Personality

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Personality

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The relatively consistent set of characteristics that determine our thoughts, feelings, and behaviour

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Temperament

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An individual’s set manner of thinking, behaving or reacting to external stimulation.

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Mood

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A temporary and situation specific emotional state

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Trait

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A characteristic that endures over time and across situation.

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Character

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The collection of traits that the individual possesses.

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Personality theories

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Personality theories aim to describe and explain the origins, development and structure of personality.

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Psychodynamic theory of personality

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Psychodynamic theories propose that our personalities develop during childhood and are shaped by unconscious psychological conflicts and how effectively they are resolved

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Conscious

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Level of awareness that includes everything we are thinking, remembering, feeling, sensing or notice at any particular moment

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Preconscious

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The level of awareness that contains much of the information considered to be at the “back of one’s mind” but which can easily be brought into one’s conscious mind

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Unconscious

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A storage place for all the information about a person that is not acceptable to the conscious mind

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Id

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The innate, biological needs which all individuals are said to be born with

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Pleasure principle

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When we have a need or desire, the id drives us to seek immediate satisfaction

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Ego

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The realistic and logical part of personality often playing the role of mediator between id and superego conflict

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Reality principle

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The ego tries to ensure the needs of the id and superego are met at an appropriate time in a socially acceptable way.

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Superego

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The part of personality that judges the individual’s thought, feelings and actions according to the morals and ideals of the society in which they live.

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Morality principle

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The superego provides us with ideas about what is right and what is wrong.

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Anxiety

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The unpleasant and/or uncomfortable feeling we experience when we think that something is wrong

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Defence mechanisms

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A collection of thought patterns that can successfully alleviate anxiety

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Denial

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Refusing to believe whatever it is that would cause anxiety

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Repression

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Preventing unacceptable thoughts or feelings from entering conscious awareness, therefore preventing anxiety

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Reaction-formation

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Thinking, feeling or behaving in a manner which is opposite to how you really think, feel or behave

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Regression

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Going back to a younger, child-like, immature, way of behaving

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Projection

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Shifting our unwanted thoughts, feelings or personal shortcomings onto someone else

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Rationalism

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Making up a socially acceptable explanation to justify unacceptable thoughts, feelings or behaviour

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Compensation

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Attempting to cover up a real or imagined weakness by emphasising something in which you excel

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Sublimation

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Channelling unacceptable thoughts, impulses or wishes in a socially acceptable way

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Intellectualisation

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Ignoring emotions and feelings by talking about an emotionally painful event in a ‘cold’, unemotional way

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Fantasy

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Fulfilling unconscious wishes or impulses by imagining them in activities

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Displacement

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Directing an emotion away from the object or person that caused it to a substitute object or person that is less threatening

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Oral stage

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(0 - 2 years)

Oral fixation can occur if experiences such as being fed and teething are too pleasurable or frustrating. An oral fixation is associated with behaviour such as cigarette smoking and nail biting.

Overindulged: constantly need something in their mouth when they are an adult.

Frustrated: Aggressive personality traits as an adult, for example sarcasm, verbal aggression or cynicism.

Fixated: gullible, passive, dependent on others, and need lots of attention.

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Anal stage

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(2 - 3 years)

Anal fixation can occur if experiences such as toilet training are too pleasurable or frustrating.Anal retentive: excessively clean, orderly, organised, a hoarder, stubborn and stingy.

Anal expulsive: untidiness, impulsivity, destructiveness, disorderliness and cruelty.

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Phallic stage

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(4 - 5 years)

At this stage the Electra and Oedipus complexes may develop. The Oepidus complex can develop in boys and is when they may be attracted to their mother and envy their father. They can resolve this issue by controlling their envy and hostility towards their father and trying to be like him.

The Electra complex can develop in girls and is when they may be attracted to their father and compete with their mother for his attention. They can resolve this issue by overcoming their attraction to their father identifying with her mother and looking for a male to take her father’s place.

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Latency stage

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(6 - 12 years)

The period whenpsychosexual development is dormant and the childfocuses on developing close relationships with othersof the same sex

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Genital stage

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(12+ years)

Theperiod when the young person experiences a need for maturesocial and sexual relationships.

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Fixations

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Excessive satisfaction or excessive frustration can lead to “fixation” in some of these stages. Freud associated these fixations with particular personality traits.

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Criticisms of Freud

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Freud’s theory was largely based on the observations he made of his patients, his family and his own thoughts and behaviour.

Strength - one of the first to say experiences as a child influence your personality as an adult.

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Humanistic theories

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Humanistic theories are based on the idea that people are born good and will strive to achieve their full potential.

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Self-actualisation

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The realisation or fulfilment of one's talent and potential - a drive or need present in everyone.

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Self-image

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The person you think you are

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Ideal self

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The person you want to be

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Real self

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The person you actually are (how others see you)

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Validity

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A test must measure what it is supposed to measure.

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Reliability

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The extent to which a test measures what it is supposed to each time it is used

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Personality test

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An assessment device used to evaluate or measure aspects of personality Personality tests must be valid and reliable.

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Personality inventory

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A self-report test which contains a series of questions. They can be designed to measure a range of personality characteristics, or a select set.

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Strengths and weaknesses of personality inventories

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Strengths:

Quick and easy to administer

Suitable for large sample size

Computer scoring projects allow a test to be assessed quickly

We can compare the personality profile of those who have taken the test

Weaknesses:

No guarantees that respondents will be honest Fixed-response format do not give the test taker the opportunity to explain their answer

Cultural biases can exist. For example, if questions involve social norms applicable to a particular group

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Projective tests

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The individual is presented with a stimulus that could have several meanings or no meaning at all.

Participants are asked to describe what they see.The psychologist will look for recurring themes in participants answers, body language or tone of voice etc.

Many aim to uncover hidden aspects of personality such as unconscious wishes, desires, thoughts, needs

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Rorschach personality test

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First published in 1921 by Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach. The test was intended for identifying mental health problems.

The full test contains 10 cards in total.Participants are presented with each card and allowed to describe what they see.

The psychologist checks responses for recurring themes.

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Thematic apperception test (TAT)

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Each picture card is designed to portray a particular them, need or conflict.

Participants are asked to describe:

What is happening in each picture?

What are the characters thinking and feeling?

What lead up to the event shown?

What will happen next?

Responses are recorded word for word.

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Strengths and weaknesses of projective tests

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Strengths:

No right or wrong answers - so individuals are less likely to fake answers.

Individuals are not restricted in the responses they can give

Provide personalised qualitative data

Used as a ‘discussion starter’ when difficult situations occur / need to be discussed

Weaknesses:

Having no ‘correct answer’ can make them difficult to interpret.

Subjective interpretation may lead to inaccuracies.

Low validity - may not in fact be testing what they claim to.

Time consuming, expensive and cannot be used to assess large groups simultaneously.

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Ethics in personality testing

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When personality tests are administered the following ethical guidelines must be observed:Only qualified psychologists should administer and provide feedback on personality tests

The test taker must provide informed consent and should be full informed of the results

The psychologist must ensure that test results remain confidential and be used only for the purpose intended.