Psychology2016

Theories of Personality 539

Chapter Summary

Theories of Personality

• Personality is the unique way individuals think, feel, and act. It
  is different from character and temperament but includes those
  aspects.


• Four traditional perspectives in the study of personality are the
  psychodynamic, behavioristic (including social cognitive theory),
  humanistic, and trait perspectives.

Psychodynamic Perspectives

13. 1 Explain how the mind and personality are
    structured, according to Freud.

• The three divisions of the mind are the conscious, preconscious,
  and unconscious. The unconscious can be revealed in dreams.


• The three parts of the personality are the id, ego, and superego.


• The id works on the pleasure principle and the ego works on the
  reality principle.


• The superego is the moral center of personality, containing the
  conscience, and is the source of moral anxiety.


• The conflicts between the demands of the id and the rules and
  restrictions of the superego lead to anxiety for the ego, which
  uses defense mechanisms to deal with that anxiety.

13. 2 Distinguish among the five psychosexual stages
    of personality development.

• The personality develops in a series of psychosexual stages: oral
  (id dominates), anal (ego develops), phallic (superego develops),
  latency (period of sexual repression), and genital (sexual feelings
  reawaken with appropriate targets).


• The Oedipus and Electra complexes (sexual “crushes” on the
  opposite-sex parent) create anxiety in the phallic stage, which is
  resolved through identification with the same-sex parent.


• Fixation occurs when conflicts are not fully resolved during a
  stage, resulting in adult personality characteristics reflecting
  childhood inadequacies.

13. 3 Describe how the neo-Freudians modified Freud’s
    theory.

• The neo-Freudians changed the focus of psychoanalysis to fit
  their own interpretation of the personality, leading to the more
  modern version known as the psychodynamic perspective.


• Jung developed a theory of a collective unconscious.


• Adler proposed feelings of inferiority as the driving force behind
  personality and developed birth order theory.


• Horney developed a theory based on basic anxiety and rejected
  the concept of penis envy.


• Erikson developed a theory based on social rather than sexual
  relationships, covering the entire life span.

13. 4 Evaluate the influence of Freudian theory on
    modern personality theories.

• Current research has found support for the defense mechanisms and
  the concept of an unconscious mind that can influence conscious
  behavior, but other concepts cannot be scientifically researched.

The Behavioral and Social Cognitive View

of Personality

13. 5 Compare and contrast the learning theories
    of Bandura and Rotter.

• Behaviorists define personality as a set of learned responses or
  habits.


• The social cognitive view of personality includes the concept of
  reciprocal determinism, in which the environment, characteris-
  tics of the person, and the behavior itself all interact.


• Self-efficacy is a characteristic in which a person perceives a
  behavior as more or less effective based on previous experiences,
  the opinions of others, and perceived personal competencies.


• Locus of control is a determinant of personality in which one
  either assumes that one’s actions directly affect events and rein-
  forcements one experiences or that such events and reinforce-
  ments are the result of luck, fate, or powerful others.


• Personality, in the form of potential behavior patterns, is also
  determined by an interaction between one’s expectancies for suc-
  cess and the perceived value of the potential reinforcement.

13. 6 Evaluate the strengths and limitations of the
    behavioral and social cognitive learning views
    of personality.

• Traditional behavioral personality theory has scientific support
  but is criticized as being too simplistic.


• The social cognitive theory of Bandura and social learning theory
  of Rotter account for the influences of individual cognitive pro-
  cesses and social influences on personality.

The Third Force: Humanism and Personality

13. 7 Describe how humanists such as Carl Rogers
    explain personality.

• Humanism developed as a reaction against the negativity of psy-
  choanalysis and the deterministic nature of behaviorism.


• Carl Rogers proposed that self-actualization depends on proper
  development of the self-concept.


• The self-concept includes the real self and the ideal self. When
  these two components do not match or agree, anxiety and disor-
  dered behavior result.


• Unconditional positive regard from important others in a per-
  son’s life helps the formation of the self-concept and the con-
  gruity of the real and ideal selves, leading to a fully functioning
  person.

13. 8 Evaluate the strengths and limitations of the
    humanistic view of personality.

• Some aspects of humanistic theory are not easy to evaluate
  through research.


• Despite noted challenges, humanistic theory approaches have
  been effective in therapy situations. The theory has also led to
  therapies promoting self-growth and increased understanding of
  self and others.