NOTES - UNIT V - Personality

UNIT V- PERSONALITY
Define Personality
Personality is defined as: the enduring or lasting and persistent patterns of behaviour,
attributes, thought and qualities of a person (across time and situation).
It is influenced by
• Biological factors– genetic, neurological

• Social factors– Cultural, familial factors, situational
• Rorschach Inkblot Test

• Thematic Apperception Test
• Sentence completion tests
Psychodynamic Approach to Personality

Psychodynamic theory states that events in our childhood have a great influence on our adult
lives, shaping our personality. Events that occur in childhood can remain in the unconscious,
and cause problems as adults. Personality is shaped as the drives are modified by different
conflicts at different times in childhood (during psychosexual development).
Components of Personality – According to Sigmund Freud
Personality is made up of three parts: the id, ego, and super-ego.
ID: The id is the primitive and instinctive component of personality. The id is driven by
the pleasure principle- the desire for immediate gratification of our sexual and aggressive
urges. It consists of all the inherited (i.e., biological) components of personality present at
birth, including the sex (life) instinct – Eros (which contains the libido), and the aggressive
(death) instinct - Thanatos.
EGO: The ego develops in order to mediate between the unrealistic id and the external real
world. It is the decision making component of personality. In contrast to the id, which is
about the pleasure principle, the function of the ego is based on the reality principle — the
idea that we must delay gratification of our basic motivations until the appropriate time with
the appropriate outlet. The ego is the largely conscious controller or decision-maker of
personality. The ego serves as the intermediary between the desires of the id and the
constraints of society contained in the superego
SUPER EGO: The superego incorporates the values and morals of society which are learned
from one's parents and others. The superego represents our sense of morality. The superego
tell us all the things that we shouldn’t do, or the duties and obligations of society. The
superego strives for perfection, and when we fail to live up to its demands we feel guilty.
Parts of the unconscious mind (the id and superego) are in constant conflict with the
conscious part of the mind (the ego).
Psychosexual Stages of Development

Freud argued that personality is developed through a series of psychosexual stages, each
focusing on pleasure from a different part of the body. Freud believed that sexuality begins in
infancy, and that the appropriate resolution of each stage has implications for later personality
development.
Trait theory by Gordon Allport

Cardinal , Central & Secondary traits
Gordon Allport (Allport & Odbert, 1936), found 4,500 words in the English language that
could describe people. He organized these personality traits into three categories: cardinal
traits, central traits, and secondary traits.
A cardinal trait is one that dominates your entire personality, and hence your life—such as
Mother Theresa’s altruism. Cardinal traits are not very common: Few people have
personalities dominated by a single trait. Instead, our personalities typically are composed of
multiple traits.
Central traits are those that make up our personalities (such as loyal, kind, agreeable, friendly,
sneaky, wild, and grouchy).
Secondary traits are those that are not quite as obvious or as consistent as central traits. They
are present under specific circumstances and include preferences and attitudes. For example,
one person gets angry when people try to tickle him.
Cattell’s 16 PF Theory
Cattell (1957) identified 16 factors or dimensions of personality: warmth, reasoning,
emotional stability, dominance, liveliness, rule-consciousness, social boldness, sensitivity,
vigilance, abstractedness, privateness, apprehension, openness to change, self-reliance,
perfectionism, and tension. He developed a personality assessment based on these 16 factors,
called the 16PF. Instead of a trait being present or absent, each dimension is scored over a
continuum, from high to low.
Big 5 Personality Theory
It is the most popular theory in personality psychology today. The five traits are Openness to
Experience, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism (OCEAN).
In the Five Factor Model, each person has each trait, but they occur along a spectrum.
1. Openness to experience is characterized by imagination, feelings, actions, and ideas.

People who score high on this trait tend to be curious and have a wide range of interests.
2. Conscientiousness is characterized by competence, self-discipline, thoughtfulness, and
achievement-striving (goal-directed behavior). People who score high on this trait are
hardworking and dependable.
3. Extroversion is characterized by sociability, assertiveness, excitement-seeking, and
emotional expression. People who score high on this trait are usually described as outgoing
and warm.
4. Agreeableness, it is the tendency to be pleasant, cooperative, trustworthy, and good-
natured. People who score low on agreeableness tend to be described as rude and
uncooperative.
5. Neuroticism, it is the tendency to experience negative emotions. People high on
neuroticism tend to experience emotional instability and are characterized as angry,
impulsive, and hostile.
Jung’s Personality Theory of Extraverts/ Introverts

Introvert and extravert, basic personality types according to the theories of the 20th-century
Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung. According to these theories, an introvert is a person whose
interest is generally directed inward toward his own feelings and thoughts, in contrast to an
extravert, whose attention is directed toward other people and the outside world. The typical
introvert is shy, contemplative, and reserved and tends to have difficulty adjusting to social
situations. Excessive daydreaming and introspection, careful balancing of considerations
before reaching decisions, and withdrawal under stress are also typical of the introverted
personality. The extravert, by contrast, is characterized by outgoingness, responsiveness to
other persons, activity, aggressiveness, and the ability to make quick decisions.
Type A / Type B Theory of Personality by Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman

This type of personality concerns how people respond to stress.
Type A Personality
Type A personality is characterized by a constant feeling of working against the clock
and a strong sense of competitiveness. Individuals with a Type A personality
generally experience a higher stress level, hate failure and find it difficult to stop
working, even when they have achieved their goals. Type A individuals tend to be
very competitive and self-critical. They strive toward goals without feeling a sense of
joy in their efforts or accomplishments. Interrelated with this is the presence of a
significant life imbalance. This is characterized by a high work involvement. Type A
individuals are easily ‘wound up’ and tend to overreact. They also tend to have high
blood pressure (hypertension). Type A individuals tend to be easily aroused to anger
or hostility, which they may or may not express overtly. Such individuals tend to see
the worse in others, displaying anger, envy and a lack of compassion.
Type B Personality
Type B personality is characterized by a relaxed, patient, and easy-going nature.
Individuals with a Type B personality work steadily, enjoying achievements, but do
not tend to become stress when goals are not achieved. People with Type B
personality tend to be more tolerant of others, are more relaxed than Type A
individuals, more reflective, experience lower levels of anxiety and display a higher
level of imagination and creativity.
Bandura’s Social Learning Theory of Personality

Bandura’s Social Learning Theory of Personality is based on the premise that human
behaviour is largely acquired and that the principles of learning are sufficient to account for
the development and maintenance of behaviour. But the earlier learning theorists were unable
to pay sufficient attention about the social context in which behaviour is taking place.
Bandura has done a great deal of work on social learning throughout his career and is famous
for his “Social Learning Theory” which he has recently renamed, “Social Cognitive Theory”.
Bandura is seen by many as a cognitive psychologist because of his focus on motivational
factors and self-regulatory mechanisms that contribute to a person’s behaviour, rather than
just environmental factors. This focus on cognition is what differentiates social cognitive
theory from Skinner’s purely behaviouristic viewpoint.
Bandura theory of social learning can be explained under the following three headings:
1) Reciprocal determinism
2) Self-system
3) Principles of observational learning

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UNIT V- PERSONALITY

• Biological factors– genetic, neurological

• Rorschach Inkblot Test

Psychodynamic Approach to Personality

Personality is made up of three parts: the id, ego, and super-ego.

Psychosexual Stages of Development

Trait theory by Gordon Allport

1. Openness to experience is characterized by imagination, feelings, actions, and ideas.

Jung’s Personality Theory of Extraverts/ Introverts

Type A / Type B Theory of Personality by Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman

Bandura’s Social Learning Theory of Personality

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