People’s typical ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving.
A trait is a relatively enduring predisposition that influences our behaviour across many situations.
Significance of age 30, age 50
Formal measures of personality Typically used for?
clinical diagnosis of psychological disorders
measuring traits for research
personal selection in business (ex. NASA)
what are some Informal measures of personality
BuzzFeed quizzes
MTBI quiz
Goal of studying personality
To explain both commonalities and differences among people
Nomothetic approaches
Identify general principles that govern the behaviour of all individuals
Idiographic approaches
Identify the unique characteristics and experiences within a person
Causes of Personality
Genetic factors
Shared environmental factors
Non-shared environmental factors
Twin studies and adoption studies
Central to disentangling the effects of genetic and environmental factors on personality
Numerous personality traits are influenced by genetics
All personality trait correlations in twins are below 1.0
Correlations for identical twins reared apart are similar to identical twins reared together
Genes
Code for proteins that influence the functioning of neurotransmitter systems
Neurotransmitters
Associated with certain personality traits
Neurotransmitters are associated with certain personality traits
ex. Low serotonin and impulsivity and aggression
ex. Dopamine activity and novelty seeking
Major personality theories
Psychoanalytic theory
Behavioural and social learning theories
Humanistic theories
Trait models
Psychoanalytic theory
Developed by Sigmund Freud, founder of psychoanalysis, based on case studies of hysteria
Assumptions of psychoanalytic theory
Psychic determinism
Symbolic meaning
Unconscious motivation
Psychic determinism
All psychological events have a cause (no free will)
Symbolic meaning
No action is meaningless
Unconscious motivation
Most of what we do is driven by unconscious factors
Freud's structure of personality
ID
Superego
Ego
ID
Primitive impulses, sex drive libido, aggressive drive, operates by means of the pleasure principle
Superego
Moral standards, internalizations of right and wrong that we learn, causes guilt
Ego
The mediator, resolves competing demands of superego and id, governed by the reality principle
Conflict between the ID, Superego, and Ego causes psychological distress
Levels of awareness
Conscious
Preconscious
Unconscious
Stanford Marshmallow Experiment
Study on delayed gratification, children who were best able to wait at four years old were more socially and academically successful as high-school students and earned higher Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores
Freud's defence mechanisms
Repression
Denial
Reaction-Formation
Projection
Displacement
Sublimation
Repression
Motivated forgetting of emotionally threatening memories or impulses
Denial
Refusal to acknowledge disturbing aspects of external reality
Reaction-Formation
Behaving in a way that is the opposite of one's true feelings
Projection
Attributing one's own negative qualities to another
Displacement
Directing an impulse from a socially unacceptable target onto a more acceptable one
Sublimation
Transforming a socially unacceptable impulse into an admired and socially valued goal
Freud's stages of psychosexual development
Oral stage
Anal stage
Phallic stage
Latency stage
Genital stage
Oral stage
Birth to 18 months, infants primarily receive pleasure by sucking and drinking, adults can be impatient, demanding, dependent on others
Anal stage
18 months to 3 years, child wants to alleviate tension and experience pleasure by moving their bowels, learning to control as part of toilet training, adults can have "anal" personality
Phallic stage
3 to 6 years, focuses on genitals, Oedipus complex, Electra complex, superego develops, adults can have jealousy, low self-esteem, promiscuity, selfishness
Latency stage
6 to puberty, sexual impulses are repressed, sexual energy is redirected toward other activities