Follow on Instagram: shivani05rana

P S YC H O LO GY
SELF AND PERSONALITY
S E L F A N D P E R S O N A L I T Y. F E AT U R E S O F P E R S O N A L I T Y.

Self refers to the totality of an individual’s conscious experiences, ideas, thoughts and
feelings with regard to herself or himself.

The literal meaning of personality is derived from the late word persona. In psychological
terms, personality refers to our characteristic ways of responding to individuals and
situations. Consistency in behaviour, thought and emotion of an individual across situations
and across time periods characterises her/his personality.

Personality is characterised by following features:

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.

SELF AS SUBJECT AND SELF AS OBJECT

Self has a dual status which consist of a subject and an object.

When an individual describes himself/herself as a doer or knower, for eg: I am a dancer or I

know who I am. Here, the person is a subject as he/she is going something as an entity. In
the latter case, the self gets observed and comes to be known, for eg: I am one who easily
gets hurt. Self as subject is an actor and self as an object is a consequence where the self is
being observed by the other people.

SELF CONCEPT, SELF ESTEEM AND SELF EFFICACY

Self concept: The way we perceive ourselves and the ideas we hold about our competencies
and attributes is called self- concept.

Self Esteem: The individual’s personal judgement of her or his own worth; one’s attitude
toward oneself along a positive- negative dimension.

Self Efficacy: Bandura’s term for the individual’s belief about her or his own effectiveness;
the expectation that one can master a situation and produce positive outcomes.
SELF REGUL ATION AND SELF CONTROL

Self Regulation refers to our ability to organise and monitor our own behaviour.

As human beings we can control our behaviour the way we want. We often decide to delay
or defer 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.

A number of psychological techniques of self control are:

1. Observation of own behaviour: This technique provides us with necessary information

that may lead to change, modify, or strengthen certain aspects of self.

2. Self instructions: The instructions we often give to ourselves to do something and

behave the way we want to.

3. Self reinforcement: This involves rewarding behaviours that have pleasant outcomes.

CULTURE AND SELF

The most important distinction between the Indian and Western views is the way the
boundary is drawn between the self and the other.

Western Perspective Indian Perspective

1. The boundary appears to be relatively 1. The Indian view of self is characterised by
fixed. the shifting nature of the boundary.
2. This view holds clear dichotomies between 2. The Indian view does not make such clear
self and other. dichotomies.
3. The self and the group exist as two different 3. The self is generally not separated from
entities with clearly defined boundaries. one’s own group; rather both remain in a state
Individual members of the group maintain their of harmonious co-existence.
individuality.
4. Also characterised as INDIVIDUALISTIC. 4. Also characterised as COLLECTIVISTIC.
Also, draw the diagram on pg28 fig 2.1

T YPE, TRAIT AND INTERACTIONAL APPROAC H

 Type Approach Trait Approach Interactional Approach

The type approaches The trait approach focuses The interactional approach
attempts to comprehend on the specific psychological holds that situational
human personality by attributes along which characteristics play an
examining certain broad individuals tend to differ in important role in determining
patterns in the observed consistent and stable ways. our behaviour.
behavioural characteristics of
individuals. Each behavioural
pattern refers to one type in
which individuals are placed in
terms of the similarity.

T YPE APPROAC H THEORIES

1. The Greek physician Hippocrates had proposed a typology of personality based on fluid
or humour. He classified people into four types (i.e., sanguine, phlegmatic, melancholic and
choleric); each characterised by specific behavioural features.

2. Charak Samhita, a famous treatise on Ayurveda, classifies people into the categories of
vata, pitta and kapha on the basis of three humoural elements called tridosha. Apart from
this, there is also a typology of personality based on the trigunas, i.e. sattva, rajas, and
tamas. Sattva guna includes attributes like cleanliness, truthfulness, dutifulness,
detachment, discipline, etc. Rajas guna includes intensive activity, desire for sense
gratification, dissatisfaction, envy for others, and a materialistic mentality, etc. Tamas guna
characterises anger, arrogance, depression, laziness, feeling of helplessness, etc.

3. Using body build and temperament as the main basis, Sheldon proposed the
Endomorphic, Mesomorphic, and Ectomorphic typology.

The endomorphs are fat, soft and round. By temperament they are relaxed and sociable.

The mesomorphs have strong musculature, are rectangular with a strong body build. They
are energetic and courageous.

The ectomorphs are thin, long and fragile in body build. They are brainy, artistic and
introvert.

4. Jung has proposed another important typology by grouping people into introverts and
extraverts. 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, 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.

5. Friedman and Rosenman have classified individuals into Type-A and Type-B
personalities.

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).

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.

Type-D personality has been characterised by proneness to depression.

TRAIT APPROAC H THEORIES

A trait is considered as a relatively enduring attribute or quality on which one individual

differ another. They are:

• Relatively stable over time.

• Generally consistent across situations.

• Their strength and combination vary across individuals leading to individual differences in
personality.

1. Allport’s Trait Theory (Gordon Allport): He proposed that individuals possess a

number of traits, which are dynamic in nature. Allport argued that the words people use
to describe themselves others provide a basis for understanding human personality.

• CARDINAL TRAITS: are highly generalised dispositions. They indicate the goal around
which a person’s entire life seems to revolve.
• CENTRAL TRAITS: Less pervasive in effect, but still quite generalised dispositions. These
traits are often used in writing a testimonial or job recommendation for a person.

• SECONDARY TRAITS: The least generalised characteristics of a person are secondary

traits. Traits such as ‘likes or dislike’ are example of secondary traits.

2. Cattle: Personality Factors: Raymond Cattle believed that there is a common structure
on which people differ from each other. This structure could be determined empirically.

• He applied a statistical technique , called Factor Analysis.

• He found 16 primary or source traits.

• SOURCE TRAITS: are stable, and are considered as the building blocks of personality.

• SURFACE TRAITS: are the result of the interaction of source traits.

• He developed a test called sixteen personality factor questionnaire (16PF).

3. Eysenck’s Theory: H.J Eysenck purposed that personality could be reduced into 3 broad
dimensions:

• NEUROTICISM vs EMOTIONAL STABILITY: It refers to the degree to which people have

control over their feelings. 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.

• 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.

• PSYCHOTICISM vs SOCIABILITY: A person who scores high on Psychoticism dimension

tends to be hostile, egocentric, and antisocial.

• Eysenck Personality Questionnaire is the test which is used for studying these
dimensions of personality.

4. Five factor Model of Personality: PAUL COSTA AND ROBERT McCRAE:

• OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE: Those who score high on this factor are imaginative,
curious, open to new ideas, and interested in cultural pursuits. In contrast, those who
score low are rigid.

• CONSCIENTIOUSNESS: Those who score high on this factor are achievement-oriented,

dependable, responsible, prudent, hardworking and self-controlled. On the opposite are
people who are impulsive.

• EXTRAVERSION: It characterises people who are socially active, assertive, outgoing,

talkative, and fun loving. On its opposite are people who are shy.

• AGREEABLENESS: This factor characterises people who are helpful, co-operative,

friendly, caring, and nurturing. On the opposite are people who are hostile and self-
centered.

• NEUROTICISM: People who score high on this factor are emotionally unstable, anxious,
worried, fearful, distressed, irritable and hypertensive. On the opposite side are people
who are well adjusted.

P S YC H O DY N A M I C A P P ROAC H ( S I G M U N D F R E U D )

A. LEVELS OF CONSCIOUSNESS

CONSCIOUS: thoughts, feelings and actions of which people are aware.

PRECONSCIOUS: mental activity which people may become aware only if they attend to it
closely.

UNCONSCIOUS: which includes mental activity that people are unaware of. 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 Most of these arise from sexual
desires which cannot be expressed openly and therefore are repressed. 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.

PSYCHOANALYSIS: is therapeutic procedure, the basic goal which is to bring repressed

unconscious material to consciousness, thereby helping people to live in a more self aware
and integrated manner.

B. STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY
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.

EGO: It works by the reality principle, and often directs the id towards more appropriate
ways of behaving. While the id is demanding, unrealistic and works according to pleasure
principle, the ego is patient, reasonable, and works by the reality principle.

SUPEREGO: 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.

C. EGO DEFENCE MECHANISMS

A defence mechanism is a way of reducing anxiety by distorting reality unconsciously.

REPRESSION: 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.

PROJECTION: people attribute their own traits to others.

DENIAL: a person totally refuses to accept reality.

REACTION FORMATION: a person defends against anxiety by adopting behaviours

opposite to her/his true feelings.

RATIONALISATION: a person tries to make unreasonable feelings or behaviour seem

reasonable and acceptable.

D. STAGES OF PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT

Freud proposed five- stage theory of personality also called as 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. 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.
ANAL STAGE: It is found that around ages 2 and 3 the child learns to respond to some of
the demands of the society. One of the principle demands made by the parents is that the
child learns to control the bodily functions of urination and defecation. The anal area of the
body becomes the focus of the 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.

PHALLIC STAGE: This stage focuses on the genitals. Children begin to realise the
differences between males and females. They become aware of the 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.

For girls, the Oedipus Complex (called Electra Complex). 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 mean’s of
getting her father’s affection.

LATENCY STAGE: This stage lasts from about 7years until puberty. During this period,
the child continues to grow physically, but sexual urges are relatively inactive.

GENITAL STAGE: During this stage, the person attains maturity in psychosexual
development. People learn to deal with members of the opposite sex in a socially and
sexually mature way.

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 likely
outcome in such situations. 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 APPROAC HES

These theorists have been called neo- analytic, or post- Freudian in order to differentiate
their work from Freud’s. These theorists are characterised by less prominent roles to sexual
and aggressive tendencies of the id and expansion of the concept of ego. The human
qualities of creativity, competence, and problem solving abilities are emphasised.

CARL JUNG: AIMS AND ASPIRATIONS

• 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 rather than between the individual and the demands of
the society, or between the individual and reality.

• 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.

• 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.

KAREN HORNEY: OPTIMISM

• 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.

• She argued that psychological disorder were caused by disturbed interpersonal

relationship during childhood.

• The child feels insecure due to the erratic and indifferent behaviour of their parents. This
feeling is called basic 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.
ALFRED ADLER: LIFESTYLE AND SOCIAL INTEREST

• Adler’s theory is known as individual psychology.

• His 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.

• 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.

ERICH FROMM: THE HUMAN CONCERNS

• 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 resulted from a desire to freedom, justice and
truth.

ERICK ERIKSON: SEARCH FOR IDENTITY

• 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.

WHAT ARE THE CRITICISM FACED BY THE PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORIES?

1. The theories are largely based on the 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.

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 the 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:

• It was Allport who suggested that the best method to assess a person is by asking her/him
about herself/himself.

• These are fairly structured measures, often based on a theory. The method requires the
subject to objectively report his/her own feelings with respect to various items.

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

THE MINNESOTA MULTIPHASIC PERSONALITY INVENTORY (MMPI): HATHAWAY and

MCKINLEY

• This test was developed as a helping tool for psychiatric diagnosis, but the test has been
found very effective in identifying varieties of psychopathology.

• It consists of 567 statements. The subject has to judge each statement as ‘true’ or ‘false’.

• The test is divided into 10 sub scales, which seek to diagnose hypochondriasis,
depression, hysteria, psychopathic deviate, masculinity- femininity, paranoia, psych
asthenia, schizophrenia, mania and social introversion.

• In India, Mallick and Joshi have developed the Jodhpur Multiphasic Personality Inventory
(JMPI).

EYSENCK PERSONALITY QUESTIONNAIRE (EPQ): EYSENCK

This test initially assessed two dimensions of personality, called introverted- extroverted 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 is associated with lack of feeling for others.
Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire: Cattell

• 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.

WHAT ARE THE DRAWBAC KS OF SELF REPORT

MEASURES?

1. Social Desirability- It is a tendency on the part of the respondent to endorse items in a

socially desirable manner.

2. Acquiescence- It is a tendency of the subject to agree with items/ questions irrespective

of their contents.

PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES

• Projective tests were developed to assess unconscious motives and feelings.

• These techniques are based on the assumption that a less structured or unstructured
stimulus or situation will allow the individual to project his/her feelings, desires and
needs on to that situation.

Features of projective tests:

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 sometime subjective.

HOW PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES ARE DIFFERENT FROM

P S YC H O M E T R I C T E S T S ?
Projective techniques are different from the psychometric techniques in many ways. They
cannot be scored in any objective manner. They generally require qualitative analysis for
which a rigorous training is needed.

THE RORSCHACH INKBLOT TEST: HERMANN RORSCHACH

• The test consists of 10 inkblots. 5- Black and White, 2- Red Ink, 3- Pastel colours.

• Each blot is printed in the centre of a white cardboard of about 7”*10” size.

• The blots were originally made by dropping ink on a piece of paper then folding the paper
in half.

• The cards are administered individually in two phases:

• In the first phase, called the Performance phase, 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 was
made.

THE THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST: MORGAN AND MURRAY

• The test consist of 30 black and white picture card and one blank card.

• Each picture card depicts one or more people in a variety of situations.

• Some cards are used with adult males and females, some with boys and girls and some in
combination.

• Twenty cards are appropriate for a subject, although lesser number of cards have also been
successfully used. 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?

• Uma Chaudhary has given an Indian adaptation of TAT.

ROSENZWEIG’S PICTURE FRUSTRATION STUDY: ROSENZWEIG

• This test was developed to assess how people express aggression in the face of a
frustrating situation.

• The test presents with the help of a cartoon like pictures a series of situations in which
one person frustrates another. The subject is asked to tell what the other (frustrated)
person will say or do.

• The analysis of responses of responses is based on the type and direction of aggression.

• Pareek has adapted this test for use with the Indian population.

SENTENCE COMPLETION TEST

• This test make use of number of incomplete sentences.

• The starting part of the sentence is first provided and the subject has to provide an ending
to the sentence.

• It is held that the type of ending provided by the subject reflects their underlying
attitudes, motivations and conflicts.

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 an eraser is provided.

• After the completion of the first drawing, the subject is usually asked to draw the picture
of the opposite sex.

• Last, the subject is asked to frame story about the person as if she/he was a person.

BEHAVIOURAL ANALYSIS

A person’s behaviour in a variety of situations can provide us with the meaningful

information about his/her personality. Observation of behaviour serves as the basis of
behavioural analysis.

INTERVIEW
Interview is 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.

Interviews may be:

1. Structured- the interviewer seeks to develop an impression about a person by asking a

number of questions.

2. Unstructured- address very specific questions and follow a set of procedure.

OBSERVATION

Very commonly used for the assessment of personality. Use of observation for the
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 the given person.

limitation:

• Professional training is required. Method is quite demanding and time consuming.

• Maturity of a psychologist is a pre condition.

• 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 a good
data.

BEHAVIOURAL RATINGS

• Frequently used for assessment of personality in educational and industry setting.

• These ratings are generally taken from people who know the assessed intimately and have
interacted with him/her over a period of time.

• They attempt to put individuals into certain categories in terms of their behavioural
qualities.

limitation:

• Raters often display certain biases that colour their judgement of different traits. This
tendency is known as HALO EFFECT.
• Raters have tendency to place individuals either in the middle of the scale called MIDDLE
CATEGORY BIAS by avoiding extreme conditions, or in the extreme positions called
EXTREME CATEGORY BIAS.

NOMINATION

• This method is often used in obtaining peer assessment.

• In using nomination, each person is asked to choose one or more persons of the group
with whom she/he would like to work. The person may also be asked to specify the
reasons for the choice made.

SITUATIONAL TESTS

• The most commonly used of this kind is the situational stress test.

• It provides us with the information about how a person behaves under stressful situation.

• 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 roel for which he/she is being observed.

• The situation may be realistic one or it may be created through a video play.