SELF AND

PERSONALITY
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Contents -
- Introductions
- Self and Assessment
- Concept of Self
- Concept of personality
- Major Approaches to study personality
• Type approach
• Trait approach
• Psychodynamic approach
• Behavioural approach
• Cultural approach
• Humanistic approach
-Assessment of Personality
• Self – report measures
• projective techniques
• Behavioural analysis
 What is self ?
- Self refers to the totality of an individuals conscious
experience, ideas thoughts and feelings with regard to
herself or himself.
- The study of self and personality help us to understand
ourselves as well as others.
- The structure of self can be understood in terms of
identity of the intended and the development of personal
and social self.
- Personality identity refers to those attributes of a person
that make him/her different from others.
- Social identity refers to those aspects of a person that
link him/her to a social or cultural group or are derived
from it.
Cognitive And Behavioural Aspects Of Self
Self concept- it is the way we perceive ourselves and the ideas we hold about out competencies and
attributes. A person’s self concept can be found out by asking the person about himself/ herself.

Self esteem- is the value judgement of a person about himself/ herself

Self Efficacy- is the extent to which a person believes they themselves control their life outcomes are
controlled by luck or fate or other situational factors.

Self regulation- refers to ability to organize and monitor one’s own behaviour.

Techniques of self control-

• Observation of one’s own behaviour: provides necessary information that may be used to
change, modify or strengthen certain aspects of self.
• Self- instruction: instructs ourselves to do something and behave the way we want to.
• Self- reinforcement: rewards behaviours that have pleasant outcomes.
Concept of Personality-
• Personality refers to unique and relatively stable qualities that characterized an individual’s
behaviour across situation over a period of time.
1. Derived from persona (latin) the mask used by actors in Roman theatre for changing their
facial make-up\
2. Once we are able to characterize someone’s personality we can predict how that person will
probably behave in a variety of circumstances.
3. An understanding of personality allows us to deal with people in realistic and acceptable
ways.

• Features of personality:

1. Personality has both physical and psychological components.

2. Its expression in terms of behaviour is fairly unique in a given individual
3. Its main features do not easily change with time
4. It is dynamic is the sense that some of its features may change due to internal
5. or external situational demands; adaptive to situations
 Types of approaches to study personality

Type approach Trait approach Interactional approach

Examines certain broad Focuses on the specific Situational characteristics
patterns in the observed psychological attributes play an important role in
behavioural characteristics along which individuals determining our
tend to differ inconsistent behaviour
and stable ways
Each patterns refers to Traits along which External reward or threats
one type in which individuals can be rated in available in a particular
individuals are placed in terms of the degree of situation
terms of the similarity of presence or absence of
their characteristics with the trait
that pattern
Type approach

1. Hippocrates ( Greek Physician)

(i) Proposed a typology of personality based on fluid or humour.
(ii) Classified people int four types (i.e. sanguine, phlegmatic, melancholic and choleric): chacterised by specific
behavioural features.

2. Charak Samhita (Ayurveda)

(i) Classifies people into categories of vata, pitta and kapha on the basis of three humoural elements called
tridusha.
(ii) Each refers to a type of temperament, called prakriti (basic nature) of a person.

3. Typology of personality based on the trigunas

(i) Sattva guna- cleanliness, truthfulness, dutifulness, detachment, discipline
(ii) Rajas guna- intensive activity, desire for sense gratification, dissatisfaction, envy materialism
(iii) Tamas guna- intensive activity, desire for sense gratification, dissatisfaction, envy, materialism
 4. Sheldon

Using body built and temperament as the main basis for classification:
(i) Endomorphic (fat, soft and round)- relaxed and sociable
(ii) Mesomorphic (strong musculature, rectangular, strong body built)- energetic and courageous
(iii) Ectomorphic (thin, long, fragile)-brainy, artistic and introverted.

5. Jung
Grouped people into two types, widely recognized.
(i) Introverts: people who prefer to be alone, tend to avoid others, withdraw themselves in the face of
emotional conflicts, and are shy
(ii) Extroverts: sociable, outgoing, drawn to occupations that allow dealing directly with people and react to
stress by trying to lose themselves among people and social activity.

6. Friedman and Roesenman _ tried to identify psycho-social risk factors and discovered types
(i) TYPE A- (susceptible to hypertension and coronary heart disease): highly motivated, impatience, feel short of
time, be in a great hurry and feel like being always burdened with work. Such people find it difficult to slow down
and relax.
(ii) TYPE B- the absence of type A traits.
(iii) Type C- (prone to cancer) : co-operative, unassertive patient, suppress negative emotions.
(iv) Type D- (prone to depression
Trait approach
A trait is considered as a relatively enduring attribute or quality on which one individual differ another.

1. Allport ‘s trait theory (Gordon Allport)

(i) individuals possess and number of traits- dynamic and nature which eventually determine the nature
(ii) analysed words people use to describe themselves, provide a basic framework for understanding of human
personality
-Cardinal traits: highly generalized disposition eg- Hitler’s Nazism and hatred for Jews and gypsies
-Central traits: less pervasive in effect , but still quite generalized disposition. Eg- sincerety
- Secondary traits: least generalized characteristics of a person. Eg- likes cars
(iii)The way an individual reacts to a situation

2. Personality factors ( Raymond Cattell)

(i) Identified primary traits from descriptive adjectives found in language.
(ii) Applied factor analysis, a statistical technique to discover the common structure on which people differ from
one another
- Sources or primary traits (16): stable, building blocks of personality, described in terms of
opposing tendencies
- Surface Traits: result out of the interaction of source traits.
(iii) Developed sixteen personality factor (16PF) questionnaire for the assessment of personality
 3. Eysenck’s Theory (H.J. Eysenck)
(i) Reduced personality into two broad dimensions which are biologically and genetically based and
subsume a number of specific traits.
• Neuroticism (anxious, moody, touchy, restless) - Emotional Stability ( calm, even tempered, reliable)
• Extraversion (active, gregarious, impulsive, thrill seeking) – Introversion (passion, quiet, caution,
reserved)
(ii) Later proposed a third dimension, psychoticism (hostile, egocentric and antisocial)

Psycho- Dynamic Approach

1. Levels of consciousness
(i) Conscious- thoughts, feelings and actions of which people are aware of
(ii) Preconscious – mental activity which people may become aware only if they attend to it closely.
(iii) Unconscious – unaware mental activities (sexual desires etc.)

2. Means to approach the unconscious are free association, dream analysis, analysis of errors
(psych- analysis)

3.Structure of personality
- Freud gave an imaginary division of mind it believed in internal dynamics which people can be
inferred in the ways they behave.
- Three driving forces are– i.e. ego and superego
 ID EGO SUPER EGO

• Id is the primitive innermost core of • the ego has direct contact with • The moral arm of personality.
personality reality and functions primarily at a
conscious level. • Developing by the age of 4-5, the
• the only structure present at birth superego contains the traditional
and the source of all psychic energy • It operates according to the reality values and ideals of family and
principles testing to the reality to society.
• has no direct contact with the reality decide when and under what
and functions in an entirely conditions the id can safely • These ideals are internalized by the
irrational manner discharge its impulses and satisfy child through identification.
its needs
• operating according to the pleasure
principle it seeks immediate
gratification regardless of rational
considerations and environmental
realities
4. Ego defense mechanisms- a defense mechanism is away of reducing
anxiety.

(i) Repression
(ii) Projection
(iii) Denial
(iv) Reaction formation
(v) Rationalisation

5.Stages of psycho- sexual development – ( five stage theory of personality)

 Oedipus Complex (MALE) Electra Complex (FEMALE)
Love for mother, hostility towards father, Attaches her love to father, and show
and fear of punishment from father intent to marry him
Accepts his fathers relationship with his Identifies her mother and tries to copy
mother and tries to model his behaviour her mannerism in an attempt to get the
after his father affection of the father

Post- Freudian approach a.k.a NEO-FREUDIANS

1. Carl Jung : Aims and aspirations are the source of energy
(i) Viewed humans driven by aims and aspirations
(ii) Analytical psychology; personality consists of competing forces and structures within the
individually acquired, but are inherited- found in myths, dreams and arts of all mankind.

2. Karen Horney: Optimism

(i) Optimism view of life with emphasis on human growth and self actualization.
(ii) Psychological disorders were caused due to disturbed interpersonal relations during
childhood.
(iii) When parents treatment towards child is discouraging and erratic, the child feels insecure
and develops feeling of basic anxiety
3. Alfred Adler : lifestyle and social interest source of energy – attainment of personal goals
(i) Individual psychology affirms that human behaviour is purposeful and goal directed
(ii) Each one of us has the capacity to choose and create
(iii) Personal goals, goals that provide meaning for life and gain security for our survival are the source of
one’s motivation

4. Eric Fromm : the Human Concerns

(i) Social Orientation viewed human beings as social beings who could be understood in terms of their
relationship with others
(ii) Character traits personality) develop from our experiences with their individuals
(iii) People’s dominant character traits in a given work as forces in shaping with social processes and the
culture itself

5. Erik Erikson: Search for identity

(i) Rational, conscious ego processes in personality development
(ii) Development is viewed as a lifelong process, and ego identity is granted a central place in this
process
(iii) Identity crisis at the adolescent age_ young people must generate for themselves a central
perspective and a direction that can give them a meaningful sense of unity and purpose
BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH

(i) Focus on learning of stimulus- response connection and their reinforcement

(ii) Personality is the response of an individual as sample for advancing generalization
(iii) The concepts are not properly defined, and it is difficult to submit them to scientific testing
(iv) Freud has used males as the prototype of all human personality development and overlooked
females experience and perspective

CULTURAL APPROACH
(i) Considers personality as an adaptation of individuals or group to the demand of their ecology and
culture.
(ii) A group’s economic maintenance system plays a vital role in the origin of cultural and behavioural
variations
(iii) The climatic conditions, the nature of terrain of the habitat and the availability of food determine
people’s settlement patterns, social structures, division of labour, and other features such as child-
reading practices. Economic maintenance system
(iv) These elements constitute a child’s overall learning environment- skills, abilities, behavioural
styles, and value priorities are viewed as strongly linked to these features.
HUMANISTIC APPROACH

Carl Roger
1. Fully functioning individual- fulfillment is the motivating force for personality development (people try to express
their capabilities, potential and talents to the fullest extent possible
2. Humans are constantly engaged I the process of actualizing their true self.
3. Ideal self is the self that a person would like to be – correspondence between ideal and real self= happiness,
discrepancy= dissatisfaction
4. Mention of unconditional positive regard

Abraham Maslow
1. Attainment of self- actualization, a state in which people have reached their own fullest potential
2. Optimistic and positive view of man who has the potentialities for love, joy and to the creative work
3. Human beings are considered free to shape their lives and to self- actualization
4. Self- actualization becomes possible by analysing the motivation that govern our life
ASSESSMENT

A formal assessment aimed at understanding personality of an individual is termed as personality assessment.

Self report measure Projective techniques

Allport suggested that the best method Direct methods of personality
to understand any given personality is by assessment cannot unveil the
asking them about themselves unconscious parts of one’s behaviour
Fairly structured measures, based on Techniques based on assumptions that a
theory that require subjects to give less structured or unstructured stimulus
verbal responses using some kind of or situation will allow the individual to
rating scale project his/ her feelings desires and
needs on to that situation
Eg- MMPI,EPQ,16PF (direct techniques) Eg- Rorschach inkblot test (indirect
techniquews)
BEHAVIORAL ANALYSIS

A person’s behaviour in a variety of situations can provide us with meaningful information

about his/her personality

1. Interview
- involves talking to the person being assessed and asking specific questions
- Interviews maybe structured or unstructured

Structured interviews Unstructured inerviews

Address very specific questions and Interviewer seek to develop an
follow set procedure impression about a peron being assessed
and asking specific questions in that
direction
Done to make objective comparison of The answers a person presents to the
persons being inter mimed questions asked contain enough
potential to reveal a chunk of his/her
personality
2.OBSERATION
- requires careful training of the observer and a fairly detailed guidelines about analysis of behaviour
in order to assess the personality of an individual

Limitations-
• professional training required
• Demanding and time consuming
• Mere presence of observer may meddle with the results

3. Beahvioural rating
-used in educational and industrial settings
-ratings usually taken from individuals who know the assessee intimately and hence are asked to
rate
-requires clearly defined set of terms of cut edge stated behavioural anchors

Limitations-
Halo effect (show bias)

4. Nomination
-used in obtaining peer assessment
-preferences seeked for work/play etc.
-can be further used to analyse to understand the personality and behavioural characterisitcs of a
person
Limitations-
• halo effect
• Carry over effect

5. Situational tests
- commonly used situational stress test
- Provides information about how a person behaves under stressful situations
- A verbal report is also obtained on their experience of the test
- The situation may be a realistic one or maybe created through a role play
 SELF AND
PERSONALITY
Links - Blade Learner K12 Join Telegram Group Download Notes & PDFs Visit Website

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