Self and Personality

SELF AND PERSONALITY

⮚ Self and personality refer to the characteristic ways in which we define our
existence.
⮚ They also refer to the ways in which our experiences are organised and show up in
our behaviour.
⮚ A relatively stable pattern of behaviour represents the “personality” of that
person, its reflected in the diverse behavior of a person
⮚ A newly born child has no idea of self.
⮚ As a child grows older, the idea emerges, and its formation begins.
⮚ Parents, friends, teachers and other significant persons play a vital role in shaping
a child’s ideas about self.
⮚ Our interaction with other people, our experiences, and the meaning we give to
them, serve as the basis of our self.
⮚ The structure of self is modifiable in the light of our own experiences and the
experiences we have of other people
 CONCEPT OF SELF
⮚ Personal identity-
⮚ Attributes of a person that makes him different from others.
⮚ When a person describes herself/himself by telling her/his name (e.g., I am Sanjana or
Karim), or her/ his qualities or characteristics (e.g., I am honest or hardworking person),
or her/his potentialities or capabilities (e.g., I am a singer or dancer), or her/his beliefs
(e.g., I am a believer in God or destiny), s/he is disclosing her/his personal identity.
⮚ Social identity-
⮚ Aspects of a person that links him or her to a social and cultural group When someone
says that s/he is a Hindu or a Muslim, a Brahmin or an Adivasi or a North Indian or a
South Indian, or something like these, s/he is trying to indicate her/his social identity
⮚ Totality of an individual’s conscious experiences ,ideas ,thoughts and feelings with
regard to himself and herself. These experiences and ideas define the existence of an
individual both at the personal and at social levels.
 Self
Self as Subject Self as Object
1. An entity (Person) that 1. An entity (Person) on
does something which something is done
2. I am a dancer 2. I am one who easily gets
3. The self is described as a hurt
‘subject’ –Who does 3. The self is described as an
something ‘object’ (which gets
affected).
 Self
⮚ When you say, “I know who I am”, the self is being
described as a ‘knower’ as well as something that can
be ‘known’.
⮚ As a subject (actor) the self actively engages in the
process of knowing itself.
⮚ As an object (consequence) the self gets observed and
comes to be known.
⮚ This dual status of self should always be kept in mind.
 Kinds of Self
• There are several kinds of self. They get formed as a result of our interactions
with our physical and socio-cultural environments.
• Biological self- The first elements of self may be noticed when a newborn child
cries for milk when it is hungry. Although, this cry is based on reflex, this later
leads to development of awareness that ‘I am hungry’.
• This biological self in the context of socio-cultural environment modifies itself.
• Personal Self- One feels concerned about oneself. A child’s psychological and
social needs in the context of her/his environment lead other components of
personal self to emerge.
• Emphasis comes to be laid on those aspects of life that relate only to the
concerned person, such as personal freedom, personal responsibility, personal
achievement, or personal comforts.
• Social Self- Relation with others such aspects of life as cooperation, unity,
affiliation, sacrifice, support or sharing.
• This self values family and social relationships. Hence, it is also referred to as
familial or relational self.
 Cognitive and Behavioral aspects of Self
• Self Concept- The way we perceive ourselves and ideas we hold about
our competencies and attributes
• General level -Positive and Negative view of oneself.
• At a specific level- positive view of her/his athletic bravery, but a
negative view of her/his academic talents. At an even more specific
level, one may have a positive self-concept about one’s reading ability
but a negative one about one’s mathematical skills.
• Self Esteem- Make judgment about our own value and worth. This
value judgment of a person about herself/himself is called self-
esteem.
• In order to assess self-esteem, we present a variety of statements to a
person, and ask her/ him to indicate the extent to which those
statements are true for her or him
 Cognitive and Behavioral aspects of Self
• Studies have shown that by the time the child is 6-7 years children
have formed self esteem in 4 areas which become more refined with
age
1. Academic competence 2. Social competence
3.Physical and athletic competence 4. Physical Appearance
Children with high academic self-esteem perform better in schools than
those with low academic self-esteem, and children with high social self-
esteem are more liked by their peers than those with low social self-
esteem.
Children with low self-esteem in all areas are often found to display
anxiety, depression, and increasing antisocial behaviour.
Studies have shown that warm and positive parenting helps in the
development of high self-esteem among children as it allows them to
know that they are accepted as competent and worthwhile.
Children, whose parents help or make decisions for them even when they
do not need assistance, often suffer from low self-esteem.
 Cognitive and Behavioral aspects of Self
⮚ Self-efficacy is another important aspect of our self.
⮚ People differ in the extent to which they believe they themselves
control their life outcomes or the outcomes are controlled by luck
or fate or other situational factors, e.g passing an examination.
⮚ A person who believes that s/he has the ability or behaviours
required by a particular situation demonstrates high self-efficacy.
⮚ The notion of self-efficacy is based on Bandura’s social learning
theory. Bandura’s initial studies showed that children and adults
learned behaviour by observing and imitating others.
 Cognitive and Behavioral aspects of Self
⮚ A strong sense of self-efficacy allows people to select,
influence, and even construct the circumstances of their own
life. People with a strong sense of self efficacy also feel less
fearful.
⮚ Self-efficacy can be developed. People with high self-efficacy
have been found to stop smoking the moment they decide to
do so.
⮚ Our society, our parents and our own positive experiences
can help in the development of a strong sense of self efficacy
by presenting positive models during the formative years of
children.
 Cognitive and Behavioral aspects of Self
• Self-regulation refers to our ability to organise and monitor our
own behaviour. People, who are able to change their behaviour
according to the demands of the external environment, are high
on self monitoring
• We often decide to delay or defer (Postpone)the satisfaction of
certain needs.
• Learning to delay or defer the gratification of needs is called
self-control. Self-control plays a key role in the fulfilment of
long-term goals.
• Indian cultural tradition provides us with certain effective
mechanisms (e.g., fasting in vrata or roza and non -attachment
with worldly things) for developing self-control.
 Cognitive and Behavioral aspects of Self
• Techniques of self control
1. Observation of own behavior – information necessary to
change, modify or strengthen aspects of self
2. Self instruction –instruct ourselves to do something and
behave the way we want to. Such instructions are quite
effective in self-regulation
3. Self Reinforcement-rewarding behavior that have pleasant
outcomes
These techniques have been tried out and found quite effective
with respect to self-regulation and self-control.
 Cognitive and Behavioral aspects of Self

o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lTbWQ8zD3w
 CULTURE AND SELF
•
Western and Indian ( Individual and group
boundaries)
Western Indian
1. Clear Dichotomies (DIVISION) 1. No clear
between self and others dichotomies( DIVISION)
2. Self & group exist as two 2. Self is not separated from the
different entities with clearly group remain in harmonious
defined boundaries. coexistence
3. Western cultures are 3. Whereas many Asian cultures
characterised as individualistic are characterised as
4. Boundary is fixed collectivistic.
4. Boundary is not fixed, shifting
nature of boundary
 Personality
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDn9pmxh-88
 Personality
• ‘Personality’ - The literal meaning of personality is derived from the Latin
word persona, the mask used by actors in the Roman theatre for changing
their facial make-up. After putting on the mask, audience expected the
person to perform a role in a particular manner
• Based on Layperson –refers to physical or external appearance
• Characteristic ways of responding to individuals and situations
• Unique and relatively stable qualities that characterize an individual’s
behavior across different situations over a period of time
• Consistency in most situations with relation to behavior ,thought, and
emotion of an individual across situations and time periods
• Variations do take place that would help them adapt to various situations
 Features of Personality
1.It has both physical and psychological components
2. Its expression in terms of behaviour is fairly unique in a given
individual
3. Its main features do not easily change with time
4. It is dynamic in the sense that some of its features may change due
to internal or external situational demands. Thus, personality is
adaptive to situations
Once we are able to characterize someone’s personality, we can
predict how that person will probably behave in a variety of
circumstances. An understanding of personality allows us to deal
with people in realistic and acceptable ways
 Major Approaches
1. Type approach-
▪ Attempts to comprehend human personality by examining certain broad
patterns in the observed behavioural characteristics of individuals.
▪ Each behavioural pattern refers to one type in which individuals are placed
in terms of the similarity of their behavioural characteristics with that
pattern.
2. Trait approach-
▪ Focuses on the specific psychological attributes along which individuals tend
to differ in consistent and stable ways.
▪ For example, one person may be less shy, whereas another may be more; or
one person may be less friendly, whereas another may be more. Here
“shyness” and “friendliness” represent traits along which individuals can be
rated in terms of the degree of presence or absence of the concerned
behavioural quality or a trait.
 Major Approaches
3. Interactional approach-
▪ Situational characteristics play an important role in
determining our behaviour.
▪ People may behave as dependent or independent not
because of their internal personality trait, but because of
external rewards or threats available in a particular situation
▪ The compelling influence of situations can be noted by
observing people’s behaviour in places like a market, a
courtroom, or a place of worship.
 Type approach

✔ The Greek physician Hippocrates had proposed a typology of personality based

on fluid or humour- each characterised by specific behavioural features .
1. Sanguine
2. Phlegmatic
3. Melancholic
4. Choleric
✔ Ayurveda- Vatta ,Pitta ,Kapha on the basis of three humoural elements called
tridosha.
✔ Each refers to a type of temperament, called prakriti (basic nature) of a person.
✔ Apart from this, there is also a typology of personality based on the trigunas, i.e.
sattva, rajas, and tamas.
✔ Sattva guna, Rajas guna, Tamas guna
✔ All the three gunas are present in each and every person in different degrees. The
dominance of one or the other guna may lead to a particular type of behaviour
 Type approach

✔ Sheldon ,body build and temperament

1.The endomorphs are fat, soft and round. By temperament they
are relaxed and sociable.
2.The mesomorphs have strong musculature, are rectangular
with a strong body build. They are energetic and courageous.
3.The ectomorphs are thin, long and fragile in body build. They
are brainy, artistic and introvert.
These body typologies are simple, have limited use in predicting behaviour of
individuals. They are more like stereotypes which people hold.
 Type approach

⮚ Jung has proposed typology by grouping people into

introverts and extraverts.
⮚ This is widely recognised.
⮚ According to this typology,
⮚ Introverts are people who prefer to be alone, tend to avoid
others, withdraw themselves in the face of emotional
conflicts, and are shy.
⮚ Extraverts, on the other hand, are sociable, outgoing, drawn
to occupations that allow dealing directly with people, and
react to stress by trying to lose themselves among people and
social activity.
 Type approach

Friedman and Rosenman have classified individuals into Type-A and Type-B personalities.
The two researchers were trying to identify psychosocial risk factors when they discovered
these types.
⮚ People characterised by Type-A personality seem to possess high motivation, lack
patience, feel short of time, be in a great hurry, and feel like being always burdened with
work. Such people find it difficult to slow down and relax. People with Type-A personality
are more susceptible to problems like hypertension and coronary heart disease (CHD).
The risk of developing CHD with Type-A personality is sometimes even greater than the
risks caused by high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, or smoking.
⮚ Opposite to this is the Type-B personality, which can be understood as the absence of
Type-A traits.
⮚ Morris has suggested a Type-C personality, which is prone to cancer. Individuals
characterised by this personality are cooperative, unassertive and patient. They suppress
their negative emotions (e.g., anger), and show compliance to authority.
⮚ More recently, a Type-D personality has been suggested, which is characterised by
proneness to depression
 Type approach

⮚ Limitation
⮚ Personality typologies are usually very appealing but are too simplistic.
⮚ Human behaviour is highly complex and variable
⮚ Assigning people to a particular personality type is difficult.
⮚ People do not fit into such simple categorisation schemes so neatly.
 Trait Approach
▪ A trait is considered as a relatively enduring attribute or
quality on which one individual differs from another. They
include a range of possible behaviours that are activated
according to the demands of the situation.
▪ To summarise (a) traits are relatively stable over time, (b) they
are generally consistent across situations, and (c) their
strengths and combinations vary across individuals leading to
individual differences in personality.
 Trait Approach
✔ Allport’s Trait Theory –
✔ Gordon Allport is considered the pioneer of trait approach
✔ They determine behaviour in such a manner that an individual approaches different
situations with similar plans.
✔ The traits integrate stimuli and responses which otherwise look dissimilar.
✔ Allport, based on this, categorised traits into cardinal, central, and secondary.
✔ Cardinal traits are highly generalised dispositions. They indicate the goal around which
a person’s entire life seems to revolve. Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violence and Hitler’s
Nazism are examples of cardinal traits.
✔ Such traits often get associated with the name of the person so strongly that they derive
such identities as the ‘Gandhian’ or ‘Hitlerian’ trait.
✔ Less pervasive in effect, but still quite generalised dispositions, are called central traits.
These traits (e.g., warm, sincere, diligent, etc.) are often used in writing a testimonial or
job recommendation for a person.
✔ The least generalised characteristics of a person are called secondary traits. Traits such
as ‘likes mangoes’ or ‘prefers ethnic clothes’ are examples of secondary traits
 Trait Approach
⮚ Allport considered traits more like intervening variables that
occur between the stimulus situation and response of the
person.
⮚ This meant that any variation in traits would elicit a different
response to the same situation.
 Trait Approach
✔ Cattell Personality Factors –
⮚ He applied a statistical technique, called factor analysis, to discover the
common structures.
⮚ He found 16 primary or source traits.
⮚ The source traits are stable are considered as the building blocks of
personality.
⮚ There are also a number of surface traits that result out of the interaction of
source traits.
⮚ Cattell described the source traits in terms of opposing tendencies. He
developed a test, called Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF), for
the assessment of personality. This test is widely used by psychologists.
 Trait Approach
▪ Eysenck’s Theory-Two broad dimensions
▪ These are biologically and genetically based. Each dimension
subsumes a number of specific traits
▪ Neuroticism vs. emotional stability :
▪ It refers to the degree to which people have control over their
feelings.
▪ At one extreme of the dimension, we find people who are
neurotic. They are anxious, moody, touchy, restless and
quickly lose control.
▪ At the other extreme lie people who are calm, even
tempered, reliable and remain under control
 Trait Approach
▪ Extraversion vs. introversion :
▪ It refers to the degree to which people are socially outgoing or socially
withdrawn.
▪ At one extreme are those who are active, gregarious, impulsive and thrill
seeking.
▪ At the other extreme are people who are passive, quiet, cautious and
reserved
▪ In a later work Eysenck proposed a third dimension, called Psychoticism vs.
Sociability, which is considered to interact with the other two dimensions
mentioned above.
▪ A person who scores high on psychoticism dimension tends to be hostile,
egocentric, and antisocial.
Thus trait approach is very popular and many advances in this respect are taking
place
 Psychodynamic Approach
▪ This is a highly popular approach to studying personality.
Sigmund Freud- He was a physician developed this theory in
the course of his clinical practice.
▪ He used hypnosis to treat people with physical and emotional
problems.
▪ He noted that many of his patients needed to talk about their
problems, and having talked about them, they often felt better.
▪ Freud used free association (a method in which a person is
asked to openly share all the thoughts, feelings and ideas that
come to her/his mind), dream analysis, and analysis of errors to
understand the internal functioning of the mind.
Psychodynamic Approach
Levels of consciousness
✔ Sources and consequences of
emotional conflicts and the way
people deal with these, it
visualises the human mind in
terms of three levels of
consciousness.
1. Conscious-
thoughts ,feelings ,actions one is
aware of
2. Preconscious-mental activity
aware only if they attend to it
3. Unconscious –mental activity
that people are unaware of.
 Psychodynamic Approach
▪ According to Freud, the unconscious is a reservoir of
instinctive or animal drives.
▪ It also stores all ideas and wishes that are concealed from
conscious awareness, perhaps, because they lead to
psychological conflicts.
▪ Most of these arise from sexual desires which cannot be
expressed openly and therefore are repressed.
▪ People constantly struggle to find either some socially
acceptable ways to express unconscious impulses, or to keep
those impulses away from being expressed.
 Psychodynamic Approach
▪ Unsuccessful resolution of conflicts results in abnormal
behaviour.
▪ Analysis of forgetting, mispronunciations, jokes and dreams
provide us with a means to approach the unconscious. Freud
developed a therapeutic procedure, called psychoanalysis.
▪ The basic goal of psychoanalytic therapy is to bring the
repressed unconscious materials to consciousness, thereby
helping people to live in a more self-aware and integrated
manner.
Psychodynamic
Approach
Structure of Personality
⮚ According to Freud’s
theory, the primary
structural elements of
personality are three, i.e.
id, ego, and superego.
⮚ They reside in the
unconscious as forces, and
they can be inferred from
the ways people behave.
⮚ Id, ego and superego are
concepts, not real physical
structures
Psychodynamic Approach
Id –
⮚ It is the source of a person’s instinctual
energy.
⮚ It deals with immediate gratification of
primitive needs, sexual desires and
aggressive impulses.
⮚ It works on the pleasure principle,
which assumes that people seek
pleasure and try to avoid pain.
⮚ Freud considered much of a person’s
instinctual energy to be sexual, and
the rest as aggressive.
⮚ Id does not care for moral values,
society, or other individuals.
Psychodynamic Approach
Ego-
⮚ It grows out of id and seeks to satisfy
an individual’s instinctual needs in
accordance with reality.
⮚ It works by the reality principle, and
often directs the id towards more
appropriate ways of behaving
⮚ Id is demanding, unrealistic and
works according to pleasure principle
⮚ Ego is patient, reasonable, and works
by the reality principle.
Psychodynamic Approach
Superego :
⮚ The best way to characterise the
superego is to think of it as the moral
branch of mental functioning.
⮚ The superego tells the id and the
ego whether gratification in a
particular instance is ethical.
⮚ It helps control the id by
internalising the parental authority
through the process of socialisation.
 Psychodynamic Approach
⮚ Freud thought of the unconscious as being composed of three competing
forces
⮚ In some people, the id is stronger than the superego; in others, it is the
superego. The relative strength of the id, ego and superego determines
each person’s stability.
⮚ Freud also assumed that id is energised by two instinctual forces, called
life instinct and death instinct.
⮚ He paid less attention to the death instinct and focused more on the life
(or sexual) instinct.
⮚ The instinctual life force that energises the id is called libido. It works on
the pleasure principle, and seeks immediate gratification.
 Psychodynamic Approach
• The id is the most basic part of the personality. It also represents our most
animalistic urges, like the desire for food and sex. The id seeks instant gratification
for our wants and needs. If these needs or wants are not met, a person can become
tense, anxious, or angry.
• Sally was thirsty. Rather than waiting for the server to refill her glass of water, she
reached across the table and drank from Mr. Smith's water glass, much to his
surprise.
• A hungry baby cried until he was fed.
• A toddler who wanted another helping of dessert whine incessantly until she was
given another serving.
• In line at the salad bar, Amy was so hungry that she shoved a handful of croutons in
her mouth as she waited for the line to move.
• Bart was stuck in traffic. He just wanted his vehicle to move! Enraged at the
situation, Bart pulled his car on and sped forward, not caring that he was clipping
people's side mirrors as he tried to get ahead of the cars in front of him.
 Psychodynamic Approach
•The ego deals with reality, trying to meet the desires of the id in a way that is socially
acceptable in the world. This may mean delaying gratification and helping to get rid of the
tension the id feels if a desire is not met right away. The ego recognizes that other people
have needs and wants too and being selfish isn't good in the long run.
•Sally was thirsty. However, she knew that her server would be back soon to refill her water glass, so
she waited until then to get a drink, even though she really just wanted to drink from Mr. Smith's glass.
•In line at the salad bar, Amy really wanted to shove a handful of croutons into her mouth. However,
since her boss was there, she decided to wait another minute or two until she sat down to eat.
•Mary really wanted to borrow her mom's necklace but knew her mom would be angry if she took it
without asking, so she asked her mom if she could wear it.
•Hillary was so sweaty after her workout that she wanted to change her clothes right there by the car.
However, she knew the other people around her would not approve, so she waited until she was in
the restroom to change.
•Tim really wanted to slug Mark for what he had just said. However, Tim knew if he hit Mark, he would
be kicked off the baseball team, and since he loved baseball, he unclenched his fists and walked away.
 Psychodynamic Approach
• The superego develops last and is based on morals and judgments about right and wrong.
Even though the superego and the ego may reach the same decision about something, the
superego's reason for that decision is based more on moral values, while the ego's decision is
based more on what others will think or what the consequences of an action could be on the
individual.
• Sarah knew she could steal the supplies from work, and no one would know about it.
However, she knew that stealing was wrong, so she decided not to take anything even though
she would probably never get caught.
• Maggie couldn't remember the answer to test question #12, even though she had studied.
Mathew was the smartest kid in the class, and from where Maggie sat, she could see his
answers if she turned her head slightly. When Mrs. Andrew turned her back, Maggie almost
cheated, but her conscience stopped her because she knew it was wrong. Instead, Maggie
took a guess at the answer and then turned in her paper.
• The cashier only charged the couple for one meal even though they had eaten two. They
could have gotten away with only paying for one, but they pointed out the cashier's mistake
and offered to pay for both meals. They wanted to be honest and they knew that the
restaurant owner and employees needed to make a living.
 Ego Defence Mechanisms
• According to Freud, much of human behaviour reflects an
attempt to deal with or escape from anxiety.
• Thus, how the ego deals with anxiety largely determines how
people behave.
• Freud believed that people avoid anxiety mainly by developing
defence mechanisms that try to defend the ego against the
awareness of the instinctual needs.
• Thus, defence mechanism is a way of reducing anxiety by
distorting reality.
• Although some defence against anxiety is normal and adaptive,
people who use these mechanisms to such an extent that reality
is truly distorted develop various forms of maladjustment..
 Defence Mechanisms
a. Repression – in which anxiety provoking behaviours or thoughts are totally
dismissed by the unconscious. When people repress a feeling or desire, they
become totally unaware of that wish or desire.
b. Projection- people attribute their own traits to others
c. Denial- refuses to accept reality
d. Reaction Formation- a person defends against anxiety by adopting behaviours
opposite to her/his true feelings.
e. Rationalisation- a person tries to make unreasonable feelings or behaviour
seem reasonable and acceptable.
⮚ People who use defence mechanisms are often unaware of doing so.
⮚ Each defence mechanism is a way for the ego to deal with the uncomfortable
feelings produced by anxiety.
⮚ Freud’s ideas about the role of defence mechanisms have been questioned.
⮚ For example, his claim that projection reduces anxiety and stress has not found
support in several studies.
Stages of Personality Development
STAGE AGE FOCUS OF DEVELOPMENTAL ADULT FIXATION
LIBIDO
ORAL 0-1 MOUTH FEEDING SMOKING/NAIL
BITING ,OVER-
EATING
ANAL 2-3 ANUS TOILET TRAINING ORDERLINESS/
MESSINESS
PHALLI 4-5 GENITALS OEDIPUS SEXUAL
C /ELECTRA DYSFUNCTION
LATEN 7- NOTHING IN SOCIAL NOTHING
T PUBER SPECIFIC SKILLS,INTELLEC
TY TUAL SKILLS
GENIT 12 + GENITALS DEALS WITH THE MENTALLY
AL OPPOSITE SEX HEALTHY
WITH SEXUAL
MATURITY
SOCIALLY
MATURE
Stages of Personality Development
⮚ Freud proposed a five-stage theory of personality (called
psychosexual) development. Problems encountered at any stage may
arrest development and have long-term effect on a person’s life.
Oral Stage : A newborn’s instincts are focused on the mouth. This is the
infant’s primary pleasure seeking centre.
It is through the mouth that the baby obtains food that reduces hunger.
The infant achieves oral gratification through feeding, thumb sucking,
biting and babbling.
It is during these early months that people’s basic feelings about the
world are established.
Thus, for Freud, an adult who considers the world a bitter place probably
had difficulty during the oral stage of development.
Stages of Personality Development
Anal Stage : It is found that around ages two and three the child
learns to respond to some of the demands of the society.
One of the principal demands made by parents is that the child
learns to control the bodily functions of urination and
defecation.
Most children at this age experience pleasure in moving their
bowels.
The anal area of the body becomes the focus of certain
pleasurable feelings.
This stage establishes the basis for conflict between the id and
the ego, and between the desire for babyish pleasure and
demand for adult, controlled behaviour
Stages of Personality Development
Phallic Stage :This stage focuses on the genitals.
At around ages four and five children begin to realise the
differences between males and females.
They become aware of sexuality and the sexual relationship
between their parents.
During this stage, the male child experiences the Oedipus Complex,
which involves love for the mother, hostility towards the father,
and the consequent fear of punishment or castration by the
father (Oedipus was a Greek king who unknowingly killed his
father and then married his mother).
A major developmental achievement of this stage is the resolution
of the Oedipus complex.
This takes place by accepting his father’s relationship with his
mother, and modelling his own behaviour after his father
Stages of Personality Development
For girls, the Oedipus complex (called the Electra Complex after
Electra, a Greek character, who induced her brother to kill
their mother) follows a slightly different course.
By attaching her love to the father a girl tries to symbolically
marry him and raise a family. When she realises that this is
unlikely, she begins to identify with her mother and copy her
behaviour as a means of getting (or, sharing in) her father’s
affection.
The critical component in resolving the Oedipus complex is the
development of identification with the same sex parents.
In other words, boys give up sexual feelings for their mothers
and begin to see their fathers as role models rather than as
rivals; girls give up their sexual desires for their father and
identify with their mother
Stages of Personality Development
Latency Stage : This stage lasts from about seven years until puberty.
During this period, the child continues to grow physically, but sexual
urges are relatively inactive.
Much of a child’s energy is channelled into social or achievement
related activities.
Genital Stage : During this stage, the person attains maturity in
psychosexual development.
The sexuality, fears and repressed feelings of earlier stages are once
again exhibited.
People learn to deal with members of the opposite sex in a socially
and sexually mature way.
However, if the journey towards this stage is marked by excessive
stress or over-indulgence, it may cause fixation to an earlier
stage of development.
Stages of Personality Development
⮚ Failure of a child to pass successfully through a stage leads to
fixation to that stage. In this situation, the child’s
development gets arrested at an earlier stage.
⮚ Regression is also a likely outcome in such situations.
⮚ It takes a person back to an earlier stage.
⮚ Regression occurs when a person’s resolution of problems at
any stage of development is less than adequate.
⮚ In this situation, people display behaviours typical of a less
mature stage of development.
Post – Freudian Approaches/ Neo analytic
FREUD NEO FREUDIANS

1.He spoke about ID as important for 1.Concept of Ego

the concept of personality

2.Focussed on the unconscious 2.Focussed on the conscious aspect

aspect of Personality of Personality

3.Freud spoke about sexual instinct 3. Neo Freudians spoke about social,
cultural instincts along with
emphasised human qualities of
creativity, competence and problem
solving.
 Post – Freudian Approaches
• Carl Jung : Aims and Aspirations
⮚ Jung worked with Freud in his early stages of career, but
later on he broke away from Freud.
⮚ Jung saw human beings guided as much by aims and
aspirations as by sex and aggression.
⮚ He developed his own theory of personality, called
analytical psychology.
⮚ The basic assumption of his theory is that personality
consists of competing forces and structures within the
individual (that must be balanced) rather than between
the individual and the demands of society, or between
the individual and reality.
 Post – Freudian Approaches
⮚ Jung claimed that there was a collective unconscious consisting of
archetypes or primordial images.
⮚ These are not individually acquired but are inherited. The God or the
Mother Earth is a good example of archetypes. They are found in myths,
dreams and arts of all mankind.
⮚ Jung held that the self strives for unity and oneness. It is an archetype
that is expressed in many ways.
⮚ He devoted much of his efforts to the study of such expressions in various
traditions.
⮚ According to him, for achieving unity and wholeness, a person must
become increasingly aware of the wisdom available in one’s personal and
collective unconscious and must learn to live in harmony with it.
 Post – Freudian Approaches
Karen Horney : Optimism
⮚ Another disciple of Freud who developed a theory that
deviated from basic Freudian principles.
⮚ She adopted a more optimistic view of human life with
emphasis on human growth and self actualisation.
⮚ Horney’s major contribution lies in her challenge to Freud’s
treatment of women as inferior.
⮚ According to her, each sex has attributes to be admired by
the other, and neither sex can be viewed as superior or inferior.
She countered that women were more likely to be affected by
social and cultural factors than by biological factors.
 Post – Freudian Approaches
⮚ She argued that psychological disorders were caused by
disturbed interpersonal relationship during childhood.
⮚ When parents’ behaviour toward a child is indifferent,
discouraging, and erratic, the child feels insecure and a feeling
called basic anxiety results.
⮚ Deep resentment toward parents or basic hostility occurs
due to this anxiety. By showing excessive dominance or
indifference, or by providing too much or too little approval,
parents can generate among children feelings of isolation and
helplessness which interfere with their healthy development
 Post – Freudian Approaches
Alfred Adler : Lifestyle and Social Interest
⮚ Adler’s theory is known as individual psychology.
⮚ His basic assumption is that human behaviour is purposeful and goal
directed. Each one of us has the capacity to choose and create.
⮚ Our personal goals are the sources of our motivation.
⮚ The goals that provide us with security and help us in overcoming the
feelings of inadequacy are important in our personality development.
⮚ In Adler’s view, every individual suffers from the feelings of
inadequacy and guilt, i.e. inferiority complex, which arise from
childhood.
⮚ Overcoming this complex is essential for optimal personality
development.
 Post – Freudian Approaches
Erich Fromm : The Human Concerns
⮚ In contrast to Freud’s biological orientation, Fromm developed his theory
from a social orientation.
⮚ He viewed human beings as basically social beings who could be understood
in terms of their relationship with others.
⮚ He argued that psychological qualities such as growth and realisation of
potentials resulted from a desire for freedom and striving for justice and truth.
⮚ Fromm holds that character traits (personality) develop from our experiences
with other individuals.
⮚ While culture is shaped by the mode of existence of a given society, people’s
dominant character traits in a given society work as forces in shaping the
social processes and the culture itself.
⮚ His work recognises the value of positive qualities, such as tenderness and
love in personality development.
 Post – Freudian Approaches
Erik Erikson : Search for Identity
⮚ Erikson’s theory lays stress on rational, conscious ego
processes in personality development.
⮚ In his theory, development is viewed as a lifelong process, and
ego identity is granted a central place in this process.
⮚ His concept of identity crisis of adolescent age has drawn
considerable attention.
⮚ Erikson argues that young people must generate for
themselves a central perspective and a direction that can give
them a meaningful sense of unity and purpose.
 Post – Freudian Approaches
The major criticisms are as follows:
(1) The theories are largely based on case studies; they lack a
rigorous scientific basis.
(2) They use small and atypical individuals as samples for
advancing generalisations.
(3) The concepts are not properly defined, and it is difficult to
submit them to scientific testing.
(4) Freud has used males as the prototype of all human
personality development. He overlooked female
experiences and perspectives.
 Behavioral Approaches
• Behaviorists believe in data that is observable, definable, measurable
• They focus on learning stimulus- response connection
• Personality is the response of an individual to the environment
• Learns new behavior in response to new environment and stimuli
• Structural unit of personality is response
• Each response is a behavior to satisfy a need
• According to the behavioural approach-we learn a behavior
(reinforcement) from their parents.
• The core tendency that organises a behavior is reduction of biological or
social need
• They use the learning principles that involve the use of stimuli, response ,
reinforcement – CC ,OC , OB Learning
 Cultural Approaches
• Attempts to understand personality in relation to the features of
ecological and cultural environment.
• The climatic conditions, the nature of terrain of the habitat and the
availability of food (flora and fauna) in it determine not only people’s
economic activities, but also their settlement patterns, social structures,
division of labour , and other features such as child rearing practices.
• Taken together these elements constitute a child’s overall learning
environment.
• People’s skills, abilities, behavioural styles, and value priorities are viewed
as strongly linked to these features.
• Rituals, ceremonies, religious practices, arts, recreational activities, games
and play are the means through which people’s personality gets projected
in a culture.
 Cultural Approaches
• People develop various personality (behavioural) qualities to adapt to the
ecological and cultural features of a group’s life.
• Thus, the cultural approach considers personality as an adaptation of
individuals or groups to the demands of their ecology and culture.
• Hunting and gathering (economic activities) as their primary means of
livelihood-children from an early age are allowed enormous freedom to
move into forests and learn hunting and gathering skills.
• Their child socialisation practices are also aimed at making children
independent (do many things without help from elders), autonomous
(take several decisions for themselves), and achievement-oriented (accept
risks and challenges such as those involved in hunting) from an early age
of life.
 Cultural Approaches
• In agricultural societies, children are socialised to be obedient to elders,
nurturant to youngsters, and responsible to their duties.
• These behavioural qualities make people more functional in agricultural
societies, they become dominant features of people’s personality in
contrast to independence, autonomy and achievement, which are more
functional (and thus highly valued) in hunting-gathering societies.
• So with respect to different economic pursuits and cultural demands,
children in hunting gathering and agricultural societies develop and
display different personality patterns
 Humanistic Approaches
✔ Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow have particularly
contributed to the development of humanistic perspective on
personality
✔ The most important idea proposed by Rogers is that of a fully
functioning person.
✔ He believes that fulfilment is the motivating force for
personality development.
✔ People try to express their capabilities, potentials and talents
to the fullest extent possible.
✔ There is an inborn tendency among persons that directs them
to actualise their inherited nature.
 Humanistic Approaches
✔ Rogers makes two basic assumptions about human behaviour.
✔ One is that behaviour is goal-directed and worthwhile.
✔ The second is that people (who are innately good) will almost always
choose adaptive, self-actualising behaviour
✔ His theory is structured around the concept of self. The theory assumes
that people are constantly engaged in the process of actualising their true
self.
✔ Rogers suggests that each person also has a concept of ideal self. An ideal
self is the self that a person would like to be. When there is a
correspondence between the real self and ideal self, a person is generally
happy.
✔ Discrepancy between the real self and ideal self often results in
unhappiness and dissatisfaction.
 Humanistic Approaches
✔ Rogers’ basic principle is that people have a tendency to maximise self-
concept through self-actualisation.
✔ In this process, the self grows, expands and becomes more social.
✔ Rogers views personality development as a continuous process.
✔ He recognises the role of social influences in the development of self-
concept.
✔ When social conditions are positive, the self-concept and self-esteem are
high. In contrast, when the conditions are negative, the self-concept and
self esteem are low. People with high self concept and self-esteem are
generally flexible and open to new experiences, so that they can continue
to grow and self actualise.
✔ The situation warrants an atmosphere of unconditional positive regard must be
created to ensure enhancement of people’s self-concept. The client-centred
therapy that Rogers developed attempts to create this condition.
 Humanistic Approaches
✔ Maslow has given a detailed account of psychologically
healthy people in terms of their attainment of self-
actualisation, a state in which people have reached their own
fullest potential.
✔ Maslow had an optimistic and positive view of man who has
the potentialities for love, joy and to do creative work.
✔ Human beings are considered free to shape their lives and to
self-actualise.
✔ Self-actualisation becomes possible by analysing the
motivations that govern our life.
 Humanistic Approaches
✔ We know that biological, security, and belongingness needs
(called survival needs) are commonly found among animals
and human beings.
✔ Thus, an individual’s sole concern with the satisfaction of
these needs reduces her/ him to the level of animals.
✔ The real journey of human life begins with the pursuit of self-
esteem and self actualisation needs.
 Assessment of Personality
• A formal effort aimed at understanding personality of an
individual is termed as personality assessment.
• Assessment refers to the procedures used to evaluate or
differentiate people on the basis of certain characteristics.
• The goal of assessment is to understand and predict
behaviour with minimum error and maximum accuracy.
• The most commonly used techniques are Psychometric Tests,
Self-Report Measures, Projective Techniques, and Behavioural
Analysis.
 Self –Report Measures
Self-report Measures

✔ It was Allport who suggested that the best method to assess a person is by

asking her/him about herself/himself. This led to the use of self-report

measures.

✔ These are fairly structured measures, often based on theory, that require

subjects to give verbal responses using some kind of rating scale.

✔ The method requires the subject to objectively report her/his own feelings with

respect to various items.

✔ The responses are accepted at their face value.

✔ They are scored in quantitative terms and interpreted on the basis of norms

developed for the test

 Self –Report Measures
The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
• This inventory is widely used as a test in personality
assessment.
• Hathaway and McKinley developed this test as a helping
tool for psychiatric diagnosis, but the test has been
found very effective in identifying varieties of
psychopathology.
• Its revised version is available as MMPI-2. It consists of
567 statements.
• The subject has to judge each statement as ‘true’ or
‘false’ for her/ him. The test is divided into 10 subscale s
 Self –Report Measures
• It seek to diagnose hypochondriasis, depression, hysteria,
psychopathic deviate, masculinity-femininity, paranoia,
psychasthenia, schizophrenia, mania and social introversion.
• In India, Mallick and Joshi have developed the Jodhpur
Multiphasic Personality Inventory (JMPI) along the lines of
MMPI.
 Self –Report Measures
Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ)
✔ Developed by Eysenck this test initially assessed two
dimensions of personality, called introverted-extraverted and
emotionally stable-emotionally unstable.
✔ These dimensions are characterised by 32 personality traits.
Later on, Eysenck added a third dimension, called
psychoticism.
✔ It is linked to psychopathology that represents a lack of
feeling for others, a tough manner of interacting with people,
and a tendency to defy social conventions.
✔ A person scoring high on this dimension tends to be hostile,
egocentric, and antisocial. This test is also widely used.
 Self –Report Measures
Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16 PF)
✔ This test was developed by Cattell. On the basis of his studies,
he identified a large set of personality descriptors, which were
subjected to factor analysis to identify the basic personality
structure .
✔ The test provides with declarative statements, and the subject
responds to a specific situation by choosing from a set of
given alternatives.
✔ The test can be used with high school level students as well as
with adults.
✔ It has been found extremely useful in career guidance,
vocational exploration, and occupational testing.
 Self –Report Measures
✔ There are several others that try to assess specific dimensions
of personality (e.g., authoritarianism, locus of control,
optimism, etc.)
✔ The self-report measures suffer from a number of problems
✔ Social desirability - It is a tendency on the part of the
respondent to endorse items in a socially desirable manner.
✔ Acquiescence -It is a tendency of the subject to agree with
items/questions irrespective of their contents. It often
appears in the form of saying ‘yes’ to items.
 Projective Technique
Self-report Measures Projective Techniques
1.Direct method 1. Indirect method

2. They tend to rely on information 2. Projective techniques were

directly obtained from the person who developed to assess unconscious
clearly knows that her/his personality is motives and feelings
being assessed.
3. People generally become self 3. These techniques are less
conscious and hesitate to share their structured or unstructured stimulus or
private feelings, thoughts, and situation will allow the individual to
motivations-they often do it in a socially project her/his feelings, desires and
desirable manner. needs on to that situation
4. They are fairly structured measures, 4. A variety of projective techniques
often based on theory Few are MMPI, have been developed; they use various
EPQ, 16PF kinds of stimulus materials and
situations for assessing personality.
Some of them require reporting
associations with stimuli (e.g., words,
inkblots), some involve story writing
 Projective Technique
Common features:
⮚ (1) The stimuli are relatively or fully unstructured and poorly defined.
⮚(2) The person being assessed is usually not told about the purpose of
assessment and the method of scoring and interpretation.
⮚(3) The person is informed that there are no correct or incorrect
responses.
⮚ (4) Each response is considered to reveal a significant aspect of
personality.
⮚(5) Scoring and interpretation are lengthy and sometimes subjective.

⮚ Projective techniques are different from the psychometric tests in

many ways. They cannot be scored in any objective manner. They
generally require qualitative analyses for which a rigorous training is
needed
 Projective Technique
The Rorschach Inkblot Test
⮚ This test was developed by Hermann Rorschach.
⮚ The test consists of 10 inkblots. Five of them are in black and
white, two with some red ink, and the remaining three in
some pastel colours.
⮚ The blots are symmetrical in design with a specific shape or
form. Each blot is printed in the centre of a white cardboard
of about 7”ˆ10” size.
⮚ The blots were originally made by dropping ink on a piece of
paper and then folding the paper in half (hence called inkblot
test).
 Projective Technique
⮚ The cards are administered individually in two phases.
⮚ In the first phase, called performance proper, the subjects are
shown the cards and are asked to tell what they see in each of
them.
⮚ In the second phase, called inquiry, a detailed report of the
response is prepared by asking the subject to tell where, how,
and on what basis was a particular response made.
⮚ Fine judgment is necessary to place the subject’s
responses in a meaningful context.
⮚ The use and interpretation of this test requires extensive
training.
⮚ Computer techniques too have been developed for
analysis of data.
 Projective Technique
The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
⮚ This test was developed by Morgan and Murray.
⮚ It is a little more structured than the Inkblot test.
⮚ The test consists of 30 black and white picture cards and one
blank card.
⮚ Each picture card depicts one or more people in a variety of
situations. Each picture is printed on a card
⮚ Some cards are used with adult males or females. Others are
used with boys or girls
⮚ Twenty cards are appropriate for a subject
 Projective Technique
⮚ The cards are presented one at a time.
⮚ The subject is asked to tell a story describing the situation
presented in the picture:
⮚ What led up to the situation, what is happening at the
moment, what will happen in the future, and what the
characters are feeling and thinking?
⮚ A standard procedure is available for scoring TAT responses.
⮚ The test has been modified for children and for the aged.
⮚ Uma Chaudhury’s Indian adaptation of TAT is also available.
 Projective Technique
Rosenzweig’s Picture-Frustration Study (P-F Study)
⮚ This test was developed by Rosenzweig to assess how people
express aggression in the face of a frustrating situation.
⮚ The test presents with the help of cartoon like pictures a
series of situations in which one person frustrates another, or
calls attention to a frustrating condition.
⮚ The subject is asked to tell what the other (frustrated) person
will say or do.
⮚ The analysis of responses is based on the type and direction
of aggression.
 Projective Technique
⮚ An attempt is made to examine whether the focus is on the
frustrating object, or on protection of the frustrated person,
or on constructive solution of the problem.
⮚ The direction of aggression may be towards the environment,
towards oneself, or it may be tuned off in an attempt to gloss
over or evade the situation.
⮚ Pareek has adapted this test for use with the Indian
population
 Projective Technique
Sentence Completion Test
⮚ This test makes use of a number of incomplete sentences.
⮚ The starting part of the sentence is first presented, and the
subject has to provide an ending to the sentence.
⮚ It is held that the type of endings used by the subjects reflect
their attitudes, motivation and conflicts.
⮚ The test provides subjects with several opportunities to reveal
their underlying unconscious motivations.
 Projective Technique
Draw-a-Person Test
⮚ It is a simple test in which the subject is asked to draw a
person on a sheet of paper.
⮚ A pencil and eraser is provided to facilitate drawing.
⮚ After the completion of the drawing, the subject is generally
asked to draw the figure of an opposite sex person.
⮚ Finally, the subject is asked to make a story about the person
as if s/he was a character in a novel or play
 Projective Technique
⮚ Some examples of interpretations are as follows:
⮚ (1) Omission of facial features suggests that the person tries
to evade a highly conflict-ridden interpersonal relationship.
⮚ (2) Graphic emphasis on the neck suggests lack of control over
impulses.
⮚ (3) Disproportionately large head suggests organic brain
disease and preoccupation with headaches

⮚ The interpretation of the responses requires sophisticated

skills and specialised training.
⮚ There are problems associated with the reliability of scoring
and validity of interpretations. But, the practitioners have
found these techniques quite useful.
 Behavioral Analysis
Behavioural Analysis
⮚ A person’s behaviour in a variety of situations can provide us
with meaningful information about her/his personality.
Observation of behaviour serves as the basis of behavioural
analysis.
⮚ Interview
⮚ Interview is a commonly used method for assessing
personality. This involves talking to the person being assessed
and asking specific questions.
⮚ Diagnostic interviewing generally involves in-depth
interviewing which seeks to go beyond the replies given by
the person. Interviews may be structured or unstructured
depending on the purpose or goals of assessment.
 Behavioral Analysis
⮚ In unstructured interviews, the interviewer seeks to develop
an impression about a person by asking a number of
questions. The way a person presents her/ himself and
answers the questions carries enough potential to reveal
her/his personality.
⮚ The structured interviews address very specific questions and
follow a set procedure. This is often done to make objective
comparison of persons being interviewed.
⮚ Use of rating scales may enhance the objectivity of
evaluations.
 Behavioral Analysis
Observation
• Behavioural observation is another method which is very
commonly used for the assessment of personality.
• Although all of us watch people and form impressions about
their personality, use of observation for personality
assessment is a sophisticated procedure that cannot be
carried out by untrained people.
• It requires careful training of the observer, and a fairly
detailed guideline about analysis of behaviours in order to
assess the personality of a given person.
 Behavioral Analysis
In spite of their frequent and widespread use, observation and
interview methods are characterised by the following
limitations:
⮚ (1) Professional training required for collection of useful data
through these methods is quite demanding and time
consuming.
⮚ (2) Maturity of the psychologist is a precondition for obtaining
valid data through these techniques.
⮚ (3) Mere presence of the observer may contaminate the
results. As a stranger, the observer may influence the
behaviour of the person being observed and thus not obtain
good data.
 Behavioral Analysis
Behavioural Ratings
⮚ Behavioural ratings are frequently used for assessment of
personality in educational and industrial settings.
⮚ Behavioural ratings are generally taken from people who
know the assessee intimately and have interacted with
her/him over a period of time or have had a chance to
observe her/him.
⮚ They attempt to put individuals into certain categories in
terms of their behavioural qualities.
⮚ The categories may involve different numbers or descriptive
terms.
 Behavioral Analysis
The method of rating suffers from the following major
limitations:
⮚ (1) Raters often display certain biases that colour their
judgments of different traits. For example, most of us are
greatly influenced by a single favourable or unfavourable trait.
This often forms the basis of a rater’s overall judgment of a
person. This tendency is known as the halo effect.

⮚ (2) Raters have a tendency to place individuals either in the

middle of the scale (called middle category bias) by avoiding
extreme positions, or in the extreme positions (called extreme
response bias) by avoiding middle categories on the scale.

⮚ These tendencies can be overcome by providing raters with

appropriate training or by developing such scales in which the
response bias is likely to be small.
 Behavioral Analysis
⮚ Nomination
⮚ This method is often used in obtaining peer assessment.
⮚ It can be used with persons who have been in long-term
interaction and who know each other very well.
⮚ In using nomination, each person is asked to choose one or
more persons of the group with whom s/he would like to
work, study, play or participate in any other activity.
⮚ The person may also be asked to specify the reason for
her/his choices.

⮚ Nominations thus received may be analysed to understand

the personality and behavioural qualities of the person.

⮚ This technique has been found to be highly dependable,

although it may also be affected by personal biases
 Behavioral Analysis
✔ Situational Tests
✔ A variety of situational tests have been devised for the
assessment of personality.
✔ The most commonly used test of this kind is the situational
stress test. It provides us with information about how a
person behaves under stressful situations
 Behavioral Analysis
✔ The test requires a person to perform a given task with other
persons who are instructed to be non-cooperative and
interfering.
✔ The test involves a kind of role playing.
✔ The person is instructed to play a role for which s/he is
observed.
✔ A verbal report is also obtained on what s/he was asked to do.
The situation may be realistic one, or it may be created
through a video play