Chapter 11 PERSONALITY Irvine Valley College FALL 2018 Professor Trujillo PERSONALITY

Personality - long-standing traits and patterns that propel individuals to consistently think, feel, and behave in specific ways. • The word personality comes from the Latin word persona. In the ancient world, a persona was a mask worn by an actor to represent a specific personality trait. Hippocrates’s theory of four fluids “humors” of the body.

• choleric temperament (yellow bile from the liver) Hippocrates • melancholic temperament (black bile from the 460 bce - c. 375 bce kidneys) • sanguine temperament (red blood from the heart) • phlegmatic temperament (white phlegm from the lungs)

(credit: modification of work by Nicolas Alejandro) PERSONALITY

Galen suggested that both diseases and personality differences could be explained by imbalances in the “humors” and that each person exhibits one of the four temperaments • The choleric person is passionate, ambitious, and bold • The melancholic person is reserved, anxious, and unhappy Galen 129 ad– c. 200/c. 216 • The sanguine person is joyful, eager, and optimistic • The phlegmatic person is calm, reliable, and thoughtful

(credit: modification of work by Nicolas Alejandro) PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS

Developed from Galen’s theory of the four temperaments, Immanuel Kant proposed trait words to describe each temperament. Wilhelm Wundt later suggested the arrangement of the traits on two major Immanuel Kant Wilhelm Wundt axes. 1724-1804 1832 -1920 Kant’s four temperaments and that there was no overlap between the four categories. • He developed a list of traits that could be used to describe the personality of a person from each of the four temperaments. • Wundt suggested that a better description of personality could be achieved using two major axes: emotional/nonemotional and changeable/unchangeable. PERSONALITY

• Franz Gall, a German physician, proposed Phrenology, the idea that the distances between bumps on the skull reveal a person’s personality traits, character, and mental abilities e.g. friendly, prideful, murderous, kind, good with languages, and so on. • It was discredited because of the lack of empirical support, thus it is considered “pseudoscience”.

(a) Gall developed a chart that depicted which areas of the skull corresponded to particular personality traits or characteristics (Hothersall, 1995). (b) An 1825 lithograph depicts Gall examining the skull of a young woman.

(credit b: modification of work by Wellcome Library, London) STRUCTURAL THEORY OF PERSONALITY: LEVELS OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Freud believed our unconscious affects our behavior, although we are unaware of it. To explain the concept of conscious versus unconscious experience, Freud compared the mind to an iceberg: about one-tenth of our mind is conscious, and the rest of our mind is unconscious (mental activity of which we are unaware and are unable to access) • Repression • Freudian slips

(1856–1939) STRUCTURAL THEORY OF PERSONALITY

The unconscious id contains our most primitive drives or urges, and is present from birth. • It directs impulses for hunger, thirst, and sex • it operates on what he called the “pleasure principle,” in which the id seeks immediate gratification. • through social interactions with parents and others in a child’s environment, the ego and superego develop to help control the id.

(1856–1939) STRUCTURAL THEORY OF PERSONALITY The superego develops as a child interacts with others, learning the social rules for right and wrong. • acts as our conscience e.g. moral compass that tells us how we should behave. • It strives for perfection and judges our behavior, leading to feelings of pride or guilt The ego is the rational part of our personality, the self as seen by others. • Its job is to balance the demands of the id and superego in the context of reality • It operates on what Freud called the “reality principle.” • The ego helps the id satisfy its desires in a realistic way.

(1856–1939) STRUCTURAL THEORY OF PERSONALITY Psychosexual Stages of Development • Childhood experiences shape our personalities. • Each of person must pass through childhood stages, and if a person does not have the proper nurturing and parenting during a stage, fixation in that stage occurs. (1856–1939) DEFENSE MECHANISMS Anxiety results from the ego’s inability to mediate the conflict between the id and superego. When this happens the ego seeks to restore balance through defense mechanisms (unconscious protective behaviors that aim to reduce anxiety). According to Freud, we all use ego defense mechanisms. Defense mechanisms distort reality. The individual is unware that he is using them. NEO-FREUDIANS: ADLER, ERIKSON, JUNG, AND HORNEY

Alfred Adler proposed the concept of the inferiority complex. He founded a school of psychology called individual psychology, which focuses on our drive to compensate for feelings of inferiority.

The inferiority complex refers to feelings of lack worth and inability to live to societal 1870-1937 standards. Adler believed that feelings of inferiority in childhood are what drive people to attempt to gain superiority. NEO-FREUDIANS: ADLER, ERIKSON, JUNG, AND HORNEY

Erik Erikson proposed a psychosocial theory of development. Believed an individual’s personality develops throughout the lifespan. Erikson emphasized the social relationships that are important at each stage of personality development, Erikson identified eight stages, each of which represents a conflict or developmental task.

Erik Erikson 1870-1937 NEO-FREUDIANS: ADLER, ERIKSON, JUNG, AND HORNEY Carl Jung used analytical psychology which focus on working to balance opposing forces of conscious and unconscious thought. • A continuous learning process of becoming aware of unconscious elements and integrating them into consciousness. The collective unconscious is a universal unconscious, holding mental patterns, or memory traces, which are common to all of us. • Archetypes are ancestral memories represented by universal themes in various cultures, such as facing death, becoming independent, and striving for mastery. • Through biology, each person is handed down the same themes and that the same types of symbols e.g. the hero, the maiden, the sage, and the trickster. Jung also proposed two attitudes or approaches toward life: Carl Jung • Extroversion (outgoing and socially oriented) and introversion 1875-1961 (quiet and reserved or focused on inner psychic activity). • a balance between extroversion and introversion best served the goal of self-realization. NEO-FREUDIANS: ADLER, ERIKSON, JUNG, AND HORNEY Karen Horney was one of the first women trained as a Freudian psychoanalyst. • believed that each individual has the potential for self-realization and that the goal of psychoanalysis should be moving toward a healthy self rather than exploring early childhood patterns of dysfunction. • further suggested that men have womb envy, because they cannot give birth. • suggested that normal growth can be blocked by basic anxiety Karen Horney from needs not being met e.g. childhood experiences of loneliness Sep 16, 1885 - Dec 04, 1952 and/or isolation • Horney suggested three styles of coping with anxiety. LEARNING APPROACHES

The Behavioral Perspective • Behaviorists view personality as significantly shaped by the reinforcements and consequences outside of the organism. • B. F. Skinner believed that environment was solely responsible for all behavior including personality. December 04, 1925 (age 92) The Social-cognitive Perspective B.F. Skinner (March 20, • Emphasizes both learning and cognition as 1904 – August sources of individual differences in personality. 18, 1990) • Albert Bandura believed thinking and reasoning are important components of learning along with observational learning, self-efficacy, and reciprocal determinism. • Reciprocal Determinism • cognitive processes, behavior, and context all interact, each factor influencing and being influenced by the others simultaneously. LEARNING APPROACHES

Julian Rotter (1966) proposed the concept of . It refers to a person’s own beliefs about the power we have over our lives. • internal locus of control: people possess either the believe that most outcomes are the direct result of personal efforts. • external locus of control: believe that our Julian Rotter outcomes are outside of our control. Oct 22, 1916-Jan 06, 2014 LEARNING APPROACHES

Walter Mischel believed behavior is consistent in equivalent situations across time. • Self-regulation is the process of identifying a goal and, in pursuing these goals, using both internal (e.g. thoughts) and external (e.g.

responses) feedback to achieve the goal. Feb 22, 1930 • Self-regulation is also known as will (age 87) power. • Marshmallow test • consistent behaviors later in life • delayed gratification is a constant later in life HUMANISTIC APPROACHES Humanism emphasizes the study of the whole person and how healthy people develop. • Abraham Maslow studied people who he considered to be healthy, creative, and productive, including Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Abraham Maslow Lincoln, and others. (Apr 01, 1908-Jun 08, 1970)

• Maslow found that such people share similar characteristics, such as being open, creative, loving, spontaneous, compassionate, concerned for others, and accepting of themselves.

• Maslow proposes that human beings have certain needs in common and that these needs must be met in a certain order.

• The highest need is the need for self- actualization, which is the achievement of our fullest potential. HUMANISTIC APPROACHES

Humanism emphasizes the study of the whole person and how healthy people develop. Carl Rogers developed the idea of self-concept, our thoughts and feelings about ourselves. • He divided the self into two categories: the ideal self and the real self. • The ideal self is the person that you would like to be. Carl Rogers • The real self is the person you actually Jan 08, 1902-Feb 04, 1987 are. • Congruence -thoughts about our real self and ideal self are very similar. • High congruence leads to a greater sense of self-worth and a healthy, productive life. • Incongruence -When there is a great discrepancy between our ideal and actual selves. Leads to maladjustment. BIOLOGICAL APPROACHES The Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart—a well-known study of the genetic basis for personality—conducted research with twins from 1979 to 1999.

• 350 pairs of twins-identical and fraternal twins reared together and apart,

• identical twins, whether raised together or apart, have very similar personalities.

• These findings suggest the heritability of some personality traits.

• Heritability refers to the proportion of difference among people that is attributed to genetics.

• Some of the traits that the study reported as having more than a 0.50 heritability ratio include leadership, obedience to authority, a sense of well-being, alienation, resistance to stress, and fearfulness. BIOLOGICAL APPROACHES Temperament Thomas and Chess (1977) found that babies could be categorized into one of three temperaments: easy, difficult, or slow to warm up. However, environmental factors (family interactions, for example) and maturation can affect the ways in which children’s personalities are expressed.

William Sheldon (1940,1942) proposed three somatotypes: endomorphs, mesomorphs, and ectomorphs. Ectomorphs are thin with a small bone structure and very little fat on their bodies -anxious, self-conscious, artistic, thoughtful, quiet, and private. -enjoy intellectual stimulation and feel uncomfortable in social situations. Endomorphs are the opposite of ectomorphs. -being relaxed, comfortable, good-humored, even-tempered, sociable, and tolerant. -enjoy affection and detest disapproval. Mesomorphs -have large bone structure, well-defined muscles, broad shoulders, narrow waists, and attractive, strong bodies. -adventurous, assertive, competitive, and fearless. -curious and enjoy trying new things, but can also be obnoxious and aggressive. PERSONALITY TRAITS

Psychologists Hans and Sybil Eysenck believed that our personality traits are influenced by our genetic inheritance. • focused on temperament, the inborn, genetically based personality differences. • believed personality is largely governed by biology. • viewed people as having two specific personality dimensions: extroversion/introversion and neuroticism/stability

(credit: "Sirswindon"/Wikimedia Commons) “BIG FIVE” PERSONALITY TRAITS

In the Five Factor Model, each person has five traits, each scored on a continuum from high to low. In the center column, notice that the first letter of each trait spells the mnemonic OCEAN. The five traits are: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism