Personalitythe patterns of

feelings,
motives, and
behaviors that
set people
apart from one
another.

Trait- an aspect of
personality that is
considered to be
reasonably stable.
Hippocrates, an
ancient Greek
physician, believed
that traits were the
result of different
combinations of bodily
fluids called humors.

Yellow bile, which

was connected with
a choleric, or
quick-tempered,
disposition.
Blood, which was
connected with a
sanguine, or warm
and cheerful
temperament.

Phlegm, which was

linked with a
phlegmatic, or
sluggish and cool,
disposition.
Black bile, which was
associated with a
melancholic,
thoughtful
temperament.

Gordon Allport
believed that traits
are the building
blocks of
personality and a
persons behavior is
a product of his or
her particular
combination of
traits.

Hans Eysenck focused

on relationships
between two
personality dimensions:
introversionextroversion and
emotional stabilityinstability. This is
similar to the one
suggested by
Hippocrates.

FiveFactor
Modelrefers to
recent
research
that
suggests
that there
may be
five basic
personalit
y factors.

The psychoanalytic
approach to personality
teaches that all people,
even the most welladjusted, undergo inner
struggles.
People are born with
certain biological drives
such as aggression, sex,
and the need for
superiority. These drives,
however, may come into
conflict with laws, social
norms, and moral codes.
Its an inner contest
between the opposing
forces of drives and rules.

Sigmund Freud- created

the inner conflict approach
to personality theory.
Freud believed that many of
peoples deepest thoughts,
fears, and urges remain out
of their awareness pushed
into their unconsciousness.
In psychoanalysis Freud
explored the unconscious by
encouraging people to talk
about what's on their mind.

Freud believed
that the mind has
three basic
psychological
structures: the id,
the ego, and the
superego.

The id represents basic

drives such as hunger. It
demands pleasure through
instant gratification and
pays no attention to laws,
social customs, or the
needs of others.
It follows the pleasure
principle, the urge for an
immediate release of
energy or emotion that
will bring personal
gratification , relief, or
pleasure.

Freud says that the id is

present at birth. The ego,
however, develops because a
childs demands for instant
gratification cannot be met or
because meeting these
demands may be harmful.
The ego stands for reason
and good sense. It tries to
satisfy the id in realistic ways.
It is guided by the reality
principle, the understanding
that in the real world we cant
always get what we want.

The superego develops

throughout early childhood.
It functions according to
the moral principle. It
provides us with our moral
sense by incorporating the
standards and values of
our family and community.
The superego acts as the
conscience and floods the
ego with feelings of guilt
and shame when we think
or do something that is
wrong.

According to Freud,
people with healthy
egos, and therefore
healthy
personalities, find
ways to balance the
ids demands and
the superegos
warnings.

Defense
mechanisms are
methods the ego
uses to avoid
recognizing ideas or
emotions that may
cause personal
anxiety. These
defenses operate
unconsciously.

Repression removes
anxiety-causing ideas
from conscious
awareness by pushing
them into the
unconscious.
This is not always
successful as it results
in outbursts of anger
and the development
of other psychological
and emotional
problems.

Rationalizationthe use of selfdeception to justify

unacceptable
behaviors or ideas.

Displaceme
nt is the
transfer of
an idea or
impulse from
a
threatening
or unsuitable
object to a
less
threatening
object.

Regressionwhen a person
is under a great
deal of stress
he or she will
return to
behavior
characteristic of
an earlier stage
of development.

Projection is when
people see their
faults and
unacceptable
thoughts in others.

People who use the

defense of reaction
formation act
contrary to their
genuine feelings in
order to keep their
true feelings
hidden.

Denial- a person
refuses to accept
the reality of
anything that is
bad or upsetting

Sublimationchanneling basic
impulses into
socially acceptable
behavior.

Freud believed that

personality developed
through five stages.
Children encounter
conflicts during each
stage.
If the conflict is not
resolved, Freud
believed that the child
might become fixated
or stuck at an early
stage of development.

Freud believed that an

adults psychological
problems might
actually stem from
unresolved childhood
conflicts.

During the oral stageinfants are continuously

exploring their world by
picking up objects and
putting them in their mouth.
Infants are dependent upon
adults for survival. If
caretakers are not meeting
needs the child may become
fixated at the oral stage.
As an adult this might lead to
smoking, overeating,
excessive talking, nail biting,
and might be inclined to
have clinging, dependent
interpersonal relationships.

According to Freud, the

anal stage occurs
between one and a half
and two and a half.
During this stage,
children learn that they
can control their own
bodily functions.
Conflict during this stage
can lead to analretentive traits such as
excessive use of self
control, perfectionism,
and excessive needs for
order and cleanliness.

At three years old the

phallic stage begins.
Boys and girls begin to
notice physical differences
between them and often
become very attached to
the opposite sex parent.
Freud argued that
complex emotions during
this stage could lead to
depression, excessive
guilt, and anxiety later in
life.

By age 5 or 6 Freud
believed that
children would
retreat from conflict
and repress all
aggressive urges
which would cause
them to enter the
latency stage.
Latent means
hidden.

The final stage is

the genital stage,
which is entered at
puberty. The
adolescent becomes
more aware of their
gender identity.
Conflict from earlier
development stages
resurface.

Oedipus Complex- the

emotions and ideas
during the phallic stage
that the mind keeps in
the unconscious, via
repression, that
concentrates upon a
child's desire to sexually
possess the parent of
the opposite sex (e.g.
males attracted to their
mothers, whereas
females are attracted to
their fathers).

FYI- Oedipus refers to

an ancient Greek
mythological character
Oedipus, who
unwittingly kills his
father and marries his
mother. A play based
on the myth, Oedipus
Rex, was written by
Sophocles, ca. 429 BC.

Freud argued that girls desire

a penis, and the power that it
represents. This is described
as penis envy. She sees the
solution as obtaining her
father's penis.
She develops a sexual desire
for her father which leads to
the desire to replace and
eliminate her mother.
The girl employs the defense
mechanism of displacement
to shift the object of her
sexual desires from her
father to men in general.

Carl Jung- a Swiss

psychologist who had
been a colleague of
Freuds. He
dramatically altered
Freuds theories and
placed a greater
emphasis on
mysticism and
religion.

Jung believed that

people not only have a
personal unconscious
that stores material
that has been forgotten
or repressed but also
an inherited collective
unconscious. This is a
storage of the human
concepts shared by all
people across all
cultures.

The structural
components of the
collective unconscious
are basic, primitive
concepts called
archetypes.
Archetypes are ideas
and images of the
accumulated
experience of all
humans. Examples
include: the hero the
maiden, the wise old
man, and the
nurturing mother.

Jung argued
that archetypes
influence our
thoughts and
feelings and
they help form
a foundation on
which our
personality
develops.

Alfred Adler
was another
follower of
Freud.
Inferiority
Complexpeople are
basically
motivated by a
need to
overcome
feelings of
inferiority.

Erik Erickson- believed

that social relationships
are the most important
factors in personality
development.
Erickson expanded on
Freuds five stages of
development and
formulated a theory of
psychosocial
development consisting of
eight stages.

Behaviorism- founded
by John Watson who
claimed that external
forces or influences,
not internal influences
such as traits or inner
conflict, largely shape
peoples preferences
and behavior.
B.F. Skinner agreed
that we pay attention
to how people behave
and avoid trying to see
within their minds.

Watson and Skinner

discarded ideas of
personal freedom,
choice and self-direction.
Skinner suggested that
environmental
influences, such as
parental approval and
social custom, condition
or shape us into wanting
some things and not
wanting others.

Humanists believe that

self-awareness is the
very core of humanity.
They focus on peoples
pursuits of selffulfillment and ethical
conduct.
They believe that
people are truly free to
do as they choose with
their lives and are,
therefore, responsible
for the choices that they
make.

Abraham Maslow
believed that humans
are separated from
lower animals
because they
recognize their desire
to achieve selfactualization; to
reach their full
potential.
People must take their
own paths to selfactualization because
they are unique.
Accomplishing this
requires taking risks.

Carl Rogers believed

that people shape their
own personalities
through free choice and
action. This is called self
theory.
He placed great
emphasis on the human
ability to derive a selfconcept, a view of ones
self as an individual.
The self is the center of
each persons
experience, an ongoing
sense of who and what
one is and is the guiding
principle behind both
personality and behavior.

Rogers believed that

the key to happiness
and healthy adjustment
is congruence, or
consistency between
ones self-concept and
ones experience.
Rogers assumed that
we all develop a need
for self-esteem which is
a belief in ones self, or
self-respect.

The sociocultural
perspective focuses on
the roles of gender,
ethnicity, and culture in the
formation of personality.
One aspect of culture that
is focused on is the level of
individualism or
collectivism in a society. An
individualist see the self
as separate from other
people, while a
collectivist sees the self
as complete only in terms
of their relationships to
others.

Personalities are influenced

not only by traits and
learning but also by cultural
settings.
Acculturation is the
process of adapting to a
new or different culture.
Some immigrants become
assimilated, or completely
absorbed into the new
culture.
Others choose to maintain
separation.
Others become bicultural
and successfully integrate
both sets of customs and
values.

People who are

bicultural have the
highest sense of selfesteem.
Adopting the ways of
the new society without
giving up a supportive
cultural tradition and
sense of ethnic identity
apparently help people
function most
effectively.