Chapter 3 - Personality Theories

Chapter 3
Theories of Personality
Dr. Mary Streit
Suffolk Community College

Chapter 3
- Personality is defined as: the enduring or lasting
patterns of behavior and thought (across time
and situation).

In this chapter we will discuss the following
personality theories:
1. Trait theory (Cattell, Allport)
2. Sigmund Freud: Psychodynamic theory

The Neo-Freudians:
3. Carl Jung: Analytical psychology
4. Alfred Adler: Individual psychology
5. Karen Horney: Feminine psychology

Chapter 3 - Personality
6. Behavioral theory: B.F. Skinner and
operant conditioning
7. The Humanistic theory:
a. Abraham Maslow: Hierarchy of needs
b. Carl Rogers: Person-centered therapy
8. Cognitive: Albert Bandura’s Social learning
theory
9. Biological theories of personality

Chapter 3
Trait theory uses two different methods of
research:
Idiographic approach: defines traits by studying
individuals in depth and focuses on the
distinctive qualities of their personalities (Gordon
Allport)
Nomothetic approach: studies groups of
people in the attempt to identify personality traits
that tend to appear in clusters. This approach
uses the statistical technique called factor
analysis (Raymond Cattell)

Chapter 3
1. Trait theory.
Gordon Allport. Considered patterns of traits to
be the unique attributes of individuals.
Allport conducted thorough and detailed studies
of individuals in depth, often through long-term
case studies.
His idiographic research led him to conclude
that all people have certain traits, or
dispositions, that are the building blocks of
personality (1937, 1961, 1965, 1966).
Can you think of some of the traits that are
unique attributes of who you are? Lets make a
list.

Chapter 3
Examples of Individual traits
- Honesty
- Kindness
- Compassion
- Courage
- Loyalty
- Responsible
- Social
- Talkative
- Sensitive

Chapter 3
Allport described three different types of traits:
1. Cardinal traits: Traits that are so much a part of
who the person is, you can define the person by the
trait (e.g. – Honest Abe Lincoln)
2. Central traits: Major characteristics of our
personality such as: sensitivity, honesty, and
generosity. These traits are quite generalized and
enduring, and it is these traits that form the building
blocks of our personality. Allport found that most
people could be characterized by a fairly small number
of central traits (usually five to ten).
3. Secondary traits: less generalized and far less
enduring traits that affect our behaviors in specific
circumstances. Examples include our dress style
preferences.

Apply your learning.

Allport would consider the list of traits we
made together as a class to be:
a. Cardinal traits
b. Secondary traits
c. Surface traits
d. Central traits

Raymond Cattell also began his work by identifying
certain obvious personality traits, such as integrity,
friendliness, and tidiness (1950, 1965, 1973, 1982).
He called these dimensions of personality surface
traits.
Cattell then obtained extensive data about surface
traits from a large number of people ( nomothetic
approach).
Statistical analysis of these data revealed that certain
surface traits seemed to occur in clusters or groups.
Cattell theorized that these clusters indicated a single
underlying trait.
Cattell derived a list of 16 primary or source traits
that he considered to be at the center or core of
personality. He listed each of these traits as a pair of
polar opposites (16PF).

Trait theory.
Hans Eysenck (1906-1997). Disagreed with
Allport and Cattell. He believed that there
are only two major dimensions to
personality:
1. Intraversion-Extraversion
2. Neuroticism-Stability

The five-factor theory of personality by McCrae and Costa
(1997) is the most recent addition to trait theory. They
believe in five core dimensions:
Openness to Experience–creative & willing to try new things
Conscientiousness – reliable, responsible, thorough,
dependable, hard-working
Extraversion – outgoing, social, active, talkative
Agreeableness – easy to get along with, pleasant,
sympathetic, warm, cooperative
Neuroticism – emotional stability
Acronym: OCEAN

Click on the link below to see how you score on their test!
http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/j/5/j5j/IPIP/ipipneo120.htm

Problems with trait theory:

- Circular reasoning: Which comes
first the behavior, or the trait?
- Lack of situational consistency
(Mischel)
- No explanation for what causes
these many different traits to occur
- Lack of agreement on the number
and type of traits

Chapter 3 – Personality: Matching Review
a. Believed in the existence of cardinal traits: “honest 1. Gordon Allport
Abe”
2. Raymond Cattell
b. Proposed the most recent five factor model of trait
theory 3. Hans Eynseck
c. Advocated the nomothetic approach by analyzing 4. McCrae & Costa
large groups of people and using factor analysis 5. Secondary traits
d. Distinguished between surface and source traits 6. Surface traits
e. Believed in only two underlying dimensions to human 7. Source traits
personality: introversion – extroversion; and 8. Central traits
neuroticism-stability 9. Cardinal traits
f. Believed there are 16 personality factors
g. Advocated the idiographic approach by studying
individuals in depth using case studies
h. Allport’s name for a trait that changes in different
situations – e.g. – style of clothing
i. Allport’s name for the traits that most of us have that
make us unique. He believed most people have
about 5 of these types of traits.
j. Cattell’s name for the traits that most of us have that
make up the larger personality factors.
k. Believed in Openness, Conscientiousness,
Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism as the
most important traits


Sigmund Freud MD (neurologist)
Psychodynamic Theory
Vienna, Austria (1856-1939).
Techniques used: hypnosis, catharsis, dream-
analysis, free-association, parapraxes
Freudian slips or parapraxes – everything we do
and say, even by accident, has hidden meaning
Believed in the importance of the “unconscious”
mind

“unconscious” forces are animalistic
sexual/aggressive drives that motivate most of
human behavior
These “unconscious” drives operate without
conscious awareness. This is because our
unconscious desires are too difficult or too
painful to face directly
Freud referred to these unconscious motives
collectively as the “id”
Freud believed there is a reason behind
everything we do

The three major forces of the psyche are the:
1. Id = unconscious = pleasure principle
- Primary process thinking: wish fulfillment
- Thanatos – aggressive /Eros - sexual
- I want it now! Instant gratification
- Are we an id driven society?
- Part of the iceberg that is submerged underwater

2. Ego = conscious = reality principle
- What are the real-world consequences of my actions?
- secondary process thinking: reality testing
- part of the iceberg that is above water and aware of reality

3. Superego = preconscious = morality principle
- What is the proper way to behave? Mom/Dad/Society
- Ego-ideal: shoulds
- Conscience: should nots
- Part of the iceberg that is just under the water but can sometimes surface

How would the id, ego, and superego
respond to the following dilemma?

Should you go out with your
friends to a great party, or
should you stay home and
study for your psychology
exam tomorrow?

Freud’s psychodynamic theory can be summed up quite
nicely with the visual image of a driver and a horse-
drawn carriage with two horses.

- Imagine the horse on the right is called “Id” and keeps
pulling to the right to go down Pleasure Road
- The horse on the left is called “Superego” and keeps
pulling to the left to go down Morality Way.
- The drivers name is “ego” and his job is to keep both
horses traveling straight ahead on the road called
Reality.
**Extra credit for the artist: draw me a picture**

Chapter 3 – Personality
Which horse is the Id? Superego?

Freud’s Psychosexual Stages.
- According to Freud, as we age, different parts
of the body are used to fuel the id with
pleasure (libido = energy source).

1. Birth – 1 ½ years: Oral stage
gratification is gained by oral stimulation
(Breastfeeding).
2. 1 ½ - 3 years old: Anal stage
pleasure is gained by being able to
control feces. (Potty-training)


3. 3 – 6 years old: Phallic stage: awakening of sexuality

a. Oedipus complex for boys: when a male child wants to kill
his father so he can have sex with his mother. (from the Greek
tragedy “Oedipus Rex” by Sophocoles)
- Freud believed boys would eventually overcome this conflict by
identifying and bonding with the father.

b. Electra complex for girls: girls are jealous of their father
because they don’t have a penis, and they really want one (from
Greek myth of “Electra” who plotted with her brother “Orestes” to
kill their mother “Clytemnestra”).
- Freud believed that the only possible way for a girl to overcome
this conflict would be to become pregnant with a male child

4. 6-12 years old: Latency stage
pleasure is gained through same-sex
peer friendships
5. 12+ years old: Genital stage:
pleasure is gained through sexual
intercourse with non-relatives

Fixation. Freud believed that you can get stuck or
fixated at a stage if you were either under or over
stimulated during this stage. According to Freud,
personality traits are attached to these types of
individuals.
A few examples:
Oral fixation: nail biters, gum chewers, smokers, etc.
Overly optimistic, dependent, and passive.
Anal retentive: Excessive need for order,
control and neatness. (modern day OCD)
Anal expulsive: emotionally volatile, unstable,
spiteful and vindictive

Defense Mechanisms:
1. Protect the ego from anxiety
due to the unconscious starting to
break through to the conscious
2. Deny or distort reality
3. Operate unconsciously
4. Cause people who are using
them to be absolutely convinced
of the correctness of their
viewpoint.
5. can be healthy IF used in
moderation.
6. Were originally developed by
Anna Freud (she never married).

Defense Mechanisms.

Denial: blocking external events from awareness.
If a situation is too much to handle, the person refuses
to experience it. Examples: the failure to recognize the
death of a loved one, or students who fail to find out
their test grades!  [ you know who you are]

Repression: not being able to recall a threatening situation,
person, or event. Example: someone almost drowns as a child, but
can't remember the event even when people try to remind him -- but
he does have a fear of open water! [many fears and phobias]

Displacement: the redirection of an impulse onto a safer substitute
target. For example, someone who hates his or her mother may
repress that hatred and direct it instead towards women in general.

Projection: the tendency to see your own unacceptable desires in
other people. Examples: A faithful husband finds himself terribly
attracted to the lady next door. Rather than acknowledge his own
feelings, he becomes increasingly jealous of his wife, constantly
worried about her faithfulness.

Reaction formation: what Anna Freud called "believing the
opposite“. Changing an unacceptable impulse into its opposite.
Example: “I hate Mom” becomes “I really love Mom a lot!!!”. The
individual will often go above and beyond in their expression of love
in order to alleviate feelings of guilt and anxiety.

Regression: a movement back in psychological time when one is
faced with stress. When we are troubled or frightened, our
behaviors often become more childish or primitive. A child may
begin to suck their thumb again or wet the bed.

Rationalization: the cognitive distortion of "the facts" to make an
impulse more acceptable. We do it often enough on a fairly
conscious level when we provide ourselves with excuses. Many of
us are quite prepared to believe our lies.

Sublimation: the transforming of an unacceptable impulse, whether
it be sex, anger, or fear, into a socially acceptable and productive
form. So someone with a great deal of hostility may become a
hunter, a butcher, a football player, or a mercenary. For Freud, all
positive creative activities were sublimations mostly of the sex drive.

Limitations of Freud’s theory:
- Untestable: How can you objectively measure
the “unconscious”? Does not follow the scientific
method.
- Almost all of his case studies were upper-class
Austrian women: sample bias?
- Viewed women as inferior
- Did not allow for prediction of future behaviors
- Placed too much emphasis on early childhood
experiences in shaping personality

When a student asked him what the significance of
his cigar was, Freud replied “sometimes a cigar is
just a cigar”.

Neo-Freudians: students of Freud who
eventually started their own school of thought
due to major disagreements with some of
Freud’s ideas.
Carl Jung: 1875-1961. (pronounced – Young).
- Analytical psychology
- Born in Switzerland, trained as a psychiatrist
- Believed Freud placed too much emphasis on
sexuality as a motive for behavior

Famous quote:
“Anyone who wants to know the human psyche will learn
next to nothing from experimental psychology. He would
be better advised to abandon exact science, put away
his scholar's gown, bid farewell to his study, and wander
with human heart throughout the world. There in the
horrors of prisons, lunatic asylums and hospitals, in drab
suburban pubs, in brothels and gambling-hells, in the
salons of the elegant, the Stock Exchanges, socialist
meetings, churches, revivalist gatherings and ecstatic
sects, through love and hate, through the experience of
passion in every form in his own body, he would reap
richer stores of knowledge than text-books a foot thick
could give him, and he will know how to doctor the sick
with a real knowledge of the human soul”. -- Carl Jung

Jung’s Analytical Psychology broke the unconscious down
further into 2 parts:
a. Personal unconscious (similar to Freud’s id)
b. Collective unconscious ** (new concept)

collective unconscious: a kind of universal memory bank
that contains all the ancestral memories, images, symbols,
and ideas that humankind has accumulated throughout time

Jung used the term collective to stress that the content of this
part of the unconscious mind is the same for all humans – it is
genetic.

He placed particular emphasis on one key component of the
collective unconscious called archetypes, which consist of
powerful, emotionally charged, universal images or concepts
that are inherited or passed down from generation to
generation

The four main Jungian archetypes are:
the self
the shadow or the dark side of the human
psyche
the anima (the female counterpart to the
male psyche)
and the animus (the male counterpart to
the female psyche).

Other popular Jungian archetypes and examples from
our culture are:
“The hero” – as seen in figures like Batman, Luke
Skywalker, Neo, Beowulf, Jesus;
“The Warrior” – as seen in historical figures such
as Gladiators, samurai, Ninja, Vikings, and Knights;
“The Trickster” – as seen in figures such as: Bugs
Bunny, The Tramp (Charlie Chaplin), the devil, and
Bart Simpson;
“The Wise Old Man” – as seen in popular figures
such as Merlin, Yoda, Gandalf, Chef from South
Park, The Owl from Winnie the Pooh, and
Dumbledore from Harry Potter;
“The Anima” – as seen in the PlayStation2 video
game Final Fantasy X, Rush’s song “Animate” from
the album Counterparts, and Joni Mitchell’s song
“Don’t Interrupt the Sorrow”.
Can you think of a few others examples for each?

For example: According to Jung, we create war
and conflict in order to fulfill the needs of the
collective unconscious.
We need the hero! We need the villain!
According to Jung, these are all archetypes that
have been inherited from our ancestors
**Question: Does history repeats itself because of
the collective unconscious and the archetypes?

Alfred Adler: Individual psychology.

1870-1937 (Vienna, Austria): MD
(opthamologist).
“Behind everyone who behaves as if he were
superior to others, we can suspect a feeling of
inferiority which calls for very special efforts of
concealment. It is as if a man feared that he
was too small and walked on his toes to make
himself seem taller.“ - Alfred Adler


Adler came to believe in the importance of “feelings of
inferiority” in motivating human behavior
To be a human being," he wrote, "means to feel oneself
inferior." Adler believed that inferiority feelings are the source
of all human striving. All individual progress, growth and
development result from the attempt to compensate for one's
inferiorities.
Style of life = an individuals unique pattern of “striving for
superiority” to overcome feelings of inferiority
Inferiority complex - When an inability to overcome
inferiority feelings heightens and intensifies them.

How many of you have ever felt unattractive? like you
don't belong somewhere? Not strong or fit enough? Not
smart enough? Not good enough in some way? Does
the media today fuel these feelings?

According to Adler, everyone is trying to overcome
something that is preventing them from becoming what
they want to become. What are you trying to overcome?

Biographical information: “Adler was the 2nd of 6 children.
He couldn't walk until he was 4 years old due to rickets.
He also suffered from pneumonia and was hit by a car at
age 5. His older brother Sigmund often teased and
tormented him. Adler recalls ‘feeling small, unattractive,
and rejected, like he was in constant competition with his
older brother”.
http://www.sonoma.edu/users/d/daniels/Adler.html

Many believe that Adler’s childhood experiences had a
major influence on his theory (remember the method of
the time was called….???)

Adler believed that birth order was one of the major
childhood social influences from which the individual
creates a “style of life”. What do you think? Does being
the oldest make things harder? easier? How about the
youngest? Middle child?

Adler disagreed with Freud about:
- the emphasis on sexuality
- the importance of the unconscious
- “a stream of consciousness” – Adler believed
that all three parts of the psyche are constantly
interacting & do NOT act alone.
- While Adler believed our childhood experiences
were important, he also believed in what he
called “teleology” or being motivated towards
future goals.
- Alder felt Freud placed too much emphasis on
the past. Some consider Adler the forefather of
humanism.

Karen Horney. 1885 – 1952. nee Hamburg, Germany
Studied to be an MD. In 1909 she entered the University
of Freiburg [very unusual for a woman]
Feminine psychology. Argued strongly against Freud’s
notion of both the Oedipus and Electra complex
Disagreed with Freud’s psychosexual stages
Did not accept Freud’s division of the psyche into the id,
ego, and superego
Countered Freud’s idea of “penis envy” with what she
called “womb envy”
Agreed with Freud on the importance of the unconscious
and early childhood
Believed that personality could continue to develop and
change throughout life

Horney believed “neurosis” to be a continuous process - with
neuroses commonly occurring at many different points in a person's
life.

Key Terms.
basic anxiety: the insecurity that results when children perceive
their parents as indifferent, harsh, disapproving, or inconsistent in
their responsiveness
basic hostility: a deep resentment toward the parents that arises
from basic anxiety and motivates one of three different coping
strategies or patterns of interacting with others that she believed to
be ineffective:
1. Moving against others: dominating others
2. Moving away from others: withdrawal from others, self-focus,
aloof, isolation
3. Moving toward others: being overly compliant, driven by the
need to please and gain approval from others

Horney believed that for both men and women to be healthy, they
need to let go of the irrational neurotic need to be prefect  !!

Chapter 3 – Personality: Freud and the Neo-Freudians
Matching Review
1. Believed in the importance of unconscious sexual a. Sigmund Freud
and aggressive urges b. Anna Freud
2. Came up with the concept of womb envy c. Alfred Adler
3. Originated the defense mechanisms d. Karen Horney
4. The part of the psyche that is in touch with reality e. Carl Jung
5. The part of the psyche that is unconscious f. The id
6. The part of the psyche that is concerned about g. The ego
being perfect/doing right h. The superego
7. Neo-Freudian who came up with the concept of the i. Fixation
“inferiority complex” j. Oral stage
8. Neo-Freudian who further subdivided the id into the k. Anal stage
personal and collective unconscious l. Phallic stage
9. Getting stuck in a phase of development due to m. Latency stage
either over or under stimulation during childhood n. Genital stage
10. The psychosexual stage described as gaining
gratification through being able to control one’s
bowels or feces
11. The psychosexual stage that occurs from 3-6 years
of age.

Chapter 3 - Review
1. The conflict young boys go through a. the oral stage
between 3-6 yrs of age b. The anal stage
2. The conflict young girls go through c. The phallic stage
between 3-6 yrs of age d. The latency stage
3. The psychosexual stage that occurs
between 6-12 years of age. e. The genital stage
4. The psychosexual stage that occurs f. The Oedipus conflict
between birth and 1 ½ yrs of age g. The Electra conflict
5. Began analytical psychology h. Alfred Adler
6. Began feminine psychology i. Karen Horney
7. Began individual psychology j. Carl Jung
8. Used concepts such as “basic k. archetypes
hostility” and “basic anxiety”
9. powerful, emotionally charged,
universal images or concepts
10. Believed in the importance of birth
order

Chapter 3 – Personality Matching Review:
Defense Mechanisms
1. The redirection of an impulse onto a safer
substitute target a. Denial
2. Identifying unacceptable feelings in others that are b. Repression
truly your own (jealous of wife when true problem c. Displacement
is you are considering cheating) d. Projection
3. Being unwilling to accept reality because it is too e. Sublimation
difficult or painful f. Reaction
4. Not being able to recall a threatening person, formation
situation, or event g. Rationalization
5. A cognitive distortion of the facts – or excuse h. regression
making.
6. the transforming of an unacceptable impulse,
whether it be sex, anger, or fear, into a socially
acceptable and productive form such as writing or
art.
7. Changing an unacceptable impulse into its
opposite
8. a movement back in psychological time when one
is faced with stress (e.g. – thumb sucking when
you are 7yrs old).

6. Behavioral theory.
- Burrhus Frederic Skinner [1904-1990]
- Operant conditioning
- Focused on the overt or observable behavior
- the consequences that follow a behavior were seen as critical
determinants of future behavior
A behavior followed by a reinforcing stimulus results in an
increased probability of that behavior occurring in the future
[reinforcement].
A behavior no longer followed by the reinforcing stimulus
results in a decreased probability of that behavior occurring in
the future [extinction].
Skinner did much of his research with animals such as pigeons
and rats

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8956355585286146382&q=operant+conditioning&hl=en
Skinner video clip

Disagreed with the concept of free-will
Why are you taking this class? Was it your free-
will?
Invented the “Skinner box” – used primarily to
train rats
Believed in the importance of the
use of reinforcement
Discovered the different
schedules of reinforcement and
shaping [baby steps]
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7588495689384314794&q=clicker+training&hl=en
Precious the cat video

Applications of Skinner’s theory to the real world
are many [applied research]
Operant conditioning is so effective that many
psychologists were concerned about who should
be given this information
For example: It has been used to train pigeons
to play ping-pong & cats to flush the toilet!
Thoughts?
Just remember the expression
“mall rat” starts here! 

7. Humanistic psychology.
focused on uniquely human issues such as:
the self, health, hope, love, creativity, nature,
and individuality.
Believed in innate goodness – born good
Derived somewhat from existentialism: a
strong belief in free-will and conscious
rational decision-making
Arose in reaction to behaviorism and
psychodynamic theory

Two major figures in humanistic psychology
were:
1. Abraham Maslow and
2. Carl Rogers

We will first look at the core beliefs of
Maslow.

Maslow developed his famous “Hierarchy of Needs”

Differentiated between Deficiency needs and Growth needs:
Deficiency needs are the bottom four levels in the hierarchy:
these needs must be met or filled before other growth needs
can take over
Maslow believed deficiency needs must be met in order of the
hierarchy – e.g. – physiological 1st, safety 2nd, etc.

Growth needs or being needs – the highest motive in
the hierarchy for human behavior. This motive takes
over only when all other deficiency needs are met

Some growth needs that Maslow discussed are:
- Truth, rather than dishonesty
- Aliveness, not deadness or the mechanization of life
- Uniqueness, not bland uniformity
- Perfection and necessity, not sloppiness,
inconsistency, or accident.
- Justice and order, not injustice and lawlessness.
- Simplicity, not unnecessary complexity.
- Self-sufficiency, not dependency.

Abraham Maslow. (1908-1970). Born in
Brooklyn, New York. One of seven
children of Russian immigrants.
Graduated University of Wisconsin with
PhD (worked with Harry Harlow)
Returned to NY to work with Edward
Thorndike at Columbia University

"A musician must make music, an artist
must paint, a poet must write, if he is to
be at peace with himself. What a man
can be, he must be. This is the need we
may call self-actualization ... It refers to
man's desire for fulfillment, namely to
the tendency for him to become
actually in what he is potentially: to
become everything that one is capable
of becoming ..." - Abraham Maslow

Maslow’s Characteristics of Self-Actualizers:
Reality focused and problem-centered
The journey is often more important than the ends.
They enjoy solitude, and are comfortable being
alone.
Enjoy deeper personal relations with a few close
friends and family members
Value autonomy, a relative independence from
physical and social needs.
They have an unhostile sense of humor -- preferring
to joke at their own expense, or at the human
condition, and never directing their humor at others.
spontaneity and simplicity: They prefer being
themselves rather than being pretentious or artificial.

 They have a sense of humility and respect towards others
 They have a certain freshness of appreciation, an ability to
see things, even ordinary things, with wonder.
 They are creative, inventive, and original.
 tend to have more peak experiences than the average
person. [A peak experience is one that takes you out of
yourself, that makes you feel very tiny, or very large, to some
extent one with life or nature or God. It gives you a feeling of
being a part of the infinite and the eternal. These experiences
tend to leave their mark on a person, change them for the
better, and many people actively seek them out. They are
also called mystical experiences, and are an important part of
many religious and philosophical traditions].
 Their values are "natural" and seem to flow effortlessly from
their personalities

Maslow identified the following historical figures as self-actualizers:
- Abraham Lincoln
- Thomas Jefferson
- Benjamin Franklin
- George Washington
- Albert Einstein
- Aldous Huxley
- William James
- Spinoza
- Goethe
- Pierre Renoir
- Robert Browning
- Walt Whitman
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Who would you consider to be someone
who is self-actualized in today’s world?
- Oprah?
- Bono from U2?
- George Bush?
- Dali-lama?
- ???

Carl Rogers. 1902-1987
 Carl Rogers was born January 8, 1902 in Oak
Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, the fourth of
six children. His father was a successful civil
engineer and his mother was a housewife and
devout Christian.
 In 1942, he wrote his first book, Counseling and
Psychotherapy.
 1945, he was invited to set up a counseling
center at the University of Chicago. It was while
working there that in 1951 he published his
major work, Client-Centered Therapy, wherein
he outlined his basic theory.

View of people as basically good
The “actualizing tendency” is the basic
force of life – we are always trying to
better ourselves in some way
True self: who you are today
Ideal self: who you want to become
Self-actualization is the process of
becoming your ideal self

 Unconditional positive regard: a feeling of
total love and acceptance – like that of a child
for a parent, or a pet to its owner. No matter
what you say or do, you will be loved and
accepted.
 Rogers believed if a child received unconditional
positive regard, he/she would be able to self-
actualize and become his/her ideal self
 If self-actualization is blocked, mental illness
would ensue

 Conditions of worth: if…then contingencies.
I will love and accept you if…;Rogers believed this is
another pathway to mental illness
 The individual who is raised with “conditions of worth”
will not actualize into their ideal self.
 The individual who is raised with conditions of worth
will actualize into another persons’ vision of their
ideal self.
 How much of what you say and do is based on
conditions of worth?
 What must parents do to avoid using “conditions of
worth” when raising their children? Society at large?

8. Social-Cognitive Theory.
 Albert Bandura (1925-present)
 Albert Bandura was born December 4, 1925,
in the small town of Mundare in northern
Alberta, Canada.
 In 1953, he started teaching at Stanford
University. While there, he collaborated with
his first graduate student, Richard Walters,
resulting in their first book, Adolescent
Aggression, in 1959.
 Emphasis on the cognitive or thoughts

 Modeling; Vicarious learning; Observational learning :
learning by watching others. Thoughts matter!!

 Interested in studying the effect of television violence on
aggression in children. Bandura is most famous for his
Bo-Bo doll studies. [see video link]
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2953790276071699877&q=bobo+doll&hl=en

 Film: woman punching the clown, shouting “sockeroo!” She kicked it, sat on
it, hit it with a little hammer, and so on, shouting various aggressive
phrases. Bandura showed his film to groups of kindergartners who, as you
might predict, liked it a lot.

 what did the observers record afterward: A lot of little kids beating the
daylights out of the bobo doll. They punched it and shouted “sockeroo,”
kicked it, sat on it, hit it with the little hammers, and so on. In other words,
they imitated the young lady in the film, “and quite precisely at that”.

 http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Bandura/bobo.htm [link to full text study]

 Bandura added cognition or thought to the equation

 The main “person” factor that Bandura discussed
was: self-efficacy: the belief in your ability to
perform a certain task or function.

Chapter 3 -Personality
9. Biological theories of personality.
 Identical twin studies
 Adoption studies
 Heritability estimates
 Family tree or pedigree studies
 DNA – Human genome project
 Evolutionary forces
 Can we ever know if nature or
nurture is the primary force?

Chapter 3 – Personality: Review
1. The belief in our ability to perform a a. Albert Bandura
specific task b. B. F. Skinner
2. Believed in the importance of the c. Abraham Maslow
consequences of our actions d. Carl Rogers
3. The interaction between environment,
e. Biological theory
person, and behavior
f. Reinforcement
4. Learning by watching others
g. Extinction
5. Pedigree studies of personality traits
h. Reciprocal
6. The process of becoming your ideal
determinism
self
i. Self-efficacy
7. Feeling loved and accepted no matter
what j. Deficiency needs
8. If…then contingencies for love and k. Growth needs
acceptance l. Observational learning
9. Needs that must be satisfied in order m. Self-actualization
when the organism is lacking in these n. Unconditional positive
such as safety, security, love, esteem regard
10. Needs that are fulfilled in order to o. Conditions of worth
achieve self-actualization

Chapter 3 – Personality Review
1. Proposed the “Hierarchy of Needs”
a. Albert Bandura
2. Believed in innate goodness
b. B. F. Skinner
3. Responsible for the famous “BoBo” doll studies
c. Abraham Maslow
4. Interested in the effects of media violence on
behavior in children d. Carl Rogers
5. Emphasized the importance of reinforcement on e. Extinction
future behaviors f. Reinforcement
6. A behavior followed by a reinforcing stimulus g. True self
results in an increased probability of that h. Ideal self
behavior occurring in the future i. Biological theory
7. The person that you are today – with all your
flaws
8. The person who you would some day like to
aspire to become
9. Emphasis on identical twin and adoption studies
10. First to emphasize the importance of covert
cognitive factors on behavior

Measures of Personality.
- reliability: consistency or stability of a
measure over time.
- Validity: accuracy or truth of a measure.
Is it measuring what it is supposed to?
- You must have high levels of reliability in
order to have validity.

Chapter 3
Dart Throwing Analogy.

- The goal is to hit the bulls eye. The person who
throws the dart and hits the bullseye is a valid
dart thrower.
- What would be a reliable dart thrower?
- Someone who can throw the dart in the same
place each time.
- Can you be a reliable dart thrower, but not a
valid one? 

Types of Personality Measures.
Two categories:
1. Objective – paper and pencil self-report tests. These
measures are clear to all what a specific response
means.
Examples:
a. MMPI-2: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.
Over 500 item test that is used to detect mental illness.

b. CPI: California Personality Inventory. Self-report
measure that is used to detect normal and successful
patterns of behavior.

2. Projective tests – intentionally vague or
ambiguous stimuli are used to
encourage projection of unconscious
materials. [Freud]
a. Rorschach inkblots
(Hermann Rorschach, 1927)
b. TAT [Thematic Apperception Test]
(Henry Murray, 1943)

Rorschach inkblots
What do you see?

Chapter 3 – Personality: Optional
OPTIONAL: Self-Actualization poem: by Dunbar 2005.

There’s no need to strive for perfection ‘Cause you’re perfect the way you are
There’s no need to look for outside affection
‘Cause if you look inside yourself it will not be far
There’s no need to change
To meet the expectations everyone puts on you
And though that may seem strange
It’s because you’ve been programmed to
Believe in a certain way about how you live your life
And act in a way others think you should
But all that does is cause stress and strife
And affects you in ways you never thought it could
Like causing you to think your self-esteem is low
Or that you’re insecure
Then it causes you to doubt what about yourself you know
And shuts down your efforts to ever go for more
So if you think you would like to improve
Do it for you and no one else
Because you have nothing to lose
By improving yourself
So when that all becomes clear inside your mind
You’ll become the person you’ve kept hidden
And a peace within yourself you’ll find
‘Cause now you know being you isn’t forbidden

**OPTIONAL** In case you want to know more about Karen Horney.

Horney named ten patterns of neurotic needs. The ten needs are classified according to her coping
strategies:

Moving Toward People
 1. The need for affection and approval; pleasing others and being liked by them.
 2. The need for a partner; one who can love and solve all problems.

Moving Against People
 3. The need to restrict life practices to within narrow borders; to live as inconspicuous a life as
possible.
4. The need for power; the ability to bend wills and achieve control over others -the neurotic
may be desperate for it.
 5. The need to exploit others; to get the better of them. To become manipulative, fostering the
belief that people are there simply to be used.
 6. The need for social recognition; prestige and limelight.
7. The need for personal admiration; for both inner and outer qualities -- to be valued.
 8. The need for personal achievement; though virtually all persons wish to make
achievements, the neurotic may be desperate for achievement.

Moving Away from People
9. The need for self sufficiency and independence; while most desire some autonomy, the
neurotic may simply wish to discard other individuals entirely.
 10. Lastly, the need for perfection; while many are driven to perfect their lives in the form of
well being, the neurotic may display a fear of being slightly flawed.

***Optional [in case you are interested – but not required for the exam]***

 Asceticism: the renunciation of needs. Relevant today with the emergence of the disorder called anorexia.
Preadolescents, when they feel threatened by their emerging sexual desires, may unconsciously try to
protect themselves by denying, not only their sexual desires, but all desires. They get involved in some kind
of ascetic (monk-like) lifestyle wherein they renounce their interest in what other people enjoy.

 Isolation or intellectualization: involves stripping the emotion from a difficult memory or threatening
impulse. A person may, in a very cavalier manner, acknowledge that they had been abused as a child, or
may show a purely intellectual curiosity in their newly discovered sexual orientation. Something that should
be a big deal is treated as if it were not.

 Altruistic surrender is a form of projection that at first glance looks like its opposite: Here, the person
attempts to fulfill his or her own needs vicariously, through other people. A common example of this is the
friend (we've all had one) who, while not seeking any relationship himself, is constantly pushing other people
into them, and is particularly curious as to "what happened last night" and "how are things going?" The
extreme example of altruistic surrender is the person who lives their whole life for and through another.

 Undoing involves "magical" gestures or rituals that are meant to cancel out unpleasant thoughts or feelings
after they've already occurred. Example: if you feel the need to take three or four complete showers after sex
-- perhaps there is more to it.

 Introjection, sometimes called identification, involves taking into your own personality characteristics of
someone else, because doing so solves some emotional difficulty. For example, a child who is left alone
frequently, may in some way try to become "mom" in order to lessen his or her fears. You can sometimes
catch them telling their dolls or animals not to be afraid. And we find the older child or teenager imitating his
or her favorite star, musician, or sports hero in an effort to establish an identity.

Chapter 3 - Personality Theories

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