Personality
AROBINDU DASH
Faculty, IUBAT
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Definition
Personality is the pattern of enduring characteristics that
differentiate people – the behavior that make each
individual unique.
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Approaches to
personality
1. Psychodynamic approach
2. Trait approaches
3. Learning approaches
4. Biological and evolutionary
approaches
5. Humanistic approach
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Freud’s Psychoanalytic
Theory
The central idea of Freud’s
psychoanalytic theory of personality was
that personality characteristics, including
the symptoms of psychological disorders,
grow out of unconscious conflicts about
sexual and aggressive drive.
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Parts of personality / Regions of the mind /
Components of personality
1. Unconscious
2. Preconscious
3. Conscious
Structure of personality
1.
Id These three components
2. Ego are separate but
interacting
3. Superego
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Rational, Informatio
planful, n
mediating Conscious in our
dimension Ego immediate
of awareness
personality
Superego Preconscious Informatio
n
which can
Moralistic, easily be
Unconscious made
judgmental, conscious
perfectionist
dimension of
personality Id
Thoughts,
feelings,
urges, and
other
Irrational, information
illogical, that is difficult
impulsive to bring to
dimension of conscious
personality awareness
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Unconscious
Content of unconscious
Deeper in the unconscious are instinctual drives, the wishes,
desires, demands, and needs.
Why unconscious contents are hidden?
Unconscious contents are hidden from conscious awareness and
the meanings of the materials are disguised because of the
conflicts and pain they would cause if they were part of our
everyday lives. Therefore, the content of the unconscious cannot
be observed directly.
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Studying Unconscious
It is necessary to interpret clues to the unconscious – slips of
the tongue, fantasies, and dreams – to understand the
unconscious processes that direct behavior.
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Id
Function
From the time of birth, the id attempts to reduce tension created
by primitive drives related to hunger, sex, aggression, and
irrational impulses.
Source of energy
“psychic energy” – limitless energy source constantly putting
pressure on the various parts of the personality.
Operating principle
Pleasure principle, in which the goal is immediate reduction of
tension and the maximization of satisfaction.
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Ego
Function
The ego strives to balance the desire of the id and the realities of
the objective, outside world. It is the “executive” of personality:
it makes decision, controls actions, and allows thinking and
problem solving of a higher order than the id’s capabilities
permit.
Operating principle
Reality principle – which restrain instinctual energy to maintain
safety of the individual and help integrate the person into
society.
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Super
ego
Super ego is the final personality structure to develop.
How develops?
The contents of superego – rights and
wrongs of society – are taught and
modeled by a person’s parents, teachers,
and significant individuals.
Components:
1. Conscience
2. Ego-ideal
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The Conscience prevents us from behaving in a morally
improper way by making us feel guilty if we do wrong.
Ego-ideal motivates us to do what is morally right.
The superego helps us to
control impulses coming
from the id, making our
behavior less selfish and
more virtuous.
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Both id and superego are unrealistic in that they do not
consider practical realities imposed by society.
if superego left to operate without restraint, it would create
perfectionists unable to make compromises that life requires.
Unrestrained id would create primitive, pleasure-seeking,
thoughtless individual seeking to fulfill every desire without
delay.
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Personality is result of the battle for control between id, ego
& superego
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Development of
Personality
Personality develops through five stages
1. Oral
2. Anal
Each stage focus on major
3. Phallic
biological function
4. Latency
5. Genital
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1. Oral Stage (Birth to 12 –
18 months)
The baby’s mouth is the focal
point of pleasure. The
gratification comes from sucking,
eating, mouthing, and biting.
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If infants are either overly indulged (perhaps by being fed
every time they cry) or frustrated in their search for oral
gratification, they may become fixated at this stage.
Fixation refers to conflicts of concerns that persist beyond the
developmental period in which they first occur.
An adult with fixation at the oral stage might show~
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eating
talking
smoking
unusually interested in oral activities
Chewing
Thumb sucking
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2. Anal Stage (12 to
18 months until 3
years of age)
In this stage the child’s pleasure is
centered on the anus, and the children
obtain considerable pleasurable from both
retention and expulsion of feces.
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Fixation occurs if toilet training is particularly demanding.
Adults may show ~
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rigidity
miserly
orderliness
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disorderliness punctuality
sloppiness
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3. Phallic Stage (3 to 5 – 6 years)
In this stage the child’s pleasure focuses on the genitals and
the pleasure derived from folding them.
This is on of the most important points of personality
development when Oedipal (experienced by boys) or
Electra (experienced by girls) complex occurs.
A child’s sexual interest in his or her
opposite -sex parent, typically resolved
through identification with the
same-sex parent. personality 23
The Oedipus Complex (Boys)
o v e
r m
e om
s t o M
n t f o r
a
w riva l
y
Bo as
a d
D
Boy wants Mom
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The Oedipus Complex (Boys)
a d
D
w ith
y
ntif
Ide
Some with Mom
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The Electra Complex (Girls)
❑ Identifies with Mom
❑ Some with Dad
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Identification
The process of wanting to be like
another person as much as possible,
imitating that person’s behavior and
adopting similar beliefs and values.
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4. Latency Period (5-6 years to adolescents)
During this phase children’s sexual concerns are
temporarily put aside
Genital stage (Adolescence to adulthood)
This stage is marked by adult sexual behavior.
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Defense Mechanism
Unconscious strategies that people use to reduce anxiety by
concealing the source of the anxiety from themselves and others.
1. Repression
Unacceptable or unpleasant impulses are push back into the
unconscious.
2. Regression
People behave as if they were at an earlier stage of development.
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3. Displacement
The expression of unwanted feeling or thought is redirected
from a more threatening, powerful person to weaker one.
5. Denial
People refuse to accept or acknowledge an anxiety producing
piece of information
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4. Rationalization
People provide self-justifying explanations in place of the
actual, threatening reason for their behavior.
Mom needs my constant Mom
attention . It’s only what
any good son would do.
“I love Mom”
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Projection
People attribute unwanted impulses and feelings to someone
else.
“Dad hates me”
“I hate Dad”
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Sublimation
People divert unwarned impulses into socially approved
thoughts, feeling, or behaviors.
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“I hate my
opponents”
“I hate Dad”
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Reaction formation
Unconscious impulses are expressed as their opposite in
consciousness.
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“I love Dad”
“I hate Dad”
Original id impulse Reaction to id impulse
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Assessing Personality
1. Rorschsch test
2. Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
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1. ………………..approaches state that behavior is motivated primarily by
unconscious forces.
2. Match each section of the personality (according to Freud) with its
description:
i. Ego a. Determines right from wrong on the basis
of cultural standards
ii. Id b. Operates according to the “reality
principle”; energy is redirected to integrate the
person into society.
iii. Superego c. Seeks to reduce tension brought on by
primitive drives.
3. Which of the following represents the proper order of per sonality
development, according to Freud?
a. Oral, phallic, latency, anal, genital
b. Anal, oral, phallic, genital, latency
c. Oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital
d. Latency, phallic, anal, genital, oral
4. …………………………is the term Freud used to describe unconscious
strategies used to reduce anxiety.
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Answer:
1. psychodynamic;
2. 1-b, 2-c, 3-a;
3. c;
4. defense mechanisms
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