Chapter-2

Self and Personality

Self and personality refer to the characteristic ways in which human beings define themselves.
Self and personality class 12 notes will help us to study and understand the behaviourism of
ourselves and others.

Concept of Self

 Self refers to the totality of an individual’s conscious experiences, ideas, thoughts, and
feelings with regard to herself or himself
 Personal Identity refers to the attributes that make us different from others. For
example, I am hardworking, I am Kartikeya
 Social Identity refers to those aspects that link us to a social or cultural unit. For
Example, I am a Hindu
 Self as a subject does something. For Example, I am a psychologist
 Self as an object gets observed and comes to be known. For example, I am impacted by
his speech
 It can further be classified into two categories – Personal and Social Self
 The personal Self is primarily concerned with oneself and emphasis is laid on aspects like
personal freedom, personal responsibility, etc
 The social self emerges in relation to others and the focus is laid on aspects like
cooperation, unity, affiliation, etc

Cognitive and Behavioral Aspects of Self

 Self -Concept is defined as the way we perceive ourselves and the ideas we hold about
our competencies and abilities
 Self-esteem is defined as the value judgment about our own worth and value. High self-
esteem helps in performing well and low self-esteem leads to depression and anxiety.
Positive Parenting is a prerequisite for instilling high self-esteem in children
 Self-efficacy is defined as the belief that we hold about ourselves with respect to
controlling and influencing our life outcomes. A strong sense of self-efficacy helps us to
select and construct situations in our lives and vice-versa
 Self-regulation is defined as the ability to organize and monitor our own behaviour
 Self-control refers to deferring gratification needs and wants which plays an important
role in the fulfillment of long-term goals.
 Various techniques of self-control are explained as follows:
Self-instruction refers to instructing our own selves in order to perform a particular task
 Observation of our own behaviour provides us with relevant information needed to
modify, and change our own Behaviour
 Self-reinforcement refers to rewarding our goal-oriented behaviors
 Concept of Personality

Personality refers to our characteristic ways of responding to individuals and situations in our
lives. Some of the main features of personality are as follows

 It has both physical and psychological components

 It is the main features do not change easily with time
 It is the expression In terms of Behaviour that is fairly unique in a given individual

Important Terms Related to Personality

 Temperament refers to the biologically based characteristic way of reacting to people

and situations
 Trait refers to the stable and persistent way of behaving
 Disposition is defined as the tendency of a person to react to a given situation in a
particular manner
 Character is defined as the overall pattern of a regularly occurring Behaviour
 Habit is a learned way of behaving
 Values refer to the goals and ideas considered important to be followed in life

Major Approaches to Study Personality

There are different approaches used to study human personality. Every approach has its merits,
demerits and limitations. Let us explore major approaches to studying personality:

Trait Approach

It focuses on specific psychological Attributes along which individuals differ in a consistent and
stable way. Its main focus is on dominant traits. Some of the theories based on the trait
approach are listed below:

Allport’s Trait Theory

Allport came up with 3 types of traits to understand human personality and those traits are
Cardinal Traits, Central Traits, and secondary traits.

 Cardinal Traits are very generalized in nature and a person becomes known for these
traits throughout their life for example Mahatma Gandhi was known for his Honesty
And Non-violence.
 Central Traits are less generalized in nature, form the foundation of a person’s
personality and can be used in the job profile of a person
 Secondary traits appear in certain situations only and are least generalized. For example,
Raj likes to watch movies.

Eysenck’s Factor Theory

There are three dimensions under this theory which comprise a number of traits. Here is a
detailed description of all three dimensions:

 Neuroticism vs Emotional Stability refers to the degree to which people have control
over their feelings. People high on neuroticism are Emotionally unstable and are Moody
and anxious. People high on Emotional stability are calm, patient
 Extraversion vs Introversion refers to the degree to which people are socially active or
reserved and withdrawn
 Psychoticism vs Sociability refers to the degree to which people are sociable or anti-
social. People who score high on psychoticism are antisocial and egoistic whereas
people who score on Sociability are cooperative and friendly. Eysenck Personality
 Questionnaire is used for studying and assessing the above-mentioned dimensions of
personality

Cattell: Personality Factors

Cattell found 16 primary or source traits. Source traits are stable in nature and are defined as
building blocks of our personality. Surface traits result from the interaction of source traits.
Cattell developed a sixteen personality factor questionnaire (16PF) for the purpose of
personality assessment.

Five-Factor Model of Personality

It was given by Paul Costa and Robert McCrae and included 5 factors. Look at the model of
personality factors:

 Openness to Experience– Those who score high on this factor are curious, imaginative,
and open to new experiences and those who score low on this factor are rigid and
inflexible
 Extraversion – Those who score high on this factor are sociable, and those who score
low on this factor are reserved and prefer to stay alone
 Agreeableness– Those who score high on this factor are kind, cooperative, and friendly
and those who score low on this factor are self-centred and egoistic
 Neuroticism– Those who score high on this factor are emotionally unstable, anxious,
and moody and those who score low on this factor are calm, patient, and emotionally
stable
 Conscientiousness – Those who score high on this factor are goal-oriented and diligent
and those who score low on this factor are carefree and impulsive

Type Approach

It tries to comprehend the personality by understanding the broad patterns in the Behaviour. It
focuses on a broad set of characteristics in a person’s Behaviour. Various theories based on
type approach are explained as follows
 Sheldon’s Body Type Theory

As per this theory, there exists a strong correlation between the body type of a person and
their personality. Sheldon came up with Endomorphic, Mesomorphic and Ectomorphic
typology. Endomorphs have around, chubby body types and they are sociable, outgoing, and
friendly. Ectomorphs have an athletic body type and they are courageous, strong, and assertive.
Mesomorphs have a lean and delicate body type and they are brainy and sensitive.

Carl Jung Theory

Carl Jung is classified into two major categories – Extroverts and Introverts. Here are both the
categories :

 Introverts are reserved and prefer to stay alone. They withdraw themselves when they
face an emotional problem in their life
 Extroverts are sociable and outgoing. They completely enjoy their social life and prefer
those jobs which involve dealing with people directly like teaching, Psychology, etc

Type Theory

It was proposed by Friedman and Rosenman and classified into four categories. To understand
it better, here is a detailed description of each type:

 Type A personalities who have a high motivation level and are Workaholics. They lack
patience and are prone to hypertension.
 Type B people are the opposite of Type A personalities and are easy-going and chilled
out.
 Type C personality people are cooperative and suppress their Emotions. They are prone
to Cancer
 Type D personality people are prone to depression and have a pessimistic outlook in
their life

Psychodynamic Approach

The psychodynamic approach was given by Dr. Sigmund Freud in his clinical practice where he
used hypnosis to treat his patients. He observed that when patients shared their problems they
felt easy and relaxed. From here he came up with a technique called free association in which
people used to share their problems in an open and unfiltered manner. He also used dream
analysis to understand the functioning of the mind. As per the psychodynamic approach, there
are three levels of consciousness

1. Conscious Mind– People are aware of their thoughts, feelings, and mental activity
2. Preconscious Mind– It includes those thoughts, feelings, actions, and mental activity if
attended closely can be brought to the awareness of people
3. Unconscious Mind– It includes those feelings and actions of which people are
completely unaware
 Key Takeaways From the Psychodynamic Approach

 People usually suppress their sexual desires, aggression and they are concealed from
people’s conscious awareness to avoid conflicts
 Analysis of jokes, dreams, and mispronunciations, was used by Dr. Sigmund Freud to
understand the unconscious mind
 He came up with a therapeutic procedure called psychoanalysis to understand the
unconditional mind and as per psychoanalysis, human behaviour is a dynamic
manifestation of unconscious desires and conflicts of which we aren’t aware at present

Structure of Personality

The relative strength of identity, ego, and superego determines a person’s personality. The
conflict between identity and superego leads to a Freudian Slip. The structure of Personality is
explained as follows:

1. It is based on the pleasure principle and focuses on the instant gratification of needs
2. The ego is based on the reality principle and Focuses on the satisfaction of needs as per
the reality
3. The superego focuses on moral principles and needs are gratified only if they are ethical

Ego Defense Mechanism

The ego defence Mechanism is a way of reducing anxiety by distorting reality and some of the
main defence Mechanisms are mentioned below:

1. Repression – Anxiety-provoking thoughts are dismissed by the unconscious and people

become unaware of them
2. Projection – People tend to attribute their traits to others
3. Denial – People don’t accept reality and deny it completely
4. Reaction Formation- People defend against anxiety by behaving opposite to their true
feelings
5. Rationalization – People try to make unreasonable feelings rational and reasonable.

Stages of Psychosexual Development

According to Freudian psychology, there are 5 stages of psychological development. Below

mentioned are the in-detail various stages of psychosexual development:

 Oral Stage – A newborn’s instincts are focused on the mouth and the mouth is the
primary pleasure-seeking center for the baby. Baby achieves oral gratification through
the mouth by breastfeeding, thumb sucking, and biting
 Anal Stage– By the age of 2 or 3 children learn to respond to some demands of society
and one such demand of Society is to control the bodily function of urination and
defecation
 Phallic Stage– The main focus is on the genitals during this stage. Children around 4-5
years of age become aware of sexuality, differences between males and females, and
 sexual relationships between parents. Male children experience the Oedipus Complex in
which the child falls in love with his mother and considers the father as his enemy.
Female child experience Electra complex in which girl child falls in love with the father
plans to raise the family and becomes hostile towards mother
 Latency Stage– It lasts from 7 years of age to puberty and sexual urges become dormant
and latent
 Genital Stage– Maturity is attained in this stage and people deal with opposite-sex
members in socially and sexually mature ways

Demerits of the Psychodynamic Approach

It is majorly based on case studies and lacks a proper scientific basis. Atypical individuals are
used as samples for advancing generalizations. Lastly, the Concepts were not properly defined
in the psychodynamic approach.

Post-Freudian Approaches

Post psychoanalysis, various psychologists who were earlier disciples of Freud came up with
their own theories. Here are all the Post-Freudian approaches you should know of in self and
personality class 12 notes:

Carl Jung: Aims and Aspirations

 Carl Jung’s theory also called analytical psychology focused on archetypes

 Archetypes are inherited images in the collective unconscious that shape our perception
of the external world and express themselves when we are distracted(Dreams and
Fantasies).For Example- Sun, God, Mother Earth

Alfred Adler: Lifestyle and Social Interest

 The main assumption of Alfred Adler’s theory is that human behavior is purposeful and
goal-oriented
 Every individual does suffer from an inferiority complex at times which can be overcome
by striving for superiority and achieving one’s purpose in life and that is crucial for
optimal personality development

Erich Fromm: The Human Concerns

 Fromm viewed humans as social creatures and they could be comprehended from their
relationships with others
 Thus, psychological attributes arose from a desire for freedom, justice, and truth.

Behavioural Approach

This approach gives importance to the here and now instead of the past or future and all the
behaviors can be learned as well as unlearnt. This approach was completely different from the
psychodynamic approach. It mainly focused on the interaction between stimulus and the
environment. The structural unit of personality is called response and it lays emphasis on
stimulus-response reinforcement. Key theories under the Behavioural Approach are mentioned
below:

 Ivan Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning Theory

 B.F. Skinner’s Operant Conditioning Theory
 Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory

Humanistic Approach

 Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow viewed human nature in a positive light and according
to the human beings had the potential for love, joy, and cooperation
 Abraham Maslow was of the point of view that humans are free to shape their lives, give
direction to them, and self-actualize
 Carl Rogers believed that personality development is a continuous process and he spoke
of a fully functioning person
 Human beings try to merge their ideal self with their real self and that leads to genuine
happiness and vice-versa would leads to unhappiness
 Rogers believed that people have a tendency to maximize self-concept through self-
actualization
 Positive social conditions give rise to high self-esteem and high self-concept and vice-
versa

Cultural Approach

 It tries to comprehend personality in relation to features of the ecological and cultural

environment
 Climatic Conditions, the nature of the terrain, availability of food determine economic
conditions, lifestyle, social structures, settlement patterns
 The cultural approach considers personality as an adaptation of individuals and groups
to the demands of their ecology and culture
 People modify their personalities and develop various qualities in order to adapt to their
culture

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Personality Assessment

Personality Assessment is a formal attempt aimed at understanding the personality of the

individual. There are various techniques used for personality assessment. Some of them are
mentioned below:

Self-report Measures- It is the method in which the person provides factual information about
oneself and the beliefs and opinions they hold. Various self-report measures used for
personality assessment are :
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory(MMPI) – It was developed by Hathaway and
McKinley for psychiatric diagnosis. It consists of 567 statements and the subject has to judge
each statement as true or false. The test is divided into ten subscales

 Hypochondriasis
 Depression
 Hysteria
 Psychopathic Deviate
 Masculinity-Femininity
 Paranoia
 Psychasthenia
 Schizophrenia
 Mania
 Social Introversion

Eysenck Personality Questionnaire(EPQ) – It assesses two dimensions of personality termed

Introversion-Extraversion and Emotionalstable and emotionally unstable. Later on, a third
dimension called Psychoticism vs Sociability was added and the ones who scored high on
Psychoticism were egoistic and antisocial, and on the other hand, the ones who scored high on
sociability were cooperative and friendly. This test is widely used.

Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire(16 PF) – It was developed by Raymond Cattell and his
colleagues. The technique of factor analysis was used to discover and measure the fundamental
personality traits. The test provides declarative statements, and the subject responds to a
specific situation by choosing from a set of given alternatives it is used with high school
students and for purposes like career counselling, occupational testing, etc.

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Limitations of Self-Report Measures

Social Desirability is the tendency of the respondent to respond to the test items in a socially
desirable manner. Acquiescence is the tendency to agree with the questions irrespective of
what is being asked.

Projective Techniques

The next topic of self and personality class 12 notes is Projective techniques. These techniques
were developed to assess unconscious motives and feelings and the main assumption behind
these techniques is that less structured or unstructured stimuli will allow the individual to
project one’s feelings and desires on the situation. Several projective techniques were as
follows:

Thematic Apperception Test(TAT) – It is a projective technique that aims to evaluate a person’s

patterns of thought, attitudes, and emotional responses to ambiguous test materials. These
ambiguous materials comprise a set of cards that portray human beings in various kinds of
situations. The subject is asked to tell the therapist the story they can frame about each card.
  Sentence Completion Test – The test comprises a number of incomplete sentences and
the subject is asked to provide an appropriate ending to the sentence. The ending which
the subject makes reveals their attitude and motivation.
 Draw a person Test – The subject is asked to draw a person on a sheet of paper and
then he/she is asked to draw the drawing of an opposite-sex person. Then the subject is
asked to frame the story involving the sketches of people drawn

Limitations of Projective Techniques

 Interpretation and understanding of responses require sophisticated skills and

specialized training
 Reliability, validity, and scoring of projective tests are a bit problematic in nature

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Behavioural Analysis

The last topic of Self and Personality Class 12 Notes is behavioural analysis. A person’s
Behaviour in a variety of circumstances provides us with meaningful and substantial
information about their personality. Here is the list of a few Behavioural analysis techniques
mentioned in the self and personality class 12 notes:

 Interview – It involves talking to the person being assessed and asking specific questions
about the problem the client wants to discuss. Interviews can be structured or
unstructured and in a structured interview a specific set of questions are asked whereas
in an unstructured interview, open-ended questions are asked.
 Observation – It is a powerful and effective method of analyzing Behaviour as it helps in
understanding phenomena in real time. Some of its limitations are that it is time-
consuming and professional training and skills are required for observation to happen in
a proper and systematic manner.
 Nomination – Each person is asked to select one or two persons in a group with whom
they would like to work or for any other activity. The choice of subject and the reasons
for the same reveal a lot about their personality.