Theories

of
personality
 Psychodynamic theories of personality
 Parts of psyche
 Id -is the irrational, emotional, impulsive part of the mind that pushes people to act on their
impulses and seeks immediate gratification.
 Ego - is the rational part of the mind that considers all perspectives and weighs the pros and
cons of a course of action. The ego has a more long-term perspective than the id.
 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.
 Conflict
 These three parts of the mind can sometimes function independently, but they often come into
conflict, “pushing” for opposite behaviors.
 In these cases, the ego is supposed to be the moderator between the id and superego and make
an executive decision.
 According to Freud, unresolved conflict between the different parts of the mind leads to anxiety.
Topographical model of personality
 Defense mechanisms:
 Denial is refusing to acknowledge something.
 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.
 Projection is attributing an unwanted trait or thought to someone else.
 Rationalization is coming up with a logical, rational (but false) explanation for a shameful thought or
action.
 Intellectualization is converting a threatening trait or thought into a cold, intellectual fact.
 Displacement is redirecting an unwanted impulse toward something more acceptable. h. Regression is
reverting to an earlier stage of life development when you are faced with conflict.
 Sublimation is converting shameful impulses into something noble; redirecting the energy to something
more acceptable.
 Psychosexual development
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 dependent or its opposite, overly independent.
d. Oral fixations include using the mouth to self-soothe under stress, such as smoking, biting
fingernails, employing sarcasm, etc.
Stage two: The anal stage
 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.
 The physical focus of this stage is the anus.
 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).
 Stage three: The phallic stage

a. According to Freud, from age 3-1/2 to 6 years, the primary struggle children face is figuring out their
gender identity 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-sexualized (e.g., flirty) or its opposite, being undersexualized (e.g., overly modest).
 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.
Stage five: The genital stage

 According to Freud, from puberty onward, the primary struggle is the creation and enhancement of
life.
 Freud believed that people rarely completely resolve this struggle, but if they were to, the result
would be a healthy, mature adult personality.
 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).
 Type Approach
Sheldon’s personality
Charak Samhita • Endomorphs are
Vata, Pitta and spherical, plump and
Kapha squishy in terms of
Hippocrates personality (comfortable
(a Greek physician) , good-humored)
• Sanguine (curious,
creative), • Mesomorphic
• phlegmatic (slow, (muscular:adventurous,
quiet,), assertive, competitive,
Jung
• melancholic and fearless)
• introverts
(thoughtful, • extroverts
reserved) and • Ectomorph(anxious,
tribunals self-conscious, artistic,
• choleric (quick- thoughtful, quiet, and
thinking, influential)
sattva, private)
rajas and
tamas
 Trait
A trait is a personality characteristic that meets three criteria:
 it must be consistent, stable, and vary from person to person.
 a trait can be thought of as a relatively stable characteristic that causes individuals to behave in certain ways.
 Allport’s Trait Theory

In 1936, psychologist Gordon Allport found that one English-language dictionary

contained more than 4,000 words describing different personality traits. He
categorized these traits into three levels:
 Cardinal Traits: Machiavellian (cold and manipulative), narcissistic
 Central Traits: intelligent," "honest," "shy," and "anxious“
 Secondary Traits: attitudes or preferences like impatience
 Cattell’s 16-Factor Personality Model

 Reduced the number of main personality traits from Allport’s initial list of over 4,000 down to
171 and then to 16 factors.
 dominance, perfectionism, reasoning, and self-reliance etc.
Eysenck’s 3 Dimensions of Personality
 Introversion/Extraversion
 Neuroticism/Emotional Stability
 Psychoticism:  antisocial, hostile, non-empathetic,
and manipulative
 Five-Factor Model of Personality

• Agreeableness: level of cooperation and caring for others

• Conscientiousness: level of thoughtfulness and structure
• Extraversion: level of socialness and emotional expressiveness
• Neuroticism: level of mood stability and emotional resilience
• Openness: level of adventure and creativity