INTRODUCTION TO PERSONALITY

1.1 Definition and Basics of Personality

Personality- from the Latin word “persona” which is associated with Greek theater in ancient
times.

What is personality?

a. Inner psychological characteristics.

b. Determine and reflect how a person responds to his/her environment.
c. Sum total of hereditary characteristics and childhood experiences.
d. Result of the social and environmental influences on the person concerned.

Three Distinct Properties of Personality (Mohuiddin, 2015)

1. Personality reflects individual differences.

2. Personality is consistent and enduring.
3. Personality can change.

1.2 Nature of Personality

“We cannot identify the personality of a person on the basis of his intellectual level or his
character. But all these elements are made to function in harmony which makes his
personality.

The conduct, behavior, activities, movements and everything else concerning the individual
are known as personality. The way in which an individual adjusts with the external
environment is personality. (Rajendra Rathod, 2013)

1. Personality is the result of both heredity and environment.

2. Personality implies an integration of various traits.
3. Personality is composed of traits, which are learned or acquired.
4. Personality is a dynamic process

1.3 Theories of Personality

1. Psychoanalytic Perspective- focuses on our childhood experiences and the
unconscious mind
a. Carl Jung- “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding
of ourselves”.
Self as the central archetype (universal, inborn models of people, behaviors, or
personalities that play a role in influencing behavior)

5 Personality Archetypes
1. Persona- one’s public personality or mask; one’s social roles
2. Shadow- one’s dark side, parts of ourselves that we dislike
3. Anima- female archetype, “feminine side” in the male psyche
4. Animus- male archetype, “male side” in the female psyche
5. Self- central archetypes of personality, represents wholeness.

Other Archetypes:
 1. The father- authority figure; stern; powerful
2. The mother- nurturing, comforting
3. The child- longing for innocence; rebirth; salvation
4. The wise old man- guidance; knowledge; wisdom
5. The hero- champion, defender; rescuer
6. The maiden; innocence; desire; purity
7. The trickster- deceiver; liar; troublemaker

b. Sigmund Freud- “the importance of the unconscious”

“The mind is like an iceberg, it floats with 1/7 of its bulk above water”

Three Structures of Personality

1. Id- pleasure-seeking, immature, impulsive, child-like and cannot delay pleasure

2. Ego- “I”, works on the reality principle, controls the id and can delay pleasure
3. Superego- the “conscience” and “moral principle”

Psychosexual Stages

a. Oral Stage- birth to one year

Erogenous Zone: mouth (sucking, swallowing)
-ego develops in this stage
b. Anal Stage- 1 to 3 years
Erogenous Zone- bowel and bladder control (withholding or expelling feces)
c. Phallic Stage- 3 to 6 years
Erogenous Zone-genitals (penis or clitoris- masturbation)
-Superego develops during this stage
d. Latent Stage- 6 to puberty
-Libido inactive
-little or no sexual motivation present
e. Genital Stage- puberty until death
Maturing sexual interests (the penis or vagina- sexual intercourse)

Psychological Defense Mechanism

1. Denial- refusal to recognize a threatening situation.
2. Repression- pushing threatening situations out of conscious memory.
3. Rationalization- making up acceptable excuses for unacceptable behavior.
4. Projection- placing one’s own unacceptable thoughts unto others.
5. Reaction Formation- condemns something that has an unconscious appeal.
6. Displacement- transfer emotions or behaviors to another less
7. Regression- falling back on childlike patterns as a way of coping with stressful
situations
8. Identification- trying to become like someone else to deal with one’s anxiety
9. Compensation (Substitution)- trying to make up for areas in which a lack is
perceived by becoming superior in some area
10. Sublimation- turning socially unacceptable urges into socially acceptable behavior
2. Humanistic Perspective
a. Carl Rogers’ Self Theory

“The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn and change”.

-believed in the inherent goodness of people

-emphasized the importance of free will and psychological growth
-suggested that actualizing tendency is the driving force behind human behavior
-human beings are always striving for self-fulfillment or self-actualization
-when the needs of the self are denied, severe anxiety may result
-proposed the Self Concept (image of oneself)

Self- flexible and changing perception of personal identity. It develops from interactions with
significant people and self-awareness

Three Components of Self-Concept

a. Self-Image- how we see ourselves in our own perspective

b. Self Esteem- how much we value ourselves, which may be based on the perspective
of others
c. Ideal Self- how we wish we could be, which is affected by our self-image and self-
esteem.

“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change”.

b. Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

“What a man can be, he must be. This need we call self-actualization”.

-suggested that people are motivated by a hierarchy of needs

-most often displayed as a pyramid
-the lowest levels of the pyramid are made up of the most basic needs, while the most
complex needs are at the top of the pyramid.

“You will either step forward into growth or you will step back into safety”.

3. Social Cognitive Theories

a. Albert Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory

“Humans are producers of their life circumstance not just products of them”

Self as Proactive and Agentic

-Bandura views people as agents (originators) of experience not just reactive.

-suggests that human have the ability to act and make things happen
4 Agentic Perspectives

1. Intentionally- enables us to behave with purpose.

2. Forethought- allows us to anticipate outcomes.
3. Self-reactiveness- we can be motivated to regulate our actions
4. Self-reflectiveness- we can reflect our thoughts and behaviors and make needed
modifications.

-emphasized the importance of social learning, or learning through observation.

-his theory emphasized the role of conscious thoughts including self-efficacy, or our own
beliefs in our abilities.

4 Steps in Observational Learning and Modeling Process

1. Attention
2. Retention
3. Motor reproduction
4. Motivation- reinforcement and punishment

4. Trait Perspective- centered on identifying, describing and measuring traits that makes
up a personality

4.1 Gordon Allport- American psychologist

“People who are aware of, and ashamed of, their prejudices are well on the road to
eliminating them”.

-one of the first to categorize these characteristics, he created a list of more than 4,000
personality traits and grouped these traits into three different categories.

3 Different Categories

1. Cardinal traits- dominant traits that are expressed across situations and various parts
of a person’s life.
-considered rare
e.g. Mother Teresa and Hitler
2. Central traits- core traits that tend to remain relatively stable throughout life
-building blocks of personality

3. Secondary characteristic- traits that are only present in certain situations

-these can be inconsistent and may not remain stable over time

4.2 Hans Eysenck –“If the truth contradicts deeply held beliefs, that is too bad”

Temperament- an aspect of personality concerned with emotional dispositions and reactions

and their speed and intensity. This term is often used to refer to the prevailing mood or
mood pattern of a person.

Three Main Dimensions of Temperament

 1. Neuroticism- dimension that ranges from normal, fairly calm and collected people to
one’s that tend to be quite nervous.
-nervous people tend to suffer more frequently from a variety of “nervous disorders”
we call neuroses.
-however, people who score high on the neuroticism scale are necessarily neurotics-
only that they are more susceptible to neurotic problem.
-the most “archetypal” neurotic symptom is the panic attack.

2. Extraversion and Introversion- a matter of the balance between “inhibition” and

“excitation” in the brain.
Extravert- has good, strong inhibition
Introvert- has poor or weak inhibition

3. Psychoticism- a product of further studies into the mental institutions of England.

-high psychoticism does not mean you are psychotic
-only that you exhibit some qualities commonly found among psychotics
-and that, you may be more susceptible, given certain environments, to becoming
psychotic

Qualities found in people with high psychoticism:

-certain recklessness
-a disregard for common sense or conventions
-and a degree of inappropriate emotional expression

It is the dimension that separates those people who end up in institutions from the rest of
humanity.

Key Concepts:

Extraversion- more outgoing and social, more open to new experiences

Introversion- closed off, less social, less comfortable talking to new people
Neuroticism- strongly emotional, show signs of excessive stress
Emotional stability- person’s ability to stay calm and level headed during unexpected events
Psychoticism- solitary, not caring for others, little emotions

4.3 Robert McRae and Paul Costa

5 Factor Model of Personality

1. Openness- a person’s tendency to think in abstract, complex ways. It is strongly

related to a person’s interest in art and culture.

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2. Conscientiousness- a person’s ability to exercise self-discipline and control in order to

pursue their goals.
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Organized and determined Impulsive and easily sidetracked
Able to forego immediate gratification More likely to choose fun in the moment
for the sake of long-term achievement

3. Extraversion- a person’s inclination to seek stimulation from the outside world,

especially in the form of attention from other people.

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Getting a promotion, finding a new They tend to be more content with
romance, or winning an award are all simple, quiet lives, and rarely seek
likely to bring an extrovert great joy attention from others

4. Agreeableness- a person’s tendency to put others’ needs ahead of their own, and to
cooperate rather than compete with others.

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Experience a great deal of empathy and Experience less empathy and put their own
tend to get pleasure out of serving and concerns ahead of others
taking care of others
They are usually trusting and forgiving Often described as hostile, competitive, and
antagonistic

5. Neuroticism- a person’s tendency to experience negative emotions, including fear,

sadness, anxiety, guilt and shame.

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More likely to react to a situation with fear, More likely to brush off their misfortune and
anger, sadness, and the like. move on