Personality Theory. Personality Theory. Personality Theory

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1 Personality: a person s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting Not a reified entity Does not compel us to action Everyday language describes personality as an internal thing that compels behavior Modern psychology abandons this approach Three types of personality theories Psychodynamic oriented Humanistic oriented Trait oriented Psychodynamic Sigmund Freud ( ) Early 1900 s medical doctor; Vienna, Austria Intrigued by people exhibiting symptoms without any physical cause This lead him to speculate about hidden, hypothetical internal causes of behavior Viewed the mind as an energy system When energy build up and is not released, then problems occur libido Freudian Psychodynamics (psychoanalysis) Psychosexual development Oral (1), anal (2), phallic (3-6), latent, genital (puberty) Improper development fixation Defense Mechanisms Repression: ostensibly lost memories Reaction formati0n: opposite, acceptable reaction Projection: finding in others what we deny about self Sublimation: channeling unacceptable into acceptable Rationalization: creating acceptable reason for behavior Conversion: physical symptom results from conflict Structure of Mind Id: reservoir of libido; pleasure principle; unconscious Ego: decision maker; reality principle; semiconscious Superego: Moral values; conscience; semiconscious

2 Measuring the unconscious with projective tests. Rorschach Inkblots Thematic Apperception Test Alfred Adler ( ) Individual Psychology Strive for superiority and control Birth order can affect lifestyle Parent neglect & pampering Bad parenting inferiority complex Life goal: live in harmony with community Adler s Birth Order Effects ONLY: Birth is a miracle OLDEST: Dethroned by next child SECOND: Peacemaker role MIDDLE: "sandwiched" in YOUNGEST: Can stay the "baby" TWIN: Can have identity problems "GHOST CHILD : Born after the death of the first ADOPTED CHILD: spoiled and demanding ONLY BOY AMONG GIRLS: Usually with women ONLY GIRL AMONG BOYS: Very feminine ALL BOYS: May be treated like a girl ALL GIRLS: May be treated like a boy

3 Carl Jung ( ) Influenced by mysticism, religion, and philosophy Three component psyche Ego: thoughts, feelings, memories Personal unconsciousness: individual unconsciousness Collective unconsciousness: ancestral experience Archetypes: universal, collective, primordial images Example archetypes: anima, animus, shadow Humanistic theories of personality. Carl Rogers ( ) People are inherently good People naturally want to grow, better themselves Compare self concept with actual self If incongruous then denial or distortion Abraham Maslow ( ) Trait Theory Gordon Allport ( ) Met Freud in 1919 and didn t like his theory Begin the descriptive trait approach Traits Cardinal: defining Central: very important Secondary: less important

4 Hans Eysenck ( ) Two major factors of personality extraversion & introversion emotional stability & instability Big 5 Personality Traits Derived from factor analyses of 4500 items Factor analyses find patterns in responses OCEAN Openness to experience vs. not open Conscientiousness High: creative, original, vs. curious, undirectness imaginative Low: High: unartistic, organized, conventional Extraversion vs. reliable, introversion neat, ambitious Low: High: unreliable, talkative, optimistic, lazy, careless, sociable, negligent Agreeableness vs. antagonismaffectionate Low: High: withdrawn, good-natured, quiet, trusting, reclusive Neuroticism vs. emotional helpful stability Low: High: rude, worrying, uncooperative, insecure, emotional, irritable nervous Low: calm, secure, unemotional, relaxed Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory 550 T/F questions I cry easily I am happy most of the time I believe I am being followed. Someone has been trying to poison me. Clinical scales Hypochondriasis, Depression, Hysteria, Psychopathic Deviate, Masculinity-Femininity, Paranoia, Psychasthenia (OCD), Hypomania, Social Introversion Validity scales The "Cannot Say" Scale omitted responses L Scale self presenting in a favorable light F Scale - faking good or faking bad True Response Inconsistency

5 Studying Social Behavior Social Psychology: The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another Two types of social psychology Psychological: tends to focus on the influence of individuals on the group Sociological: tends to focus on the influence of the group on individuals Social Psychology Conformity: adjusting one s behavior to coincide with a group standard Muzafer Sherif ( ) Social norms formation Stimulus Pinpoint of light in dark room Stationary Light appears to move Movement is different for everyone Sherif s Conformity Study Subjects asked how far the light moved Phase 1 Individuals alone Variable responses Phase 2 Individuals put in groups Where they could hear each other What would the effect be?

6 Sherif s Conformity Study Results Sherif s study was an important 1 st step Demonstrated norm formation But the stimuli were subjective We really don t know what the subjects perceived Solomon Asch (Sherif s student) Tested conformity with objective stimuli Asch Conformity Stimuli

7 Individuals were asked about the lines Which of the comparison lines was identical to the standard line? Individually, the error rate is less than 1% Asch included confederates Confederates = in cahoots with the experimenter and unknown to subjects 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,. 15 On some trials the confederates unanimously gave the wrong answer And then it was the subject s turn Asch found those who did not conform were independent (I m right, they re wrong) Asch found those who conformed said that they conformed to hide their deficiency, thought they were incorrect but had to call it as they saw it, or not spoil the experiment Asch found that when two real subjects were among confederates, conformity was decreased greatly

8 Obedience: conformity to an authority Stanley Milgram ( ) A student of Solomon Asch Recognized that some conformity was not to a group but to a person of authority As a teenager and young adult after WWII, he found about the atrocities of Nazi Germany Many people attributed the European holocaust of WWII to the German culture (overly strict and obedient) Many people thought it couldn t happen elsewhere (outside of Germany) Milgram experimental design Advertised: subjects for learning experiment Two arrived at a time at Yale laboratory One randomly chosen to be a teacher and one to be a learner The learner strapped in a chair The teacher and experimenter sat in an adjacent room Learner Experimenter Teacher

9 Conformity Resarch The teacher reads list of pairs of words and the learner needs to recall them If the learner gives an incorrect answer, the teacher administers a painful shock Each incorrect answer leads to an increased intensity of shock in If the teacher falters or hesitates, the experimenter says, Please continue The experiment requires that you continue It is absolutely essential that you continue You have no choice, you must go on With each increase in shock, the teacher heard the learner cry in pain, beg to be let out, complain of his heart, moan, and then go silent (as if dead) But that wasn t important

10 The real Milgram experiment The real subject was the teacher The learner was a confederate who was never shocked The moans, protests, and ostensible death were taped The real dependent variable was how far would the teacher go Would he obey the experimenter? Basic Scenario with men 65% Basic Scenario with women 65% Learner sat beside teacher 40% Learner manually shocked 30% Two teachers (subjects) 10% Two experimenters argued 0% No experimenter after start 2%

11 Milgram s Obedience Research Legacy Obedience to authority is easy and potentially horrible Legacy of human subjects treatment Many people thought Milgram went too far Inflicted insight Institutional Review Board Informed Consent Debriefing Country Italy-1968 Germany Australia-1974 UK Jordan 1978 Spain Austria Holland Replications Participants Students Male- General pop. Male students Female students Male students Students Students General population General population % Obey