PERSONALITY

A Six-Day Unit Lesson Plan for

High School Psychology Teachers

Simine Vazire, PhD

Washington University in St. Louis
Teacher Reviewers
Wendy Hart, MEd, Brentwood High School, Brentwood, TN, and
R. Scott Reed, MEd, Hamilton High School, Chandler, AZ

Developed and Produced by the Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools

(TOPSS) of the American Psychological Association, December 2014

BACK TO CONTENTS
 PERSONALITY
A Six-Day Unit Lesson Plan for High School Psychology Teachers

This unit is aligned to the following content and performance standards of the National Standards for High
School Psychology Curricula (APA, 2011):

DOMAIN: INDIVIDUAL VARIATION

STANDARD AREA: PERSONALITY

CONTENT STANDARDS

After concluding this unit, students understand:

1. Perspectives on personality
2. Assessment of personality
3. Issues in personality

CONTENT STANDARDS WITH PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

CONTENT STANDARD 1: Perspectives on personality

Students are able to (performance standards):

1.1 Evaluate psychodynamic theories
1.2 Evaluate trait theories
1.3 Evaluate humanistic theories
1.4 Evaluate social-cognitive theories

CONTENT STANDARD 2: Assessment of personality

Students are able to (performance standards):

2.1 Differentiate personality assessment techniques
2.2 Discuss the reliability and validity of personality assessment techniques

CONTENT STANDARD 3: Issues in personality

Students are able to (performance standards):

3.1 Discuss biological and situational influences
3.2 Discuss stability and change
3.3 Discuss connections to health and work
3.4 Discuss self-concept
3.5 Analyze how individualistic and collectivistic cultural perspectives relate to personality

This unit is a revision of the original TOPSS Unit Lesson Plan on Personality prepared by Ruby Brown, Diane
Franz, Ben Ibarra, and Michael Sullivan, and revised and edited by Michael Sullivan, Charlie Blair-Broeker, Terri
Lindenberg, and Amy Carlisle. TOPSS thanks Jyh-Hann Chang, PhD, of East Stroudsburg University and F.
Charles Wiss, PhD, of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill for their reviews of this unit plan.

This project was supported by a grant from the American Psychological Foundation.

Copyright © 2014 American Psychological Association.

II PERSONALITY
CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION V

PROCEDURAL TIMELINE 1

CONTENT OUTLINE 3

ACTIVITIES 43

CRITICAL THINKING AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 57

REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS 59

APPENDIXES 62

A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS III
 INTRODUCTION

P ersonality is a high-interest topic in high school psychology because

most students are in Erik Erikson’s identity versus role confusion
stage and are in the process of solidifying many aspects of their own per-
sonality. This unit lesson plan gives students the opportunity to see many
other topics in psychology (such as research methods) used in the defi-
nition, measurement, and development of personality. The unit provides
for good debate and critical thinking in how personality can relate to the
interaction of biology and experience (i.e., nature and nurture), the differ-
ent perspectives in psychology, learning theory, and reliability and validity
of testing.

The unit lesson plan starts with an introduction to personality and then
looks at how psychologists assess personality. The unit plan then focuses
on the psychoanalytic, humanistic, social-cognitive, and trait theories of
personality, communicating strengths and weaknesses of each approach.
The final lesson focuses on how personality can relate to work, health,
and culture to provide practical applications for the study of personality.

This unit plan should provide an opportunity for introspection for high
school students. By the end of the unit plan, they should have learned
some terms that relate to their own personalities, such as locus of control
and self-efficacy. They will also have a better understanding of what fac-
tors may have played a role in their personality development and will have
considered some of the basic debates about whether personalities are
stable across situations and time. Most importantly, they should also be
INTRODUCTION
familiar with the Big Five model of personality traits—the most commonly
used model in contemporary personality research.

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS V
 PROCEDURAL
TIMELINE

LESSON 1: AN INTRODUCTION TO PERSONALITY

Activity 1: What Is Personality? A Personal Appraisal

LESSON 2: ASSESSMENT OF PERSONALITY

Activity 2: Personality and Personality Assessment

LESSON 3: PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORIES OF PERSONALITY

Activity 3.1: Freud’s Personality Theory: Id, Ego, Superego
Role-Play Activity

Activity 3.2: Defense Mechanisms Application Activity

LESSON 4: TRAIT AND SOCIAL-COGNITIVE THEORIES

OF PERSONALITY
Activity 4: Measuring Locus of Control

PROCEDURAL TIMELINE
LESSON 5: HUMANISTIC THEORIES OF PERSONALITY
LESSON 6: PERSONALITY: CULTURE, WORK, AND HEALTH

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 1
 CONTENT OUTLINE

LESSON 1
An Introduction to Personality
I. What is personality?

A. Personality: Individual differences in characteristic patterns of

thinking, feeling, and behaving

1. “Thinking”: Personality includes differences between people

in how they typically think.

Example: Do people tend to focus on the positive (optimists)

or the negative (pessimists)?

2. “Feeling”: Personality includes differences between people in

how they typically feel.

Examples: Do people tend to be happy or unhappy? Do they

experience intense emotions or not? Do they get angry easily?
Are they especially sensitive to rejection?

3. “Behaving”: Personality includes differences between people

in how they typically behave.

Examples: Do they tend to talk a lot? Do they usually go along CONTENT OUTLINE
with what other people want or insist on doing things their way?
Are they neat and tidy or sloppy and disorderly? Do they like
to try new things, or do they always order the same thing when
they go out to eat?

B. Personality does not refer to physical characteristics, abilities, or

temporary states.

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 3
 1. Personality refers to differences between people in their psy-
chological characteristics, not physical or biological differenc-
es (e.g., height or age).

Example: A person’s level of testosterone can influence his or

her typical pattern of behavior. However, level of testosterone
itself isn’t considered a personality characteristic, though it may
be related to personality characteristics.

2. Personality doesn’t include many skills or abilities. Personality

is about what people are typically like, not what they are capa-
ble of at their best.

Example: Just because someone can be an excellent negotia-

tor or a skilled chess player, that doesn’t mean it is part of his/
her personality.

3. Personality doesn’t include fleeting states like hunger, arous-

al, or mood. Just because a person happens to be happy at
a given moment doesn’t mean it is part of his/her personality;
that is why the “characteristic patterns” part of the definition is
so important.

C. Personality includes prominent consideration of diversity because

the theories and the tests that arise out of diversity have been
primarily based on the observations of a specific group (European
American males).

Examples: Do the theories apply to all ethnic groups? Do East

Asians or Westerners think the same way (Nisbett, 2003)? Can the
test be generalized for groups? Can the theories be generalized for
more than one group of people?

II. Personality vs. situation

In the 1970s and early 1980s, the field of psychology was engaged in a
big debate, sparked by a book by Walter Mischel, over whether or not
personality actually explains why people behave as they do.

A. On the personality side, researchers argued that differences

between people can be measured and that these differences
can help researchers predict and explain why they do the things
they do.

Example: People higher on extroversion tend to talk more.

4 PERSONALITY BACK TO CONTENTS

 B. On the situation side, researchers argued that the situation people
are in will have such a strong influence on their behavior that their
personality will not matter.

1. Many researchers on the “situation” side believed personality

was an illusion, people think everyone has a personality, and
although everyone differs from each other in reliable ways, re-
ally everyone is very similar to each other; the reason people
behave differently from each other is because they find them-
selves in different situations.

2. The strongest evidence for the “situation” side of the de-

bate came from impressive social psychological studies that
showed how powerful situations can be.

Example: Milgram’s famous experiment showed that an au-

thority figure can influence people to give a stranger what they
believe to be a painful electric shock just by creating the right
situation (a professor in a white lab coat telling you that the
experiment must continue, etc.). This supposedly showed that
traits such as obedience and conformity can be manipulated by
situational variables and are actually only temporary states.

3. However, the “person” side of the debate responded by point-

ing out that just because situations have a strong influence on
behavior does not mean people will all behave the same in the
same situation.

Example: Even in Milgram’s experiment, an important percent-

age of people refused to go along with the orders.

C. Thus, there is room for both personality and situation to have an

important influence on behavior.

III. The influence of personality

A. Is personality stable across situations?

1. The first step in establishing that people really do differ in their

“characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving” is to
show that those differences are indeed characteristic patterns;
that they can be observed over and over again across a vari-
ety of situations.

2. Of course nobody is going to be exactly the same in every

situation, so the challenge is to show there is some stability.

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 5
 a. Stability in personality is typically defined as “rank-order
consistency,” which means people’s ranking on a per-
sonality trait stays similar from one situation to the next.

Example: Is the person who is most extroverted around

her classmates also more extroverted than her peers at
soccer practice, with her family, and at a pep rally?

b. Results from many personality studies (e.g., Specht,

Egloff, & Schmukle, 2011; Roberts & Mroczek, 2008)
show there is indeed rank-order consistency in people’s
personalities.

B. Is personality stable over time?

1. Another challenge in showing there really are personality

differences is to show that personality is persistent—it stays
more or less the same over time.

a. This is important because if personality changes all the

time, then it could be that our personality is just the result
of the situation we’re in, and when our situation changes
(e.g., when we move away to college, we get married, we
change jobs), our “personality” also changes.

b. To show that the differences between people are not just

the result of the different situations people are in, it’s im-
portant to show that even when major aspects of their
situation change—when people go through major life
changes—personality still remains relatively stable.
Bleidorn (2012) and Donnellan, Conger, & Burzette
(2007) showed there is mean-level change in personality
during the transition from adolescence to adulthood,
but not much rank order change. Lucas (2007) showed
negative life events do have long-term (negative) effects
on well-being, but positive events (e.g., marriage) only
have short-term (positive) effects.

c. No one would expect perfect stability from birth to death,

but the challenge is to show there is some rank-order
consistency over decades—the people who are the most
extroverted, friendly, or emotional in their childhood also
tend to be pretty extroverted, friendly, or emotional in mid-
dle and late adulthood.

6 PERSONALITY BACK TO CONTENTS

 2. The research on this topic is pretty clear: People do change,
but they don’t change drastically (Specht, Egloff, & Schmukle,
2011; Roberts & Mroczek, 2008).

a. Very extroverted people rarely become introverted and

vice versa.

b. The rank-order of a person relative to his or her peers

stays pretty stable over the course of life.

c. Interestingly, however, there are some changes that al-

most everyone experiences—for example, people tend to
become more responsible and more emotionally stable as
they age.

d. Because this happens to (almost) everybody, it doesn’t

change the people’s rank order—everyone is a little less
emotionally volatile; but the most volatile people at age 15
are still more volatile than most of their peers at ages 30,
50, and 70.

3. Some people do change their rank order, and researchers

don’t know much about why or how these individuals do it.
These changes are most likely to happen in adolescence and
early adulthood—before the age of 30. Personality seems to
be pretty stable, even over decades and after big life changes
(Specht, Egloff, & Schmukle, 2011).

C. Do people agree about a person’s personality?

1. Another way to show personality is real is to show people tend

to know an extrovert (or a creative person or an emotional
person) when they see one—or at least when they get to know
one pretty well. This is important because if personality is real,
people should be able to see it in each other. Of course some
aspects of personality are hard to see in strangers—most peo-
ple don’t broadcast their negative characteristics to the world,
for example—but people who know a person well should all
agree more or less about that person’s personality.

Example: If John is extroverted, stubborn, messy, and gen-

erous, his mom, friends, and teammates should pretty much
agree that he is.

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 7
 2. Personality researchers have found, although everyone
doesn’t agree perfectly, there is a good deal of agreement on
a person’s personality, even between parents and friends or
hometown friends and college friends. This is especially im-
pressive because these people usually haven’t met each other
and know the person in different contexts.

3. Psychological constructs such as extroversion versus introver-

sion are universally accepted as cross-cultural, whereas other
psychological constructs, such as assertiveness versus non-
assertiveness, may have minimal differentiation and appear to
have no meaning in some cultures. (Allen, 2006).

D. Does personality predict behavior?

1. One of the most important tests of whether personality ex-

ists is the predictability of behavior based on personality. It is
impossible to predict how a person will behave in every situa-
tion, but because personality is supposed to describe typical
patterns of behavior, knowing someone’s personality should
help predict how they tend to behave over time and across
many situations. Personality researchers have produced a lot
of evidence that personality does predict behavior.

2. Examples (from Ozer & Benet-Martinez, 2006; Roberts et al.,

2007; Mehl, Gosling, & Pennebaker, 2006):

a. Extroversion predicts talking, happiness, social status,

volunteerism.

b. Agreeableness predicts swearing less, being less likely to

divorce, volunteerism, less criminal behavior.

c. Conscientiousness predicts occupational success, college

GPA, less drug use, being less likely to divorce.

d. Emotional stability predicts less depression, being

less likely to divorce and less likely to fight in romantic
relationships.

e. Openness to experience predicts more traveling/studying

abroad and being more likely to vote for liberal candi-
dates/causes and choose artistic careers.

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 IV. Personality origins

A. There has been a lot of debate about whether personality is in-

nate (nature) or learned from one’s experiences in childhood and
beyond (nurture). As with many debates, the answer is that both
sides are partly correct. Personality is influenced by genes and can
be observed even in young infants, but it is also shaped by
the experiences and changes over the course of a person’s life
(see III B above).

B. Genetic influences on personality

1. Before it was possible to map people’s genomes, researchers

came up with a clever way to test the influence of genes by
comparing identical (monozygotic) and same-sex fraternal
(dizygotic) twins.

a. The idea is that identical twins and same-sex fraternal

twins are equally similar to each other in terms of the en-
vironment they grow up in—in both cases, they have the
same parents, live in the same neighborhood, go to the
same school, etc.

b. However, identical twins share 100% of the genes that

vary in humans, whereas fraternal twins share only 50%
on average (same as non-twin siblings).

c. Therefore, if identical twins have personalities more

similar to each other’s than fraternal twins, this strongly
suggests that personality is partly influenced by genes.
However, identical twins are more often treated more alike
than fraternal twins.

d. Adoption studies can also be used to study the influence

of environment and genetics. Adopted children are com-
pared through correlation studies to their adopted parents
(nurture) and their biological parents (nature).

2. Heritability refers to the extent to which a characteristic (e.g.,

extroversion, height) is influenced by genes.

3. Genes and traits

a. So far, research that examines specific genes (molecular

genetics) has had very little success identifying specific
genes that predict specific traits.

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 9
 b. That doesn’t mean personality isn’t influenced by genes, it
just means there probably aren’t a few specific genes that
influence any given personality trait.

C. Environmental influences on personality

1. Researchers agree that both genes and people’s experiences

account for differences between people, but they have had
little success identifying exactly which experiences have what
type of effect on personality. As it turns out, the same environ-
ment influences people in different ways.

Example: Having a strict parent might make some kids more

rule-abiding and others more rebellious.

2. Researchers have identified few life experiences that have a

systematic effect on personality (i.e., that tend to shift every-
one’s personality in the same way). However, two such exam-
ples follow.

Examples: When young adults enter their first serious romantic

relationship, they tend to become more agreeable and more
emotionally stable. Also, when people start their first job, they
tend to become more agreeable and more conscientious (Ney-
er & Asendorpf, 2001; Roberts, Caspi, & Moffitt, 2003).

3. Culture is rooted in language, and language can shape cogni-

tive processes (Shoda & Mischel, 1993). Thus, characteriza-
tions of situations can vary across cultures and subcultures,
because, even where the language is the same for two or
more cultures or subcultures, usage of a word can differ by
culture or subculture. (Allen, 2006).

Example: The British English word for “football” refers to the

game American English refers to as soccer, while the Amer-
ican English use of “football” means American football, not
soccer.

GO TO ACTIVITY 1
What Is Personality? A Personal Appraisal

10 PERSONALITY BACK TO CONTENTS

 LESSON 2
Assessment of Personality

I. Measuring personality

A. Personality measures

1. Personality can be measured in many different ways. Many

people have seen personality tests in magazines or websites
that claim people can learn about their personality based on
what color, animal, or food they like. Many of these tests are
not valid (e.g., they do not capture the psychological concept
personality is supposed to represent).

2. Self-report questionnaires

a. Self-report: The assumption behind this questionnaire

that asks respondents what they are like is that people
have a pretty good idea of how they typically think, feel,
and behave. Therefore, if clear, direct questions are writ-
ten about people’s personality, and the people answer
honestly, researchers can learn a lot. Many people are
familiar with the Myers-Briggs self-report questionnaire,
but it is not an empirically valid personality questionnaire
(see Grant, 2013).

b. Face validity: Self-report questionnaires ask face-valid

questions about personality. A face-valid question has no
tricks or hidden agendas. It measures what it looks like it
is measuring.

Example: If a researcher wants to know if someone is

extroverted, he or she can ask them “Do you tend to talk a
lot?” “Do you like being around people?” etc.

c. Questionnaire design: Most personality questionnaires

use Likert-type statements. (Likert was a U.S. psycholo-
gist (1903-1981) ).These are statements (e.g., “I am often
anxious.”) on which the respondent indicates how strongly
he/she agrees or disagrees with on a continuous scale
(e.g., from 1 to 5, in which 1 is “strongly disagree” and 5 is
“strongly agree”).

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 11
 d. Strengths of self-report questionnaires

i. People have a lot of information about themselves

because they have seen themselves in many different
situations over many years.

ii. People have direct access to their own thoughts and

feelings.

iii. Self-reports also have the important advantage

of being a convenient way to measure personality
because researchers don’t need the help of anyone
other than the person whose personality they want
to measure.

e. Weaknesses of self-report questionnaires

i. People may not always tell the truth, especially when

a lot is at stake, like in a job interview.

ii. People may not always know the truth about them-
selves, especially for aspects of personality that are
desirable or undesirable, like intelligence or rudeness.

3. Informant report questionnaires

a. Informant report questionnaires are completed by people

who know the target (the person whose personality the
researcher wants to know about) well.

b. Questionnaire design: Informant report questionnaires are

almost identical to self-report questionnaires. They also
typically use Likert-type questions. The only difference
is that instead of rating their agreement or disagreement
with statements about themselves, informants rate their
agreement or disagreement with statements about the
target (e.g., “She/he is often anxious.”)

c. Strengths of informant report questionnaires

i. Many people can serve as informants.

ii. Informants have lots of information because they see

the target in many situations and usually have known
the target for a long time.

iii. Some personality traits are defined by how others

see the target.

12 PERSONALITY BACK TO CONTENTS

 Example: You’re only as funny, charming, and likeable
as other people think you are. For these traits, infor-
mant reports may be better than self-reports.

d. Weaknesses of informant report questionnaires

i. Informant reports are not always convenient; some-

times it’s hard to get hold of informants.

ii. There are some things informants don’t see.

Example: Family members may not know what a high

school student is like at school, and the student’s friends
or classmates may not know what he or she is like
at home.

iii. Some personality traits are defined not by how other

people see you, but how you see yourself.

Example: If you feel anxious a lot, you’re an anxious

person—it doesn’t matter if other people think you’re
not anxious.

iv. Informants typically like the target they’re rating a lot,

so they may be biased and have a rosier perception
of the target than is warranted.

B. Behavioral measures: A person’s personality can be measured

by observing their behavior or the traces of their behavior.

1. Examples:

a. Ask people to come to a researcher’s laboratory to en-

gage in a structured interaction with a group of strangers.
Videotape the interaction and code participants’ behav-
iors. Do they talk a lot? Do they interrupt others? Do they
exhibit nervous speech patterns, hand movements, etc.?
Do they come up with creative ideas?

b. Ask people to wear a recorder that will record the sounds

of their behavior as they go about their daily life. This has
the advantage of capturing what people are like outside of
the laboratory: Do they spend a lot of time interacting with
others? Do they swear a lot? How friendly are they?

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 13
 c. Ask to examine the contents of people’s music collections,
book collections, bedrooms, offices, Facebook profiles.
All of these are places where people’s personalities
leave their mark. For example, people with a high level of
extroversion tend to listen to more upbeat, popular music
than people low in extroversion. People with a high level
of openness to experience have more diverse book and
movie collections than people low in openness to
experience.

d. Ask for records of major life events. For example, how

many times has the person been married? Divorced?
Arrested? What is the person’s GPA? Sometimes
answers to these life events can tell you something
about a person’s personality.

2. Strengths of behavioral measures

a. Objectivity: Behavior is easy to observe and is quantifi-

able in a meaningful way. A person either talks or doesn’t,
uses a swear word or doesn’t, listens to lots of jazz music
or doesn’t.

b. Because there is less subjectivity involved with behavioral

measures than with self- or informant-report question-
naires, personality is easier to measure.

3. Weaknesses of behavioral measures

Some behaviors are hard to link specifically to one

personality trait.

Example: What does a person’s being divorced five times say

about that person’s personality? It could indicate low levels
of agreeableness, high levels of neuroticism, bad luck, or any
number of other causes.

C. Tests: Unlike a personality questionnaire, a personality test is

designed to ask questions that are not completely direct (i.e., not
face valid). Tests try to get the answers to these questions by eval-
uating how someone answers specific questions. Personality tests
don’t come out and ask what they really want to know (e.g., “How
narcissistic are you?”). Instead, they ask indirect questions and in-
terpret your answers to determine your personality. The Minnesota
Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) is a good example of a
personality test.

14 PERSONALITY BACK TO CONTENTS

 Example: One item on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory
(Raskin & Terry, 1988) is: “If I ruled the world, it would be a better
place.” If you agree with that item, the researcher does not con-
clude that you have the personality trait “good world leader,” rather,
the researcher interprets your answer as a clue that you might be
high on narcissism (High or low levels will be referred to as “high
on” and “low on.”).

1. Projective tests

a. Projective tests are special kinds of tests based on the

idea that if you give people an ambiguous stimulus and
ask them to describe it, their answer will tell you some-
thing about their personality.

b. The most well-known example is the Rorschach test.

Another example is the Thematic Apperception Test
(the version used in research now is called the Picture
Story Exercise).

i. Psychologists who use the Rorschach test believe

people’s descriptions of what they see in ink blots tell
something about their personality. The test is linked to
psychoanalysis (see Lesson 3).

ii. There is little evidence that these tests are valid (see
section on validity below).

2. Objective tests

a. Most personality tests are “objective tests,” so-named

because they are not projective (not because they are
especially objective). These include any tests with yes/no
response options, numerical response options, etc.

Examples: The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

(MMPI) and the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI)

b. The rational method of creating objective tests: Re-

searchers write items that seem like they would be a good
measure of the personality trait they want to measure.

Example: Researchers involved in creating the NPI in-

cluded items they thought would provide clues about the
respondent’s level of narcissism.

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 15
 c. The empirical method of creating objective tests is to
write many items, try them all out, and keep the ones that
are actually a good measure of the trait the researcher
wants to measure.

Example: The MMPI was created this way—this is why

some of the items on the MMPI (e.g., “Do you prefer baths
to showers?”) seem to have nothing to do with what the
MMPI is measuring (personality disorders). The items pre-
dict who has a personality disorder or not, and even if we
can’t understand why they do, they are included in the test
because they work.

d. Strength of objective tests

Personality tests are less susceptible to faking than self-re-

port questionnaires. It’s harder to change your answers to
get a specific score, because it’s not always obvious what
the test is measuring or how you should answer to get the
score you want.

e. Weakness of objective tests

Objective tests require the researcher to interpret your

answer, and that interpretation could be wrong (note that
here, “interpret” means making empirical associations
with outcomes of interest). Thus, interpreting an answer
as a sign of narcissism (or anything else) is a little risky
because it requires making some assumptions that may or
may not be true.

Example: Perhaps you agreed with the statement, “If I

ruled the world, it would be a better place” not because
you think you would be a particularly good world leader,
but because you are very disappointed with the current
world leaders.

II. Characteristics of a good personality measure

A. Reliability: The consistency of a measurement

1. Reliability does not indicate how accurate or true the measure

is. Reliability is about consistency, not about accuracy.

16 PERSONALITY BACK TO CONTENTS

 2. There are different ways to measure reliability.

a. Test-retest reliability is when you get similar results

when you measure someone’s personality using measure
X at time 1 and then again at time 2.

Example: Imagine an average-sized adult weighing him-

self on a scale. The first time he steps on the scale, it
indicates he weighs 25 pounds. He steps off and 5 min-
utes later steps on again. Again, it indicates he weighs 25
pounds. This scale is reliable. It’s just not accurate.

b. Internal consistency applies to measures with multiple

items (e.g., a self-report questionnaire with 10 items).
Internal consistency is the degree to which the various
items produce similar scores (i.e., measure the same
thing). There are many ways to measure internal consis-
tency, including “split-half reliability,” which refers to the
consistency between one half of the items (e.g., all the
odd-numbered items) and the other half of the items on
the same measure (e.g., all the even-numbered items).

c. Parallel forms reliability refers to the consistency across

the different forms when there are different versions, or
“forms,” of a scale. Would people get the same score if
given either Form A or Form B? The SAT is an example of
a measure with parallel forms. It is important that the SAT
have parallel forms reliability, because if a person’s scores
were to change a lot depending on which form he or she
got, that would be an inconsistent, unreliable measure.

3. Threats to reliability

a. Researcher error: It is possible a researcher could make

a mistake that leads to a different score on one measure-
ment occasion from another.

Examples: A researcher reading a question out loud to a

participant may have read it wrong. Or perhaps a word in
one of the questions is ambiguous.

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 17
 b. Respondent fluctuations: A person responding to the
personality questionnaire may have changed his mind
about one of the questions from the first time he or she
responded.

Example: Perhaps the first time a researcher asked a

person if he’s often anxious, he said yes because at that
moment he was anxious, and it was easy for him to re-
member other times he’d been anxious. Then, the second
time the researcher gave him the questionnaire he said
he’s not often anxious because at that time he was calm
and did not remember often feeling anxious.

B. Validity: The accuracy of a measure.

1. For a measure to be valid, it must be reliable. It should consis-

tently give the right answer.

2. Ways to test the validity of the measure:

a. Convergent validity: This determines if the measure

agrees with other measures of the same personality trait.

Example: Does a new self-report measure of extroversion

agree with existing measures of extroversion?

b. Discriminant validity: This determines if the measure is

unrelated to other measures of unrelated traits.

Example: To show a researcher is measuring extroversion

and not something else (e.g., self-esteem), he or she must
show the measure of extroversion is not related to mea-
sures of other traits.

c. Predictive validity: This determines if the measure helps

predict behaviors and outcomes related to the trait.

Example: Does a self-report measure of extroversion pre-

dict things that extroversion should predict, like who actu-
ally talks more, who has more Facebook friends, and who
spends more time socializing?

18 PERSONALITY BACK TO CONTENTS

 d. Generalizability: This determines if the measure is
equally valid for all people/situations/times/places.

i. Sometimes a measure can be valid for certain groups

of people (e.g., Caucasians, college students, women,
adolescents) but not others. Therefore, it is important
to know exactly for which groups of people the mea-
sure is valid.

ii. The same goes for places or times or situations.

It’s possible the measure is only valid in some
cultures or during one time period or under certain
circumstances.

GO TO ACTIVITY 2
Personality and Personality Assessment

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 19
 LESSON 3
Psychodynamic Theories of Personality

While Sigmund Freud’s theories—along with the theories of Carl

Jung and the Neo-Freudians (e.g., Alfred Adler, Karen Horney, Erik
Erikson)—are important for historical reasons, there is little empir-
ical evidence for many aspects of these theories, and few current
personality researchers directly study these theories. Teachers
should note the importance of presenting students with the most
current and empirically validated facts and knowledge on personali-
ty psychology.

For historical information on Jung and the Neo-Freudians,

see Appendix A.

I. Psychodynamic theories of personality

A. The psychodynamic approach to personality stems from Sigmund
Freud’s theories about how and why people become who they
are.

Psyche: According to Freud, an internal structure of the mind is

made up of three parts: the id, the ego, and the superego.

1. Id is the irrational, emotional, impulsive part of the mind that

pushes people to act on their impulses and seeks immediate
gratification.

2. Ego is the rational part of the mind that considers all perspec-
tives and weighs the pros and cons of a course of action. The
ego has a more long-term perspective than the id.

3. Superego is the moral part of the mind that seeks to follow

rules, social norms, and personal value. It pushes people to
act in accordance with their values and ideals.

B. Conflict

1. These three parts of the mind can sometimes function inde-

pendently, but they often come into conflict, “pushing” for
opposite behaviors.

20 PERSONALITY BACK TO CONTENTS

 2. In these cases, the ego is supposed to be the moderator be-
tween the id and superego and make an executive decision.

3. According to Freud, unresolved conflict between the different

parts of the mind leads to anxiety.

GO TO ACTIVITY 3.1
Freud’s Personality Theory: Id, Ego, Superego
Role-Play Activity

C. Scientific evidence

1. Researchers now know the mind is not actually divided into

three parts, but there is considerable evidence (e.g., Yarkoni
& Braver, 2010) that people differ in terms of their capacity for
“executive control”—the ability to monitor their various urges
and motivations and choose a course of action that strikes the
right balance.

2. There is also considerable debate about whether the mind has

multiple parts that can operate independently from each other,
with many researchers arguing that the idea of multiple, sepa-
rate units in the mind is a more or less accurate representation
of how the mind works (Cosmides & Tooby, 1992).

D. The importance of the unconscious: The psychodynamic the-

ories of personality emphasize that an individual’s behavior (and
thus his or her personality) is not always the result of conscious
mental processes; many of the processes underlying behavior are
unconscious. This has several corollaries:

1. Self-knowledge: If some of the motives for our behavior

reside in our unconscious, we may not be aware of all aspects
of our personality. Thus, people may have personality charac-
teristics they honestly don’t believe they have.

2. Psychic determinism is the view that every act is determined

by what is going on in a person’s conscious and unconscious
mind. Freud claimed that all behaviors are a reflection of what
is going on in the person’s mind.

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 21
 3. Defense mechanisms: Freud believed that part of the reason
so much of personality resides in the unconscious is because
many motives, thoughts, and feelings are threatening for us
to admit to ourselves. Thus, we develop means to keep those
aspects outside of our consciousness by developing self-pro-
tective strategies. These strategies are called defense mecha-
nisms and include the following.

a. Denial is refusing to acknowledge something.

b. Repression is pushing something out of your mind

so you do not think about it. You don’t actively deny it;
rather, you just decide not to think about it and eventually
forget it.

c. Reaction formation is convincing yourself of the opposite

of what is actually true.

d. Projection is attributing an unwanted trait or thought to

someone else.

e. Rationalization is coming up with a logical, rational (but

false) explanation for a shameful thought or action.

f. Intellectualization is converting a threatening trait or

thought into a cold, intellectual fact.

g. Displacement is redirecting an unwanted impulse toward

something more acceptable.

h. Regression is reverting to an earlier stage of life develop-

ment when you are faced with conflict.

i. Sublimation is converting shameful impulses into some-

thing noble; redirecting the energy to something more
acceptable.

GO TO ACTIVITY 3.2
Defense Mechanisms Application Activity

22 PERSONALITY BACK TO CONTENTS

 II. Psychic energy

A. Freud also posited that we keep things from our conscious aware-
ness in part because it is too threatening to admit certain things
about ourselves (e.g., certain motives that are driven by our id).
However, according to Freud, keeping things from reaching con-
scious awareness requires psychic energy, and people only have
a limited amount of psychic energy. Thus, the more we keep in our
unconscious, the greater stress and strain we will experience. To
release that strain, and to free up some psychic energy, we must
explore our unconscious and face some of the facts that we have
kept hidden from ourselves.

B. Free association

1. Free association is the practice of saying every thought that

comes to mind without censoring anything.

2. The idea is that if you let your mind talk without imposing any
limits, things that are normally censored by your conscious
mind will come out, and you will learn something about what is
in your unconscious.

3. This will then free up some psychic energy you had previously
been using to keep that information unconscious.

C. Dream analysis and Freudian slips

1. Freud also believed dreams reveal something about the un-

conscious mind. He advocated dream analysis as a way to
bring the contents of the unconscious mind into conscious
awareness.

2. Other places to look for the unconscious leaking out include

jokes and mistakes (slips).

Example: Calling a current love interest by a former love inter-

est’s name would be a slip.

D. Scientific evidence

1. The idea that people are unaware of all of their motives has
held up well to scientific scrutiny. Researchers have shown
people can be unaware of some of their motives, and some-
times they can even be unaware of some of their feelings and
behaviors (Nisbett & Wilson, 1977).

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 23
 2. However, other details about the unconscious proposed by
Freud have held up less well to scientific scrutiny (e.g., the
psychosexual stages of development, the idea of the sex and
death drives being behind almost everything we do, the mean-
ing of dreams).

3. See Chapter 1 of Tim Wilson’s book Strangers to Ourselves

(Wilson, 2004) for a description of the similarities and differ-
ences between Freud’s unconscious and the latest scientific
evidence about the unconscious.

III. Personality (psychosexual) development according to the

psychodynamic perspective
A. Freud argued that early childhood experiences are extremely im-
portant for personality development. Adults are the way they are in
large part because of what happened to them in childhood.

B. Freud believed most people went through five stages of psycho-

sexual development, and failure to progress through each of these
stages was associated with particular personality problems.

C. Fixation is a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an

earlier psychosexual stage during which conflicts were unresolved.
For example, a fixation on oral pleasure would indicate being stuck
in the oral stage as described below.

D. Each stage is associated with a particular psychological struggle

and also with a physical focus.

1. Stage one: The oral stage

a. According to Freud, from birth to about 18 months of age,

the biggest psychological struggle babies face is their
dependence on others.

b. The physical focus of this stage is the mouth, tongue,

and lips.

c. Failure to successfully pass through this stage can lead to

the adult personality characteristic of being overly depen-
dent or its opposite, overly independent.

d. Oral fixations include using the mouth to self-soothe un-

der stress, such as smoking, biting fingernails, employing
sarcasm, etc.

24 PERSONALITY BACK TO CONTENTS

 2. Stage two: The anal stage

a. According to Freud, from age 18 months to 3-1/2 years,

the primary struggle children face is obedience and
self-control. Children typically go through potty training
during this stage.

b. The physical focus of this stage is the anus.

c. Failure to successfully pass through this stage can lead

to the adult personality characteristic of being extremely
rule-abiding and obsessed with order (anal retentive) or
its opposite, being rebellious, chaotic, and anti-authority
(anal expulsive).

3. Stage three: The phallic stage

a. According to Freud, from age 3-1/2 to 6 years, the prima-

ry struggle children face is figuring out their gender identi-
ty and sexuality.

b. The physical focus of this stage is the sexual organs.

c. Failure to successfully pass through this stage leads to

the adult personality characteristic of being over-sexu-
alized (e.g., flirty) or its opposite, being undersexualized
(e.g., overly modest).

4. Stage four: Latency

According to Freud, from age 7 years to puberty, children

do not face any special psychological struggles and are not
fixated on any body part. All earlier issues remain hidden in
the unconscious.

5. Stage five: The genital stage

a. According to Freud, from puberty onward, the primary

struggle is the creation and enhancement of life.

b. Freud believed that people rarely completely resolve this

struggle, but if they were to, the result would be a healthy,
mature adult personality.

c. There is no particular body part associated with this

stage, though the physical focus more generally is one’s
sexuality, especially in relation to others (i.e., intimate
relationships).

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 25
 E. Scientific evidence

1. There has not been much scientific support for Freud’s ideas
about psychosexual development. Furthermore, research to
date has not turned up much evidence that early childhood
experiences influence personality.

2. However, attachment theory posits that the stability and

security of a person’s attachment to their parents or caregiv-
ers in childhood can affect how the person handles their close
relationships (especially romantic/sexual relationships) in
adulthood.

26 PERSONALITY BACK TO CONTENTS

 LESSON 4
Trait and Social-Cognitive Theories of
Personality

I. Trait theories of personality

A. Traits are psychological dimensions such as extroversion, tidi-

ness, emotional stability, and curiosity.

B. The trait approach, the approach most often adopted by

personality researchers, rests on the assumption that people
differ from each other on continuous traits; there are not distinct
groups, for example “extraverts” and “introverts,” but instead there
is a continuum.

C. Classification of traits

1. The main goal of the trait approach to personality is to catalog

all of the dimensions (traits) on which people vary and create
a classification of traits that reflects which traits tend to go
together.

Example: Talkativeness, sociability, assertiveness, and gregari-

ousness are all distinct traits, but they also have a lot in
common.

2. Ideally, the trait approach would lead to a classification system

that tells us what “groups” of traits exist and which traits are
in which groups. These groups composed of personality traits
are often called personality factors.

D. Traits have proven extremely useful for describing personality and

predicting people’s characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and
behaving.

1. The trait approach actually cuts across many different theoreti-

cal orientations, because traits are a way to conceptualize and
measure how people differ from one another.

2. Thus, whether a personality psychologist believes in a psycho-

analytic theory of personality or a biological theory, that psy-
chologist will need named traits to talk about personality and
individual differences.

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 27
 E. However, rather than proposing a theory about what causes
personality, the trait approach focuses more on how to describe
personality—what are the traits on which people differ? Thus, the
trait approach has been criticized for being purely descriptive. It
is true that traits do not really provide a deep explanation for why
people differ.

Example: If Julia’s desk is neater than Joe’s, and someone explains

it is because Julia is tidier than Joe, not much has been explained
about either one’s behavior or personality.

F. The lexical hypothesis is the idea that the concepts important

to us will be represented with words in our language. Thus, the
personality traits that exist should all have words associated
with them. Researchers decided based on this hypothesis they
could identify all the traits by looking through the dictionary.
Note. The term “lexical hypothesis” is not typically found in high
school psychology textbooks but is being provided here as useful
terminology.

G. Historical personality traits theories

1. Gordon Allport viewed personality as consisting of cardinal

and central traits. His theory was less concerned with explain-
ing why and more concerned with describing how people differ
from each other.

2. Raymond Cattell used factor analysis to identify 16 person-

ality traits. The degree to which a person possesses each trait
forms his or her unique personality profile.

3. Hans Eysenck used factor analysis to determine basic fac-

tors, which included introversion versus extroversion and emo-
tionality versus stability.

H. The Big Five

1. Researchers asked hundreds of people to rate themselves (or

someone they know well) on a subset of these adjectives and
then applied a statistical technique called factor analysis to
these ratings to see which ones tended to be similar.

2. If a person was rated high on “friendly,” was he/she also likely

to be rated high on “warm?” This approach led researchers to
the conclusion that there are five main factors of personality
(or five groups of traits). It is important to note any one set of
traits is not better than the others. There can be both positive

28 PERSONALITY BACK TO CONTENTS

 and negative examples of each trait. The five factors of
personality are listed below.

a. Extroversion includes traits like talkativeness,

sociability, assertiveness, gregariousness, enthusiasm,
and excitement.

Introversion includes the opposite traits: People low on

extroversion are typically reserved and quiet, and they are
not impulsive.

b. Agreeableness is the tendency to be cooperative,

friendly, and compassionate.

People who are at the extreme high end of agreeableness

may conform more easily to what others want, and they
tend to be nonconfrontational. People low on agreeable-
ness are stubborn and opinionated; they can be cold, but
they also are more willing to stand up for what they think is
right even in the face of opposition.

c. Conscientiousness is about following the rules and be-

ing self-disciplined.

People high in conscientiousness are tidy and orderly,

fulfill their obligations and arrive on time, and strive to
achieve high grades. People low in conscientiousness are
more likely to be messy, disorganized, forgetful, and less
hardworking, but may be more spontaneous.

d. Neuroticism is the tendency to experience a variety of

distressing emotions. It includes traits like anxiety and
self-doubt, impulsivity, anger, and hostility.

People high in neuroticism tend to experience frequent

and intense distressing emotions; they are also more vigi-
lant and aware of risks (e.g., health problems). People low
in neuroticism are relatively calm, not easily upset, and
less vulnerable to stress, but they may also miss important
warning signs.

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 29
 e. Openness to experience is the broadest factor. It
includes traits like creativity, appreciation of art, curiosity,
and unconventionality.

People high in openness to experience like to try new

things. They also like to think about many different things
and play with ideas. People low in openness prefer to stick
to a routine. They are more conventional and value consis-
tency rather than change.

I. Other classifications

1. Although the Big Five is a popular classification of traits and

factors, it is not the only one. Researchers have also proposed
classifications that include two, three, four, or six factors.
Some researchers also reject the idea of factors altogether
and prefer to measure each individual trait.

2. This can lead to personality questionnaires that measure 100

or more traits (e.g., the California Adult Q-Sort). Even the
biggest fans of the Big Five agree there are some important
personality traits that are not captured by these five factors.

Example: In everyday life, people use traits like “funny,” “arro-

gant,” and “honest” that do not fit neatly into the Big Five.

J. Personality types: Many people refer to a personality trait as if it

represents a type of person (e.g., extrovert versus introvert). The
trait approach rests on the assumption that people can have many
levels of a personality trait (e.g., very low, low, medium, high, very
high), so the desire to talk about types is misleading. Research
shows there are not certain types that are especially common.
While any combination of traits can be labeled as a type (e.g., you
could call people high on extroversion and low on agreeableness
“loudmouths”), no particular combination of traits is more common
than any other. Therefore, using the word “type” might be a useful
way to talk about personality, but it is not an accurate way of de-
picting how people differ from one another. People tend to differ
from each other in degrees, but not in an all-or-nothing way.

30 PERSONALITY BACK TO CONTENTS

 II. Social-cognitive theories of personality

A. Behaviorism

1. Behaviorism is the theory that people’s behavior is the result

of the rewards and punishments they have experienced in
the past.

2. Applied to personality, behaviorism is the view that people are

different from one another because they have experienced
different patterns of rewards and punishments, which have re-
inforced different behaviors in different people; therefore, they
have developed different personalities.

Example: A person whose parents laughed at her jokes all

the time might end up making more jokes later in her life than
someone whose parents did not react when she made jokes.

B. Social learning theory (Bandura)

1. Social learning theory is based on behaviorism but adds one

crucial element: the view that what shapes behavior is not
only the actual reinforcements (rewards and punishments) that
people experience, but how the people interpret these rein-
forcements. Social learning theory also says people can learn
from observing other people being rewarded or punished.

2. Albert Bandura emphasized that people’s perceptions of real-

ity might be more important than reality itself.

3. Bandura placed special emphasis on people’s expectations

about their own efficacy.

4. Self-efficacy is a person’s belief about whether or not he or

she is capable of bringing about desired results.

Example: Persons with a high degree of self-efficacy may think

if they study hard for a test, they will have a better chance
of doing well on the test, while persons with a low degree of
self-efficacy may think it does not matter how much they study
since they expect to not do well on the test.

Self-efficacy varies between people, but it also varies from

context to context.

Example: A person may have a high degree of self-efficacy in

the academic domain but a low degree of self-efficacy in the
dating domain.

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 31
 5. In his social learning theory, Bandura also emphasized how
people can learn from others.

a. People, especially children, are more likely to perform a

behavior if they have observed others do it, especially if
they have seen others rewarded for this behavior.

b. Bandura’s famous Bobo doll studies (e.g., Bandura, 1961)

showed that kids are more likely to treat an ambiguous
toy (the Bobo doll) in the same way they observed an
adult treat the toy. For example, if a child watched an adult
repeatedly hit the Bobo doll, the child was more likely to
hit the doll.

6. Bandura emphasized people often have some say about

which environments they find themselves in and what behav-
iors are rewarded or punished in these environments.

Example: People who choose to become salespeople know

enthusiasm and talkativeness are likely to be rewarded.

7. Thus, personality is not only shaped by a person’s environ-

ment, but personality also partly influences which environ-
ments the person chooses in the first place. A person’s per-
sonality can also alter the environment.

Example: A gregarious, assertive person may become the cap-

tain of her basketball team and change the team environment
just by being on the team.

C. Rotter’s expectancy-value theory

1. Expectancy-value theory predicts people will weigh potential

rewards according to their subjective probability.

2. People are more likely to perform a behavior if they believe

there is a high probability the behavior will lead to a reward
than if they believe the probability of a reward is low.

3. Julian Rotter further proposed people might differ from one

another in their generalized expectancies; some people might
generally feel they are capable of behaving in a way that elicits
rewards.

a. People who have an internal locus of control believe

they are able to control the rewards and punishments they
experience with high probability.

32 PERSONALITY BACK TO CONTENTS

 b. People with an external locus of control, on the other
hand, believe it is hard for them to predict which behaviors
will lead to rewards and punishments.

GO TO ACTIVITY 4
Measuring Locus of Control

D. The density distribution approach is not typically found in high

school psychology textbooks but has a lot of empirical support,
may make intuitive sense to students, and helps explain how peo-
ple’s personalities can be both stable and fluctuating.

1. For many years the trait approach to personality and the

social-cognitive approach to personality were seen as being
in conflict with each other. The trait theory seemed to imply
people should behave consistently across different situations,
whereas the social-cognitive learning theories emphasized
how and why an individual might behave differently in different
situations.

2. Recently, Will Fleeson has proposed a model that integrates

both perspectives, the density distribution model.

3. According to the density distribution model, people have per-

sonality traits—general patterns of thinking, feeling, or behav-
ing that reflect their average tendency across all situations.

Example: Someone who is high on extroversion tends to be

quite talkative, energetic, and enthusiastic.

4. However, people also have personality states—momen-

tary and perhaps fleeting thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
Sometimes a person’s traits and states might line up, as when
someone who is generally high in extroversion (trait) happens
to be talkative and feeling energetic in the moment (state).
Other times, a person’s state is different from the person’s trait
level. That is, even people high on extroversion sometimes
behave quietly or feel calm (just as people low on extroversion
sometimes are talkative and feel enthusiastic).

5. Fleeson proposed traits are simply a way to summarize

the average of all of a person’s states. That is, being high
on the trait of extroversion simply means a person tends to
have more high-extroversion states than low-extroversion

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 33
 states. Thus, a person’s traits are really just a “density
distribution” of states (how often a person tends to
experience different states).

6. This model allows for both the fact that people differ in their
traits (some people are more extroverted than others; that is,
they tend to have more extroverted states), and, within any
given individual, there are also fluctuations in states (extro-
verts will sometimes act and feel like introverts and vice ver-
sa). This leaves room for the trait theorists to study differences
between people in their general tendencies (their average
states) and for social-cognitive learning theorists to study with-
in-person fluctuations in states (their “if… then” contingencies).

34 PERSONALITY BACK TO CONTENTS

 LESSON 5
Humanistic Theories of Personality

I. Overview of humanistic theories of personality

A. Humanistic psychologists attempt to understand not just what

a person is like—the person’s characteristic patterns of thinking,
feeling, and behaving and where those personality characteristics
come from—but what it is like to be that person, what makes that
person essentially himself or herself, and what gives the person’s
life meaning from the person’s own subjective perspective. For a
humanistic psychologist, to understand a person is to understand
how the person understands himself or herself.

B. Phenomenology is a person’s conscious experience of his or her

life. It is very subjective. In short, knowing someone’s phenome-
nology is knowing what it is like to be that person from the inside.
Note. This term is not typically found in high school psychology
textbooks but is being provided here as useful terminology.

C. The self

1. The self includes a person’s phenomenology, or

moment-to-moment subjective experience (the “I” that
experiences things), but it also includes the person’s
self-concept and self-understanding (the “me” that someone
reflects on when they are being introspective).

2. Regardless of what you are thinking about right this

second, you also have a persistent mental representation
of who you are.

a. That mental representation includes your views

about your skills and abilities, your sense of worth
(self-esteem), your memory of your past experiences,
your ideals and goals for yourself, and your perception of
your own personality.

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 35
 b. Regardless of whether or not your views of yourself are
accurate, they have important implications for how you
are likely to think, feel, and behave in your life.

Example: If you think you are extremely persuasive and

love being around people, you are more likely to pursue
a career in sales than if you think you are shy and uncon-
vincing, even if you are wrong about your personality.

c. Thus, your self-concept plays a causal force in your life,

independent of the external reality. This is consistent with
the humanistic view that your subjective experience is just
as important as the outer world.

d. Furthermore, your self-view is part of your personality in

the sense that some personality traits are all about how
people see themselves.

Example: People who have a very low opinion of them-

selves are said to be low on the trait of self-esteem, and
people who are deluded about their own importance are
said to be high on the trait of narcissism.

e. Furthermore, some people may have more self-aware-

ness than others, and this may itself be a personality
difference.

II. Humanistic theories of personality

A. Abraham Maslow is best known for his model of the hierarchy of

needs. Maslow believed a person must satisfy a lower-level need
in the hierarchy before being able to focus on a higher-level need.
The hierarchy levels starting from the lowest level are organized as
follows:

1. Physiological needs include food, water, and other essen-

tials of survival.

2. Safety needs include security and comfort.

3. Belongingness needs include meaningful relationships, so-

cial connection, etc.

4. Self-esteem and status needs include money, prestige, and

skills.

5. If all of the lower-level needs have been fulfilled, people then

turn their attention to the highest-level need, the need for
self-actualization, as defined by Carl Rogers.

36 PERSONALITY BACK TO CONTENTS

 B. Carl Rogers is best known for his theory of self-actualization,
which is a person’s ability to strive for the highest of possibilities of
what they can become. The drive for self-actualization is the drive
to maintain and enhance one’s life.

1. Rogers believed to really understand a person, you have to

understand his or her phenomenology, that life has an intrinsic
goal, and that the goal is to actualize oneself.

2. Rogers believed that human behavior—and differences be-

tween people—makes sense only when you see the people in
the light of each individual’s drive for self-actualization.

3. To Rogers, only a person who satisfied this need for self-ac-

tualization could become a “fully functioning person”—a
happy, fulfilled person living an authentic existence.

4. Rogers also believed one necessary ingredient for achieving

self-actualization is to experience unconditional positive
regard from the people you care most about. Unconditional
positive regard means receiving love and support that does not
depend on what or how you’re doing (i.e., it is unconditional).

a. If your loved ones (especially your parents when you are

young) do not have unconditional positive regard for you,
this will limit your ability to self-actualize and become a
fully functioning person.

b. Parents (or close others) who do not provide uncondition-

al positive regard send the message you are only worthy
of love under certain conditions—these are called condi-
tions of worth.

c. Thus, one important source of personality differences

between people, according to Rogers’s theory, stems
from the conditions of worth (or the unconditional positive
regard) they experienced in life, especially from their par-
ents when they were young.

C. George Kelly was a psychologist whose ideas bridged humanistic

and social-cognitive approaches.

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 37
 1. Like other humanistic psychologists, Kelly believed a person’s
understanding of the world is fundamental to who that person
is; however, he also emphasized that the person’s under-
standing is a cognitive process, which Kelly called a personal
construct, a lens through which a person sees the world

2. Kelly developed the Role Construct Repertory Test (Rep

test) to assess people’s personal constructs.

a. In the Rep test, people list groups of three things (three

objects, three people, three ideas, etc.) and then are
asked to describe how two of the three things in each list
are similar to each other and different from the third.

b. The qualities people use to distinguish the items on their

lists are their personal constructs.

Example: Some people might describe two of the items as

more powerful than the third, and this might be a dimen-
sion along which they regularly perceive the world, while
another person may describe the two items another way,
indicating they perceive the world according to how aes-
thetically pleasing things (or people) are.

c. Kelly believed that individual personal constructs come

from how individuals interpreted their own past experi-
ences. Therefore, personal constructs are an individual’s
responsibility, and if an individual does not like the con-
structs he or she has created, it is up to the individual to
change the constructs and how they see the world.

d. Kelly believed past experiences themselves did not dic-

tate an individual’s personality (or personal constructs),
but what individuals draw from past experiences shapes
the individuals into who they are. Furthermore, he thought
individuals were responsible for their interpretations of
their experiences.

e. Kelly believed a person’s personal constructs are the

most important aspect of a person’s personality and to
really understand another person, you must understand
his or her personal constructs.

See Appendix B for information on existentialism and positive psy-

chology, topics related to humanistic theories of personality but
typically covered in other units on the psychology course.

38 PERSONALITY BACK TO CONTENTS

 LESSON 6
Personality: Culture, Work, and Health

I. Personality and culture

A. Culture has an important influence on how a person thinks and

feels, potentially impacting the person’s personal constructs and
the way the person makes meaning out of his or her life. Culture
also impacts a person’s sense of self.

B. One dimension along which cultures differ is the continuum from

individualistic cultures to collectivistic cultures.

1. Individualistic cultures (e.g., the mainstream culture in the

United States) emphasize and value the self more than inter-
personal relationships.

a. Individuals are seen as separate from one another, and

independence is valued. A person’s rights as an individual
are often prioritized over obligations to others, and cultur-
al traditions are relatively weak.

b. Individualistic cultures tend to have higher levels of

loneliness and depression, but on the other hand, they
also tend to be more tolerant of individual quirks and
idiosyncrasies, allowing for more diversity in lifestyles,
preferences, etc.

2. Collectivistic cultures (e.g., Eastern Asian cultures, such

as Chinese or Japanese) emphasize and value interpersonal
relationships over the individual.

a. In collectivistic cultures, a person’s obligation to their

group (e.g., family) is prioritized over the person’s own
desires or personal goals. Social hierarchies and cultural
traditions tend to be stronger.

b. People tend to do more group activities and spend less

time alone. Collectivistic cultures value group harmony
over personal desires or self-advancement.

c. Self-promotion is considered more acceptable in individu-

alistic cultures than collectivistic cultures.

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 39
 3. Of course all cultures combine some elements of individualism
and collectivism, and within any culture there will be individu-
als who are more individualistic than others. Thus, this
cultural variation has important implications for personality
assessment.

a. First, individualism-collectivism may be a personality trait

in itself. Some people, no matter what culture they live in,
likely value independence more than others, while oth-
ers place more value on social harmony and are willing
to forego personal goals or advancement for the sake of
their family, company, or other group.

b. Second, it is possible that personality differences between

people are less salient in collectivistic cultures than in
individualistic cultures; some researchers have argued
theory and research on personality are more prevalent in
individualistic cultures than in collectivistic cultures.

c. Third, perhaps even in collectivistic cultures, people are

curious about and attuned to how people differ from one
another, but the dimensions along which personality is
measured or judged may be entirely different. For exam-
ple, while the Big Five may be the personality constructs
of individualistic cultures, other traits or personality dimen-
sions may be the focus of collectivistic cultures when they
are differentiating among individuals.

II. Personality has consequences

A. The power of personality at work

1. Personality has been shown to predict how well people do in

school and at work.

a. In school, the trait that most strongly predicts getting bet-

ter grades is conscientiousness (Noftle & Robins, 2007).

b. At work, job performance and success are related to

different personality traits depending on the job. One lon-
gitudinal study found that personality measured in ado-
lescence predicted who was employed and how high the
status of their job was 46 years later (Judge et al., 1999).
The people who were most successful at work as adults,
as adolescents had been assessed as more extroverted,
less neurotic, less agreeable (somewhat surprisingly),
and more conscientious than others.

40 PERSONALITY BACK TO CONTENTS

 2. Roberts and his coauthors (2007) identified five possible ex-
planations of how personality predicts who does well in school
and at work:

a. Personality may affect how attracted a person is to a

particular course of study or career. People may choose
college majors or careers suited to their personality.

b. Personality may affect who is recruited into a particular

career. Other people (e.g., employers, teachers, advisors)
may encourage a person to pursue a field that suits his or
her personality.

c. Personality may affect the impact a person has on his or

her work environment. People whose personalities are
well suited to their role at work or at school may perform
better and create a better work environment for them-
selves (and others).

d. Personality may predict who drops out of school, a job, or

career.

e. Personality may have a direct effect on performance.

Some personality traits may give people advantages for
some jobs or educational settings.

B. Personality for health and longevity (Roberts et al., 2007)

1. Personality has been shown to predict how healthy a person is

and even how long a person lives (longevity).

2. The traits most strongly associated with being healthy and

living longer are high conscientiousness, high extroversion
(especially the positive emotionality aspect of extroversion),
and low neuroticism.

3. Some aspects of agreeableness (especially low hostility) have

also been shown to predict longevity, but less strongly.

4. Roberts et al. proposed three possible explanations for why

personality can predict health and longevity:

a. First, there may be a direct biological link between some

personality traits and physiological reactions that affect a
person’s health.

Example: Hostility (a facet of low agreeableness) is

associated with physiological reactions implicated in
poor health.

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 41
 b. Second, personality may affect health-promoting or
health-damaging behaviors.

Example: People high in conscientiousness are more likely

to get regular check-ups and follow doctors’ orders, and
they are less likely to smoke.

c. Third, personality may affect how a person reacts to

illness.

Example: People high in neuroticism may be more likely to

get especially stressed by the diagnosis of an illness.

C. Personality in relationships: Personality has been shown to predict

who is likely to have more satisfying romantic relationships and
more likely to get divorced.

1. The personality traits most strongly associated with

divorce are high neuroticism, low agreeableness, and low
conscientiousness.

2. The main reason personality can predict who gets divorced is

people with more pleasant personalities (low neuroticism, high
agreeableness, and high conscientiousness) have more pleas-
ant relationships.

3. However, Roberts and his coauthors provide three more spe-

cific possible explanations:

a. Personality may predict who experiences more conflict

and stress in their relationships.

Example: People high in neuroticism may be more likely to

create problems that could have been avoided.

b. Personality may predict how people react to challenges in

their relationships.

Example: People high in neuroticism may be more likely to

see small obstacles as extremely stressful.

c. Personality may affect the behavior of a person’s partner.

Example: Highly disagreeable people may elicit more neg-

ative behaviors (e.g., criticism) from their partners.

42 PERSONALITY BACK TO CONTENTS

 ACTIVITIES

ACTIVITY 1

What Is Personality?
A Personal Appraisal

Developed by

Kenneth W. Kerber
BACK TO
CONTENT
Introduction OUTLINE
This activity helps students identify and examine their implicit personality
theories and makes personality theories concrete and understandable. It
is appropriate for classes in introductory psychology, personality, social
psychology, and personal adjustment. No prior knowledge of psychology is
necessary. Advance preparation is minimal, and the activity is appropriate
for classes of all sizes. This can be done in class or outside of class with a
writing assignment.

Concept
The field of personality often is associated with comprehensive personality
theories such as those developed by Sigmund Freud, Gordon Allport, and
Raymond Cattell. Even a partial listing of current theories of personality

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 43
 would include scores of noted theorists and their viewpoints. The tremen-
dous variety of personality theories can be made more understandable
for the introductory psychology student by the grouping of the theories
into broad categories such as the psychodynamic, humanistic, cognitive,
trait, and learning approaches. Although interrelated, these approaches to
personality use different concepts to achieve an understanding of human
behavior and mental processes.

In his theory of personal constructs, Kelly (1963) argued that each of us,
like a scientist, attempts to predict and control events. We continually eval-
uate our experiences and use our interpretations of reality to understand
and control the world around us. According to this viewpoint, each of us
has our own theory of human personality because people form a major
part of the reality that we attempt to understand and control.

This activity encourages students to think about their personal theory of

personality and consider how it relates to prominent personality theories in
the field of psychology. The exercise and resulting discussion can serve as
an introduction to more detailed material about major types of personality
theories.

Materials and Instructions

Introduce this activity with a brief discussion of the term personality. Distin-
guish among popular meanings of the word—such as social skill, charm,
or attractiveness—and the meaning of the term for psychologists—that is,
not our public impression but our essential nature as human beings (de-
fined in this lesson plan as “individual differences in characteristic patterns
of thinking, feeling, and behaving”).

Give each student a copy of a worksheet (you will need to create one).
On top of a sheet of paper, put the following instructions: “Below are some
concepts that may be important to you in the way you think about your own
personality and the personalities of the people around you. Think about
each item and check off the three items that are most important regarding
your view of human personality.” Below these instructions, provide a list of
terms such as the following:

44 PERSONALITY BACK TO CONTENTS

 external environment the self
temperament unconscious motives
interpretation of experience observable behavior
conscious awareness enduring characteristics
childhood experiences expectations
rewards and punishments subjective feelings
abilities sexual instincts
organizations of reality

After the list, add the following instructions: “In the space below, explain
why you chose the three items you checked off.”

The list shown here was designed to contain three concepts associated
with each of five major approaches to personality: psychodynamic (child-
hood experiences, unconscious motives, sexual instincts), humanistic
(conscious awareness, the self, subjective feelings), cognitive (interpreta-
tions of experience, organization of reality, expectations), trait (tempera-
ment, abilities, enduring characteristics), and learning (external environ-
ment, rewards and punishments, observable behavior). The concepts that
the terms on your list illustrate should coincide with those you will discuss
in class or that will be covered in associated reading assignments. Try to
select terms that match the students’ psychological sophistication.

Students can finish the handout in class or as a homework assignment.

Upon everyone’s completion of the assignment, have them discuss the
concepts they chose and why. As part of the discussion, point out the as-
sociation between particular concepts and different approaches to person-
ality as a way of introducing major types of theories. Encourage students
to consider how their personal view of human personality relates to major
theories in psychology. In fact, this exercise can provide the basis for a
paper in which students explain more fully their own view of personality in
relation to the work of psychological theorists.

It is also interesting to collect the completed handout and tally the number
of students who chose each concept, reporting the results to the class.
Students can compare their choices with the class as a whole, and you
can gain some insight into the class’s view of personality.

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 45
 Discussion
You can use this activity to address several important questions about the
study of personality, including the following: What is personality? What is
a personality theory? Why have psychologists proposed so many different
personality theories? Is one theory correct and the others wrong? Have
factor analytic approaches to personality answered that question (e.g., the
Big Five, see Goldberg, 1990)? What functions are served by personality
theories in psychology? Does the average person actually develop his or
her own theory of personality? If so, how does this activity differ from that
of a psychologist formulating a new theory? What functions are served by
personal theories of human behavior? Are there good reasons why each
of us should evaluate our own view of human personality?

In the end, it is probably quite reasonable to conclude, along with Hall,

Lindzey, and Campbell (2001), that no single definition of personality can
be applied with any generality and that personality is defined by the par-
ticular concepts used by the theorist. With these conclusions in mind, it
makes sense to introduce students to personality theories with an activity
based on important psychological concepts.

Human personality is precisely the kind of complex subject matter about

which theorists—and students—can easily disagree. You can enhance
students’ understanding of the enormous difficulties a personality theorist
faces if you involve them in the theorist’s task, even for a short time. By
encouraging students to struggle with the complexity inherent in defining
personality, you can make the study of personality theories more interest-
ing and perhaps more memorable.

For other teaching activities that explore implicit personality theory, see
Embree (1986) and Wang (1997).

References and Suggested Reading

Benjamin, L.T., Jr. (1983). A class exercise in personality and psychological assessment.
Teaching of Psychology, 10, 94-95.

Embree, M. C. (1986). Implicit personality theory in the classroom: An integrative ap-

proach. Teaching of Psychology, 13, 78-80.

Goldberg, L. R. (1990). An alternative “description of personality”: The Big-Five factor

structure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 1216-1229.

Hall, C. S., Lindzey, G., & Campbell, J. B. (2001). Theories of personality (4th ed.). New
York, NY: Wiley.

Haslam, N., Bastian, B., & Bissett, M. (2004). Essentialist beliefs about personality and
their implications. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 1661-1673.

46 PERSONALITY BACK TO CONTENTS

 Kelly, G. A. (1963). A theory of personality: The psychology of personal constructs. New
York, NY: Norton.

McAdams, D. P. (1995). What do we know when we know a person? Journal of Personali-

ty, 63, 365-396.

Moskowitz, G. B., & Tesser, A. (Eds.). (2005). Social cognition: Understanding self and
others. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Schultz, D. P., & Schultz, S. E. (2004). Theories of personality (8th ed.). Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth.

Wang, A. Y. (1997). Making implicit personality theories explicit: A classroom demonstra-

tion. Teaching of Psychology, 24, 258-261.

Copyright © 2008 by the American Psychological Association. The official citation that
should be used in referencing this material is:

Kerber, K. W. (2008). What is personality? A personal appraisal. In L. T. Benjamin, Jr.

(Ed.), Favorite activities for the teaching of psychology (pp. 193-195). Washington, DC:
American Psychological Association.

No further reproduction or distribution is permitted without written permission from the

American Psychological Association.

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 47
 ACTIVITY 2

Personality and Personality Assessment

Developed by

Ludy T. Benjamin, Jr.

Texas A & M University

From original TOPSS unit lesson plan on Personality

Introduction
This activity provides a vehicle for the discussion of numerous issues,
including test construction, gender differences, operational definition,
reliability, validity, methodology, and so forth. There is virtually no advance
preparation, but you will need to type and reproduce the personality test
between classes. Because of the data collection component, the activity
extends over two class sessions. You should familiarize students with the
guidelines for research with human participants. The activity could be used
with classes of virtually any size.

Concept
BACK TO
This activity is a multipart exercise that focuses on personality and per-
CONTENT sonality assessment. It can be used as a starting point for discussion of
OUTLINE a wide variety of issues surrounding personality and personality assess-
ment, as well as issues of reliability and validity, difficulty in defining con-
structs, issues in test construction, and so forth. The exercise described is
for a class of 24 students; the procedures and groups can be modified to
fit classes of different sizes.

Instructions
Begin the personality activity by making some introductory remarks about
the nature of personality as a “construct” and the difficulty psychologists
have in defining it. Ask students to call out terms that they feel are part of
the construct of personality, commonly called personality traits or char-
acteristics. Write each of the terms on the chalkboard. Usually in 5 or 10
minutes there are 25 to 30 terms on the board, including such terms as
sense of humor, sociability, friendliness, honesty, sincerity, leadership, and
so forth.

48 PERSONALITY BACK TO CONTENTS

 At this point, tell the students they are going to participate in the construc-
tion of a personality test. To do this, they are to narrow their list of terms to
eight they feel are the major components of personality. Encourage stu-
dents to eliminate most terms from the list, because otherwise the class
will spend large amounts of time in debate without reducing the number
of terms. Some terms can be eliminated quickly because most students
will agree they are of lesser importance. In other cases terms can be
combined; for example, sociability and friendliness, or honesty and trust-
worthiness. The final list of eight terms is usually agreed on about 20 to 25
minutes after the start of the class.

Quickly divide the class into eight groups, each composed of three stu-
dents. (This can be done easily by forming groups where students are
seated so they do not have to move around.) Assign one of the terms to
each of the eight groups and tell the students they have 10 to 15 minutes
to write, as a group, two test items they believe will measure that partic-
ular characteristic of personality. To ensure uniformity in the format of the
items, provide several examples for the students, typically using one of
the terms not included in their final eight. (This means you should prepare
sample items for several potential constructs prior to class.) For example,
suppose leadership is a term that the class did not select. You might give
them sample items such as “When I join clubs, I like to assume one of the
officer positions in the club” or “People usually seek my opinion when they
are having problems.” Make students understand the questions need to be
written so they can be answered true or false.

Tell students their items will be used to construct a personality test made
up of 16 questions, that is, the two items they generated for each of the
eight terms the class selected. (Poorly written items may be included be-
cause the results they are likely to produce will lead to an interesting dis-
cussion.) Type the tests and make one copy for each student. Tell them to
take one copy of their test and administer it to two students (preferably one
of each sex) who are not enrolled in any of the introductory psychology
classes. Include a disclaimer in the test that indicates it has no validity and
is being used solely for instructional purposes. Indicate on answer sheets
only the sex of the person answering the questions.

After the test has been administered, begin the analysis by writing the
numbers 1 through 16 on the chalkboard and listing the number of true
responses given for each item by sex. This tallying procedure is accom-
plished easily by having the students vote by a show of one, both, or no
hands. For example, begin with responses from men, starting with item 1,
by asking for a show of one hand for true responses. Students would hold
up one hand, both hands, or no hands, depending on the responses of

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 49
 their male subjects. Record the response frequencies for female subjects
in the same manner. It is also important to note the total number of female
and male subjects in the survey to provide a context for evaluating the
data. Students should have their copy of the survey in front of them so the
discussion that follows is meaningful. The recording of these responses on
the board usually takes no more than 10 minutes.

Discussion
I usually focus the discussion on three kinds of findings. First, are there
any items that show major sex differences in terms of frequency of re-
sponses? Typically one or two items will show such differences, and I ask
students to speculate on the reasons for the different response patterns.
Second, we look at the pairs of items that are supposed to be measuring
the same characteristic. (Remember that items are not adjacent in the test
because they are randomly distributed prior to typing.) It is common to find
that one item in a pair will produce a response pattern that is quite differ-
ent from the other, which makes for an interesting discussion about what
the two items may be measuring. Third, we look at the items to see if any
were uniformly regarded in one way, that is, items that nearly everyone
answered either true or false.

This activity has many benefits, including the following: (a) It teaches stu-
dents about the complexity of psychological constructs; (b) it taps an area
— personality — that is familiar and of great interest to them; (c) it gives
them firsthand experience with the issue of face validity; (d) it provides
them with an opportunity to participate in small-group activities (i.e., those
with two to four students); (e) it allows them to actually collect psycholog-
ical data; (f) it gives them some experience in thinking about the meaning
of questionnaire results; (g) it shows them some of the problems inherent
in psychological assessment; (h) it gives them a closer look at some of
the problems of the trait approach to personality; and (i) it provides an
excellent vehicle for class discussion with minimal involvement from you.
In addition, this exercise can provide a teaching bridge into many other
substantive areas of psychology.

50 PERSONALITY BACK TO CONTENTS

 ACTIVITY 3.1

Freud’s Personality Theory:

Id, Ego, Superego Role-Play Activity

Developed by

Mario A. Nogare

From original TOPSS unit lesson plan on Personality

Concept
This two-part group activity is designed to have students indicate their
understanding of the interplay between the three elements of Freud’s per-
sonality theory. The first activity involves three students, and the second is
designed to involve a larger number of students.

Materials
You may want to prepare three signs made of construction paper and
labeled: “ID,” “EGO,” “SUPEREGO.”

Instructions
BACK TO
In the first situation, select three students, one of which will represent the CONTENT
id, one the ego, and one the superego. Read the following situation and OUTLINE
have them role-play the interchange between the personality elements.

The school year is ending, and final exams are near. You have done well
but are having difficulty in your psychology class. You know that in order
to get a grade of “B,” the minimum acceptable by your parents, you must
score an “A” on the final. You have tried studying but feel it is an unattain-
able goal. As you are leaving your locker to go home on the afternoon
prior to the test, you find a group of papers in the hall which has appar-
ently been dropped by someone. You look down, and find that one of the
dropped papers has the heading “PSYCHOLOGY: FINAL EXAM.” You
pick up the paper and look at it quickly, noticing that no one has seen you.
What do you do next?

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 51
 In the second situation, have the students number off from one through
three. You may have the ones act as ids, the twos as egos, and the threes
as superegos.

All of the egos are a group of friends. One of the egos is a boy named
“Frank,” whose parents are going away over the weekend. They have
indicated that Frank may stay home but may not go out at night or have
friends in. The friends are unhappy that Frank cannot join in the weekend
fun. His girlfriend, Juanita, is especially unhappy. Someone suggests they
have a small party at Frank’s house anyway. Frank is skeptical, especially
since his grandparents will be home and live on the corner, but is willing to
be convinced.

Have the students role-play this situation. Rules are that the ids and
superegos may only speak directly to their own ego, and egos may
speak only to other egos.

A good concluding discussion may be held concerning the inner dialogues

the students themselves have experienced in situations of conflict and the
factors that enter into their final decisions. This also provides a good op-
portunity to have the students evaluate the validity of Freud’s concepts.

52 PERSONALITY BACK TO CONTENTS

 ACTIVITY 3.2

Defense Mechanisms
Application Activity

Developed by

Wendy Hart
Brentwood High School

Instructions
Present the following scenario to the class:

Although you love the class, respect the teacher, and dedicated
a whole weekend to studying, you just discovered that you failed
a test in your psychology class.

OPTION A: Ask a student to role-play each of the different reactions and

ask the students’ classmates to identify which defense mechanism the
student is attempting to portray. Simply cut the worksheet into strips and
give each “actor” one of the reactions. You will also need a student to play
the role of the teacher passing back the tests.

OPTION B: Give a copy of the worksheet (on next page) to each student BACK TO
to complete independently. CONTENT
OUTLINE

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 53
 WORKSHEET

A. Denial B. Displacement C. Intellectualization

D. Projection E. Rationalization F. Reaction formation
G. Regression H. Repression I. Sublimation

1. ____ When the teacher hands you the test you failed, you honestly ex-
claim, “I don’t even remember taking the test!”

2. ____ When the teacher hands you the test you failed, you hand it back
and say, “This can’t be mine. You must have changed the name.”

3. ____ You are so upset about failing the test you use your anxious ener-
gy to start cleaning out and organizing your backpack.

4. ____ Although you feel stupid because you failed the test, you compen-
sate by telling the other students who performed poorly on the test
they are stupid.

5. ____ You are so upset about failing the test you break your pencil.

6. ____ You are so upset about failing the test you start to cry.

7. ____ When the teacher hands you the test you failed, you feel like giving
up and never studying again. Instead, you facilitate a study group
to prepare for the next test.

8. ____ You justify your poor test performance by saying you couldn’t con-
centrate while you were studying because you were distracted by
your younger sibling. Plus, you also argue the test was too difficult
and your teacher didn’t teach the material well.

9. ____ Although you are very upset about your poor test performance,
you refuse to acknowledge your negative emotions. Instead, you
very calmly, almost robotically, go over your test to see which
questions you missed and ask the teacher when the next test will
be administered.

54 PERSONALITY BACK TO CONTENTS

 ANSWER KEY

A. Denial B. Displacement C. Intellectualization

D. Projection E. Rationalization F. Reaction formation
G. Regression H. Repression I. Sublimation

1. H When the teacher hands you the test you failed, you honestly
exclaim, “I don’t even remember taking the test!”

2. A When the teacher hands you the test you failed, you hand it back
and say, “This can’t be mine. You must have changed the name.”

3. I You are so upset about failing the test you use your anxious energy
to start cleaning out and organizing your backpack.

4. D Although you feel stupid because you failed the test, you compen-
sate by telling the other students who performed poorly on the test
they are stupid.

5. B You are so upset about failing the test you break your pencil.

6. G You are so upset about failing the test you start to cry.

7. F When the teacher hands you the test you failed, you feel like giving
up and never studying again. Instead, you facilitate a study group to
prepare for the next test.

8. E You justify your poor test performance by saying that you couldn’t
concentrate while you were studying because you were distracted by
your younger sibling. Plus, you also argue the test was too difficult
and your teacher didn’t teach the material well.

9. C Although you are very upset about your poor test performance,
you refuse to acknowledge your negative emotions. Instead, you
very calmly, almost robotically, go over your test to see which
questions you missed and ask the teacher when the next test will
be administered.

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 55
 ACTIVITY 4

Measuring Locus of Control

Directions
Give each student a copy of the Locus of Control Survey, which can
be found at the following website:
http://wilderdom.com/psychology/loc/RotterLOC29.html

Working independently, students should read both statements for each

item, decide which statement they most agree with, and circle the corre-
sponding letter to that statement for each item.

After completing the survey, use the scoring guide, which can be found
at the following website: http://wilderdom.com/psychology/loc/Rotter-
LOC29Scoring.html

Twenty-three of the items are correlated with locus of control, with an addi-
tional six filler items. The higher the student’s score (13+), the more inter-
nal his/her locus of control. Teachers may wish to review each of the 23
items to explain how each statement reflects an internal or external locus
of control.

BACK TO
CONTENT
OUTLINE

56 PERSONALITY BACK TO CONTENTS

 CRITICAL
THINKING AND
DISCUSSION
QUESTIONS

CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS

Exercise/Discussion Topics for Personality

1. Which theory do you think best explains the definition and development
of personality?

CRITICAL THINKING AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

2. Why would it be important for therapists and clinicians to have a
well-developed view of personality theory to do their job well?

3. How might the controversy surrounding TV (or movies) and

aggressiveness be explained by a behaviorist?

4. How might we use Roger’s theory in everyday communications and

relations with others?

5. What might be reasons why the Big Five model of personality traits is
the most commonly used model in contemporary personality research?

6. Do you think personality is mostly stable or unstable across lifetimes?

Situations? Provide real-world examples to support your position.

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 57
 DISCUSSION/ESSAY QUESTIONS

1. Compare and contrast objective and projective personality tests. What

does research suggest about the validity of each of these types of
tests?

2. Select a person from current events or history whom you believe is or

was self-actualized. Use examples to illustrate how this person’s charac-
teristics exemplify Maslow’s model.

3. Riley has been diagnosed as extremely introverted. Explain how psy-

choanalytic behaviorist, cognitive, humanistic, and trait theorists would
explain how this personality developed.

4. Explain the difference between traits and types.

58 PERSONALITY BACK TO CONTENTS

 REFERENCES
AND SUGGESTED
READINGS

Allen, B. P. (2006). Personality theories: Development, growth, and diversity (5th ed.).
Boston, MA: Pearson. (See pp. 12-13, 262, 265, 285-286, 398).

Barkow, L., Cosmides, & Tooby, J. (Eds.). The adapted mind: Evolutionary psychology
and the generation of culture (pp. 163-228). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Bleidorn, W. (2012). Hitting the road to adulthood: Short-term personality development

during a major life transition. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38(12),
1594-1608.

Cosmides, L. & Tooby, J. (1992). Cognitive adaptations for social exchange. In J.H.Bar-
kow, L. Cosmides, & J. Tooby’s (Eds.), The adapted mind: Evolutionary psychology
and the generation of culture (pp. 163-228). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS

Donnellan, M. B., Conger, R. D., & Burzette, R. G. (2007). Personality development from
late adolescence to young adulthood: Differential stability, normative maturity, and
evidence for the maturity-stability hypothesis. Journal of Personality, 75(2), 237-263.

Fleeson, W. (2004). Moving personality beyond the person-situation debate: The chal-
lenge and opportunity of within-person variability. Current Directions in Psychological
Science, 13, 83-87.

Funder, D. C. (2013). The personality puzzle (6th ed.). New York, NY: W. W. Norton.

Grant, A. (2013, September 17). Say goodbye to the MBTI, the fad that won’t die. Linke-
dIn. Retrieved from http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130917155206-
69244073-say-goodbye-to-mbti-the-fad-that-won-t-die?trk=mp-reader-card

John, O. P., Naumann, L. P., & Soto, C. J. (2008). Paradigm shift to the integrative Big-
Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and conceptual issues. In O. P. John, R.
W. Robins, & L. A. Pervin (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (pp.
114-158). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Judge, T.A., Higgins, C.A., Thoresen, C. J., & Barrick, M.R. (1999). The Big Five person-
ality traits, general mental ability, and career success across the life span. Personnel
Psychology, 52, 621–652.

Kenrick, D. T., & Funder, D. C. (1988). Profiting from controversy: Lessons from the per-
son-situation debate. American Psychologist, 43, 23-34.

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 59
 Lucas, R. E. (2007). Adaptation and the set-point model of subjective well-being: Does
happiness change after major life events? Current Directions in Psychological Sci-
ence, 16(2), 75-79.

Mehl, M. R., Gosling, S. D., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2006). Personality in its natural habitat:
Manifestations and implicit folk theories of personality in daily life. Journal of Personal-
ity and Social Psychology, 90(5), 862-877.

Neyer, F. J., & Asendorpf, J. B. (2001). Personality–relationship transaction in young

adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81(6), 1190-1204

Nisbett, R. E. (2003). The geography of thought: How Asians and Westerners think dif-
ferently… and why. New York, NY: The Free Press.

Nisbett, R. E., & Wilson, T. D. (1977). Telling more than we can know: Verbal reports on
mental processes. Psychological Review, 84(3), 231-259.

Noftle, E. E., & Robins, R. W. (2007). Personality predictors of academic outcomes: Big
Five correlates of GPA and SAT scores. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
93(1), 116-130.

Ozer, D. J., & Benet-Martinez, V. (2006). Personality and the prediction of consequential
outcomes. Annual Review of Psychology, 57, 401–421.

Raskin, R., & Terry, H. (1988). A principal-components analysis of the Narcissistic Per-
sonality Inventory and further evidence of its construct validity. Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, 54(5), 890-902.

Roberts, B. W., Caspi, A., & Moffitt, T. E. (2003). Work experiences and personality de-
velopment in young adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(3),
582-593.

Roberts, B. W., Kuncel, N. R., Shiner, R., Caspi, A., & Goldberg, L. R. (2007). The power
of personality: The comparative validity of personality traits, socioeconomic status,
and cognitive ability for predicting important life outcomes. Perspectives on Psycho-
logical Science, 2, 313-345.

Roberts, B. W., & Mroczek, D. (2008). Personality trait change in adulthood. Current
Directions in Psychological Science, 17, 31-35.

Shoda,Y., Mischel, W., & Wright, J. S. (1993). The role of situational demands and cog-
nitive competencies in behavior organization and personality coherence. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 1023-1035.

Specht, J., Egloff, B., & Schmukle, S. C. (2011). Stability and change of personality
across the life course: The impact of age and major life events on mean-level and
rank-order stability of the Big Five. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
101(4), 862-882.

Vazire, S., & Carlson, E. N. (2010). Self-knowledge of personality: Do people know them-
selves? Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 4(8), 605-620.

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 Wilson, T. D. (2004). Strangers to ourselves. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Yarkoni, T., & Braver, T. S. (2010). Cognitive neuroscience approaches to individual

differences in working memory and executive control: Conceptual and methodologi-
cal issues. In A. Gruszka, G. Matthews, & B. Szymura (Eds.), Handbook of individual
differences in cognition: Attention, memory, and executive control (pp. 87-107). New
York, NY: Springer Science + Business Media.

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 61
 APPENDIXES

APPENDIX A
From the Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Psychology
TOPSS Unit Lesson Plan

Carl Jung
Carl Jung (1875-1961) began as a follower of Freud but thought Freud
overemphasized sexual motivation. Jung was more interested in the influ-
ence of the “collective unconscious,” a body of universal symbols and ex-
periences he believed were passed through generations. Jungian psycho-
analysts focus on interpreting the symbolic archetypes in patients’ dreams
and fantasies. Jung also believed females have an “animus,” or male side,
and males have an “anima,” or female side. In addition, Jung emphasized
all humans have a “shadow,” the dark (evil) side of human nature.

Neo-Freudians
A. Alfred Adler (1870-1937) was an early follower of Freud, but he later
founded his own distinct school of thought emphasizing the centrality
of inferiority feelings (the term “inferiority complex” derives from Adler).
Adler believed an inferiority complex gives rise to the “drive for superior-
ity” that can last a lifetime.

B. Karen Horney (1885-1952) was one of the earliest feminist psycho-

analysts. She argued Freud’s theory of little girls’ “penis envy” under-
estimated the role of cultural influences (like sexism) that contributed
to girls’ feelings of inferiority; she saw women’s strivings for power as a
APPENDIX

response to social inequality rather than penis envy. Horney postulated

we develop “basic anxiety” early in life and, if unresolved, develop “basic
hostility” toward others as adults.

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 C. Erik Erikson (1902-1994) focused on the full human life cycle, de-
scribing eight stages of psychosocial development, which are stages of
conflict from birth to death, in contrast to Freud’s primary emphasis on
childhood stages of psychosexual development. Erikson believed the
first stage, trust versus mistrust, was the most important.

APPENDIX B
Additional Humanistic Theories of Personality

Existentialism
Note. This is typically taught as a theory or as a treatment.

Existentialism is a philosophical model that dates back to the mid-1800s.

The most famous existential philosophers were Nietzsche, Sartre, and Ki-
erkegaard. Existentialists believe that one of the biggest challenges in life
is accepting responsibility for your own experiences (existentialists believe
there is no outside source of meaning; each person must create meaning
for themselves). For existentialists, only an individual’s own experience (or
phenomenology) is under his or her own control, and therefore the individ-
ual has a responsibility to make conscious choices about how to experi-
ence his or her own life.

For personality psychologists, the implications of this view are that there
are important individual differences in how people face this challenge. Un-
derstanding how a person deals with making meaning in his life and taking
control of his own phenomenology is central to understanding the person
and his personality.

Positive Psychology
See also the TOPSS Unit Lesson Plan on Positive Psychology.

More recently, a new movement in psychology has followed in humanists’

footsteps. Positive psychology is the study of positive human experienc-
es, including happiness, self-actualization, leadership, compassion, and
gratitude. This movement arose out of the feeling among many research-
ers that psychological science has focused almost exclusively on psycho-
pathology and malfunction. While it is important to understand why hu-
man beings sometimes suffer or hurt each other, the positive psychology
movement is committed to the idea that it is also important to understand

BACK TO CONTENTS A SIX-DAY UNIT LESSON PLAN FOR HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS 63
 why and how humans sometimes flourish, succeed, and are good to each
other. For personality research, this has meant complementing the study
of personality disorders and personality pathology with the study of posi-
tive personality traits (sometimes called character traits or virtues). These
include courage, compassion, and wisdom, among many others. It has
also meant studying the positive side of well-being to understand why
some people are especially happy and fulfilled in life. One topic that has
received a great deal of attention from positive psychology researchers is
Ryan and Deci’s self-determination theory. This theory says that real hap-
piness comes not just from pursuing pleasure (hedonia), but from fulfilling
our needs and goals (eudaimonia). According to self-determination theory,
human beings have a need to pursue goals they value intrinsically (things
they value for themselves, not as means to an end). Furthermore, humans
share three fundamental intrinsic goals: autonomy, which is the freedom to
make your own choices; competence, which is developing skills and mas-
tering something; and relatedness, which is having meaningful relation-
ships with others.

Flow
Another topic that has received a lot of attention from the positive psy-
chology movement (but actually predates it) is Csikszentmihalyi’s concept
of flow. Flow is the state people are in when they are doing something
challenging and engaging. It is the experience you have when you are so
engrossed in something, working hard at it, you don’t even notice time
passing. Csikszentmihalyi believed this state was only achievable when
doing something intrinsically enjoyable (not just enjoyable because of the
outcomes it produces) and that this is the optimal experience one can
have in life. He agreed with other humanists that our phenomenology is of
utmost experience, and his theory of flow was a theory about how to op-
timize one’s phenomenology. With respect to personality theory, flow can
be seen as a dimension on which people differ—some people are lucky
enough to experience flow every day, whereas others may never or almost
never experience it.

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65
 AMERICAN
PSYCHOLOGICAL
ASSOCIATION

Copyright © 2014 American Psychological Association.

66 PERSONALITY BACK TO CONTENTS