4.2.2. Projective tests can be useful in finding starting points to open dialogue between therapist and client but have been criticized for being low in reliability and validity
5. 13.1 - Theories of Personality
5.1. Personality: The unique way in which each individual thinks, feels and acts. Different from:
5.1.1. Character: Value judgements made about a person's morals or ethical behavior
5.1.2. Temperament: The biological innate and enduring characteristics with which each person is born
5.2. 4 traditional perspectives in the study of personality are:
5.2.1. Psychodynamic perspective: focuses on role of unconscious mind and biological causes
5.2.2. Behavioral perspective: focuses on theories of learning and effect of environment
5.2.3. Humanistic perspective: focuses on conscious life experiences and choice
5.2.4. Trait perspective: concerned with characteristics themselves
6. 13.2 to 13.5 - Psychodynamic perspectives
6.1. 13.2 - Freud's conception of personality
6.1.1. Freud's obsession with sexual explanations makes sense when looking at time he grew up in
6.1.2. 3 layers of consciousness in the mind
6.1.2.1. Conscious: current awareness
6.1.2.2. Preconscious: containing memories, info which one can easily become aware of
6.1.2.3. Unconscious: Hidden at all times, only revealed in dreams
6.1.2.3.1. Most important determining factor in behavior and personality
6.1.3. 3 parts of the personality
6.1.3.1. Id: primitive, present at birth, unconscious, pleasure-seeking, containing basic biological drives
6.1.3.1.1. Functions through pleasure principle: desire for immediate satisfaction of needs, regardless of consequences
6.1.3.2. Ego: develops out of a need to deal with reality; mostly conscious, rational & logical
6.1.3.2.1. Functions through reality principle: satisfaction of demands of the id, but only if there are no negative consequences
6.1.3.3. Superego: moral center of personality, containing conscience
6.1.4. Psychological defense mechanisms: ways of dealing with anxiety through unconsciously distorting perception of reality, also manage conflicts between id, ego and superego
6.1.4.1. Psychological defense mechanisms: ways of dealing with anxiety through unconsciously distorting perception of reality, also manage conflicts between id, ego and superego
6.1.4.2. Denial: Refusal to recognize or acknowledge a threatening situation
6.1.4.3. Repression: Pushing threatening events out of memory
6.1.4.4. Projection: Placing one's own thought onto others
6.1.4.5. Reaction formation: Forming an attitude that is opposite of one's unacceptable actual thoughts
6.1.4.6. Displacement: Expressing feelings not at a real target but a substitute target
6.1.4.7. Regression: Falling back on childlike patterns
6.1.4.8. Identification: Trying to become like someone else
6.1.4.9. Compensation: Trying to make up for deficit in one area through becoming superior in other area
6.1.4.10. Sublimation: Turning socially unacceptable urges into socially acceptable behavior
6.1.4.11. Rationalization: making up acceptable excuses for unacceptable behavior
6.2. 13.3 - Stages of personality development
6.2.1. 5 psychosexual stages
6.2.1.1. Oral: 0 to 18 months, focus of pleasure on oral activities, focus of conflicts on weaning
6.2.1.2. Anal: 18 to 36 months, focus of pleasure on bowel and bladder control, focus of conflicts on toilet training
6.2.1.3. Phallic: 3 to 6 years, focus of pleasure on genitals, focus of conflicts on sexual awareness
6.2.1.3.1. To move on from this stage, repression and identification has to take place
6.2.1.4. Latency: 6 years old to puberty, focus o pleasure on social and intellectual skills, focus of conflicts on school, play, friendships
6.2.1.5. Genital: Puberty to death, focus of pleasure on sexual behavior, focus of conflicts on sexual relationship with partner
6.2.2. If any of the conflicts in one of the stages are not resolved, this might lead to fixation in that stage, leading to problems related to the stage later in life
6.3. 13.4 - The neo-freudians
6.3.1. Followers of Freud who developed their own competing psychodynamic theories and altered the focus of psychoanalysis
6.3.1.1. Jung: believed in both a personal unconscious and a collective unconscious that holds universal human memories called archetypes
6.3.1.2. Adler: focused on feelings of inferiority as driving force behind personality, also developed birth order theory
6.3.1.3. Horney: developed a theory based on basic anxiety for both genders, rejected concept of penis envy
6.3.1.4. Erikson: emphasized social relationships at every stage of life
6.4. 13.5 - Current thoughts on Freud and the psychodynamic perspective
6.4.1. Most of Freud's theories have been rejected due to a lack of scientific support
6.4.2. Modern psychodynamic theory maintains focus on unconscious mind, concept of defense mechanisms also still useful
7. 13.6 to 13.7 - The behavioral and social cognitive view of personality
7.1. 13.6 - Learning theories
7.1.1. Behaviorists consider personality to be a learned set of responses and habits, gained through classical and operant conditioning
7.1.2. Social cognitive learning theorists emphasize influences of other people's behavior and of a person's own expectancies on learning
7.1.2.1. Bandura's reciprocal determinism and self-efficacy
7.1.2.1.1. Reciprocal determinism proposes that the environment, personal characteristics and behavior all interact to determine personality
7.1.2.1.2. Self-efficacy: an individual's expectancy of how effective his or her efforts to accomplish a goal will be in any particular circumstances, also affects how likely a person is to show certain behavior
7.1.2.2. Rotter's social learning theory
7.1.2.2.1. Personality is a set of potential responses to various situations; theory based on principles of motivation derived from Thorndike's law of effect
7.1.2.2.2. Locus of control: tendency for people to assume that they either have control or do not have control over events and consequences in their lives
7.2. 13.7 - Current thoughts on the behavioral and social cognitive learning views
7.2.1. Traditional behavioral personality theory has scientific support but is criticized for being too simplistic
7.2.2. SCT of Bandura and social learning theory of Rotter account for the influences of individual cognitive processes and social influences on personality